MusM Music (Performance Studies)

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2027, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MusM (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,400
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £29,800

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

This course unit will engage with late twentieth and twenty-first century compositional developments through the study of a number of scores written by significant composers working over the past fifty years or so. The scores will be studied both in terms of technique and aesthetic as appropriate, referencing the latest available literature.  

Yes, although non-Music students must have an adequate practical and theoretical knowledge of instrumental/vocal composition and need to obtain the prior approval of the Course Unit Director.

• To study selected 20^th/21st–century scores in terms of structure, technique, imagination and aesthetic.
• To place the selected scores in a wider musical, artistic, social and philosophical context.
• To encourage a critical awareness of issues affecting contemporary composition.
• To enable students to develop the ability to present complex (often non-verbal) material both in written and oral form.

• Recognise and be able to engage with music from a variety of contemporary aesthetics.
• Analyse scores and performances of contemporary music.

• Critically evaluate various schools of contemporary compositional thought.
• Question their own assumptions and formulate a sense of their own identity in relation to current schools of thought.
• Plan, implement, evaluate and reflect critically on written work in progress.
• Research and explore repertoire in order to develop an awareness of issues relating to composition in the 21st century.

• Employ and/or analyse various contemporary composition techniques.
• Evaluate the implications and ramifications of various contemporary compositional techniques and aesthetics.
• Present clear and well-argued written material.
• Present clear and well-argued material in a public presentation.

•  Challenge their own personal values
•  Employ high level critical thinking
•  Present a complex project using words, graphs, charts and other non-verbal means.  
• Demonstrate independent learning ability suitable for continuing study and professional development.

Background Recommended Reading:

• Griffiths, Paul: Modern Music and After – Oxford 2010
• Whittall, Arnold: Serialism – Cambridge 2008