BA Music and Drama

Our BA Music and Drama joint honours course is one of only a handful of such courses available at any university in the UK, providing you with a rare opportunity to pursue your passions for all aspects of performance and creativity in a world-class university environment.

We attract many singers and actors, as well as students with passions in, for example, screen, film sound and digital media; the politics of avant-garde performance; performance, social policy and community arts; or the history of the voice and the body on a variety of theatrical and operatic stages.

With a huge range of course units to choose from, this course is diverse and flexible, enabling you to build upon existing interests while allowing you the room to discover new forms and traditions of performance, practice and media.

With a mix of academic and practical learning, you will be taught by internationally recognised academics, guest speakers and a roster of professional instrumental and vocal tutors drawn from Manchester and the north-west.

All our teaching and practice takes place in the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama where you will rehearse, workshop and perform in the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall and the John Thaw Studio Theatre, and where you can get your hands on the latest digital-audio technology in the award-winning NOVARS studios for electroacoustic music and interactive media.

The Martin Harris Centre itself is in the centre of the oldest part of the University, just 15 minutes on foot from the city centre and its many venues including The Bridgwater Hall, HOME, The Albert Hall, The Royal Exchange Theatre and plenty more besides.

From there, it is a 20-minute tram ride to MediaCity in Salford, home to the BBC, ITV and The Lowry Theatre.

Many of the performances that you'll be involved in are presented by one of our Music or Drama student societies, offering students opportunities in direction, production and management as well as performance, new writing, sound design and composition.

The course requires you to achieve the same musical entry requirements as those on our single-honours MusB Music, enabling you to pursue any area of study in the Music department.

Your first-year tutor group, peer support and academic advising will normally be provided by the Music department.

Performance-focused environment

You will benefit from a combination of academic excellence and conservatoire levels of performance at Manchester and receive 18 lessons each year in one-to-one practical tuition on your first study (when taken for credit).

On our Conducting programme there are 6-7 student positions in the Music Society and four in University Chorus, all mentored by Rob Guy, Head of Conducting.

The Music Society and the Martin Harris Centre (including the superb Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall) presents many events annually.

We have many practice rooms, 13 with pianos, and specialist percussion and keyboard rooms.

There are over 60 performances each year by the Music, Drama and Music Theatre societies.

Composition training

We have six full-time composers with expertise in a range of styles, encompassing instrumental and vocal, interactive media, electroacoustic and film music composition with teaching focused on originality and professional training. Your work will be performed by fellow students in composition courses throughout the degree.

You can also benefit from our dedicated studio, with ProTools suite in electroacoustic composition, film composition and interactive media.

Musicological expertise

From early music to jazz, string quartets to African pop, we have expertise in a vast array of areas, including music theory and analysis, sketch study, reception studies, performance studies, aesthetics, critical theory, cultural studies, community music and ethnomusicology.

Placement year option

Apply your knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year.

With a mixture of lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and one-to-one performance coaching, our learning environment is open, friendly and designed to inspire. 

Our research-based teaching places students at the heart of the learning process, enabling you to ask complex, original questions and to apply different methods for answering them. 

We understand that making the step up to university study can be quite a challenge, especially if you have limited experience of independent study. We offer a range of support to help you make the transition:  

• all academic staff run two weekly consultation hours, where the office door is open for any question relating to your studies, progress or university life;
• we host an active peer support network, including weekly study sessions organised and run by Year 2 and 3 students;
• you'll be assigned to a weekly tutorial group (7-8 students) in your first year to develop your academic independence, writing skills and critical thinking. The group is run by your academic tutor and provides you with an opportunity to try out new ideas and receive feedback on your progress.

Instrumental tuition is provided by the University for your first instrument or voice. 

Prominent players  from outside the University provide this tuition, and include visitors from the Halle Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Northern College of Music. 

Eighteen hours of one-to-one tuition is provided per year, with 20 hours in the third year. 

Expert performers provide coaching on our ensemble performance units.  

You'll be encouraged to attend our weekly programme of Thursday research forums, including performance and composition masterclasses. 

You'll also be encouraged to develop knowledge and skills beyond your course, including extra-curricular opportunities with the Music Society.  

These range from performance and rehearsal to concert management and marketing. 

In Drama, Manchester is distinct from an acting conservatoire; rather than offering purely vocational training, we bring together theory and practice in the study of Drama as cultural process and artistic discourse. 

You'll study stage and screen, the ancient and the contemporary, the mainstream and the avant-garde.  

You'll develop skills in critical thinking, creative problem solving, and the clear articulation of ideas.  

You will learn through lectures, seminars, practical workshops, masterclasses and group work, and engage with the theories and techniques of practitioners past and present in our dedicated studio spaces. 

Drama practical work is generally workshop-based, and not all projects culminate in public performance.

Coursework is regularly assigned and assessed either continually or at the end of the semester, depending on the course units taken.

Students have opportunities to take classes in which presentations may count as an assessed element.

In Music, some musicology and music analysis units are assessed by a combination of written essay and written exam, some by coursework essays only, and others by analytical study (as appropriate).

Practical classes in musicianship, harmony, and aural skills are assessed by examination.

In Drama, units tend to be assessed by a combination of different written assignments.

In practice-based units, practical assessment is typically combined with written assignments, whereas in Music practice-based units in solo or ensemble performance and composition tend not to require written assignments.

The Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama

Home to Music and Drama at Manchester, this purpose-built creative facility includes:

• the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall - an acoustically designed auditorium seating up to 350 people;
• the John Thaw Studio Theatre - a flexible, fully equipped performance space with seating for 150 people;
• specialist rehearsal and practice spaces.

NOVARS Research Centre

NOVARS boasts state-of-the-art facilities for composition and performance, including award-winning electroacoustic composition studios.

Studios are equipped with digital recording equipment, Yamaha, Emagic, Akai, Alesis, Max/MSP and GRM technology, as well as Apple Mac workstations.

We own many specialist percussion and keyboard instruments, including a chamber organ, harpsichord, Gamelan Degung and a five-octave marimba.

We also own a full suite of replica Baroque instruments, and we offer tuition and performance opportunities on these instruments as part of the Baroque Orchestra concerts which we present every year. You'll also have access to:

• Manchester Central Library's Henry Watson Library - known for its Handel and Vivaldi manuscripts;
• the nearby Royal Northern College of Music Library;
• the Delia Derbyshire Collection of digitised reel-to-reel tapes, electronic scores and manuscripts.

Technical resources for Drama include camera kits, sound-editing and video-editing suites within the John Thaw Studio Theatre.

You'll also benefit from the departments' close links with the neighbouring Contact Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre.

Globally renowned for its arts and cultural offer, Manchester is home to the second highest concentration of theatres in the UK, the largest multi-arts centre outside of the capital, Manchester International Festival and brand new £110 million arts development, The Factory.

Find out more about Music and Drama facilities.