Music and Creative Writing BA (Hons)

About This Course

Music and Creative Writing offers a perfect combination of creative disciplines. You will pursue music studies in performance, composition and musicology, and will study the creative practice of writing in a variety of forms. You will approach texts as both reader and writer, and engage with music as a listener, performer and composer. Our close links with local theatres, poetry groups and vibrant student societies will give you opportunities to get involved in arts and culture, and be a part of a thriving music community.

Studying Music is a creative opportunity to grow as a musician, guided by world-renowned composers, performers, musicologists and researchers. You will perform in, or attend performances at, public venues such as Pontio or the magnificent Prichard Jones Hall. In Creative Writing you will approach your studies through a variety of disciplinary pathways: instruction in using the techniques and forms of creative writing; study of the short story, the novel and poetry as literary forms; vocationally-oriented modules in journalism, screenwriting, scriptwriting, storytelling, genre writing, writing for performance and publication, and writing for online and other digital media.

Your musical experience will extend beyond the lecture room, with opportunities to join the University Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir or one of the many student societies for Music, such as Opera, Concert Band, DJ, Musical Theatre, and String Orchestra. You will also benefit from Bangor’s excellent links with leading organisations in the UK, including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom we have an annual composition workshop.

This course will equip you with a solid grounding in the critical and practical skills writing and musical skill you will need to pursue a career in writing, music, and a wide range of other careers.

Why choose Bangor University for this course?

• Close links with the Pontio Arts Centre, local theatres, poetry groups and student societies – including the Bangor English Drama Society (BEDS).
• A dynamic music-making community: choirs, orchestras, bands, student ensembles and the Bangor University Music Society.

Course Content

Your Music and Creative Writing degree programme at Bangor is flexible: you will shape your degree course to reflect your interests and strengths. Our courses are taught by internationally-renowned staff committed to helping you develop your subject-specific knowledge, whilst giving you the freedom to discover and explore your own interests. You will be taught primarily in small group seminars and workshops. You will also spend time on background reading, listening to music, completing essays and coursework as well as rehearsing and performing in ensembles, choirs and orchestras. Several modules involve visits to theatres, concerts, recording studios and composition workshops, or the opportunity to meet and interview, visiting authors.

You will begin your Music studies in a genuinely all-embracing way, engaging with musical theory and practice from modal polyphony to electroacoustic composition. You will use this broad framework as a launch pad for developing your own expertise in one of several fields of musicology, performance or composition, including 20th-century music, classical performance, editing, music in health and well-being, and all styles of composition. You have the option of choosing Solo Performance, taught through an innovative combination of individual tuition, workshops and masterclasses.

The study of writing at Bangor offers a balance of practical and analytical tasks, with seminars and workshops complemented by presentations by visiting writers. You will be assessed both on practical output and on your ability to reflect critically on your practice. You will learn both group work skills and the ability to carry a piece of work through from initial concept to professional output. You will have the opportunity to work with staff who have a wide range of interests and expertise including poetry, the novel, the short story, documentary and film-making, digital communication, E-publishing, computer games, script and screenwriting, and print and broadcast journalism.