Music (with Foundation Year) BMus (Hons)

About This Course

Our Music degrees provide the opportunity to studying, create and perform music in a lively, creative environment. With a well-established Music School that embraces both the traditional and the modern in the study of music, our exciting course allows you to explore music through a variety of subject areas including: musicology, analysis, performance, composition, critical theory, genre and more.

Our Music (with Foundation Year) BA option is a four-year course with an integrated foundation year which leads to the same qualification as our three-year honours degree. It has been specifically designed for those wanting to undertake degree-level study but who may not meet the entry requirements or have traditional qualifications.

The Foundation Year (Year 0) offers you the chance to expand and strengthen your confidence, skills and knowledge – ensuring that you are well-prepared and qualified to progress into Year 1 of the undergraduate degree.

Why choose Bangor University for this course?

• We offer a wide range of options, allowing you to shape your course to reflect your interests and strengths.
• Music Performance Scholarships are offered to the most promising instrumentalists and/or vocalists.
• We have a fully equipped theatre, 2 fine concert halls, and 2 building of our own – with state-of -the-art teaching rooms, rehearsal space, study areas, social learning spaces, and a number of sound-proofed individual practice rooms. There is a full complement of grand and upright pianos, harpsichords, organs, harps, percussion and world instruments. Our 5 studios are equipped to international standards for recording, research and composition. The Library contains over 3,000 CDs and over 30,000 scores.
• Our enthusiastic staff comprises active composers, musicologists and performers, whose expertise covers all angles of musical study. Staff work at the cutting edge of research in music and all have international reputations in their fields
• Much teaching is in small groups, providing a stimulating and supportive learning environment.
• Concerts at Bangor feature chamber music (including residences by Ensemble Cymru and the Allegri Quartet, who also give masterclasses), recitals by leading singers and instrumentalists, acousmatic music from Electroacoustic Wales, and regular visits by both the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, there is an annual Music Festival concentrating on contemporary music (tickets are available to students at greatly reduced prices).
• University ensembles include a symphony orchestra and a large choir (Bangor University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus), a chamber choir, and an opera group. Student performers have the opportunity to play concertos with the University Symphony Orchestra; and visiting professionals frequently perform pieces composed by our students.
• The University Music Society also runs an orchestra and choir; other Students’ Union societies include a brass band, a jazz band, and a musicals society.
• We subscribe to an extensive range of online resources, including Naxos Music Library and Grove Music Online. There are also fully-equipped open-access computers, with Sibelius and other music software installed.
• Bangor University is proud to be the world’s leading centre for the study of Welsh music. We are home to the Archive of Traditional Welsh Music (with many original sources and recordings for the study of music in Wales), the Welsh Popular Music Archive (which houses a significant collection of recordings), and the Crossley-Holland Collection (which includes over 600 unique world instruments).