MA Music Pedagogy | instrument / voice | Chamber Music

Thinking of choosing an artistic specialisation or Music Pedagogy as a second master’s degree? Why not both? If you already have a master’s degree in Performance, instrument/voice, you have the opportunity to combine your artistic profiling in a chamber music ensemble with a teaching qualification for your own instrument as part of an MA in Music Pedagogy.

The programme pursues two objectives:

Primed for competitions and concerts

Over two years, students will be given the opportunity to prepare for an artistic and chamber music career in a goal-oriented, intensive manner, under the leadership of exceptional artists and lecturers. Besides preparing for concerts and competitions, the focus of this graduate programme is on continuous ensemble work. The core competencies on the instrument and in ensemble work acquired in the vocal or instrumental performance Master's programme are pursued to a level that matches the highest international levels so that exceptional standards may be achieved on the national and international concert stage.

Teaching music

Parallel to intensive ensemble work the practice-oriented, concentrated pedagogical training enables the students to teach the instrument studied in the first master's programme professionally in individual and group lessons at musical educational institutions or independently at all levels.

Career prospects

Graduates of this degree programme are qualified to work as part of a professional chamber music ensemble and perform at specialist chamber music concerts. The pedagogical Master's qualification enables them to teach their instrument in music education institutions as well as independently.
Nearly all music schools in Switzerland now require prospective teaching staff to have a Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy.

Target audience

This degree programme is aimed at ensembles (with at least three performers) who already share a musical biography and have a clear professional focus as an Ensemble. At least one member of the ensemble must be matriculated at the Basel Academy of Music.
Matriculation in this Master's programme in Music Pedagogy instrument/voice requires a Master's degree in vocal or instrumental performance and enables students to combine their artistic profile with a Master's degree in pedagogy for their own instrument. The second artistic major replaces the artistic major instrumental/vocal.

The BA and MA degree programs at the Basel Academy of Music are based on modules.

The legally binding structure provides an initial guide to the content and weighting of the subjects on the degree programme.
The detailed content and modalities of the individual subjects can be found in the module descriptions.
The study regulations come into force together with the study and examination regulations of the Basel Academy of Music FHNW and form the legal framework.

Admission criteria

In order to enter the FHNW Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy programme with a Chamber Music major, applicants must be awarded with a Master in Music Performance with an instrumental/vocal major or equivalent as well as they must have passed the entrance exam and were offered a free place at the Academy (limited places).

Only fixed ensembles of at least 3 musicians will be considered. At least one member of the ensemble must be properly matriculated at Basel Academy of Music.

For further information on the admission criteria, please see the Studienreglement of the Master of Arts FHNW in Music Pedagogy.

Required skills
The ensemble must possess the following:

• a wide-ranging repertoire, a shared musical biography and ideas for the artistic and professional profile to be developed and enhanced
• a recognizable ensemble culture and distinctive ensemble sound
• highest instrumental and artistic abilities
• a strong ability to express themselves musically in order to convincingly represent their own interpretative choices
• relevant stage experience and a confident stage presence.
• Pedagogical interest and appropriate aptitude

We expect students to have very good German language skills.
Students who are not German native speakers must present at least a B1 German language certificate (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).* This certificate must be complete, i.e. all modules (reading, listening, writing, speaking) have been tested separately and passed at a minimum level of B1 overall.
Only certificates that have been certified with the ALTE-Q-Mark seal of approval (e.g. the B1 certificate of the Goethe Institute or the telc certificate) are accepted. The required certificate B1 must be submitted with the confirmation of admission but not later than 31 May.

*For Swiss citizens whose native language is not German, the Matura is considered equivalent to the required language certificate, provided that the subject German was completed with at least a ‘sufficient/genügend’ grade.

Entrance exam

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