MA Music Pedagogy | instrument / voice | Wind Orchestra Conducting

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 the artistic specialisation in Wind Orchestra Conducting with a teaching qualification for your own instrument as part of an MA in Music Pedagogy. This dual profile expands your range of opportunities: conducting orchestras and ensembles, as well as teaching as an instrument or vocal teacher at educational institutions or on a freelance basis.

The programme pursues two objectives:

Training as a conductor of a wind orchestra

The programme prepares students for the artistically demanding task of conducting wind orchestras, both with professional musicians and amateurs. Students acquire comprehensive knowledge of conducting and related disciplines. In particular, they learn to interpret a score in its style-specific sonority and with clarity of conducting technique. Practical work with the orchestra is important here: students train and deepen their psychologically and methodologically demanding interaction with the musicians.

Instrumental/vocal teaching training

In addition to the artistic specialisation in Wind Orchestra Conducting, the practice-oriented, concentrated pedagogical training enables the students to teach the instrument or voice studied in the first master's programme professionally in individual and group lessons at musical educational institutions, grammar schools or independently at all levels.

Career prospects

The Master's degree in Music Pedagogy instrument/voice (second artistic Major Wind Orchestra Conducting) allows students to acquire a dual profile:
Graduates are qualified to lead wind orchestras, brass bands and wind ensembles, whether amateur, semi-professional or professional. Furthermore, graduates will acquire a Master's degree in instrumental and vocal pedagogy for their own instrument and will then be qualified to teach this subject in music education institutions as well as independently. It is also possible to combine both activities at the HSM Basel.
Nearly all music schools in Switzerland now require prospective teaching staff to have a Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy (or an equivalent qualification).

Target audience

The FHNW Master of Arts in Specialised Music Performance with a Wind Orchestra Conducting is aimed at students who hold a Bachelor degree in Music and who wish to specialise in wind orchestra conducting. 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.

In order to enter the FHNW Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy programme with a Wind Orchestra Conducting 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). Applicants who have submitted all the necessary registration documents in time and have passed the first round of the entrance exam will be invited to play a live audition. This invitation also serves as admission to the educational entrance exam.
For further information on the admission criteria, please see the Studienreglement of the Master of Arts FHNW in Music Pedagogy.

Required skills

• Basic knowledge of conducting and rehearsal techniques
• Piano and score-playing proficiency
• Ability to analyse a score for a wind orchestra
• Knowledge of the seminal works in the wind orchestra repertoire
• 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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