Music and Research

Combine artistic practice and research into a unique profile: with the support of committed mentors and peers, carry out your own artistic research project. Whether in preparation for a PhD or as a tool for your artistic work, Music and Research offers space for artistic innovation and reflection.

• Planning and implementing an own artistic-scientific research project
• Intensive support from two mentors: 1. artistic-scientific / scientific, 2. artistic
• Key Content: Research methods, academic writing and presenting, research management, internships, music aesthetics
• Features: peer-to-peer learning, participation in various project and ensemble offers

Studying Music and Research?

Let first year student Rubén Bañuelos Preciado (Student MA SP Music and Research) and Prof. Dr. Anne-May Krüger (Head of Programme) take you on campus.

The Specialized Master of Arts in Music and Research is an innovative programme that allows students to forge their own distinct identity as an artist through a combined and detailed focus on musical practice and music research. Programme graduates have the necessary skills and expertise to plan and conduct their own artistic-scientific research projects and communicate to audiences of all kinds. Thanks to their outstanding musicianship and critically reflective approach, programme graduates are ideally placed to play a leading role in shaping and advancing the fields of musical practice and music research.

There is an array of career options available to graduates of the MA SP Music and Research programme. You can carve out a role for yourself in the international creative music industry and re-energise it by bringing fresh ideas on board. Depending on your particular area of expertise, you will have the skills to open up hybrid creative spaces for musical practice and academic research, which in turn could serve as a stepping stone to other careers. Your abilities as an artist-educator/artist-researcher also make you ideally suited to positions in conservatories of music and within key parts of the music scene (e.g. festival direction, advisory committees, ensemble direction, funding bodies, etc.).

The MA SP Music and Research is aimed at highly gifted musicians, composers and music theorists who regard research as an integral part of their artistic practice and wish to combine both activities in a more informed and scientific manner. It is equally suited to students who wish to embark on a doctoral programme (artistic-scientific or Dr. phil.) at a later stage. Independent work and self-directed study are a major component of this Master's programme.

Study variant available:
The combined master's program – Music and Research and education in music pedagogy

What does it mean to research about or with music, to research in music?

Students and lecturers provide some insight.

The master program is aimed at students who have a high level of competence as instrumentalists/vocalists or composers and music theorists for whom research is a central part of their artistic profile. The core of the program is an artistic-academic research project, which the students develop based on questions which emerge from their artistic practice. The project is supervised by two mentors from the broad spectrum of lecturers at the Academy of Music Basel including the institutes of Classical Music, Jazz and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The project is supported further with courses that impart knowledge and skills in the areas of artistic-academic research methods, musicology, academic writing, music aesthetics, and research management. The double mentorship (artistic and academic) as well as the access to artistic courses and projects enables the students to pursue both their artistic and their academic development. To this end, internships in the school’s research departments or partner institutions (such as the Department of Musicology at the University of Basel or the Paul Sacher Foundation) give students an in-depth insight into research practice. The curriculum is compiled according to the requirements and objectives of their respective projects, thus enabling targeted and individual support. Additionally, research funds can also be applied for via a project fund.

Prospects for doctoral studies

The MA SP Music and Research is conducted inter-institutionally (HSM in collaboration with the Department of Musicology at the University of Basel among others) and is suitable for students interested in pursuing a doctorate (artistic-scientific doctorate or Dr. phil.). For graduates of the MA SP MaR, a direct transition to the doctoral project Musikwissen (carried out in collaboration with the Department of Musicology of the University of Basel; degree: PhD) is possible: Of the 35 ECTS credits in academic qualification at Master's level required for admission, up to the total can be covered by the coursework completed in Music and Research.

Student projects in Music and Research

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 program.
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.

The Master's programme in Specialized Music Performance Music and Research is open to students who have successfully completed a Bachelor's programme, have passed the entrance exam and have been offered a place (numbers are limited). Candidates who have submitted the necessary application documents in full and on time will be invited to take the entrance exam.
For further admission criteria, please consult the Study regulations of the Master of Arts FHNW in Specialized Music Performance (in German).

Admission to this programme is highly competitive. Applicants therefore must demonstrate outstanding artistic and research skills and, ideally, have completed an MA in Musical Performances or in Composition/Music Theory. In exceptional cases, a Bachelor's degree or similar undergraduate qualification may suffice. It is recommended to contact potential mentors in the field of study or the head of the degree programme before registering for the entrance exam.

Required skills

• Highest level of expertise in original discipline (instrumental/vocal, composition/music theory)
• Declared interest in research and, depending on area of specialisation and research project, advanced research skills

Applicants must be sufficiently proficient in the German language and excellent in English (Niveau C1 - C2) prior to admission.

Entrance exam

Projects / Ensembles

At Hochschule für Musik Basel, students have the opportunity to participate in various project and ensemble programmes.
To the overview of the recurring offers.

• Welcome: A brief overview
• Studying in Switzerland
• Tuition fees & Financing
• Scholarship
• Module descriptions

• Dates Entrance Exam on Site
• List of works for Entrance Exam
• Study Regulations
• Semester dates

Contact and Info-Event

Basel Academy of Music

An international institute of higher education and research