Master of Performance (often abbreviated to MPerf) is a postgraduate degree awarded by some conservatoires in the United Kingdom. Often offered alongside the more common Master of Music degree, the MPerf develops one's musical skills to a high professional level through intensive and specialised training. Students can specialise in instrumental, vocal or compositional study which is then augmented by advanced study in music theory, aural skills and professional development. The Royal College of Music sees its MPerf degree as a less intensive undertaking to its sister MMus degree, due to the lack of research modules in the former qualification [1] whereas the MPerf degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama is more intensive than their MMus and requires an additional year of study. [2]
The degree is currently offered by the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music. [3]
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama and production arts. The school has students from over seventy countries. It was ranked first in both the Guardian's 2022 League Table for Music and the Complete University Guide's 2023 Arts, Drama and Music league table. It is also ranked the fifth university in the world for performing arts in the 2024 QS World University Rankings.
Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools or non-selective comprehensive schools. All state schools are subject to assessment and inspection by the government department Ofsted. England also has private schools and home education; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means.
A Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music education, composition, music theory, musicology / music history, music technology, music therapy, sacred music, music business/music industry, entertainment, music production, or jazz studies. Since the 2010s, some universities have begun offering degrees in music composition with technology, which include traditional theory and musicology courses and sound recording and composition courses using digital technologies.
The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education, RNCM is a busy and diverse public performance venue.
The Master of Music is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The degree, which takes one or two years of full-time study to complete, prepares students to be professional performers, conductors, and composers, according to their area of specialization. The MM is often required as the minimum teaching credential for university, college, and conservatory instrumental or vocal teaching positions.
A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradition. Despite the historical distinction in nomenclature, these degrees are typically combined and conferred together. This degree is usually awarded as an undergraduate degree, but it can also be awarded at graduate-level medical institutions. The typical duration for completion is five to six years.
The Doctor of Music degree is a doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions, musical performances, and/or scholarly publications on music.
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It includes three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall.
The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and doctorate-level study in areas such as performance practice, composition, musicology and music history. It is the only one of the nine conservatoires in the United Kingdom that is also part of a faculty of a university, in this case Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools, and a founder member of Conservatoires UK.
A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution that specializes in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts, such as acting, design and technical theatre, arts administration, and related subjects. If the drama school is part of a degree-granting institution, undergraduates typically take an Associate degree, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, or, occasionally, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Design. Graduate students may take a Master of Arts, Master of Acting, Master of Science, Master of Fine Arts, Doctor of Arts, Doctor of Fine Arts, or Doctor of Philosophy degree.
The Centre for Music and Performing Arts is a specialised department of the Colchester Institute. The centre caters to all kinds of performing arts, including classical music, jazz and popular music studies, vocal instruction, acting and musical theatre. The department has been noted as being one of the finest in East Anglia and one of the best music departments in England. Graduates of the Music Diploma and Degree have gone on to schools such as the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music and the Guildhall School in London.
Bath College is a further education college in the centre of Bath, Somerset and in Westfield, Somerset, England. It was formed in April 2015 by the merger of City of Bath College and Norton Radstock College. The College also offers Higher Education courses and has its own Undergraduate building.
Trinity College London (TCL) is an examination board based in London, United Kingdom which offers graded and diploma qualifications across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and English language learning and teaching. Trinity College London has examined over 850,000 candidates in more than 60 countries worldwide. It is a registered charity in England, Wales and Scotland, and its Patron is HRH The Duke of Kent.
The Manchester School of Theatre is a tertiary school of theatre, drama and performance situated in the city of Manchester, founded in 1970. It is a part of Manchester Metropolitan University, and, in its work as a conservatoire, a member of the Federation of Drama Schools.
A movement director creates physical vocabularies through actor movement in various production settings, including theatre, television, film, opera, fashion, and animation.
Morag McLaren is a Scottish singer, director and coach who now focuses on helping young singers at the early stages in their professional careers.
The Multimedia University of Kenya (MMU) is a public university located in Nairobi. The university offers IT & related courses, Mass media, Business, Engineering, Physical Sciences and Social sciences education.
The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music , a school of the National University of Singapore, is Singapore's first conservatory of music located at Conservatory Drive off Kent Ridge Crescent. Primarily an undergraduate institution, it offers full-time studies in 20 majors leading to a Bachelor of Music (Honours) Degree, as well as programmes for NUS students, graduate students, continuing education adult learners and young artists. The YST Conservatory maintains an undergraduate cohort of 220 Bachelor of Music students, all of whom receive full financial support through government grants, the Yong Loo Lin Trust and other donors. It also hosts a performance calendar of around 200 concerts annually.
David Dolan is a concert pianist, researcher and educator. He devotes an important part of his career to the revival of the art of classical improvisation. Professor of classical improvisation and its application on creativity in performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, he is Head of the Centre for Creative Performance and Classical Improvisation. He also teaches at the Yehudi Menuhin School following Lord Menuhin's invitation in 1989.
Alexandra Ioana Dariescu is a Romanian British classical concert pianist, educator, mentor and producer. She is best known for her multimedia project The Nutcracker and I and her focus on promoting the works of female composers.