OUR COURSES:
MMus (Performance)
Course details
This course is aimed at performers with a strong interest in live or recorded performance within jazz or classical styles, wishing to develop and extend their repertoire and experience. There is an emphasis on developing high-level solo performance skills alongside ensemble and collaborative activities. As with the other MMus pathways, there are modules which involve producing a collaborative project, developing research skills and academic writing, and a final project, which will normally culminate in a public performance.
The course is taught through workshops, seminars, tutorials, online activity within the university's Virtual Learning Environment and instrumental/vocal lessons. Performers are encouraged to collaborate with each other and with other students within the School of Music and Performing Arts (whether in music or in other disciplines). Students are also required to participate in two ensembles of their choice within the Department of Music.
This pathway is led by Dr Charles Wiffen and Professor Roger Heaton. Roger is a renowned clarinettist and conductor and performs throughout Europe as a soloist. He has played with the Arditti, Kreutzer and Smith String Quartets, and was a member of the London Sinfonietta and Ensemble Modern. He plays with the Gavin Bryars Ensemble, with whom he records regularly for CD and radio. His solo CD of works by Reich, Bryars, Feldman and others, was voted one of the top 50 classical CDs of 1995 by the BBC Music Magazine, and his recital CD, Hymnos, was one of the Sunday Times critics' best CDs of 1998, both are on the Clarinet Classics label. His CD of music by Erhard Grosskopf was released in 2001, his recording of Scelsi's clarinet concerto Kya came out on Metier in 2002, and Feldman's Clarinet and String Quartet was released in September 2004 to coincide with his 50th birthday concert at the Purcell Room on London's South Bank. A CD of solo music by Tom Johnson was released on the Ants/Silenzio (Rome) in 2006, and a recording of Hugh Wood's chamber music will be released on Toccata Classics in October 2009. He was Music Director and conductor of Rambert Dance Company, 1988-93, and Clarinet Professor at the Darmstadt Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, 1982-94.
Charles Wiffen has performed extensively in Great Britain, Europe, North America, Israel, China, Japan and Southern Africa. Recent festival appearances have included the BBC Proms as well as numerous other festivals such as the Arundel, Brighton, Bath, Buckingham, Chelsea, King's Lynn and Warwick Festivals and concert tours have included Austria, Germany, Spain, Japan and China. Charles has broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and has recorded CDs for several labels including Toccata. He is a member of the London Archduke Trio and Contemporary Consort. Charles has taught at the Royal College of Music and at Trinity College of Music.
Students may explore areas of their own interest, which may relate to staff specialisms such as contemporary clarinet (Professor Roger Heaton), early music and music of the Georgian period (Dr Matthew Spring) and romantic and early twentieth-century music (Dr Charles Wiffen). Students will also benefit from the involvement of the many vocal and instrumental teachers within the Music Department as well as from a well-established masterclass programme. Recent visitors have included Dame Emma Kirkby (voice), Isobel Buchanan (voice), Stefano Parrino (flute), Badke Quartet (strings), Florian Uhlig (piano), Professor Colin Lawson (clarinet), Andy Sheppard (saxophone), Ensemble Bash (percussion) and Madeleine Mitchell (violin). This culture of high-level performance will be relevant and attractive to potential MMus (Performance) students.
The Music Department currently runs a wide range of ensemble activity, all of which will be relevant to MMus (Performance) students. Such ensembles include those in the western classical tradition (such as orchestra and Georgian Band) and jazz (BB1 and BB2) as well as in other areas (such as Gamelan and experimental music). BSU Music Department has developed close links with high-profile promoters of live music (including Bath International Music Festival, Bath Philharmonia, Bath Mozart Fest, Pump Room Series, Iford Arts) and these links will enable some significant performance-related opportunities for MMus (Performance) students.
