About This Course
Music and Creative Writing offers a perfect combination of creative disciplines. You will pursue music studies in performance, composition and musicology, and will study the creative practice of writing in a variety of forms. You will approach texts as both reader and writer, and engage with music as a listener, performer and composer. Our close links with local theatres, poetry groups and vibrant student societies will give you opportunities to get involved in arts and culture, and be a part of a thriving music community.
Studying Music is a creative opportunity to grow as a musician, guided by world-renowned composers, performers, musicologists and researchers. You will perform in, or attend performances at, public venues such as Pontio or the magnificent Prichard Jones Hall. In Creative Writing you will approach your studies through a variety of disciplinary pathways: instruction in using the techniques and forms of creative writing; study of the short story, the novel and poetry as literary forms; vocationally-oriented modules in journalism, screenwriting, scriptwriting, storytelling, genre writing, writing for performance and publication, and writing for online and other digital media.
Your musical experience will extend beyond the lecture room, with opportunities to join the University Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir or one of the many student societies for Music, such as Opera, Concert Band, DJ, Musical Theatre, and String Orchestra. You will also benefit from Bangor’s excellent links with leading organisations in the UK, including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom we have an annual composition workshop.
This course will equip you with a solid grounding in the critical and practical skills writing and musical skill you will need to pursue a career in writing, music, and a wide range of other careers.
Why choose Bangor University for this course?
- Excellent student satisfaction: Music 6th in the UK for Overall Student Satisfaction (NSS 2020).
- Creative Writing at Bangor in the UK Top 10 for Research Intensity and Graduate prospects Complete University Guide 2019, 2020 & 2021).
- Close links with the Pontio Arts Centre, local theatres, poetry groups and student societies – including the Bangor English Drama Society (BEDS).
- A dynamic music-making community: choirs, orchestras, bands, student ensembles and the Bangor University Music Society.
Course Content
Your Music and Creative Writing degree programme at Bangor is flexible: you will shape your degree course to reflect your interests and strengths. Our courses are taught by internationally-renowned staff committed to helping you develop your subject-specific knowledge, whilst giving you the freedom to discover and explore your own interests. You will be taught primarily in small group seminars and workshops. You will also spend time on background reading, listening to music, completing essays and coursework as well as rehearsing and performing in ensembles, choirs and orchestras. Several modules involve visits to theatres, concerts, recording studios and composition workshops, or the opportunity to meet and interview, visiting authors.
You will begin your Music studies in a genuinely all-embracing way, engaging with musical theory and practice from modal polyphony to electroacoustic composition. You will use this broad framework as a launch pad for developing your own expertise in one of several fields of musicology, performance or composition, including 20th-century music, classical performance, editing, music in health and well-being, and all styles of composition. You have the option of choosing Solo Performance, taught through an innovative combination of individual tuition, workshops and masterclasses.
The study of writing at Bangor offers a balance of practical and analytical tasks, with seminars and workshops complemented by presentations by visiting writers. You will be assessed both on practical output and on your ability to reflect critically on your practice. You will learn both group work skills and the ability to carry a piece of work through from initial concept to professional output. You will have the opportunity to work with staff who have a wide range of interests and expertise including poetry, the novel, the short story, documentary and film-making, digital communication, E-publishing, computer games, script and screenwriting, and print and broadcast journalism.
Facilities
General University Facilities
Library and Archive Services
Our four libraries provide a range of attractive study environments including collaborative work areas, meeting rooms and silent study spaces.
We have an extensive collection of books and journals and many of the journals are available online in full-text format.
We house one of the largest university-based archives not only in Wales, but also the UK. Allied to the Archives is the Special Collections of rare printed books.
Learning Resources
There is a range of learning resources available, supported by experienced staff, to help you in your studies.
The University’s IT Services provides computing, media and reprographics facilities and services including:
- Over 1,150 computers for students, with some PC rooms open 24 hours a day
- Blackboard, a commercial Virtual Learning Environment, that makes learning materials available on-line.
Careers
Employment prospects are excellent, with a wide range of career options available. Our graduates have gone on to work in a range of roles, including music performance, composition, work in media and recording companies, creative writing, professional writing and publishing. Many graduates choose to become music or English teachers at all educational levels. Others take up administrative posts with orchestras, theatre companies, opera houses or arts centres.
EXPLORE MORE IN CREATIVE WRITING AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING
Our Creative and Professional Writing degree is an innovative, practical programme that encourages you work across a variety of disciplinary pathways. You will learn to hone your ideas and inspiration and learn to express yourself and communicate to a wider audience.
Additional Course Options
This course is available with a Placement Year option where you will study for 1 additional year. The Placement Year is undertaken at the end of the second year and students are away for the whole of the academic year.
The Placement Year provides you with a fantastic opportunity to broaden your horizons and develop valuable skills and contacts through working with a self-sourced organisation relevant to your degree subject. The minimum period in placement (at one or more locations) is seven calendar months; more usually you would spend 10-12 months with a placement provider. You would normally start sometime in the period June to September of your second year and finish between June and September the following year. Placements can be UK-based or overseas and you will work with staff to plan and finalise the placement arrangements.
You will be expected to find and arrange a suitable placement to complement your degree and will be fully supported throughout by a dedicated member of staff at your academic School and the University’s Skills and Employability Services.
You will have the opportunity to fully consider this option when you have started your course at Bangor and can make an application for a transfer onto this pathway at the appropriate time. If you have any questions in the meantime, please get in touch.
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