MA Community Music

Introduction

The Masters of Arts in Community Music is a one year, full-time postgraduate programme. It offers a comprehensive grounding in the skills and knowledge needed to function as a successful community musician in a range of contexts. The MA Community Music is aimed at musicians who already have an excellent level of self-expressive skill and who wish to develop their abilities to facilitate the expressive work of others. Throughout the course, students will meet a range of practicing community music facilitators and researchers, who work in a variety of settings from orchestras to community centres, schools to hospitals.

The programme brings together research and practice, with a combination of contextual and practical modules covering areas such as facilitation skills, ensemble music-making, project management, financial planning and fundraising, research skills and academic writing. Students are encouraged to explore community music practice in a national and international context and to engage in and contribute to emerging research.

Programme of Study

The MA Community Music comprises six modules of lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops and a final presentation worth twelve credits. The final presentation will take the form of an extended written submission, a workshop, a community music project proposal and a viva voce. Students will take two modules and one compulsory Independent Study each semester. Each Independent Study is a self directed module with guided expertise drawn from the staff of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.

For the academic year 2021/22, the MA Community Music will be delivered online.

Semester 1

Community Music Skills 1

In this module, you will begin to develop the observation, evaluation, communication and teaching techniques and skills necessary for work in community music. While your musical competencies are assumed, this module provides further musical work in en-semble skills, basic conducting, ensemble percussion work, composition, arranging, im-provisation and songwriting.

Community Music in Context

This module will introduce you to the history, foundations and principles of community music through current historical case studies. There will be emphasis on case studies in the Irish situation, as well as examples from the UK and the International community. You may be required to participate in site visits as well as lectures and tutorials.

MD6051 Independent Study 1

This module provides a space to engage in the study of a topic/subject of their own choice. Students organise their tuition and the assessment mechanism in consultation with their course director. A broad range of existing modules from the various postgraduate offers at the Academy is also available for students to chose from.

MD6111 Colloquium 1

This module exposes students to scholarship and performance practices from a wide variety of music and dance and related disciplines, enabling students to broaden their perspectives on their own specialisation as well as experience presentations from scholars and performers in cognate disciplines. Students are expected to attend a minimum of five seminars from the various series offered in the Academy.

Semester 2

Community Music Skills 2

In this module, you will consolidate the observation, evaluation, communication and teaching techniques and skills you developed in Community Music Skills 1. The course provides further musical work in a range of genres but with greater emphasis on working in the community rather than with your peers.

Community Music Project

In this module, you will develop techniques and skills to implement and oversee successful community music programs, including the following: community-led programme design, planning and evaluating workshops, structuring residencies and group work, financial planning, entrepreneurial thinking, fundraising, using resources and networks, evaluating and writing up project summaries.

MD6062 Critical Contexts for Arts Management and Cultural Policy

As part of this module, students are introduced to key ideas, issues and current debates in arts management and cultural policy. There is an emphasis on the interpretation and engagement with cultural policy from the perspective of a practitioner, and its relation to funding applications. The development of effective funding application skills and grant writing are also covered in this module.

MD6051 Independent Study 1

Semester 3

MD5522 Final Presentation

The final presentation involves the final performance/submission/combination of both, offered by the student as the culmination of his/her work during the course of the pro-gramme. The presentation is designed in consultation with your tutors. For students of the MA Community Music is a combination of workshop, viva voce, programme design and research paper.

Applications

Entrance Requirements:

A primary degree with first or second class honours

an approved equivalent qualification

an equivalent capability based on prior professional experience

A performance audition and interview will be required in all cases.

Audio-visual audition material may be submitted by oversees candidates at the course director’s discretion.

HOW TO APPLY:

https://www.ul.ie/gps/course/community-music-ma

Postgraduate Admissions Office
Graduate School
Foundation Building
University of Limerick

Tel: +353 61 234377
Fax: +353 61 233287
Email: postgradadmissions@ul.ie

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK ACADEMIC CALENDAR:

Click here for UL Academic Calendar

INTERNATIONAL OFFICE:

Click here for UL International Office

POSTGRADUATE FEES:

Click here for Postgraduate Fees

SCHOLARSHIPS:

Click here for a list of scholarships available to prospective Irish World Academy of Music and Dance students.

Testimonials

Andrew Jordan, Graduate MA Community Music

“My name is Andrew Jordan and I graduated from the Irish World Academy with an M.A. in Community Music in 2012. Having previously completed a degree in Social Care I gained amazing experiences working in a variety of settings from child care, mental health, the homeless services, to working for many years with people with disabilities. Aside from my work in social care I have always played music. For me music is much more than a hobby it is part of who I am and has played a very important role in my life. I was fortunate to have had some amazing personal experiences of music making having played the trumpet in bands for most of my life. Throughout my experiences of music and social care I recognized the connection between working with some of the most vulnerable people in our society and the positive experiences and skills music can provide. For this reason, I wanted to combine my work in social care with music.

Having researched and explored many different programmes I felt that the M.A. in Community Music provided a natural link between my background as a social care worker and my experience of music. I feel the course provided me with the practical skills and applications needed to take my knowledge of music and social care together to work with people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. The course provided the opportunity to reflect and explore the skills I already had and to develop the ones I felt I needed.

Since completing the course I have been able to develop and expand the work I do as co-director of the Redemptorist Centre of Music, Limerick City. The Redemptorist Centre of Music is a centre that provides people of all backgrounds access to music through a variety of different approaches and contexts. To date we work with almost 500 people on a weekly basis from our programmes for toddlers to our groups for older adults. Along with my practical work in community music I am also in the process of completing a PhD examining the work of Music Generation in Limerick City and exploring the ways in which music can be used as a tool for social change. Community Music has really provided a structure for how I view music, I feel it is a constantly developing area and one I am very proud to be part of. I would highly recommend the M.A. in Community Music programme!”

Media

Contact

Enquiries in relation to the course can be made to:

Dr. Kathleen Turner

Course Director, MA Community Music,

Room No: IW1.30,

Irish World Academy of Music and Dance,

University of Limerick,

Limerick, Ireland.

Tel: +353-61-233762

E-mail: Kathleen.Turner@ul.ie

For further details, information and brochures about the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance: