Arts, Design & Architecture

Music

How to apply
Personalise
Happy student on coloured background

Pursue professional excellence with our music degree

The Music degree at UNSW is designed for curious, open-minded and ambitious students, preparing you for a long and fulfilling career in music. Our comprehensive programs emphasise technical and stylistic expertise, engagement with complex, universal issues and collaborative learning. You'll develop globally applicable skills through flexibility and individual pathways, making the most of the university environment to build a successful music career.

There are multiple ways of studying music at UNSW:

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music: A three-year undergraduate degree with specialisations in Creative Practice, Sonic Arts, and Pedagogy.
  • Bachelor of Music (Honours): High-performing UNSW students can add an Honours year to graduate with two degrees. This is also open to students from other universities with a Bachelor-level degree in music.
  • Bachelor of Arts: Offers a minor and two majors, one tailored for education students and one more flexible.
  • General Education Courses: Available to any student at the university.
  • PhD Research: Supports a community of researchers working on dissertations or combining dissertations with creative outputs. 

We are open to all musicians, regardless of genre, style, or instrument, including composers and sonic artists.

Careers in music

Turn your passion and purpose into a professional career with UNSW in the potential careers in music below:

  • Arts administrator
  • Classroom music teacher
  • Composer
  • Performer
  • Music studio teacher
  • Sonic Artist - Freelance musician

Discovering new ways of creating music at UNSW

Learn about music from diverse perspectives by developing your technical and expressive skills, enabling you to make music with confidence and artistic conviction. You'll collaborate with students and professional musicians, learning about music's historical contexts and cultural transformations. Our programs nurture your aspirations and abilities in performing, composing, researching and teaching at the highest standards. You'll perform in ensembles, attend masterclasses, learn key skills, and work with a one-to-one teacher.

The music degree is designed to be taken as a single or dual degree, which can be combined seamlessly with degrees across the university such as Arts, Education, Computer Science, Science, Advanced Science, Engineering, Media, Commerce and Law. Similarly, if you are enrolled in another degree at UNSW our courses can be integrated into your program.

Quick links

Study

  • To study Music at UNSW in the Bachelor of Fine Arts you must pass an audition and apply through UAC or UNSW Apply Online. You are also encouraged to apply for the Portfolio Entry Scheme. Please note that there are deadlines for UNSW applications, and for the Portfolio Entry Scheme.

    To learn more about our application process, please see the ‘UNSW music auditions’ section below.

     

  • Audition now

     

    You may audition at any time. We assess auditions at the end of each month, so expect that you will hear the outcome early in the month following your submission. 

    Whether you specialise in traditional categories of performance and composition, or another musical practice, we welcome all forms of music. We want to hear you at your best, so please submit a recent recording of your musical practice that best represents the music that you make.

    Please submit materials according to one of the following:

    Performance
    If Performance is your intended focus, you must provide two contrasting performances. They can be any two short pieces of your choice, as long as they contrast in some way (tempo, technical difficulty, expression, style and so on). Each piece must be between three and five minutes in length, and you should include a video of your performing these. 

    Composition
    If Composition is your intended focus, you must provide two scores of contrasting compositions (along with the two composition scores, we also require accompanying audio files [mp3 is best] – so please also upload audio files that are either MIDI-based recordings or video recordings of live performances of your compositions). We recommend you also submit two contrasting performances on your individual instrument or voice. If not accepted as a composition specialist, you may possibly be accepted as a performer.

    All Other Musical Practices
    Please submit two contrasting examples of your musical practice. Alongside video submissions we welcome audio files (mp3 or a similarly widely used format) and visual materials (PDFs).

    All applicants should also submit:

    Short song to be sung unaccompanied
    The short song can be any song of your choice. It is for the examiner to test your sense of pitch. A traditional song or folk song would be most preferable and must be a minimum of one minute in length.

    500-word essay about yourself
    The essay can be about something that you've enjoyed doing, studying or learning about aside from music. The essay is important because it illustrates what you think and how well you express yourself. It also gives you an opportunity to tell us about who you are beyond your musical qualifications and will help us further distinguish you from other applicants. Try to write your essay in a way that lets your voice come through.

    CV/Resume 
    We don’t expect extensive experience; this is merely to give the examiner an idea of what, if any, extracurricular activities you may be involved with within the sphere of music.

    Reference
    Please ask someone familiar with your music to write a brief reference.

    For enquiries about your audition or the music degree, please contact the Convenor of Music, Associate Professor Michael Hooper: m.hooper@unsw.edu.au

     

    Audition now

     

  • Music (MUSCP1)
    All students begin the music degree as Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music students, with many choosing to stay in this specialisation for its flexibility and wide range of electives. From the second year, students can transfer to other music specialisations:

    Music creative practice (MUSCQ1)
    Focus on performance, composition, and creation. Push your skills to create innovative performances. Collaborate in ensembles and one-to-one lessons. With mentor support, produce original works to showcase at public events. Entry to this specialisation is by application; for more information contact Dr Sonya Lifschitz.

    Sonic arts (MUSCS1)
    Combine ideas with practical skills to explore new sonic technologies and develop your career in electronic arts. Work on projects that enhance your sound design, sequencing, mixing, editing, and post-production skills. Create immersive audio-visual environments and multi-speaker surround sound projects in industry-standard studios, using specialist sonic arts software. This specialisation is overseen by Dr Adam Hulbert.

    Music pedagogy (MUSCR1)
    Develop your unique teaching style for beginners, advanced students, children, and adults. Learn to enhance others' abilities by refining your own skills. Observe expert teachers, gain practical experience in instrumental and vocal instruction, and understand broader approaches to music education. This specialisation is overseen by Dr Kim Burwell.

     

  • The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music enhances your core music skills and knowledge while allowing you to specialise. You can combine your music specialisation with subjects like English, creative writing, film, media, or theatre and performance studies.
    Our degree options

    We offer the below undergraduate courses with a specialisation in Music:

    Students in all specialisations can also pursue qualifications in music education.

    We offer the below undergraduate courses with a major or minor in Music Studies (within the Bachelor of Arts):

    The music studies major is for students with less formal training in music, with no audition required, and for those who wish to pursue broad music studies with a liberal arts program. You can combine it with a variety of other areas of study in the following programs:

    Music Studies Extension provides a more comprehensive range of prescribed music courses and is intended as basic preparation for careers in music teaching. This course is undertaken within the B Arts/B Education (Secondary).

    A minor in Music Studies is also available in the following degrees:

     

  • The Bachelor of Music Honours can be added to the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music as an additional year. It is a year that can be used to finish your undergraduate studies, and it also begins a path towards further research. Honours students are supervised by one of the music academics.

    Entry into honours is by application; students who are interested in honours should contact the School of the Arts and Media’s Honours Coordinator or the Convenor of Music.

    Recent honours projects include:

    • A Flock in Flight: Poignancy and Self-Revelation from a Particular Musical Gesture in the Works of Takashi Yoshimatsu
    • Applicability of formal methodologies to contemporary studio teaching: an exploratory study of Dalcroze, Kodaly and Suzuki
    • At the piano: pedalling in Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin, and hommages to Ravel
    • Colours of the music: Investigating the impact of coloured lighting on emotional arousal in piano performance
    • Conceptions of musical ability
    • Coping with Music Performance Anxiety: The Use and Effectiveness of Strategies Implemented by Musicians
    • Coping with music performance anxiety: the use and effectiveness of strategies implemented by musicians
    • Copyright and musicians: Qualitative study about emerging musicians’ knowledge of copyright
    • Film, Music, and Emotion: The Multidirectional Diffusion of Emotion between Stimulus and Related Context
    • How to Handel Ornamentation: Free Ornamentation of Baroque Da Capo Arias with a Focus on two Selected Works by George Frideric Handel
    • Informing music studio teaching practices: a critical investigation of theoretical, empirical and professional literature
    • Music Playing its Part: Music Censorship in Afghanistan
    • Piano memorization: concepts and strategies for the pre-professional pianist
    • Practice skills and their acquisition in Higher Music Education
    • Reconceptualising the Heritagisation of Western Classical Art Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • The Mind and Body on Soothing Music: Examining existing research on why we relax when we hear soothing music
    • Tonal Signifiers: A Comparative Analysis of Solos by Jimmie Blanton and Joel Quarrington

     

  • Higher research degrees at UNSW cover a wide range of subjects, including musicology, ethnomusicology, composition, performance, music psychology, popular music, music aesthetics and music education. You can move between various subjects within the School of the Arts & Media. Our research in Australian music and modernism is of the highest standard and aligns with strong scholarship English and in other subject areas. Our performing arts researchers lead in jazz, improvised music, new classical music and composition, with works performed globally. Empirical musicology researchers use interdisciplinary methods from psychology, engineering and statistics to explore music. Ethnomusicology researchers are internationally recognised for their production of South and Southeast Asian music, applied work in communities, and new intercultural performances.

Learn from internationally recognised academics and outstanding researchers

At UNSW, you'll be inspired by our internationally recognised academics who excel in both mainstream academic research and creative artistic practice. Our staff publish, compose, perform and record globally, including in Australia, New Zealand, US, UK and Europe. Our music research spans analytical, cultural, philosophical, psychological, pedagogical and practice-based approaches, with leaders in jazz, improvised music and new classical music. These researchers regularly perform at major international festivals and have their compositions performed by renowned orchestras and ensembles worldwide.

Meet our renowned academics and researchers

Music research at UNSW spans analytical, cultural, philosophical, psychological, pedagogical and practice-based approaches. We have international leaders in performing arts, empirical musicology and ethnomusicology, who are also experienced teachers. For more information, visit each person’s research page.

  • Dr Kim Burwell
  • Professor Dorottya Fabian
  • Associate Professor Michael Hooper (Music Convenor) 
  • Dr Adam Hulbert
  • Associate Professor Eric Isaacson
  • Dr Sonya Lifschitz
  • Dr John Napier
  • Professor Emery Schubert
  • Brad Taylor-Newling

We also work with a large community of musicians and scholars to teach our courses. To apply for a PhD, first contact one the music academics, or email: sampg@unsw.edu.au

A thriving community with a rich history

Music has been a thriving activity at UNSW for more than 50 years. The founder of the original Department of Music, Professor Roger Covell, joined the academic staff in 1966 and taught courses across several faculties, established concerts, and developed a chamber opera company and vocal ensembles.   

The inauguration of the resident chamber group, the Australia Ensemble, followed in 1980, as well as the university's Collegium Musicum Choir, and eventually the UNSW Orchestra and the Wind Symphony. With our passionate staff and strong music history at UNSW, we offer an extensive range of courses and performance opportunities for every musician.

Music performances and events

Most ensembles perform each term, with Honours recitals typically near the start of Term 3. We also collaborate with the Music Performance Unit (MPU) to deliver academic programs, who manages the UNSW Orchestra, Wind Symphony, Collegium Musicum Choir, and Corde and offers performance opportunities for music students. The MPU also coordinates the Australia Ensemble, UNSW’s professional ensemble-in-residence for over 40 years and hosts various events at UNSW.

Lessons and ensembles

We offer a lessons subsidy for students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts’ Music Craft Courses, honours in creative fields and other select courses, allowing you to study with the teacher of your choice.

Studying music at UNSW offers students a vibrant and diverse experience, with opportunities to join various ensembles such as the UNSW Orchestra, Wind Symphony, and Collegium Musicum Choir. These ensembles provide a platform for students to enhance their performance skills and collaborate with peers and professionals. For more information, visit the UNSW Music Ensembles page. 
How to apply