Welcome

Context

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is a leading international institution delivering performing arts education. Our vision is to be a sustainable community that nurtures, supports and celebrates inclusive art making from grassroots to world-leading performance and production. Our missions is for our education, engagement and research in the performing arts to be a catalyst to shape the future of art forms, artists and society.

Our uniquely diverse range of programme offerings – which encompass drama, dance, production, film, education and music – make it possible for our masters framework to offer a rich range of opportunities and challenges, including the prospect of artistic and academic collaboration across disciplines and genres. Our commitment to sustainability encompasses both the longevity and adaptability of a musician‘s career, and the societal and environmental relevance of the artistic practice itself.

Postgraduate study

You are here because you are aiming to make music your life’s work. Perhaps you aspire to become an opera singer, a concert artist, chamber or orchestral musician; to work as a freelance musician across genres such as traditonal music, jazz, film or musical theatre; to accompany, compose or arrange; or to be a conductor, music leader or animateur. You might have your sights set on doctoral study; on teaching and coaching; or to fulfil one of the vital specialist roles in related art forms such as ballet.

Given this wide range of aspirations, we have designed the programme to be highly flexible; wherever possible, we aim to give you the agency to define your own artistic and professional goals and seek out the means to attain them. A core aspect of this agency is the development of sustainable arts practices, equipping you with the skills for a portfolio career and the adaptability needed to thrive in a constantly evolving industry.

Fundamental to the philosophy of the programme is our belief that musical knowledge is enacted in-and-through practice, whether through performing, composing, conducting, academic work or teaching.

Alongside this is an expanded view of critical thinking in-and-through artistic practice: a ‘critical musicianship’. In this way we encourage you to develop your specialism so as to convey a robust interrogation of relevant theoretical, social and historical contexts, including its potential to address complex global issues and contribute to environmental sustainability.

We have set ourselves high aims for masters study at the Conservatoire – nothing short of changing your relationship with the work you do as a musician.