The two-year master program ‘Joint Music Master for New Audiences and Innovative Practice’ is the first Joint European Master in the field of music.
A new innovative curriculum has been developed with five higher music education institutions and a further seven external professional and educational organizations in four European countries. The program will provide musicians with the skills and knowledge to become artistically flexible practitioners, able to adjust to a wide range of situations in a variety of artistic and social contexts.
Whether your background is classical or jazz, if you are interested in leading creative projects and collaborating with practitioners in other art forms, then the ‘Joint Music Master for New Audiences and Innovative Practice’ is the course for you!
Course information
The two-year masters course has a study load of 120 European Credits (EC's) and is divided into four semesters. Students acquire competencies in ‘Leading and Guiding’, ‘Performance and Communication’, ‘Entrepreneurship and Project Management’ and ‘Action Research’. Specialization is possible in three different areas: ‘Ensembles', ‘Collaborative Practice’ and ‘Cross-Sector Settings’. All students will work at their home institutions as well as abroad.
You’ll be having lessons with: Guy Wood, Michael Moore (Leading&Guiding); Philip Curtis, Marc van Roon, Renee Jonker (Performance&Communication) and depending on your study plan any other of the teachers of the Prince Claus Conservatoire. For more information on the teachers of the NAIP Programme, click here.
The Masters program will begin with a 10 day long intensive summer school at one of the four partner institutions, where the students will be able to work with some of the program tutors and mentors. The personal and professional development of the student is at the centre of this program and to a large extent is tailor-made, with each student having his/her own personal development plan, set up with his/her mentor. This plan will include the choice of overseas institution and the optional modules to be undertaken, as well as details relating to the ‘professional integration project’ that each student will carry out during the second year.
A one-to-one relationship with a mentor will be established as a safe place for an effective conversation that connects the many aspects of the personal learning journey with the objectives in the NAIP programme in a confidential respectful way. The dynamics of the mentoring relationship will emerge out of the shared responsibility of both the mentor and the mentee. They can connect verbally as well as musically since art is often a primary means of communication for the students in the NAIP master programme.
This unique and innovative program has its own website at www.jointmusicmaster.org. Here you can find additional information on the courses, professors, the participating institutes and short videos of projects.
Your Future
After graduating from the Joint Music Master you are equipped to work in a large variety of contexts. Graduates have developed the skills to set up and lead innovative creative projects in diverse artistic, community and cross-sector settings and to attract and create new audiences.
The settings and organizations where you will be able to work are ample and depend on your own wishes and chosen pathway as well. The specialization area (Ensembles; Collaborative Practice; Cross-sector settings) that you have chosen in the Joint Master Program will provide you with the skills to build up a career in that particular area but you are very well equipped to work in other areas as well. Please have a look at the various examples of pathways at this site for an impression of the possibilities and different fields of practice.
Application Procedure Joint Music Master
Applicants who want to study Groningen based, should register completing the PCC application form, and the additional ‘Joint Masters’ application form which can be found below. Please return the completed form together with the required documents to
Prins Claus Conservatorium
Master of Music - NAIP
Jan-Gerd Krüger
Veemarktstraat 76
9722 WE Groningen
The Netherlands
Successful applicants will be invited to take part in the next round, consisting of a practical workshop/performance and an interview with the examination commission. Places on the course will be offered in writing following the interview process.
download: Prince Claus Conservatoire Application Form
download: Adendum to Admission requirements for NAIP candidates
The minimum criteria to gain entrance to the master programme are:
Possession of a Bachelor’s degree in Music; Good performance skills, to be shown in an audition; - Strong motivation and ambition as well as sufficient generic skills on the four domains of the learning outcomes, to be shown in an assessment.
Have a look at the following overview for an impression of the skills concerned in the workshop/performance and interview.
In the performance annex workshop the following skills will be assessed:- skills in artistic expression - creative and transformative skills - performance skills - improvisational skills - ensemble skills - workshop skills - technical skills - knowledge and understanding of repertoire and musical materials - knowledge and understanding of context - independence - psychological understanding - critical awareness - communication skills
The oral presentation annex interview will concentrate on these skills: - technical skills - knowledge and understanding of repertoire and musical materials - knowledge and understanding of context - independence - psychological understanding - critical awareness - communication skills
Example of a Personal Study Pathway
A jazz trombonist writes a "personal study plan" in which she states her intention to explore new pathways into the art of arranging and composition in which she focuses on the implementation of jazz composition in unique societal cross sector contexts.
She enters the Joint Music Master for New Audiences and Innovative Practice at the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen. She takes lessons with David Berkman and Robin Eubanks. In her second semester she goes to Iceland to explore and learn from ensembles and composers who interpret early Icelandic music from a fresh contemporary perspective. She returns to Groningen in order to establish her own ‘centre’ or ‘laboratory’ for classical and jazz musicians, wishing to explore new musical languages through processes involving group composition and improvisation. By the end of the first semester she sharpens her study plan clarifying that she also intends to do an in depth study of modern 20th century composition ultimately leading to her "Professional Integration Project" (PIP) which will consist of arranging her own compositional work, to be performed in a concert, during a summer festival at the end of her fourth year.
Introduction Weeks
In the yearly introduction weeks with all other partners the students meet in Iceland for an Intensive Programme (IP) and work on specific parts of the Programme. She gets in touch with a composer from Stockholm who is attending the IP and together they start writing music for an ensemble which is formed by students of the Programme in Iceland and The Hague.
First semester
When she returns to Groningen the student refines her research proposal and study-plan and takes part in the obligatory modules of the Programme (Mentoring, Performance & Communication, Leading & Guiding, Project Management & Entrepreneurship and Action Research). She is also taking composition lessons with David Berkman and trombone lessons with Robin Eubanks.
She has regular contact with a personal mentor, with whom she discusses the contents of her learning journal. She and her mentor work together in pursuing the best avenues for researching the work she is doing or any other issues that arise in their connecting conversations.
Second semester
During the IP in Iceland she got in contact with an Icelandic composer who is working with the sounds of nature in Iceland. The student decides to work with him and moves to Iceland for 6 months. The lively music scene of Reykjavik give her plenty of opportunities to develop her style and try out new ways of composing. This results in a Performance of her original work during a music festival in Isafjördur, one of the external partners of the programme near the arctic circle.
All the while she is continuing to keep a journal and has regular contact, regarding both content and experiences, via internet or phone, with the mentor in Groningen.
Third semester
The trombonist gets back to Groningen and continues working on the development of her concepts and compositions. Her Professional Integration Project consists of a laboratory of new music and integrated ideas for applying improvisation in a societal context. She invites other composers and students from her network and sets up a working platform.
Fourth semester
The student is deeply inspired and has a very clear idea of the music she intends to present in her PIP. Preparing a project of this size needs a lot of organization. She takes another series of lessons with pianist and mentor Marc van Roon in order to develop her skills in Music in Business. At the end of the semester the members of her laboratory get together and present their compositions and live improvisations during a summer festival near Groningen. Special focus during the performance is the integration of the environmental sounds of the city and its natural elements with the pre-scored music fragments of the ensemble. The audience is actively challenged to participate in the creative process. This performance is also attended by the teachers and assessors who will assess the students development and progress during this final presentation.