Welcome from the Head of Music

The Music department at the University of Manchester enjoys top ratings in the UK, and we are proud of our reputation as one of the most exciting and energetic Music departments internationally. Our consistently exceptional research record – which includes our latest ranking among the top three Music departments nationally, and in the top 1% of all subjects, in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise – provides the foundation for outstanding teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. All of our teaching takes place in our state-of-the-art facilities in the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, and in our adjacent new electroacoustic composition studios.

We have three principal areas of specialism – performance, composition and musicology (including ethnomusicology) – and these interlock in both our teaching and research work. We support well over 100 concerts and events each year, giving students an unrivalled opportunity to gain experience in the performance of many different sorts of music, and allowing student composers to benefit from the possibility of hearing everything they write performed by their peers, or by professional ensembles, including the Quatuor Danel, Psappha and the BBC Philharmonic. Our electroacoustic composition work centres on the NOVARS Research Centre, whose award-winning activities take full advantage of the impressive new facilities we opened in 2007. Our musicology teaching is carried out by some of the most respected figures in their fields, who have published books and editions of international influence on a wide range of topics; they ensure that our courses are at the cutting edge of the discipline and that the practical and creative work in the department has a rigorous intellectual foundation.

The international calibre of our academic staff has allowed us to develop an exceptionally stimulating environment for our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Our seven musicologists – Caroline Bithell, Barry Cooper, David Fanning, James Garratt, Rebecca Herissone, Susan Rutherford and Laura Tunbridge, with David Fallows as our Professor Emeritus – encompass a wide range of specialist areas, but share between them interests in the cultural study of music, music and politics, aesthetics, reception and performance history, and source studies. Our strength in composition results from a unique team of full-time, permanent composition staff, comprising David Berezan, Ricardo Climent, Philip Grange, Kevin Malone, Camden Reeves and Richard Whalley, with John Casken as our Professor Emeritus. Performances and recordings by our resident string quartet, the Quatuor Danel, bring a distinctly continental perspective to our creative environment, as does the diverse student and staff group that forms MANTIS (Manchester Theatre in Sound), which hosts regular electroacoustic concert series. Our musicologists and composers also participate in the Manchester Centre for Music in Culture, which unites scholars from a broad range of disciplines across and outside of the university.

Manchester’s Music department plays a vital role in the cultural life of the city. Each year we present a highly popular concert series by our celebrated string quartet in residence, the Quatuor Danel, a dozen orchestral and choral concerts, a regular series of Thursday lunchtime concerts most of which are given by professional musicians, contemporary concerts and a variety of special events. The department’s specialist groups – our new music ensemble Vaganza, our Baroque orchestra, and the NOVARS electroacoustic ensembles – also perform each term. Manchester University Music Society, our thriving student-run music society, draws its members from across the university, but works in close association with the Music department. Orchestral and large ensemble concerts are presented in a three-week cycle, given by the symphony, chamber, string, and wind orchestras, and by the brass and wind ensembles. Auditioned student conductors work under the guidance of Mark Heron across all of these ensembles and there is a wide range of interviewed positions available in all aspects of programming and orchestral management. The auditioned chamber choir, Ad Solem, performs three times per year in the Martin Harris Centre, and Manchester University Big Band also appears regularly. The University Chorus, a 250-strong choir with members comprising staff, students and alumni of the university, gives two public concerts per semester. In addition, students present a wide variety of programmes of their own choice at our regular Friday lunchtime concerts. Full details of our current concert season are available from the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama website.

Our long list of alumni includes some of the leading musical figures nationally and internationally, and our graduates go on to a wide range of successful and fulfilling careers. Many comment long after graduation on the way in which the friendly and supportive atmosphere of the department helped them to develop their talents and to pursue the highest standards of academic, artistic and professional achievement. We extend a warm welcome to all our students and visitors – past, present and future.

Dr Rebecca Herissone
Head of Music
University of Manchester