Composition in the Department of Music

Composition is integral to Music at Bristol at every level of study. The wide and complementary interests of its current composing staff Professor John Pickard, Dr. Neal Farwell and Dr. Michael Ellison, as well as top quality visiting composers, ensure a lively scene supported by excellent public concerts and workshop opportunities, and state of the art studios.

Recent and current visiting artists giving concerts and workshops of student compositions include:

• Brodowski String Quartet
• Gemini
• Kokoro
• Goldberg Ensemble
• New Noise
• Apollo Saxophone Quartet
• Schubert Ensemble
• New Music Players
• Nancy Ruffer
• Bristol Ensemble
• CoMA South West
• The University Symphony Orchestra
• The University Chamber Orchestra
• The University New Music Ensemble
• BULO (Bristol University Loudspeaker Orchestra)

We also have regular performances of student works by the student-led Contemporary Music Venture (CMV)

Visiting composer seminars have recently been given by:

• Arlene Sierra
• Paul Mealor
• Francis Pott
• John McCabe
• Jim Aitchison
• Evangelia Rigaki
• Ian Gardiner
• Kjartan Olafsson
• Simon Waters
• Dorothy Ker
• Simon Emmerson
• Gavin Bryars
• Jonty Harrison

In 2009 we began a major collaboration with Bristol Ensemble, the city's professional chamber orchestra (formerly known as Emerald Ensemble), sponsored by the Bristol Institute for Research in the Humanities and Arts as winner of the BIRTHA Research Programmes Scheme 2009.

More information about the Composition and Recording Studios and about BULO can be found at the studios' homepage.

Undergraduate Composition

All undergraduates take an introductory course in Composition during their first year. We understand that many students may not have thought themselves capable of composing before, but even if they have done quite a bit, by starting from basic principles and through practical workshops in instrumental and studio genres, the Bristol course rapidly provides the tools and experience, developing technical command and confidence at all levels. Many students then take the option to continue through intensive second year units - choosing from (or combining) "Compositional Strategy", "Studio Composition Live", and "Writing for Orchestra" - leading to final year composition options in either acoustic or studio composition (or both), either of which can be a major (40 credit) or minor (20 credit) project.

Postgraduate Composition

We engage with all genres of serious contemporary composing:

• Acoustic concert music (taught MA, and supervised MPhil, MMus and PhD routes)
• Electronic / electro-acoustic / acousmatic music (part of MA, part of MA-FTV, supervised MPhil, MMus and PhD routes)
• Film and TV music (internationally acclaimed taught MA-CFTV, and MMus / PhD research routes)

Most years we have 12 MA-CFTV composers, several MAs, and the expanding PhD community now exceeds 12 composers. Recent PhD graduates receiving significant national exposure include Alan Charlton, Geoffrey Palmer, Owen Leech, Halyna Ovcharenko, Christian Alexander and Alwynne Pritchard. Most of our current postgraduates are achieving successes with Sound and Music, Cutting Edge, or COMA (UK) and competition successes such as the University of Aberdeen Music Prize.

The broad range of high-art styles and technical preoccupations in 21st-century composition is well represented by the complementary interests of the composition staff, who are highly active as contemporary composers and have established serious profiles far beyond the University or indeed this country. John Pickard's direct and powerful musicality is seen in a variety of concert genres, particularly in his internationally acclaimed string quartets, orchestral works and brass band scores. Electro-acoustic specialist Neal Farwell brings the latest of international technologies and aesthetics to his post-modernist perspective, and is especially involved in music combining electronics with live instruments and voices. Michael Ellison, American by birth and education but resident in Istanbul for the decade until his appointment in Bristol, combines musical insights from both worlds in his powerful and refined individual voice. All are active as conductors, committed equally to the high level performance of new music and to wider repertoires.

Weekly research seminars (sometimes with invited specialist composers) provide the opportunity to explore and discuss a spectrum of contemporary ideas, tastes and points of view, ensuring that each composer is able to test and extend his/her unique contribution to new music.

Which Composition Course will suit me at Bristol?

There are two possibilities for taught postgraduate composition, and three for postgraduate research:

1. The MA in Music: Composition Pathway is a taught course designed for graduates who want to extend their understanding of contemporary classical music, current ideas, and appropriate techniques, and to compose serious concert music. The core units are supplemented by flexible options, allowing you to focus your interests for the "dissertation" portfolio that you complete during the final summer. You would normally need a 2-1 or 1st in a first degree or an equivalent qualification.  The course lasts 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time.
2. The MA in Composition for Film and Television is more directly vocational, addressing the craft of placing music appropriate to supporting the film's narrative, handling instrumental and studio resources and a variety of styles, and working closely with directors and schedules. The composer needs wide resourcefulness, so being interested only in one style would not be sufficient alone. Applicants are invited from a wide variety of backgrounds but must hold a degree or equivalent qualification, and demonstrate musical literacy and imagination. Experience with a MIDI sequencer and in Film is an advantage, but not a pre-requisite.  The MA-CFTV can only be taken as a 1 year full-time degree.
3. The MPhil in Composition (1 year full-time or 2 part-time) is a Research Degree taught by individual supervision.  It is normally taken by those who already possess a taught Masters qualification (such as the MA above) or considerable equivalent professional experience. (Funding bodies do not generally support this level without a taught Masters.) Students who perform strongly in the first half of the MPhil, and who wish to take their composition further, can be considered for upgrade to the MMus.
4. The MMus in Composition is supervised over 2 years full-time or 4 years part-time. It is often entered as the route towards a PhD, but is also available as an important Research Degree in its own right.
5. The PhD in Composition is supervised over 3 three years full-time or 6 years part-time, excluding an optional "writing up" year. In the first instance all "PhD" researchers at Bristol University are admitted to the MMus route, and then undergo an upgrade process to PhD during the second year (third/fourth part-time year) when the individual creative personality and focus of their work has become clear. But do make your initial application for PhD if that is what you intend to do.

If you are interested in applying for a Research Degree in composition, please contact John Pickard, Neal Farwell or Michael Ellison to discuss your ideas. You may wish also to read the further details for composers.