Full time
1 year
SEP-24
MA - Master of Arts
Guitar Playing Harp Playing
Taught
The Guitar and Harp Department at RCS is structured to directly reflect musical realities in the 21st century. Most successful musicians live varied musical lives; it is our desire to prepare you for the profession and we feel you must acquire as broad a range of skills as possible in order to become excellent musicians and interesting, expressive artists.
Weekly individual, group tuition, chamber music and orchestral performance are a focal point of the newly formed department. Regular collaborations with composers in creating new repertoire, side-by-side opportunities with all of Scotland’s national orchestras, classes in technique and performance practice, history and repertoire, improvisation, business skills, techniques of teaching, alongside regular masterclasses with visiting international soloists all are integral to the development of an aspiring and versatile musician.
The Guitar and Harp department consists of an exciting, forward-looking team of lecturers, who are all experienced soloists, chamber musicians, orchestral players and teachers in their own right. They are on hand to give invaluable advice and tuition drawing from their own experience of life as professional musicians.
In each year of the course, students will have regular opportunities to play in weekly performance classes, participate in masterclasses, showcase concerts and festival events, including Guitar Digifest, Big Guitar Weekend and RCS’s contemporary Plug Festival.
Classes in technique, performance practice, repertoire and, of course, chamber music run throughout the year enhancing learning and developing the performer.
There are many opportunities to perform either as a soloist or as a chamber musician. We also encourage students to take part in competitions and play in student ensembles, both within RCS and externally. You will also have the chance to collaborate with other artists across RCS including actors, musical theatre performers and dancers. Our contemporary music festival, Plug, provides the perfect opportunity to work with emerging composers.
The Guitar and Harp department also offer prestigious concerto opportunities to students to perform with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC SSO as well as the RCS Symphony Orchestra. We enjoy close collaborations with distinguished teaching artists from around the world, including our Associate artist in guitar – Paul Galbraith and harpists Ruth Potter and Karen Vaughan, amongst many others.
To be confirmed
To be confirmed
Candidates are normally expected to hold a good honours (at least 2:2) degree, or its overseas equivalent, in a subject area relevant to the demands of the programme.