Master of Arts Course Qualification Goals / Course Profiles

The contents of the MA course builds upon the knowledge and skills of the Bachelor of Arts program. A musical talent should now become an independent, individual, highly qualified personality with an artistic stage presence and performing experience.

Graduates should be able to perform musical and artistic tasks assigned to them, to independently develop and initiate program concepts, move independently in the market, and understand and work with music profession marketing mechanisms and economic framework conditions.

Conductors and composers should be able to demonstrate outstanding personal individuality, while music theorists should be highly qualified in structural and analytical skills to analyze, present and convey works from different eras.

The MA program represents a lively education for informed and thinking musicians. The focus is on further development of previous musical and technical skills while expanding the repertoire, leading to a specific sound design with independent interpretation. Significant literature is studied extensively in individual classes with internationally distinguished lecturers. Students participate in many public events, master classes, and possible CD recordings.

Specialized features:

Conductors expand and refine the knowledge they have acquired so far through increased practical relevance by working with professional ensembles, and they are encouraged to develop artistically independent and versatile personalities.

Composers gain extensive knowledge of composition techniques and esthetics, complemented by highly developed skills to assume individual, sometimes determined, self-assured critical for dealing with professional matters.

Music theorists create a representative portfolio reflecting their individual style which is reproduced and analyzed as their knowledge grows deeper.

In the Historical Keyboard Instruments Coaching major, solo works as well as historically informed general bass, sight reading, and chamber music works with obbligato parts are studied.

In the Lied Interpretation for Piano/ Voice major, a focus must be chosen between German or French song.

A prerequisite for admission to the entrance examination for the master's degree in opera singing is a completed BA in opera singing or an equivalent BA degree. The MA in opera singing course provides a second/additional professional qualification for the course, in which the learning content of the BA course is deepened and additional subjects promote stage readiness. The master's exam serves to demonstrate high artistic skills in the areas of music, staging, and dramaturgy which are necessary for the opera singing professional.

It is assumed that students have already intensively interpreted roles in the opera repertoire, either by studying specialist repertory and/or by participating in productions as a soloist.

It is expected that students will further deepen the qualifications mentioned in the BA study descriptions and will be able to independently grasp an opera role in all its complexity while mastering six memorized repertory roles by the end of their studies.

A prerequisite for achieving stage maturity is stylistic security in old and new music, conceptual thinking, stage presence, varied acting, willingness to experiment, and the ability to relate music to other arts. Students should first gain stage experience through solo participation in various Institute for Music Theater (IMT) productions and parallel opera studio training.

Training as qualified music journalists for specific broadcasting and production tasks in online / radio / television cultural programs.

Professional qualifications: placement rate for graduates is above 90% as moderators, producers, online / television / radio editors (TriMedia), predominantly in international public cultural programs.

Moderating / presenting cross-media music programs, TriMedia production. Special broadcast formats include podcasts, features, radio play, music and news programs.

MA graduates in musicology are considered to have acquired in-depth skills and knowledge that go beyond the BA level, to be able to present knowledge at a high level. In particular, the ability to independently investigate more complex topics and implement new ideas and concepts should be learned and demonstrated thoroughly.

Comprehensive knowledge and skills are to be acquired and demonstrated, especially in one of the main areas of "performance practice" and "teaching". Furthermore, the acquisition of a deeper knowledge of the problem areas of musicology is as much an aim as the knowledge of new working and research methods, including the use of computer-aided methods.

In music informatics, in-depth skills should be acquired and creative potential practiced in one or two of three focus areas: software and research; multimedia concepts and realizations; and content management, placement, mediation. Complex tasks and problems should be dealt with independently and solutions found.

The ability to independently design and develop complex software solutions for research, production, and placement tasks is a central part of the skills to be acquired. In-depth knowledge of current artistic, musical, and musicological developments and trends is equally important.