Undergraduate degree information

Bachelor of Music

The Bachelor of Music is a degree for musically and academically talented students aspiring to a professional career in music performance, composition, or music education. It is taken over four years or eight semesters of full-time study or can be taken on a part-time basis (domestic students only).

Bachelor of Music (Honours)

This is an embedded honours degree where students in their 4th year (semesters 7 and 8), except for the Bachelor of Music (Music Education), which is undertaken in 3rd year (semesters 5-8), complete alternate honours units of study. Candidates wishing to undertake honours must apply in writing to the Student Administration Office in the semester before honours study is to commence. Details on admission requirements for honours are set out in the Faculty Resolutions and on the faculty website.

Bachelor of Music Studies

The Bachelor of Music Studies is a degree for students seeking a broad musical education. Its structure facilitates creative interdisciplinary links within musical disciplines and other subject areas in the University of Sydney. The course develops broadly educated musicians who are able to apply their knowledge, skills and attitudes creatively and flexibly in a variety of music and music-related professions. It is taken over three years or six semesters of full-time study and may be taken on a part-time basis (domestic students only).

Bachelor of Music Studies (Honours)

This stand-alone honours year is open to students who have completed either the Bachelor of Music Studies degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music or any other approved three-year degree at another institution. Entry is by interview and/or audition. Students must also submit an honours proposal. The degree is taken over two semesters of full-time study.

Bachelor of Music Studies/Bachelor of Arts

The aim of the combined Bachelor of Music Studies/Bachelor of Arts is to allow students to acquire musical skills in performance, composition or musicology, together with expertise in an arts discipline within a broad humanities context. The course caters for a wide variety of music and music-related careers including arts administration, journalism, music teaching, arts policy, performance and composition (depending on appropriate majors). It is taken over five years or 10 semesters of full-time study and may be taken on a part-time basis (domestic students only).

Bachelor of Music Studies and Doctor of Medicine

This program allows students to combine their demonstrated interests in music as well as medicine, and is intended to give students an opportunity to experience a broad musical education before embarking on medical studies. Its structure facilitates creative interdisciplinary links between music, science and medicine at the University of Sydney. It is taken over seven years of full-time study.

Diploma of Music

The Diploma of Music is a specialised course in music performance which will prepare students for a career as professional musicians. It is taken over two years or four semesters of full-time study and can be taken on a part-time basis (domestic students only).

Bachelor of Arts (Major in Music)

Arts is a generalist degree with wide career potential. A large number of students undertake specialised research training in a subject and go on to gain an honours degree followed by a higher degree or postgraduate diploma. You can major in music as part of the Bachelor of Arts degree.

Duration: Three years (four years honours).
The Arts Music Unit of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music is located on the main campus of the University of Sydney. Students from all faculties including the Conservatorium can study a wide range of subjects including music skills, musicology and ethnomusicology, performance and composition. All classes are held on the main campus. Students are also permitted to undertake some additional approved SCM units of study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Campus on Macquarie Street as part of their music major. Students should consult the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for further details on admission and degree requirements.

Bachelor of Engineering Honours/Bachelor of Music Studies

The combined Bachelor of Engineering Honours and Bachelor of Music Studies five-year degree provides high performing students with an exciting opportunity to pursue their passions in both the technical and artistic arenas.

This unique program allows you to explore the synergies between the rule-based domains of music and engineering, bringing together your creativity with your creative thinking skills. It will give those with significant musical talent the ability to pursue this passion at a tertiary level while also gaining a professional engineering qualification. You will study the Bachelor of Music with the University’s Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the nation’s premier tertiary music institution. Their degree options underscore three key areas of performance, composition, and musicology. The Bachelor of Engineering Honours program offers a wide variety of engineering disciplines to choose from, including aeronautical, space, mechanical, mechatronic, biomedical, chemical and biomolecular, civil, electrical, power and software.

As a graduate from this combined degree program, you will be uniquely qualified with a distinctive skill set and the ability to apply your knowledge to problem solving in creative ways.

How to apply

Domestic students who wish to apply for admission to an undergraduate course at the Conservatorium (with the exception of the Diploma of Music) need to:

• submit an application through the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) and place a Sydney Conservatorium of Music course as at least one of your preferences; Applicants for the Diploma of Music apply online directly to the University of Sydney Admissions Centre AND
• submit an audition and/or interview application directly to the Sydney Conservatorium. A $50 non-refundable administrative fee applies for every audition/interview application in a different instrumental/vocal unit.

You will be required to present the prescribed Conservatorium program to an audition and/or interview panel.

International students

International students should refer to the Admissions website for further details.

Contacts

Student Administration Office
Level 3, Room 3012 in the Greenway Building
Macquarie Street, Sydney

Phone: +61 2 9351 1216
Fax: +61 2 9351 1200
Email: con.info@sydney.edu.au
sydney.edu.au/music

Student Affairs Coordinator
Ivy Chu
Phone: +61 2 9351 1271
Email: ivy.chu@sydney.edu.au

Career pathways

Studying music offers a variety of pathways to a vast array of rewarding careers; composition and/or arrangement; writing about music as a musicologist, journalist or critic; broadcasting and music recording; performance including conducting, as soloist or ensemble player; teaching, from early childhood to secondary; music therapy, arts administration including cultural planning, marketing and festival or venue management.

Undergraduate degrees and diplomas