MMus Creative Practice*

* This programme is still in development and advertised subject to validation. It is expected that the full programme specification will be available on this page no later than January 2025.

This flexible Masters is an inclusive, forward-thinking composition and creative practice degree, open to broad conceptions of composition, and multi-disciplinary approaches to practice.

• This Masters gives you an opportunity to investigate and combine strategies for developing new creative work.
• You’ll devise a coherent yet bespoke programme of study from an extensive list of options, and have the opportunity to uniquely blend practices from contemporary songwriting and song-based music, sound art, contemporary composition, ethnography and multi-media work.
• Modules on this masters support engagement with a variety of intellectual, creative, critical and technical skills that will inform your work and culminate in a substantial creative project.
• Depending on your module choices, you’ll have access to the Electronic Music Studios, which offers advanced facilities for electro-acoustic composition, multichannel work and live/interactive performance and the Goldsmiths Music Studios which offers an HD Pro-tools recording system and large format analogue desk.
• The programme is exceptionally useful for students preparing for further postgraduate practice research projects, or for those wishing to develop a distinctive portfolio of work for entry into the creative industries.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Simon Deacon.

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in Music or a relevant/related subject. Your qualification should comprise a substantial practical/creative element relevant to the selected MMus pathway and option choices. A detailed transcript of your degree is preferred.

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

Students who have completed up to 90 credits (not including final 60-credit projects or dissertations) of a comparable degree at another university can apply for recognition of prior learning status as part of their application for a place on the programme, where such credits are carried forward into your study at Goldsmiths.

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.5 with a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

Where your degree can take you

The programme is designed with careful consideration of the opportunities, challenges and intellectual demands presented by music-related careers in journalism, teaching, broadcasting, librarianship and arts administration. It also supports the practice-based professions, for example research through performance and sound recording production.

A high proportion of graduates have progressed to MPhil/PhD at either Goldsmiths or other prestigious universities in the UK or overseas.

Alumni

Graduates specialising in composition and creative practice have achieved performances of their work at internationally established venues, events and festivals, as well as broadcasts on BBC Radio. A number have received prestigious prizes and honourable mentions for their work in competitions including the PRSF New Music Award, the International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges and the International Electroacoustic Competition Musica Viva.

Graduates in performance have successfully pursued international careers in professional performance, taking up positions with established ensembles such as The Australian String Quartet, Tasman String Quartet, Piano Circus, as well as various European orchestras, and undertaking related artist-in-residency and teaching roles.