Information for winter semester 2024/25 subject to approval by the responsible Senate Department:

In order to qualify for enrollment in the MA program Music, Sound, Performance it is required that students acquired:

• a minimum of 20 credit points in musicology or musicology-related modules throughout their BA studies. A maximum of 10 credit points may have been earned in artistic-practical projects related to music.

• and prooven English language skills at B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) or an equivalent. More information on English language requirements.

For applicants who have obtained their degree at a foreign university or equivalent institution, proof of German language skills must be provided. This can be done by passing the German Language Test for University Admission (DSH) or by providing proof of an equivalent level of knowledge according to the Regulations for the German Language Test for University Admission of Foreign Applicants at Freie Universität Berlin.

Students do not pay any tuition fees, the university only charges semester fees and contributions each semester.

Music as performance, whether musical theater, instrumental music, or sound installations, is the focus of the MA Music, Sound, Performance program. What are the historical premises of such musical performances or stagings? What aesthetic positions are taken? And how do music and sound or composers, performers and producers react to current social challenges or rethink them? The program is deeply committed to interdisciplinary research, combining various perspectives on musical performance from the fields of history, theory, and practice. The teaching faculty is well versed in the current debates of disciplines such as Musicology and Theater Studies, as well as Media, Performance, Gender, and Postcolonial Studies. Students will have contact with the most prolific contemporary artists, curators, and dramaturgs through workshop-series and collaborative projects.

The Music, Sound, Performance MA program was created in response to a growing demand in the job market towards the professionalization of tasks such as curating music and sound. The teaching staff, together with associated researchers and artists are committed to developing research projects on music theater and performance in a global context, sound media, and music epistemologies.

Berlin’s vibrant music scene, with its myriad of musical institutions and its colorful freie szene provides a rich field of inspiration.

At the Freie Universität Berlin, students will have the unique opportunity to be part of a vibrant and diverse student body and academic staff. The Department of Musicology at the FU Berlin is part of a very active and lively team of scholars and teachers in the related disciplines of theatre, film and dance studies. The Department of Musicology and Media Studies at the HU Berlin focuses on the phenomenon of performance and music theatre in all conceivable forms and genres. The department includes the subdisciplines of historical musicology, transcultural musicology, systematic musicology, and popular music studies.

Berlin is one of the most vibrant places in the world regarding contemporary music theater, sound art, and interdisciplinary performance. In Berlin, music theater is not only performed in opera houses, but also curated in festivals, museums, and other institutions. As a vast, cosmopolitan, and diverse city, historically, Berlin has been the stage of continuous negotiations of performative spaces. Music, in its multiple cultural manifestations, has been performed in private and public institutions, on top of rubble and in bunkers, in private apartments or in public parks.

The Master's degree is divided into six modules and culminates in the writing of a Master's thesis. A stay abroad is recommended for the second or third semester (Erasmus+ programme or DAAD).

In the first year of study, students acquire basic musicological skills that enable them to investigate networks of musical performance and countless related activities such as promoting, composing, instrument-making, performing, improvising, producing, listening, recording, remembering, systematising or canonising. In the course of the second year of study, students apply the acquired skills and knowledge in concrete curatorial or dramaturgical projects. For this purpose, they take two modules that are specifically designed to address current debates and practical challenges in music dramaturgy and curatorial practice. Both modules are taught together with external partners and provide specific knowledge and skills to work as a musicologist in a modern, cosmopolitan and culturally diverse musical landscape.

Module:

Introduction

(One of the two modules, 1a1 or 1a2 depending on prior knowledge, is to be taken. The decision is made with the help of the recommended departmental advisers at the beginning of the semester)

1a1: Introduction to music theoretical and scientific foundations (15 credits).
This module introduces students to the fundamentals of musicological research.

1b1: Introduction to music theoretical and scientific foundations for students of other subjects (15 credits).
This module introduces students to the basics of musicological research. It imparts basic knowledge of music theory as well as competences in score and listening analysis.

Theory, Aesthetics, Methods (15 credits)

The module teaches basic theories and methods in dealing with musical performance cultures. Special emphasis is placed on the transdisciplinary reflection of musicological fields of knowledge. The focus lies on theoretical discussions concerning aesthetics, listening, performativity, gender studies, media theory, materiality and postcolonialism or decolonisation that are particularly relevant for musicology.

Historiography, Historicity (15 credits)

The module provides in-depth historical knowledge of performance cultures of music and their historiographical discussion. Based on selected case studies or epochs and their historical research, students become familiar with historical dimensions of musical performances. In addition, methods of music historiography are discussed and critically reflected with the aim of providing students with insights into current approaches to global music historiography.

Music dramaturgy (15 credits),

In artistic-scientific projects, students work under supervision on a music theatre project or a music/sound-related project as well as its academic documentation, reflection and mediation. Among other things, this includes questions of production, staging practice, musical performance practice, dramaturgy and mediation. Optionally, a supervised internship can also be undertaken here. Practical knowledge is taught on how to apply for funding, on funding guidelines in the music and sound art scene, on foundations, legal issues and important actors.

Music, Sound, Arts, Media and Curatorial Practice (15 credits)

The module addresses the relationship between musical performance and its intersections with other arts and media. The focus will be on issues of Intermediality, Intertextuality and hybridity with phenomena of Intertextuality. The comparative methods indispensable for researching these areas are also introduced and critically discussed. Furthermore, the module provides insights into sound or music-related curatorial practice (in the digital age) in archives, festivals, opera houses, concert halls and other cultural institutions. The students learn concrete competences of curating and mediating in dialogue with the working methods of institutions and persons active in the cultural sector.

Research Practice (5 LP)

In the context of this module, questions concerning cultures of musical performance are dealt with in depth. The students develop a research project, which they carry out under the guidance of a faculty member. In addition, the students become familiar with current research questions and learn how to take a stand on them.

The Master's thesis should demonstrate that the student is capable of independently treating a defined research subject. Following successful completion of the program, the candidate will be awarded with the degree of Master of Arts.

The interdisciplinary approach of the MA program Music, Sound, Performance offers students a vital edge in rapidly changing professions. In an increasingly digital and global world, employers in the cultural and artistic areas value the intellectual dexterity that is necessary to adapt to the challenges that digitization and globalization bring to the fore.

This MA program qualifies students for jobs specializing in music, sound and musical performance in opera houses, festivals, concert halls, theaters, museums and other cultural institutions. Students who graduate from this program will also be qualified to pursue professions in the areas of cultural communication and management, journalism and cultural management, production and communication, radio, television, the Internet, the music industry, archives and publishing houses (e.g. as curators, music mediators, dramaturges, cultural managers, editors, critics) as well as for academic or artistic-scientific doctoral studies.

Cooperation with partners from the music field throughout the program will help you to establish contacts for internships and future job possibilities throughout your studies.