6 Composition Degree Programs in Germany

If you wish to forge your own, exciting path by performing and composing your music then BMus (Hons) Popular Music Performance & Songwriting degree is right for you. Perform and compose music with our BMus Popular Music Performance and Songwriting degree. Throughout the course, you’ll learn the necessary skills to have a sustainable and successful career in the music industry of today – and tomorrow.

MSc in Creative Music and Sound Design for Visual Media Scoring. Writing music for films and visual media is an inspiring and exciting field, giving free expression to your ideas and emotions. It is, however, a very demanding job, requiring specific technical skills and expertise, which you must acquire through a solid education. The MSc in Music Scoring for Visual Media and Sound Design offers a national and international advanced education of excellence that will develop your craft and art of composing, orchestrating, editingWriting music for films and visual media is an inspiring and exciting field, giving free expression to your ideas and emotions. It is, however, a very demanding job, requiring specific technical skills and expertise, which you must acquire through a solid education. The MSc in Music Scoring for Visual Media and Sound Design offers a national and international advanced education of excellence that will develop your craft and art of composing, orchestrating, editing and mixing music for the screen. Our program will equip you with the skills to master the entire music production process, from musical composing to post-production, in the music-for-media landscape: film, advertising, television series, video games, and so forth. You will hone your skills in composition, orchestration, sound design, creative management, artistic entrepreneurship, and finally post-production on the Dolby Atmos spatial sound system, with the benefit of a partnership with DOLBY (website). At the end of each year, you will have the opportunity to record your own creation with a full orchestra, thanks to a unique partnership with the prestigious Orchestre National de Cannes (website), recognized as a National Orchestra in 2022. and mixing music for the screen.

Aspiring lyricists and composers will love our practical songwriting programme. During this year-long musical adventure, you’ll be based in Berlin, one of our Creative Capitals. Here, you’ll be surrounded by a diverse array of artists and a rich musical history. Berlin may be famous for its thriving techno scene, but you will find every music genre imaginable here today, with venues and festivals that cater to every taste.

The Master’s program in composition aims to enable the student to develop a clear personal artistic profile. It allows students to broaden their horizons in a specific way as well as to develop comprehensive practical skills to tackle the issues associated with composing music. The central focus of the program is an extensive composition project (e.g. a composition for music theater, ensemble or orchestra, a surround sound project, an interdisciplinary project, a performative project, or an electronic or live electronic composition). The content and format should be outlined in an exposé (see entrance examination below) and agreed with the head of studies. Students should approach all aspects of the project through research, discursive reflection, and practical experimentation. The contents of the program will be adapted to the needs and requirements of the respective project and hence to the needs of the individual student.

The course Dance Composition (M.A.) is offered in three branches: Choreography, Interpretation, and Movement Notation / Movement Analysis. The studies include the following main study areas: majors, theory, and observation / practical experience.

The aim of the program is to enable students to develop as independent composers. The starting point is therefore to teach them basic composition techniques and introduce them to the issues associated with composing music. Both involve not only traditional techniques and questions of musical context but are influenced to a great extent by the current situation, for example by the use of technology, such as electronics, to compose music. The program provides an overview of historical and contemporary compositional techniques and methods and delves into the aesthetic approaches associated with these. Students analyze a broad variety of works to get a feel for diverse styles and to understand stylistic criteria. This provides them with examples they can use for orientation when composing their own works. The degree program offers opportunities for the intensive practical study of instrumental, vocal, and electronic sound production. The curriculum also provides space for projects in which students learn through examples to compose for modern contexts such as radio plays, internet-based music, musical installations, and performance-oriented projects. The project part of the program also offers opportunities to work creatively with other disciplines, such as theater, film, dance, visual arts, etc. Basic experience in teaching music is also part of the program. While students acquire the basic knowledge they require to work as composers, the program also allows them the space for an individual focus, a prerequisite for developing an independent artistic personality. Composition students have access to the Studio for Electronic Music and Acoustics comprising a laboratory and several studio rooms at the Eschersheimer Landstraße and Schwedlerstraße sites where they can gain practical experience in using technical media. In addition, events featuring students' work will be regularly staged in the two concert halls of the HfMDK, at the Frankfurt LAB, and at theaters and concert halls throughout the Rhine-Main area. Cooperation will also take place with the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main and various other colleges and universities in the Rhine/Main area. In close cooperation with the Institute for Contemporary Music (IzM) concerts of contemporary music, regular excursions to other universities or contemporary music/art festivals as well as guest lectures/workshops given by external artists and composers are additional highlights of the study program.