ArtEZ University of the Arts

Bachelor Jazz & Pop in Arnhem

First Year

The first year is the same for all Jazz & Pop students. Regardless of your background, you will be introduced to many different styles. This broad development takes shape through:

• Principal study
• Bands (including five different styles, improvisation technique and studio experience)
• Piano at your own level
• Music production
• Education
• Music theory
• Workshops and masterclasses by (inter)nationally known musicians

Alongside these subjects, you will also participate in several projects. This first year gives you everything you need to make an informed choice about how you want to specialise later in your studies. With every style, there are plenty of fellow students to form a band with.

Second Year

Your main instrument remains central in the second year, but you will also choose a portion of your subjects yourself. Through these electives, and your own choices within other subjects, your preferred style and direction will become increasingly clear to you. You can consider electives such as second instrument, music technology, mental training, music education and music business. You could also take courses at other ArtEZ locations. You will put your learning into practice onstage with various band performances.

Third & Fourth Year

Your main instrument, band coaching, research and your graduation project form the compulsory part of your final two years of Jazz & Pop in Arnhem. In addition, there are even more electives that you may choose from than in the first half of your studies.

The bands you form with fellow students follow the same path as bands outside ArtEZ. You will rehearse, perform on stages in and outside of ArtEZ, and record demos, EPs or full albums in the studio. The programme works with various festivals and venues, so there are several performance opportunities. The business side of being in a band is also part of the curriculum Management, marketing, networking, rights and fundraising are among the topics you not only learn about but also apply directly in your bands.

If you would like to do an internship or spend a semester abroad, this will also take place in your third or fourth year.

You will complete your final work once you have passed all of your bachelor’s courses. This final concert or project is entirely devised and produced by you, and matches the graduation profile you have chosen. It might be a pop concert or a jazz programme, but final auditions have also featured heavy metal, salsa, big band jazz and singer-songwriters. Composition for Film & Theatre students conclude with film, dance or theatre for which they composed the music.

The final auditions are part of the ArtEZ finals. We recommend you have a look at the ArtEZ finals website and visit the finals performances if you are considering this programme. You will get a good idea of what students are working on and what their final projects could look like.

Research

In addition to the research you will do within the programme, ArtEZ offers extra opportunities for in-depth development. If you're looking for even more of a challenge, you could join the Honours Lab, where you will dive deep into theories and research that connect with artistic practice.

Internship

In the third or fourth year of your studies, you can choose to do internships. Whether these internships are compulsory depends on your specialisation. If, for example, you choose a more education-focused specialisation during the programme, you can do an internship at a music school or in another educational setting and use this to specialise as an independent music teacher. Students also often choose to spend half a year studying abroad in order to develop themselves in a more well-rounded way. You can do this through the Erasmus+ programme, but you can also create your own plan to travel outside Europe. You will also earn credits (ECTS) for your studies abroad.

What you'll learn

In the English-taught bachelor’s programme in Jazz & Pop at the ArtEZ Academy of Music in Arnhem, you will learn how to create and perform your own work, becoming a skilled, versatile musician who is confident in their own choices.

• Sixteen majors - With sixteen majors, you will be guided by flexible, renowned lecturers who will support several aspects of your development. The programme’s structure is designed to foster close contact between students and easily accessible lecturers. Because professional musicians often teach as part of their artistic practice, we also devote plenty of attention to providing you with a pedagogical foundation. We assume that, after graduating, you will be teaching in some form. That can take many forms, but thanks to the programme, you will be well-equipped to do so.
• Learning to reflect - Reflecting on your own artistic work and that of others plays an important role in developing your own voice as a musician and creator, as well as in sharing your work with the world. You will be guided throughout this reflection process and will learn to ask critical questions.
• Playing together - Ensemble playing plays a main role here. You will form bands and duos with fellow students, in which you will study and develop both existing repertoire and your own work, with guidance from your teachers. You will also gain extensive experience in live performance.
• Business, education and music technology - Because of the realities of today’s professional music world, we pay a lot of attention at ArtEZ to business, education and music technology. We see these three elements as essential components of a modern musical practice. An introduction to these topics is therefore a fixed part of the programme. On top of that, we offer several elective courses that allow you to deepen and broaden your knowledge of these areas.
• Study guidance - The student counsellor, your go-to for questions and concerns, is also there to support your decision-making in your specialisation of choice.
• ArtEZ finals - At the end of each academic year, all our students present their work during ArtEZ finals. If you are considering studying at ArtEZ, we highly recommend that you visit the finals performances.

Working as a versatile musician

You can perform as part of a band, ensemble or orchestra, or appear as a soloist at venues and festivals. You can also work as a studio musician. An interdisciplinary practice is another option — think of performances with fine art, theatre and dance. We assume that every graduate will engage with teaching in some form, whether at music schools, arts centres or within a private teaching practice. Almost all professional musicians combine several of the activities mentioned above.

• Simin Tander
• Martin Fondse
• Eef van Breen
• Rob de Nijs
• Sonja Glass (BOY)
• Robert Biesewig