33 Performing Arts Degree Programs in Netherlands

Gaining a specialist skillset that includes understanding the external and internal context and purpose of a myriad of media fields, as well as proficiency in cutting-edge digital tools! With the completion of your studies, you have what it takes to contribute to the development of innovative media content and media applications that responds to the need of companies, (broadcasting) agencies, and not-for-profit organizations in a role as: Company founder in Media and Communication, Editor, Media Designer, Producer, Social Media Manager, Marketing Manager, Market and trend researcher, PR staff, and many more.

Performing Public Space (PPS) is committed to understanding how cultural developments can produce meaningful change within our shared spaces, based on the idea that public space exists only when it is socially performed. In a time in which political and social structures are reconsidered heavily, PPS offers a flexible and innovative environment to artistically question, redefine, and reclaim public space in its broadest sense.

This Master's programme offers two specializations: one in Popular Music, Sound and Media Cultures and another in Theatre, Culture and Media studies. Each specialization encompasses both emergent and historically established practices in music and theatre and the performing arts.

Discover your musical future at Conservatorium Maastricht, an internationally renowned conservatoire situated in the cultural heart of Limburg, the Netherlands. We offer Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in both Classical Music and Jazz, supporting your artistic growth through personalized guidance, practical experience, and a global community of musicians.

The Master Performance Practices at ArtEZ is an incubator for artistic research around the Body in Performance and its wider ecology. The course is based in the HOME OF PERFORMANCE PRACTICES in Arnhem, Netherlands, harbouring a community of dedisciplined and diverse thinkers who promote performance-making as a strategy for equitable societies.

Are you fascinated by the emotional and cognitive effects of films? Do you love studying documentaries and the contributions cinema can make to discussions of climate change? Then the Master’s track ‘Film and Contemporary Audiovisual Media’ is the right one for you. Within a year you can acquire a Master’s degree from one of the Top 100 universities in the world—and you will do so in the city with the youngest population in the Netherlands. An internship in film, television or other media is part of the program as well. In ‘Film and Contemporary Audiovisual Media’ you will work closely with our international faculty, who will initiate you into the latest theoretical debates in film and media studies. You will learn to work with state-of-the-art approaches such as phenomenology, film-cognitivism, ecocriticism, film philosophy, digital film forensics, and experimental media archaeology.

At Fontys Dance Arts in Context, we teach you to create, think, and produce with your fellow students, and to place dance in different contexts. The programme offers three different profiles: Contemporary, Contemporary Urban, and Choreography. Here, you are encouraged to develop your artistic profile, both as a creator, and dancer.

This part-time 2-year innovative Joint Degree Master Choreography is run jointly by Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam and Fontys Academy of the Arts in Tilburg. The program is designed to support experienced movement makers from a variety of fields while they carry out research into questions initiated from their current practice.

The master’s course Music Therapy is designed for practicing music therapists who want to advance and innovate their musical, clinical and research skills in the creative and international environment that ArtEZ University of the Arts offers.

The Musicology programme at Utrecht University focuses on Western music from the Middle Ages to the present, the impact of media on the reception and conceptualisation of music, and digital musicology.

Composition for Film and Theatre is a hybrid course for gutsy, wilful composers. Do you want to become the best composer you can be, from wherever you are in the world? Then this is the course for you! You can take this course either online or on campus in Arnhem; you can even switch between the two every year!

Are you musically gifted and do you seek a career as a professional performer on an international stage? Then this master might be for you. Fontys offers a unique programme, designed to cater to your artistic and professional needs. Choose your direction in Classical, Jazz, Music-Theatre, Pop, or Creator Performer. As a Master of Music student, you receive a two-year personal budget, to tailor your curriculum. You may even use this budget to take lessons with artists outside Fontys, even internationally.

Our Jazz Programme ‘New York Comes to Groningen’, offered by Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, is unique in the world for two reasons: 1. Alongside the strong Groningen staff, top New York artists travel to Groningen to teach in our programme on a rotating schedule. Every week of the year, you’ll be able to learn from another New York artist, allowing you to develop yourself into a professional jazz artist. 2. All students (bachelor and master) work with all of the NY-artists, irrespective of the student’s instrument. Bachelor’s courses include theory, ear training, composing, arranging and a wide variety of workshops. In addition, there are ongoing weekly lessons from a world-class Dutch faculty.

Unlock your artistic potential in the Master of Music programme at Conservatorium Maastricht, an internationally respected conservatory at the heart of Europe’s vibrant cultural scene. Our two-year Master’s programme in Classical Music and Jazz is designed for advanced musicians who are ready to deepen their skills, refine their unique artistic voice, and expand their professional network on a global scale.

When you choose the Classical Music study programme, you choose a life with your instrument or your voice. A passion that you have been working on for years. If you are driven, want to reach the highest level musically and make music your profession, then studying Classical Music at the Prince Claus Conservatoire is an excellent choice.

In the Creative Industries Master's specialisation, you will come to understand a field buzzing with creativity: where art meets commerce, where culture generates sustainability and societal engagement.