When it comes to study abroad, music students can choose from a wide array of programs at many points on the globe. Some programs are independent, while others are offered in affiliation with a university or conservatory in the host country.
When a music student or a student on a music scholarship wants to study abroad, there are two essential stops to make at the start of the process: one at International Programs and the second with the Director of the School of Music.
* Note on SIT programs: While the SIT programs do not generally focus directly on aspects of music such as ensembles, music theory, music histroy or performance, there are opportunities to study certain types of music. Each student on an SIT program completes an independent study project , and for many of the programs, one could propose a music-related independent study. Many of the SIT programs focus on the arts and culture of the host country, including local music. The following programs may have music opportunities: Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Madagascar, Morocco, Peru, Samoa, Senegal, Tibet, and Vietnam.
The university offers supported programs for music students in the following countries:
Australia
Brisbane: University of Queensland - direct enrollment.
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Melbourne: University of Melbourne - direct enrollment.
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Austria
Vienna (IES): IES Vienna offers a music program especially designed for music majors and minors. Students need no prior foreign language experience to enroll in IES courses, which are taught in both English and German. Subject areas include Music History, Music Theory, Performance Studies, and Area Studies and Language. A special feature of this program is the Music Performance Workshop, which gives students a chance to perform and improve their performance skills and expand their repertoire. IES will subsidize up to 400 euros of the cost of private music instruction each semester for students in the workshop. Students with prior German experience can take classes at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (University of Music and Performing Arts), which offers lectures and seminars in Music History, Theory, and Composition.
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IES also offers a six-week intensive summer music program, designed for (but not exclusive to) music majors and minors. Students study in three main areas: Music History on a particular topic or period, Performance Studies, and German language study at the beginning or intermediate levels.
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Chile
Santiago (IES): For the Santiago program, students must have at least four semesters of college-level Spanish for a Fall program start. Music theory and music interpretation courses are taught at the Universidad de Chile, or students can enroll in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile’s Instituto de Musica.
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Egypt
American U. in Cairo: This university offers a music minor, the classes for which study abroad students can enroll in. Courses include Music Theory, World Music, Introduction to Arab Music, Songs of America, Music Technology, Independent Study, and Independent Instruction (private lessons with an instructor).
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France
Paris (IES): Students studying with IES Paris can enroll in the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris/Alfred Cortot. Auditions are required. IES sponsors a spring concert at the Ecole that features IES students. In the fall semester or for the full academic year, students can either enroll in the full curriculum at the Ecole (four courses plus one IES course) or take a mixture of courses between the two institutions. Teaching and performance classes are offered for instrumentalists, and vocalists focus on performance. Students must have four semesters of college-level French for a Fall program start.
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Germany
Berlin (IES German Program): Students studying with IES Berlin have the opportunity to study Music History and Performance at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”. Students must have four semesters of college-level German for a Fall program start.
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Freiburg (IES-German Program): On this program, students have several outside institutions at which to study. Music History classes are offered at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität. The Pedagogical University of Freiburg, which emphasizes preparation for the teaching professions, offers music pedagogy. The Jazz and Rock Schule Freiburg offers a variety of ensembles for various skill levels. Students audition for each upon arrival. They include Womens’ Jazz and Pop choir, Doo Wop, Swing Chorus, Conga Groove Ensemble 1, Straight Ahead Jazz Band, Latin Percussion Ensemble, Woodstock Generation Band, Jazz and Rock Big Band, Space Lab Jazz Ensemble, Conga Groove Ensemble 2, and Buena Vista Latin Band. Be sure to check the website for the schedule; Fall students’ opportunities may be limited if they are leaving before the end of the German university semester www.jrs.org). The Musikhochschule offers music courses in German starting in Spring 2008. Courses include Main Instrument, Conducting, Voice, Composition, Lied, Chamber Music for Piano, Wind, Strings and Brass (an ensemble), Music Theory, Aural Training, Elementary Music Pedagogy, Musicology, Jazz/Arrangement/Score Playing, Medicine in Music, Historical Performance Practice, Church Music Subjects, and Instrumental Secondary Courses. Students must have four semesters of college-level German for a Fall program start.
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Ireland
Cork (Butler): With the Cork program, students attend University College Cork, which offers many music classes. Irish Traditional Music, Jazz, and Music in Modern Ireland are reserved exclusively for visiting students. Musicology classes include Experimentalism, Minimalism and the “New Hearing,” Difference and Otherness in Western Music, The Ideology of Progress in Postwar Music, Introduction to North Indian Classical Music, Women and Music Across Cultures, Music in the Arab World, the Music of Hawaii, Handel’s Messiah Inside and Out, Music in the Films of Stanley Kubrick, the Carillon and its Music, the Art of Sound (which focuses on the interdependence of visual art and music), Music and Modernism, and Music and Childhood. Composition workshops are also offered, such as a series of courses on creating music and several ensembles. Ensembles include jazz, popular music, classical, afro-cuban, fiddle, flute, early European music, and Irish harp. For a complete set of listings, and a schedule of which classes are offered which semester:
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Italy
Milan (IES): IES Milan offers many opportunities for music students. Instrumentalists, vocalists, composers and music performance majors work with the director of the program to tailor a custom program suited to their needs. IES offers its own music classes such as History of Italian Opera, History of European Vocal Music, and a Music Performance workshop. Students can also study at the Accademia Internazionale della Musica, the largest private music school in Italy with schools of jazz, contemporary, choral, classical and early music. No Italian experience is needed for performance classes, but theory and history classes require an advanced level of Italian. Private non-performance classes may also be arranged, in both Italian and English. The IES center offers some practice space, and housing is arranged so that piano and voice students can practice at home.
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Netherlands
Amsterdam (IES): Students with IES Amsterdam can enroll at the Amsterdam School of Music, the largest conservatory in the Netherlands for the Fall, Spring, or the full year. Ideal students for this program are Performance, Composition or Theory majors with the intention of becoming professional musicians or music scholars. Each student works with an advisor to create a custom curriculum in either Jazz or Classical music. The Classical curriculum includes Voice, String, Brass, and Woodwind instruments, Piano, Percussion, Historical Instruments, Composition, Conducting and Church Music. Jazz includes Saxophone, Trombone, Bass Trombone, Voice, Piano, Double Bass, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Composition/Arranging, and Music Theory. In addition to classes within Classical and Jazz, students have the opportunity to enroll in additional performance and theory electives.
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New Zealand
Christchurch (IES): Students study at the University of Canterbury. 100, 200 and 300-level courses are offered in music, ranging from Performance to Digital Music to Orchestration to World Music. There are several ensembles and orchestras for which students must audition. Be sure to check the website, as some of the courses only admit full-year students.
Dunedin (IFSA-Butler): Students study at the University of Otago. Be sure to check out the website.
Wellington (Butler): This university has separate Music, Composition and Performance departments. Many courses are offered at every level for Fall, Spring, and full-year students.
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Scotland
Edinburgh (Arcadia): The School of Music at the University of Edinburgh offers courses in composition and orchestration, history, analysis and aesthetics, ethnomusicology, acoustics and the study of musical instruments. There is also a Music Technology department that somewhat overlaps with these fields but also gives students time in the electronic studios and opportunities to take courses in acoustics. School of Music courses include Harmony, a Special History in Music series, Musical Semiotics, Aural Skills, and Orchestration. There are many courses overall.
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