MA Music (Jazz) (2025)

New for 2025!

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MA Music (Jazz) at Leeds Conservatoire

Develop your artistry with our Music MA specialising in Jazz. This practical postgraduate degree is designed to develop your artform and enhance your musical skills, professional approach, and innovative thinking, equipping you for the dynamic nature of today's music industry. 

At Leeds Conservatoire, students take charge of their personal, creative, and intellectual development, maturing into accomplished musicians and thoughtful professionals ready to achieve long-lasting success in the music industry.

Your unique passions and talents will be championed and you'll be encouraged to delve deep, experiment, and discover new ideas and approaches to your artistry. 

You’ll also gain the confidence to produce your finest work and make your mark in the competitive international music arena. 

This course is part of a brand-new suite of postgraduate music courses including:

  • Starts:
  • Duration: 1 Year
  • UCAS Code: 805F
  • UCAS Institution Code: L31
  • Apply Via: UCAS Conservatoires
  • Study Mode: Full Time
  • Validated By: University of Hull

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Course Overview

Master Your Skills

Alongside developing your music practice as a performer and connecting with your audiences, we also encourage our students to embrace adaptability and explore new perspectives - essential skills for standing out from a crowded field.  

Specialist tutors, peers, and industry guests provide invaluable support, constructive critique, and expert insights across a spectrum of disciplines.  

You’ll also engage in theoretical and research activities that will place your talent within a range of philosophical, historical, sociological, industrial and critical contexts within your chosen discipline.  

As a graduate, you’ll have developed the resilience and creativity needed for enduring success in the ever-evolving landscape of the creative industries. 

A Collaborative Curriculum

When you enrol at Leeds Conservatoire you will join a lively community of creative practice. We celebrate creative diversity, fostering collaboration among practitioners from varied stylistic backgrounds to pioneer new musical frontiers. 

Through dynamic group sessions, students from diverse stylistic backgrounds will collaborate, sparking innovation and forging lifelong connections, and build foundations for sustainable careers in the industry.  


Play your part in Leeds' lively jazz scene and connect with a thriving community of jazz musicians and enthusiasts through our new MA Music (Jazz) programme.  

You’ll be guided and inspired by world-leading tutors who are active musicians and professional performers, focusing on your preferred jazz style—bebop, experimental, fusion, traditional, or modern. 

You’ll have the opportunity to hone your skills as a composer and arranger as well as performing in big bands and the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. You’ll create original music and collaborate with other students to showcase your talent at jam sessions and regular gigs in Leeds' renowned jazz venues.  

We proudly hold the distinction of being the first conservatoire in Europe to offer a dedicated jazz course. Benefit from this rich heritage and pioneering spirit in jazz education to launch your career as a professional artist, record your music, and build your audience with us. 

What you will study


 

Specialist Study modules in trimesters 1 and 2 enables students to consolidate and develop their skills as they work towards achieving greater originality, technical proficiency and creative fluidity in their practice. Students will work towards submitting a performance or portfolio based on their chosen discipline.

In preparation for a performance, public sharing, or portfolio submission, students will, through collaborative investigations with tutors in both one-to-one sessions and taught group sessions, work on improving and refining their practical, creative, and presentational skills.

This work will draw from a range of inspirational sources including influential figures from minority groups. This process involves identifying and addressing technical weaknesses, exploring and analysing a variety of repertoire and/or original material, and developing coherent presentation skills that align with the demands of their chosen idiom.

Concepts in Music modules in trimesters 1 and 2 will facilitate learning by addressing and exploring relevant practical, theoretical and critical frameworks in lectures, group seminars and directed independent study. The module allows students to analyse and interrogate musical systems and approaches that relate to their chosen discipline.

The module will also focus on developing skills that relate to all pathways such as, presentation skills, developing social conscience, ethical practice, intellectual property, funding applications, social media, location recording techniques and understanding national arts organisations.

Within the module, students will focus on a diverse range of influential figures, drawing from both global majority and minority group artists.

The programme culminates in the 60-credit Major Project in Music module, in which students will embark on an ambitious, complex, and substantial project supported by small-group supervision.

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Careers

With a deep understanding of the creative and industrial contexts within which your practice exists, as an alumnus you will be prepared for a career as a musician. 

Our postgraduate students have received commissions, performed at regional and international festivals including South by South West, The Reeperbahn Festival, Glastonbury and Live at Leeds, progressed to teaching positions, and created public installations.

Meet our Alumni

Entry requirements, fees & applying

Course Type: MA Postgraduate Degree
Duration: 1 year
Study Mode: Full Time
Start date: September
Validated by: University of Hull

Course Key Information Document 2021/22 

 

Apply via UCAS Conservatoires

UCAS Code: MA Music (Jazz) – 805F

UCAS Institution Code: L31

Apply directly to Leeds Conservatoire

Alternatively you can apply directly to Leeds Conservatoire when direct applications open later in the year.

Find out more about the application process.

  • A good honours degree in any subject, with a 2nd (2:2) classification or equivalent 

OR 

  • Professional experience equivalent to a good honours degree (see our APEL process) 
  • All suitable applicants are invited for interview and/or audition
  • All international students must have a British Council English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 6.0

Postgraduate applicants will be expected to submit an audition or portfolio. The auditions process will be communicated later in 2024.

Funding options

Student Loans for Masters level study are available for many Home applicants.

There are also a range of Scholarships & Bursaries available.

Read more on our Postgraduate Fees & Funding page.

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Our community

Our eclectic community comes from all over the world to write, interpret, discover, explore and reflect upon original and existing forms of music. 

Postgraduate students have the opportunity to meet industry guests from across the spectrum, with recent guests including: 

  • Anna Meredith MBE – Composer, producer and performer
  • Neil Davidge – Producer with Massive Attack
  • Harry Escott - Film score composer
  • Tom McRae - Singer, songwriter, recording and touring artist
  • Malcolm Joseph - Bass guitarist with Grace Jones
  • Ayanna Witter Johnson - Composer, performer and musician
  • Scanner - Electronic musician and multimedia artist
Postgraduate Open Days

Find out what it’s like to study at Leeds Conservatoire by coming along to an Open Day. 

Both Online and On-Campus Open Days allow you to find out more about our postgraduate courses, meet our teaching staff and see our facilities.

Find out more
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