Music And Creative Writing

Highlights

Music and Creative Writing offers the perfect combination of creative disciplines. You’ll be mentored by world-leading experts in musicology, composition and performance, as well as published writers and poets. Join a dynamic creative community with choirs and orchestras, bands, student ensembles, Bangor University Music Society, Bangor English Drama Society, the Writers’ Guild and Musical Theatre Society.

Visiting guest writers help inspire creativity which in the past have included hosts readings and discussion from award-winning novelists and poets. Catrin Kean, poet Bhanu Kapil, and short fiction author Wendy Erskine are just some of the writers to pay us a visit at Bangor University. Bangor’s vibrant local arts and culture scene includes theatres, cinemas, and poetry groups.

Discover drama, dance, films, music and more at Pontio, our Arts and Innovation Centre. Our music facilities include practice facilities, studios, and incredible spaces to participate in and attend music and performances.

Course overview

This degree in Music and Creative Writing allows you to pursue your passion in both disciplines and explore synergies between them. We offer a creative community, where the focus is on practical experience. Working across two art forms you will discover the ways in which sound, structure and meaning shape different forms of expression.

You’ll read and write across a range of forms, from the traditional to the experimental, while developing your skills as a musician, music researcher, composer, writer and critic. At Bangor University, making music and understanding music go hand in hand. Studying Music, you will be taught by world-renowned composers, performers and musicologists, who will encourage you to explore the connections between all three fundamental aspects of musical study.

Staff expertise particularly lies in early music, 20th- and 21st-century music (including popular music), music editing, Welsh music, sonic art, composition, and contemporary and interactive performance. We enjoy close links with leading organisations such as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Venue Cymru and Ensemble Cymru. On this Music and Creative Writing degree, you will divide your time equally between the two subjects.

You can pursue music studies in composition, musicology, and performance, and study the creative practice of writing in a variety of forms. You will approach texts as both reader and writer, and engage with music as a listener, performer and composer. The curriculum is designed to be flexible, allowing you to choose modules that match your interests or career aspirations.

In both disciplines, you’ll be encouraged to question what you read, see and hear: to think differently, develop fresh perspectives, and find innovative ways to interpret and create meaning. On campus, you’ll join a welcoming, supportive community, which makes your learning experience more personal. As well as unrivalled performance opportunities, our extensive music facilities include two professional standard concert halls, rehearsal spaces, practice rooms, and four electroacoustic composition and recording studios.

We offer an excellent range of instruments and equipment, including Steinway grand pianos. Read more Course options

Placement year

What is the Placement Year? This exciting opportunity allows you to spend a year working with a self-sourced, professional organisation relevant to your studies. You'll typically start between June and September of your second year and finish by the following June or September.

Placements can be UK-based or even overseas. Why choose a Placement Year? Gain practical experience that complements your academic learning Make valuable industry contacts that could open doors for future careers Strengthen your employability by gaining real-world experience.

How does the Placement Year work? With dedicated support from your Academic School and our Careers and Employability Services…