The Music community at City offer you a stimulating and creative environment in which to study and to develop your musical creativity.
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We offer private instrumental and vocal lessons from our team of visiting professional musicians.
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Be part of a wide range of classical, contemporary and world music ensembles.
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Hear from visiting musicians and composers who offer masterclasses and workshops.
Composition at City
Our composition staff is made up of active professionals with vibrant international artistic careers, including two British Composer Award winners, a Guggenheim Fellow, and an award-winning composer for feature films and BBC television.
Instruments and Vocal
You will gain experience of the composition process, from developing material, creating scores and parts, to working with professional musicians in rehearsal to realise a personalised, imaginative engagement with musical materials in a range of contemporary compositional techniques.
Studio
You will develop your understanding of sound as musical material and learn a range of studio techniques through stages of the composition process, from capturing sound materials to the final forming and diffusion of a composition using the finest professional studios and equipment.
Moving image
You can engage your creative imagination and discover new approaches to music-image synergy, learning to generate fluent, coherent and imaginative soundtracks that are dramatically, structurally and gesturally appropriate from top professionals in the field.
Visitors and industry sessions
We regularly invite practitioners from a diversity of backgrounds, including acoustic and electronic music and moving image composition, as well as improvisation, sound design, production and management to present and talk about their work though lectures, masterclasses and industry sessions.
Ensembles in residence and guests
The Music Department hosts two world-leading ensembles-in-residence for performances, seminars, and student composition workshops: The renowned vocal ensemble EXAUDI and the multi-instrumental ensemble Plus Minus.
The department’s in-house ensemble is the City Pierrot Ensemble, drawn from a range of leading professional performers who also teach at City. It was founded in 2017 and is led by artistic director Ian Pace.
In addition, each year we invite an international list of visiting ensembles and artists to lead composition workshops with students.
Our innovative research centre SPARC (Sound Practice And Composition @ City) also hosts international visiting artists who lead research seminars, guest lectures, masterclasses, and performances.
Students are given many opportunities to workshop their music these professional ensembles-in-residence as well as a renowned list of international visitors.
Department ensembles
All undergraduate music students participate in our departmental ensembles. Students from other departments are also very welcome to join, as an enjoyable and sociable extra-curricular activity.
Our Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Choir require an informal and friendly audition; many of our other ensembles require no previous experience.
City's ensembles
African Dance and Drumming
Led by: Barak Schmool and Laurie Blundell.
This ensemble focuses on traditional and modern African music and dance.
Students will play an array of percussion instruments, and we recommend this ensemble to anyone interested in playing jazz to underpin their practice.
Balinese and Javanese Gamelan
Led by: Andy Channing.
Gamelan is the name for a tuned percussion orchestra from Indonesia comprising bronze gongs, gong-chimes, drums and metallophones which produce rich and mesmerising sounds.
City has two types of gamelan, the gentler Javanese style (recommended for beginners) and the more energetic Balinese style.
This ensembles are run by Indonesian music expert Andy Channing. No experience is necessary.
Chamber Choir
Led by: Rory McCleery.
The choir is a group of around twenty musicians, some of whom have much choral experience and others who have little. All are welcome to sing with us, though there will be a short simple singing test, mainly to check which part you should sing.
The choir performs two concerts a year, usually in a local church.
Recent concerts have included Vivaldi Gloria, Bruckner Motets, Madrigals, Britten Ceremony of Carols and other Christmas music.
Chamber Orchestra
Led by: Tim Hooper.
The City Chamber Orchestra has around 20 members. It performs two concerts a year with a burst of rehearsals in the three days leading up to these concerts.
Recent performances have included Mozart Symphony No. 40, Schubert Symphony No. 5, Elgar Chanson De Matin and Nuit and Debussy Petite Suite.
Entry is by audition, held at the start of the Autumn Term.
City, University of London Experimental Ensemble (CUEE)
Led by: Tullis Rennie.
CUEE are a large group of students making music together through free improvisation, interpretation of graphic, text and video scores, and devised performances. The ensemble is open to all interested participants: vocalists and performers on any instrument, laptops and electronic devices plus any other sound-making objects you wish to play.
CUEE recently performed a full-length concert at London's IKLECTIK, including the premiere of a new work written especially for the ensemble by composer and improvisor Cath Roberts.
The group also worked with composer Michael Finnissy for an event marking his 70th birthday celebrations, and have also performed the work of Pauline Oliveros with Seth Cluett.
Civitas
Led by: Alexander Lingas.
Civitas is a vocal ensemble devoted to the performance of the Early Musics of Eastern and Western Europe, including both plainchant (Latin, Byzantine, and Slavic) and polyphony.
The group is led by BMus Programme Director Alexander Lingas, also known internationally as the founding Director of the professional vocal ensemble Cappella Romana.
Jazz and Improvisation Ensemble
Led by: Shirley Smart.
This ensemble will look at a range of approaches to improvisation. There will be a significant focus on jazz improvisation, but also free improvisation, world music traditions, and classical improvisation.
The aim of the ensemble is both to equip students with the techniques and knowledge to be able to adapt to the variety of improvisational contexts which occur in contemporary musical life, as well as develop skills within a particular area.
There is a focus on ear-training, listening and reacting within a group, and discussion of material from an analytical and practical point of view.
Attendance at outside events is also encouraged and information will be made available.
Balkan Ensemble
Led by: Gundula Gruen.
The Balkan ensemble is a lively group which performs music from the Balkans and surrounding countries, including from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Romania. The music is initially learnt by ear and sheet music is provided later.
The group is open to instrumentalists and singers of any kind and style, from intermediate level to advanced.
Apart from learning the music, including ornamentation, accompaniments and style, this group provides excellent aural training and basic improvisation.
Field Recording Ensemble
Led by: Claudia Molitor.
The Field recording ensemble will explore field recording practices in all their glorious variety.
We will look at examples from artists, but most of all you will be creating your own work in small groups, creating five projects, for example an audio-documentary or an imaginary environment, throughout the year.
During many of these sessions we will be outdoors, in the field, no matter what the weather is like. No experience necessary.