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Application and admission

Application and admission

Are you a singer or instrumentalist who thinks theatrically or, on the contrary, a theatre maker who is very musical? Do you have good ears, feeling for theatre and the potential to become a creator? Do you like combining several art disciplines and hate being artistically restrained? Then Music Theatre at ArtEZ is the perfect study for you.

Apply

You can apply through Studielink. The Bachelor Music Theatre is a Dutch-language programme.

Apply before March 1st..

Before you apply, read the admission requirements.

Apply now

Audition dates

The entrance exams for Music Theater will take place from the 2nd of April through the 6th of April 2024.

You will be scheduled for the first and second round on one of the following dates:

  • Tuesday April 2nd – 1st and second round
  • Wednesday April 3rd – 1st and second round

The third round and the theory test take place on Thursday the 4th, Friday the 5th and Saturday the 6th of April. If you want to be sure of a place during these auditions, apply before March 1st.

Preparing for audition

  • The Academy of Music Arnhem offers courses and preliminary training that help prepare you for the entrance exam for Music Theatre.

    Click here for more information about the Music Theater preparatory course (information is in Dutch).

    Click here for more information about the music theory crash course. 

  • You may request to take an introductory class. In this class you get to know the teacher a little better and you get an idea of your level and your possibilities. You can also discuss possible programme elements for the entrance examination.

    Request a class via conservatorium.arnhem@artez.nl, stating the degree programme (Music Theatre) and if you have any preference for a specific main subject teacher.

    Important: You can only apply for an introductory class if you have been to the open day or an orientation day. Introductory classes are only available between December and March.

Music Theatre admission requirements

To be eligible to be admitted to this bachelor you must meet the following critera:

  • have a VWO (pre-university education), HAVO (senior general secondary education), MBO (level 4) (senior secondary vocational education and training) or foreign equivalent level of education; 
  • meet the language requirements for an Dutch-language bachelor's course; 
  • have passed the entrance examination.

Entrance examination

Prior to the audition you hand in a presentation folder. Read below when the submission deadline is, and what the presentation folder should contain. 

The entrance audition for the Bachelor of Music Theater programme consists of three rounds, spread over several days. Each round consists of one or more work sessions. You will work in groups of varying composition. Take a good look at what is expected of you and what you need to prepare for each part. You can read this in the corresponding paragraphs below. 

The auditions will take place at the ArtEZ Conservatory in Arnhem. 

Assessment 

The audition committee consists of a chairperson and experts from the various disciplines. During the assessment, the committee pays attention to your creativity, originality, development opportunities and craft skills.
 

  • Before the audition, you must hand in a digital presentation folder. 

    The presentation folder consists of 5 parts: 

    • A cover page with your name and a photo of yourself. 
    • A short motivation: why did you choose this course? 
    • A curriculum vitae with an overview of your previous education and your activities to date in the field of music theatre 
    • A short review of 3 performances from our Music Theater canon, in which you explain why you think these 3 performances are special (good or bad). 
    • Sheet music of the 2 pieces you take with you for the first round (also for songs you wrote yourself). 
      By sheet music we mean: A score for vocals with piano OR a lead sheet OR a chord chart with lyrics. Make sure all sheet music is in the correct key (for you). 

    Note: The presentation folder must contain all these 5 parts. If your folder does not meet the requirements, is incomplete or is submitted too late, the audition committee reserves the right not to invite you to the audition. 

    The deadline for uploading the map is March 10th 

    You can upload the folder in the ArtEZ admission portal, to which you will receive a link after registering via Studielink. 

  • In the first round we test your basic musical skills, vocal and/or instrumental. This takes place in a group of between 3 and 5 candidates and lasts approximately an hour. Immediately afterwards, you will be told whether you can go on to the second round. The second round takes place later that day. 

    What do you need to prepare?

    As soon as your registration has been processed and approved (see Presentation folder), you will be sent a short music fragment to rehearse. 

    Furthermore, for the first round you will prepare two pieces of music of your own choice. It may be existing or self-written music, accompanied or a cappella. A pianist/keyboard player will be present during the audition to accompany you. 

  • If you pass the first round, the second round will follow later on the same day. In the second round, we will test your skills in acting, movement and achieving a performance. You will work in a larger group led by an acting/movement teacher. We will be looking for workability, reproducibility and opportunities for combining the disciplines. It will take about 1 hour and 30 minutes. 

    Afterwards you will be told whether you can go on to the third round. 

  • The third round begins with a music theory test. This test is partly written, partly oral.
    Read what is expected of you for this test at the section 'Music Theory entrance requirements' on this webpage.

    What do you need to prepare?
    In preparation for the third round, you will make a musical theatrical solo of maximum 3 minutes based on one of the photographs by the recently deceased photographer Erwin Olaf.

    Show and hear what associations and images your chosen Erwin Olaf photo evokes. See if you can unite music (composition), language, movement and performance into an interdisciplinary act.

    What does the photo you chose sound like? What does the photo tell you in image, sound and/or text? Share with us your fascination for the photo and/or its creator Erwin Olaf and let your imagination run wild, also in terms of setting, costume, light and sound. We are curious about your imagination, fantasy and mastery.

    Basic technical facilities are available for your performance, such as light, sound amplification (pa and amps), piano and percussion. Furthermore, you may bring anything you like. To avoid losing too much in the conversion of the various solos, don't make it too complicated.
    Remember: use the photo in the scene/ performance/ or tell us afterwards which photo you chose.

    After the third round, you will be told whether you have passed the audition.

  • The official result is determined by the Academy of Music's Board of Examiners. They check whether the procedure was conducted properly.

    An admission is only valid for the course you applied for. If you wish to be admitted to a course or specialisation at a different location, you must apply for this separately. The admission is only valid for the academic year immediately following the entrance examination. If you wish to start one year later, you can submit a written request to the Board of Examiners to prolong the validity of the results for a period of one year.

    If you do not agree with the negative results because of the procedure followed, you can lodge a complaint as a candidate with the Board of Examiners.

Music Theory admission requirements

Music theory is part of musical theatre. For music theory, we place the emphasis not on what you know, but on your skills. How do you use your musical knowledge?
Of course you need the basics when you start your course. That means you need to be familiar with music notation and have a decent ear.

Did you know ArtEZ offers a crash course in music theory? Click here to learn more.

  • You know these note values: whole note, half note, quarter note and eighth note;
    and these rests: whole rest, half rest, quarter rest and eighth rest.
    You can tap or sing back a simple rhythm when it is played to you.
    You can perform simple rhythms written in music notation in the time signatures 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 and 6/8.

    This is an example of such a rhythm:


  • You are able to name notes, with and without a sharp (#) or flat (b), written on a staff in the G clef (treble clef) or the F clef (bass clef), including notes with one guide line.
    When you are given the name of a note, you are able to notate it on a staff with a G clef or an F clef. You can also point to this note on a piano keyboard.
    You can memorise a melody fragment of a few bars and sing it back.
    You can sing a simple melody written in music notation in C, G and F major from sheet music without preparation.

    This is an example of such a melody:

  • You know these intervals: (pure) prime, minor and major second, minor and major third, (pure) fourth, (pure) fifth, minor and major sixth, minor and major seventh, (pure) octave.
    You can recognise these intervals in notation, that is: notated on a staff in G clef or F clef, with the notes one above the other (harmonic) or one after the other (melodic).
    You can notate a given interval above (and below) a given note on a staff.

  • You can sing back major and minor triads when they are played to you, in the root positions and inversions.
    When a triad is played to you, you can identify what kind of triad it is: major or minor. The triad may be played simultaneously or broken (arpeggio), in all positions.
    You can identify what kind of triad a notated triad is: major or minor.

ArtEZ Music Theatre canon

Read/listen/view here which examples – still – inspire us.

Speech and voice test

At Music Theatre we pay a great deal of attention to speaking and making music in a healthy manner. Once you have been admitted to the course, you will do a speech and voice test at the ENT Society of the Rijnstate Hospital and the Loes Selten voice and throat institute, so that we know whether you have a healthy voice at the start of the study. This also applies to music theatre students with an instrumental major. The examination will take place at Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem shortly after the last round of audits.

The costs of the speech and voice test are payable by you. Some health insurance companies reimburse these costs.