Composition

During the study you will gain a broad overview of the most important 20th- and 21st-century composition techniques, rooted in an age-old musical tradition. Electronics and ideas from jazz, pop and world music all have a place in the course. Based on all this knowledge you will learn to find your own voice as a composer and to put your own musical ideas into practice. The artistry and practical aspects are important: besides the regular collaborations with professional musicians, you take auxiliary subjects such as instrumentation, counterpoint and analysis. Special attention is paid to how you impart compositional expertise to others.

As a composer you learn the most by having your work performed. That is why every year there is the ChoCo project with the Orkest De Ereprijs, which specializes in new music, the Dance and Theater department of ArtEZ in Arnhem and the course Composition for Film and Theater from Arnhem. We also work regularly with the Dutch National Opera and KASKO in Zwolle. New compositions are performed by fellow students during project weeks and composition class concerts. Ensemble ArtEZ Moderne also performs compositions. During the study you will try to find answers to questions such as: How do you get a musical idea implemented as successfully as possible? What music do you think the world needs now? For which situations do you, as a composer, want to write music? What place does your music occupy in society? How do you control the opportunities you get as a composer to make your wildest ideas come true?

In Zwolle, you as a composer learn to collaborate in many different ways with musicians, other composers, clients, programmers, audiences and a multitude of artists from other disciplines to fulfil your own musical dreams.

Specific admission criteria for Composing

In addition to the general admission criteria, there are also specific requirements. 

You should give us a general idea of the level of your craft and artistic skills and the potential for their development by the conversation you will have with the entrance committee based on a portfolio consisting of 3 to 5 recent compositions.

• Make sure your compositions show your musical and compositional abilities as broad as possible. You can upload a maximum of 5 pdfs of 25MB each.
• Make sure the file name of the pdf contains your own name and the title of the work.
• Next to that you add a document (as a pdf) with:

1. The list of composition you send with for every piece a link to a recording or digital rendition of the work on a publicly accessible web page such as YouTube or soundcloud. In case you don’t have a recording or a digital rendition is impossible, you should mention this.
2. For every composition you give a short explanation about the composition and write something about your compositional process: explain something about the idea behind your piece or how the piece was created and which problems you encountered and how you dealt with them.
3. A text in which you try to answer the following questions: why do you compose? Why do you want to study composition and what would you like to learn? What were pivotal moments in your musical development? Which experiences have shaped you as a musician and composer sofar?

Your practical audition for the Bachelor Composition consists of a conversation about the work in your portfolio. You don’t need to perform any work during the practical audition and don’t need to bring your work with you printed in fourfold.

If you have any questions or if there is something unclear in this mail, please send an email to: w.bulsink@artez.nl