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Course

The international Jazz & Pop course at the Arnhem Academy of Music trains you to become a musician focused on creating and performing your own work.

The international Jazz & Pop course at the Arnhem Academy of Music trains you to become a musician focused on creating and performing your own work. You are a skilled musician who can be employed in many areas, but your own choices are very important to you. In the eighteen different majors you are supervised by broadly oriented and renowned teachers who can assist you in many areas. The clear structure of the course ensures close contact between students and teachers. Because of the professional practice of professional musicians, we also pay a great deal of attention to education. We assume that after your training you will always take up teaching in one way or another. There are many options, and the course will prepare you fully for them.

Given the international field students enter after their studies, the large percentage of foreign students and the collaboration between different international students on the arts campus, the working language is English.

What do you learn in the Jazz & Pop course in Arnhem?

You learn to develop yourself musically, with your major taking centre stage. With the help of your major-subject teachers you will learn all the subtleties of this instrument, but determining which musical direction you would like to pursue is equally important. You will be introduced to all possible styles, but you choose how you wish to specialise during the course of your studies. It is about personal deepening, cooperation and discovering new paths. Students at the Arnhem Academy of Music are curious and inquisitive. That is why you are given the freedom to explore music. 

You will often be on stage: in ArtEZ’s own concert halls or on stages of partners or at festivals. In addition to playing music, attention is also dedicated to entrepreneurship, because you will be soon faced with the business side of your field. You can choose from a wide range of subjects in the field of the music business. Branding, Social Media, Production Management, Networking, Copyrights and Fundraising are examples. Assignments you do for these subjects connect to your own bands; that could be a coaching band, but also a band that you have with musicians from outside ArtEZ.

In the third study year, you can also participate in different internships in preparation for professional practice.

You can study abroad during the first half year of the fourth year. Many students find this particularly valuable.

Once you have completed all the components of the Bachelor’s, you may do your final audition. This will be a concert or a project that you design entirely yourself based on your graduation specialisation. That can mean a full jazz programme, but also pop, heavy metal, big-band jazz, salsa or an intimate singer-songwriter programme. Students taking the Composition for Film and Theatre major graduate with a presentation of films, dance or theatre for which they have written the music.

Projects

Recurring programme components include projects such as the Band In Residence, the Exchange Week and the Instrument2Days.

  • Famous bands come to Arnhem for a day or a week to give masterclasses, play together with students and coach them in writing their own pieces. For example, Snarky Puppy already came for a masterclass once and came back later to be an artist in residence for a week. The ICP Orchestra were also our guests for a week.

    The American band Snarky Puppy as 'band in residence'. The band members taught masterclasses, offered coaching to student ensembles, and more.

  • Collaboration with students of Fine Art, Dance, Theatre, Creative Writing and Music Theatre encourages you even more to collaborate outside your own faculty. The projects are set up in one week and regularly result in contacts that are picked up later on in your studies.

  • Workshops and masterclasses by guest teacher focused on your specific instrument. The students from Arnhem and Zwolle enrolled on the same major come together on the first day for a joint programme with the guest teacher. On the second day there is a band in residence in both Arnhem and Zwolle; one focused more on pop, the other more on jazz. Students choose the band they want to have the masterclasses and workshops with.

    Oene van Geel in a group improv with our violin students.
    Oene van Geel in a group improv with our violin students.

  • Turn your attention to another major and attend classes from another teacher of your choice.

  • Famous films are remixed by you. Not only do you give the film a new soundtrack, you also change the sound effects. Once a year you work with a large orchestra. (Only for majors in Composition for Film & Theatre and Composition for Film Online).

Internship

In the third or fourth academic year, you can do internships. Whether these internships are mandatory depends on your specialisation. As a Composition for Film & Theatre student you can do an internship at (mostly German and American) companies specialising in film music and sound design. Many students did their internships at Cinesamples in Los Angeles or Tom Salta in New York.

Anyone who has leant more towards education in the course of their studies can specialise as an independent music teacher through an internship in the practice of a music school or other educational environment.

Students also choose to study abroad for six months in order to develop themselves further and more in-depth. The Erasmus programme offers this possibility, but you can also make your own plan to travel outside Europe. This will also earn you credits.

Structure of the course

The first year is the same for all Jazz & Pop students. Regardless of your background, that first year introduces you to many different styles. This lateral development is achieved through: 

  • The first year is the same for all Jazz & Pop students. Regardless of your background, that first year introduces you to many different styles. This lateral development is achieved through: 

     

    • your major 
    • bands (including five different styles, improvisation technique and studio experience) 
    • piano at your own level 
    • music production 
    • education 
    • music theory 
    • workshops and masterclasses by nationally and internationally renowned musicians. 

    Besides these subjects, you will also take part in a number of projects. This first year provides you with all the information you need to make a well-considered choice later on in your studies about how you want to specialise. There are enough students in every style to form a band with. 

    In the first year you can also apply for the Honours Programme, to supplement the theoretical programme of your own bachelor course.

     

  • Your major still takes centre stage in the second year. But now you also choose some of the subjects yourself. Through these elective subjects and your own choices within the other subjects, the style and direction you choose become increasingly clear. Electives include a second instrument, music technology, mental training, and subjects in the field of music education and music business. And you can also take subjects at other ArtEZ locations. You will put what you have learned into practice through various bands on stage. 

  • Your major, band coaching, research and your graduation project form the mandatory part of your last two years in the Bachelor of Jazz & Pop in Arnhem. Moreover, the number of electives has increased even more than in the first half of your studies. 
     
    The bands you form with fellow students follow the same path as bands outside ArtEZ. You rehearse, go on stage inside and outside ArtEZ and go into the studio for demos, EPs or full albums. The Jazz & Pop course collaborates with various festivals and venues, which means that there are plenty of opportunities to play. The business part of a band is also part of the course. Management, marketing, networking, rights and fundraising are some of the topics you cannot only learn about, but that you can directly put into practice with your bands.  
     
    If you are going to do an internship or go abroad for six months, you will do the same in the third and fourth year.  
     
    You will do your graduation project when you have passed all the bachelor subjects. You will design this concluding concert or project entirely by yourself. It fits in with the graduation profile you have chosen. This can be a pop concert or a jazz programme, but final auditions also include heavy metal, salsa, big band jazz and singer-songwriters. The students of Composition for Film & Theatre conclude with film, dance or theatre for which they have written the music.  
     
    The final auditions can be found at ArtEZ finals. Take a look at the site and visit the presentations if you are considering this course. It will help you find out what the students are involved in and what their final work looks like.  

Music & Health

High demands are placed on musicians on a physical and mental level. That is why we at ArtEZ pay the necessary attention to healthy music making. We mainly do this during project days and weeks. You follow a series of lessons about healthy voice use and you learn to recognize and prevent work-related complaints.

Masterclasses

At particular times in the year, you will take masterclasses by musicians such as Marcus Miller, John Patitucci, Greetje Bijma, Fred Frith and others.

  • The band Banda Magda was ‘band in residence’ for a week . The band members taught masterclasses, offered coaching to student ensembles, and more.

ArtEZ finals

All our graduation students will present their graduation work during the ArtEZ finals. A visit to this graduation exhibition is a must if you are thinking about taking a course at ArtEZ. 

Doing research outside of your regular class hours

When you study at ArtEZ, you also get acquainted with research. Think of theory classes, material research, and socially engaged research. Within your course, there is ample support and space to discover what kind of artistic researcher you are. But outside your regular class hours, there are also special initiatives, activities, and workshops where you can work on research. Especially for students who seek further depth. Curious? Then quickly read more about the (extracurricular) research activities.

Doing research outside of your regular class hours