Music (Jazz) with Foundation Year

UCAS code: W37F

Here's what Leeds Conservatoire says about its Music (Jazz) with Foundation Year course.

Leeds Conservatoire's jazz degree was the first in the UK, and over the last 50 years we've become a leading authority in jazz across the UK and Europe. Our course was the first Jazz degree to be established in Europe. Our Foundation Year route gives you an extra year to focus on your musical development. Led by Programme Leader, Jamil Sheriff, and supported by a host of renowned jazz musicians, our highly collaborative curriculum will shape you into a forward-thinking, creative artist grounded in tradition but with a hunger to take music to new dimensions.

This course follows the same specifications as our three year BA (Hons) Music (Jazz) except that the extra Foundation Year allows for students who need an extra year of study to achieve the standard of our entry requirements for the 3-year BA. On completion of the Foundation Year you will continue to Year 1 of the BA (Hons) Music (Jazz).

You’ll play with jazz musicians from all backgrounds, from raw talent to polished, and from progressive to purist. You’ll also benefit from working alongside students from other pathways, collaborating with producers, sound engineers, composers and entrepreneurs on your own independent projects. As well as one-to-one tuition with experts in your specialism, you will form innovative ensembles, develop composition, musicology and critical listening skills, and receive expert advice and instruction from illustrious performers, composers and music industry professionals.

Graduates from Jazz degrees at Leeds Conservatoire have gone on to a wide variety of careers including Recording Artists, Band Leaders, Composers, and Performers.

The BA (Hons) Music (Jazz) with Foundation Year modules focus on developing you as a professional musician through one-to-one tuition, ensemble study and creative projects. The professional studies strand will develop your core business skills, and other optional modules will introduce additional cross-genre opportunities.

The programme has strands in Specialist Study and Contextual Studies that span the four levels of the programme, as well as a Professional Studies strand throughout Levels 4, 5 and 6. Students focus primarily on their Specialist Study.

Foundation Year (Level 3) Compulsory modules: Specialist Study Foundation (Composition / Performance) Specialist Group Study Foundation (Composition / Performance) Contextual Studies Foundation Musicianship Skills Aural and Theory

Year 1 (Level 4) Compulsory modules: Specialist Study 1 (Composition / Performance) Specialist Group Study 1 Contextual Studies 1 Professional Studies 1: Working in the Creative Industries Creative Project

Year 2 (Level 5) Compulsory modules: Specialist Study 2 (Composition / Performance) Specialist Group Study 2 Contextual Studies 2 Professional Studies 2

Contextual Studies 2 optional modules, one of: Arranging and Orchestration Collaborative Composition Entrepreneurship Introduction to Music Technology Music and Ideology Music for the Moving Image Musical Direction Performance with Electronics Songwriting

Professional Studies 2 optional modules, one of: Artistic Management Business Start-up Concerts and Touring Instrumental Music Tuition Self-Promotion and Music Marketing Structure and Functions of the Film Music Industry Working with Music in the Community

Year 3 (Level 6) Compulsory modules: Specialist Study 3 (Composition / Performance) Final Project Contextual Studies 3 Professional Studies 3

Contextual Studies 3 optional modules, one of: Composed Theatre Composition and Production for Film and Television Computer-Based Composition Electro-acoustic Composition Emerging Music Models Extended Improvisation Intercultural Music Software Environments – Performance and Sound Creation

Professional Studies 3 optional modules, one of: Business Leadership and Ethics Community Music Project Film Music – Aesthetics and Narrative Function Live Music Management Music Journalism

Module specifications can be found via the Leeds Conservatoire website: http://bit.ly/LC-JazzFY-UCAS

The course is assessed in a variety of ways to reflect the diversity of creative and professional practice. Assessment methods include recitals, coursework, musical portfolios, recordings, technical tests, presentations and written work. The exact nature of assessments will depend on the Musicianship Skills, Contextual Studies and Professional Studies module options chosen at Level 3, Level 5 and Level 6, as well as the choice of project for the Final Project module at Level 6. Formal assessments tend to take place at the end of each semester or the end of the year. There are a handful of assignments with deadlines halfway through a semester.