Acting and Music

Acting and Music is a combination that recognises the deep connection between these two performance arts. Theatre and musical theatre draw on both, and even in contexts where acting and music appear separately, knowledge of one enriches practice in the other. Actors who understand music are more attuned to rhythm, timing and the emotional register of scenes.

Musicians who understand acting bring a more embodied and communicative presence to their performances. Studying both together opens a broader range of professional opportunities and develops a richer creative vocabulary.

At Liverpool Hope University, the four-year full-time degree includes a foundation year, which provides additional preparation before beginning the full programme. The acting component develops your performance skills across stage and screen through studio-based practice: voice and movement, character development, text analysis, improvisation, and rehearsal and production work. The music strand develops your musicianship alongside an understanding of musical history, theory and practice across different genres and traditions.

The programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad and a work placement, giving you the opportunity to develop professional experience and to encounter different performance traditions in an international context.

Liverpool has a remarkable musical heritage and an active performing arts scene, from its theatres and concert venues to the wider music industry that the city continues to generate. The university's connections with the performing arts community in the city and beyond enrich both strands of the degree.

Graduates of acting and music degrees work across the performing arts: in theatre, musical theatre, opera, film, television, cabaret, arts education, community arts, music teaching and the music industry more broadly. Many develop portfolio careers that draw on both sets of skills simultaneously.