Music Performance

Music performance is the study and practice of making music as a live and interpretive art, developing technical skill and musical intelligence through sustained instrumental or vocal training alongside a broader academic understanding of music, performance practice, and the contexts in which performance happens. It is a demanding discipline that requires consistent practice, critical self-awareness, and the ability to communicate musical meaning to audiences across a wide range of settings and repertoires.

At the University of Chichester, this three-year full-time BA in Music Performance provides individual tuition in instrumental and vocal performance alongside ensemble training across a rich programme of groups including orchestras, choirs, and taught performance ensembles. You will perform throughout the year, attending concerts, recitals, and masterclasses by visiting artists, and you will engage with topics that are central to the practice of performance, including performance anxiety, the use of gesture and movement, and the organisation of concerts and events. This combination of individual development and ensemble experience reflects the range of contexts in which professional musicians work.

Graduates from music performance programmes pursue careers across a wide range of musical and related fields. Professional performance, session musicianship, conducting, music education, music therapy, arts administration, community music, and work in the creative industries are all common destinations. The technical discipline, communicative ability, and creative intelligence developed through performance training are also valued in adjacent fields including teaching, music production, broadcasting, and cultural management.

Many graduates combine performance with teaching, and postgraduate study in performance, music education, or conducting is a natural next step for those who wish to develop specialist expertise or pursue an academic or clinical music career.