Music

Applying to St Hugh’s for Music

There is no typical music student at Oxford, and students can flourish with a wide variety of strengths and interests within the broad field of music. Successful candidates come from all kinds of schools, countries, and backgrounds but share a passion for music and a hunger for open-minded intellectual enquiry.

Tutors will be looking for potential to engage with the course, an ability to think critically about music, and a keen interest in learning more about this subject. The BA in Music is a wide-ranging course designed to develop a broad knowledge of music in historical, social, ideological, philosophical, practical, and technical contexts from the Western world and beyond, and from the Middle Ages to the present.

There are more details of what to expect from your St Hugh’s interview and links to further information from the Faculty of Music and the University on Professor Leach’s website.

Choosing St Hugh’s for Music

You will attend lectures in the Faculty of Music, and your College tutorials—small groups of one to six students—will be organized by Professor Elizabeth Eva Leach, our Tutorial Fellow in music at St Hugh’s. You will be taught together with the students from Exeter College, which Professor Leach also oversees. Some of your tutorials will also be taught by Professor Leach, but to ensure that you are always taught by subject-specific experts at the highest level, some of your tutorials will be arranged with around a dozen additional lecturers and tutors from other Colleges each year. St Hugh’s is also fortunate to have a Stipendiary Lecturer in Music, Dr Tim Coombes.

“At St Hugh’s, it’s especially important for us that undergraduates make use of the range of academic expertise available across Oxford. While your main St Hugh’s tutors will guide you through the core papers, you will also work with a range of specialist tutors, usually based at other Colleges—and often the lecturer for the paper in question. In other words, whether or not you share the specific research interests of the St Hugh’s tutors has no bearing on your educational experience. If your emerging interests are Bach, hip hop, composition, or anything else, you’ll get the specialist small-group teaching to support your needs.” – Dr Tim Coombes

Music students have to learn the command of a very broad range of skills, but we will put particular effort into working with you individually to make you the best thinker and writer you can be. Such skills are useful for the degree itself but widely transferable to whatever you do next. – Professor Elizabeth Eva Leach, FBA

Professor Elizabeth Eva Leach FBA

Dr Tim Coombes

Studying and Living at St Hugh’s

St Hugh’s has the considerable advantage of offering accommodation on site for all three years of the Music course. Undergraduates reading Music are provided with a piano or electronic keyboard in their rooms; there are also two grand pianos, a Steinway and a Blüthner, and a harpsichord for general use. An organ scholarship and the Anna Haxworth Prize, an award given to the best musical performer among first-year students, are offered each year; neither is restricted to Music students. The Chapel has a non-auditioning choir that is open to all students. In addition, many St Hugh’s Music students perform in the choirs and orchestras of the University and its other Colleges.

The historical and scholarly breadth of the Oxford Music degree is world-leading, and will help you develop the power of your intellect. Many music students are also excellent performers and/or aspiring composers, and both composition and performance can be chosen as part of the degree course, or they can be pursued purely for pleasure in the extremely lively, diverse, and high-quality musical life of Oxford, both town and gown. The Faculty of Music offers money towards the cost of performance lessons. The course provides excellent preparation for further studies, employment, and a life enriched by musical knowledge. There is more information on the Music Faculty website.

Careers

Music students pursue a wide range of careers that can include performing, teaching, and further study. The Oxford Music degree requires the development of core Humanities skills in reading, writing, and critical thinking, making it also a fine preparation for law, banking, the civil service, arts administration, broadcasting, and politics.