About the School of Music
Bangor University’s School of Music and Media has a long tradition of academic excellence in music, dating back almost a hundred years. Staff teach from their own research interests as musicologists, composers and performers. The most recent Research Excellence Framework graded 81% of our research as world-leading or internationally excellent.
Our musicological expertise covers over 1,000 years of music history, from plainchant to punk rock. We have particular specialisms in early music, the long nineteenth century, minimalism, Welsh music, and feminist musicology.
Composition is interpreted in its widest sense, encompassing contemporary ‘classical’, electroacoustic, popular and applied composition (including film music), and cross-fertilization between these genres. The performance of music is central to the life of the School, and can be studied as a soloist or as an ensemble musician. In addition, there is an extensive range of extra-curricular activities, including orchestras, choirs, a brass band, a jazz band, a concert band, and opera and musical theatre groups.
Incorporating also film, media studies and production, creative writing, journalism, theatre, and game design, the School of Music and Media is very much at the heart of Bangor University, with cafés and social learning spaces on our doorstep. A £2 million renovation of the main Music building was completed in September 2016, and our facilities include four studios, a specialised music library, a suite of practice rooms, and three excellent concert halls which host a lively series of recitals, concerts and workshops.