If you are thinking of doing a Music degree then at some point you will need to have addressed this question – should you study at a conservatoire or a university? This will be a very individual decision, but I have laid out here some pros and cons of both options for you to consider what is best for you.
The Pros of Studying at a Conservatoire
If you definitely want to be a performing musician, then conservatoires are probably the best place. That’s where you’ll get the best teaching and training in music performance.
Music department staff at normal universities that offer a music degree are usually historians/musicologists, and sometimes composers, but they are unlikely to be performance specialists, except for your instrumental/vocal teacher(s). More of the staff at conservatoires will be professional performers.
At conservatoires you’ll be surrounded by so many amazing performers who will go on to do great things in music – working as a professional musician is (perhaps sadly) all about networking, and conservatoires are the best place for that, because everyone there is studying music (or other performing branches).
The standard of performance at conservatoires is very high, as that is most people’s main focus there. At universities, some people will be primarily performers, but others will be more interested in composition or music history and won’t necessarily have prioritised getting to a high level of performance standard. Therefore, at a conservatoire there will be more musicians of a high standard to collaborate with musically.
Not only will you be networking with all of your fellow students, but as part of many conservatoire courses you have the opportunity to work with many professional musicians and ensembles during your course, which many universities do not have the capacity to offer.
Studying at a conservatoire usually makes it easier to get your foot in the door in terms of getting performing work, compared to a university course alone.
Also, the name/reputation of conservatoires could be valuable, the same as in any other industry. You’re less likely to need to prove that you’re good if you’ve been to a top conservatoire, because people will know that you are at least a certain standard, having been successful at your conservatoire’s audition.
The Pros of Studying Music at a University
At a University studying an academic music degree (BA) you get a much more well-rounded education and a more overall ‘employable’ set of skills.
The first year of the course at many universities involves an introduction to many different musical skills including composition, essay writing and harmony as well as performance, and you can specialise in the second and third years.
This means that if you are interested in composition or music history, as well as or instead of music performance, then this may be the best place for you.
If you don’t know yet which aspects of music you would like to specialise in, then going to a university rather than a conservatoire gives you the freedom to try things out and specialise later on in your course.
Even if you know that music performance is what you want to focus on, there is still an argument for choosing to study at a university instead of a conservatoire.
All that really matters is that you have a good instrumental or vocal teacher, which you can get regardless of whether you choose a university or conservatoire.
Most performing opportunities that you may get at a conservatoire can be found outside of your university course – you may just have to try a little bit harder to access them.
But there is another reason to choose a university for performance:
There are usually fewer good performers at a university compared to a conservatoire, so if you’re a high standard on your instrument/voice then you get to do pretty much every musical experience available at your university that you want, because there’s little competition.
With this you can get a huge amount of experience and improve your skills. You can really try every style of music and find out what you like.
At conservatoires, everyone is more than good enough to do each role or position, so you have to share all of the opportunities (this often happens with singers where there are an abundance of sopranos who are all very good so they each may only get one lead role in their time at college).
At universities you can meet a much more diverse range of people studying all subjects and all with different interests, as opposed to conservatoires that usually only offer performing arts courses.
For singers there’s the added issue of letting your voice physically develop over time. Lots of conservatoires don’t accept singers until they are over a certain age, or have reached a certain level of vocal maturity. For this reason it’s often better for singers to go to university and do a BA if they are going straight after leaving school. There’s always the option of doing a masters at a conservatoire once you’re older, which a lot of singers do.
Other Things to Consider:
BA versus BMus
Usually, universities offer a BA degree whilst conservatoires offer a BMus degree. For more information, you can read my other article here: Requirements to Study Music at a University or Conservatoire.
Combined Courses
Something that you could consider is that there are some courses that offer a bit of both the academic music side and the conservatoire experience, e.g. in Manchester, if you can’t choose between the two!
Auditions Versus Exams
Admissions to conservatoires are based on auditions, whilst most universities look at exam results and UCAS information instead and don’t require an audition (some do sometimes though so check on a case-by-case basis). If your strengths lie in one or other of these assessment methods then you may want to take this into consideration when choosing where to apply.
Course Length
University undergraduate music courses are usually 3 years long, whereas conservatoire undergraduate music courses are usually 4 years long. If you have a preference either way then you could use this to influence your decision.
Music Production/Tech
If you are more interested in the music production/music tech side of things, then you might want to consider a music Institute/College such as BIMM.
Any Other Personal Circumstances
I personally chose to do a degree at a university rather than a conservatoire, even though performance was what I enjoyed the most. I had experienced some tendinitis/repetitive strain injury pain in my wrists for a while, and I didn’t want the pressure on my hands of a performance-heavy course. Instead I got to choose exactly how much playing I wanted to do at any point, and had the freedom to increase it or decrease it whenever I wanted.
Any individual circumstances like these will likely come into your decision of where to study. Perhaps you want to live in a certain city, but that city doesn’t have a conservatoire. There are fewer conservatoires than universities, after all. Anything like that will be a factor too.
Ultimately, studying at a university or a conservatoire will both result in a music degree in the end. It is always possible to do an undergraduate degree at one, and a Masters at the other if you want to.
Read More:
Requirements to Study Music at a University or Conservatoire