New degree offers exciting future for Music at UNE

July 30, 2007

A new Bachelor of Music degree to be offered at the University of New England from the beginning of 2008 will benefit from – and contribute to – Armidale's unique cultural environment.

For example, all those studying for the degree will be required to join at least one community ensemble in each year of the course. In this way, on-campus students will benefit from Armidale's exceptional variety of musical ensembles, while Armidale will benefit from an increased number of participants in its musical life.

"We really have everything going for us here," said Dr Andrew Alter, Convener of Music at UNE – "a small town environment with a huge cultural atmosphere, as well as a top-class university with a commitment to regional issues and students. We're very excited by the new possibilities this degree offers. Our location in the C.B. Newling Building with the New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM) and TAFE Audio Engineering will provide all kinds of opportunities for cooperation. Already, aspects of the performance program have been designed to incorporate personnel and ensembles associated with NECOM."

While Armidale's reputation as a thriving musical centre will attract on-campus students to the new degree, UNE's standing as a leader in distance education will also attract students to the program's online and offshore delivery options. "There are growing numbers of students wishing to study music subjects by distance education," Dr Alter said, "and, by designing the program to satisfy their needs, UNE will potentially be able to deliver it almost anywhere in the world. Plans to offer it in Hong Kong are already nearing conclusion."

"Designing a music program that can be delivered online is not the easiest task in the world," said UNE musicologist Dr Jason Stoessel. "We're still really in the early stages of this development, but once we've put all our units online I think we will be one of the few online music programs in the world. New technologies and the Internet allow us to do amazing things that benefit our students through active learning and participation. We'll be at the forefront of this kind of music teaching once all our components are in place."

The UNE degree program will differ from comparable programs at other universities in that all students will undertake the same Music components while being able to choose from a limited number of options outside the area of Music. Performance studies will be undertaken by all students at all levels of the three-year course, but will involve much more than individual study on an instrument. For instance, in addition to studying their specialist instrument (or voice) during their first year, all students will join a choral group, learn conducting, practise sight singing, and study a second instrument. First-year musicology classes will ensure students are given a thorough basis for later study, while aural studies and general musicianship training remain a part of the course throughout the three years – as do composition training, musicology, and ethnomusicology.

The program will benefit from the newly reorganised structure of the University, which places Music together with Theatre Studies, English, Modern Languages and Communication Studies within a new School of Arts. "This should allow music students opportunities to more easily undertake electives in these compatible areas," Dr Alter said.

The Bachelor of Music degree is one of 13 new undergraduate degrees to be offered at UNE in 2008.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at July 30, 2007 11:10 AM