Graduate Profile for the
Bachelor of Music with Honours (BMus(Hons))

Preamble

The papers offered by the University of Waikato towards the Bachelor of Music with Honours (BMus (Hons)) have been designed to achieve the following particular outcomes involving mastery of content, acquisition of skills and development of attributes. Learning experiences are incorporated into the programme to bring about these desired outcomes, and assessment is designed to ensure that students have the opportunity to demonstrate their achievement.

The University has developed relationships and networks with national and international academic and professional musical communities to ensure that its programmes and qualifications are relevant and responsive to our students’ needs as well as their needs. The University is also responsive to a range of social and economic goals which have been identified as priorities by Government. The generic capabilities developed by our graduates are of critical importance, as are specialist knowledge and skills. This graduate profile includes an outline of its links with other education sector groups, community groups, industry and employers who have an interest in the capabilities of graduates of this qualification, who contribute to programme planning and development and who also, in many cases, provide workplace experience opportunities.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences seeks in all its qualifications to familiarise students with central bodies of knowledge in the subject areas of Arts and Social Sciences, to encourage the development of the ability to analyse such knowledge critically, to provide the skills needed to articulate their knowledge and positions and to contribute to the extension of knowledge by research.

The BMus(Hons) programme of advanced study enables students to take their specialised qualification BMus to a more advanced level, concentrating on either composition or performance.

Mastery of Content

Graduates of the BMus (Hons) will have a detailed knowledge of:

• the underlying concepts and principles of music composition, performance, history and analysis as appropriate.
• the principal contemporary and historical techniques of Western music composition, analysis and performance.
• the different philosophical and technical issues facing creativity, performance and research in relevant musical fields.

Acquisition of Skills

Graduates of the BMus (Hons) will have the:

• ability to compose in a range of styles and to perform music to a high level of competence.
• ability to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts in their subject(s).
• ability to apply the methods and techniques that they have learned.
• ability to present, evaluate, and interpret qualitative and quantitative data.
• ability to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.
• ability to effectively communicate information, arguments, and analyses in a variety of forms, to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• ability to apply underlying concepts and principles outside the context in which they were first studied, including, where appropriate, the application of those principles in an employment context.
• ability to evaluate critically current scholarship in the discipline.
• ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project and to adjust the project in the light of unforeseen problems.
• ability to work effectively in a team.
• ability to negotiate effectively.
• information literacy - ability to locate, evaluate and use information in a range of contexts.

Development of Attributes

Graduates of this degree will have had the opportunity to develop:

• an advanced level of musicianship.
• an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge.
• the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility.
• confidence to make decisions in complex and unpredictable contexts.
• the learning ability needed to undertake appropriate further education and/or training.
• self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
• confidence to act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks.
• an awareness of ethical issues.

Graduate Pathways in Further Education

Various graduate and postgraduate diplomas
Master of Arts
Master of Music (in composition or performance)
Master of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy

Community and Workplace Prospects

Graduates of the BMus (Hons) will be prepared for employment in a variety of areas, including the following:

Broadcasting
Radio/television/recording production
Performer (solo, chamber, orchestra, studio, experimental, theatrical)
Multi-media creative
Arts administrator
Communications co-ordinator
Community development (tribal authorities)
Musical director/producer
Educator (all level: private, primary, secondary, tertiary)
Film/video music production
Human-computer interface development
Journalist
Librarian/information consultant
Music technician

Networks into Other Sectors

Students have a number of opportunities to participate in their respective musical fields in ways that contribute to their emerging professionalism and also offer significant networking links. Some of these include:

• Performance opportunities for playing with the Waikato Symphony Orchestra and Opera Waikato.
• National level networking and pre-professional development at Nelson Young Composer’s Workshop for composition students.
• Participation in orchestral reading workshops run by New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia (composition students).
• Participation in National Youth Orchestra by some performance students.
• Participation and successes in regional singing competitions.
• Publication in professional journals (eg. Music in New Zealand) for some musicology students.

Some staff and also some students belong to registered music teachers organisations.