Breadcrumbs

Music

The specialist degree

The Bachelor of Music (BMus) is a specialist degree that will suit you if you have musical skill and ambition or just a sheer love of music. Choose an academic, composition or performance programme and build your technical skills and experience in the areas of music that interest you.

Why study Music?

Sharpen your musical talent with the guidance of our internationally acclaimed music staff when you study a Bachelor of Music at Waikato. With numerous opportunities for public performance and access to a world-class performing arts venue, you’ll be learning among the best.

Access to world-class facilities.

Study music with leading professional performers and composers.

Rich performance opportunities.

Study options

If music is your passion, then Waikato Music has a programme of study to suit. With the option to study from three different areas (Academic, Composition, Performance) the University of Waikato provides a combination of historical, analytical, creative and practical tuition to give a well-rounded learning experience.

Music can be taken as part of the Bachelor of Music degree or it can be taken as a major in the Bachelor of Arts degree. Contemporary music composition and production can be studied alongside design and media as a Major in Media Production in the Bachelor of Communication

Music papers can also be taken as part of any degree, allowing for flexibility of study options.

Tuition is available in a range of orchestral instruments including strings, winds, brass, percussion, piano and classical singing.


Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Arts

Big Band Jazz Ensemble available at Waikato!

Do you play trumpet, trombone, saxophone, drums, bass, piano or guitar? Or maybe you have an interest in singing Jazz? Do you love to collaborate with other musicians? If so, sign up for our MUSIC122 or MUSIC227 paper and keep up your passion alongside your other studies.

Available for all University of Waikato students who play a suitable big band instrument.


Learn more about MUSIC122 - Musical Collaborations
Learn more about MUSIC227 - Performance Ensemble

Te Pae Kōkako - The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio

Te Pae Kōkako - The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS) is a new, immersive MMus programme which will provide exceptionally promising young opera singers with international-level training and experience, from both national and visiting international tutors, as well as industry residencies in New Zealand and abroad.

It is the only one of its kind in Aotearoa and was open to six singers in its pilot year. It encompasses all the necessary elements required to give singers the best start on the global stage.


Learn more

Career pathways

  • Recording Artist
  • Performer
  • Composer
  • Digital Media Producer
  • Broadcaster
  • Teacher
  • Arts entrepreneur
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Ready for the next level?

Once you have completed your degree, you can progress your study at Postgraduate Level.

Master of Arts
Master of Music
BMus(Hons)
Doctor of Musical Arts
Doctor of Philosophy

Student Success Stories