Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover

Course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Music
Regular course length 8 Semesters
Options Performance or Performance/Education  
 
Who should apply?
The Bachelor of Music course is designed primarily for gifted young singers who have completed their schooling. In addition however, the programme is suitable for students with previous degrees in related disciplines.

The Programme
This degree programme is characterized by outstanding vocal training by internationally renowned teachers, who focus on drawing out the individuality of the student with teaching based on both traditional voice pedagogy and current voice research.  The Bachelor programme for voice offers specialized training in a variety of styles, and opens the door to continuing development in a Masters programme in opera, concert and vocal pedagogy.  

Contents and objectives
Thanks to the artistic diversity offered with studies in opera, Lied, oratorio, early music and contemporary music, the Bachelor programme provides the basis either for graduate study for a Masters degree or for embarking directly on a professional career. The Performance or Performance/Pedagogy Major both offer opportunity to specialize in the second half of the programme and enable students to gather initial professional experience in various professional areas without committing to a specific career path.
Parallel to voice training and repertoire studies, the HMTMH offers acting classes during the course of the entire programme, differentiating this programme from training offered in other European universities. The professional orientation of this programme is underscored by the annual opera productions (up to three per year) in the main theater and concert hall.
In Hanover, students have the opportunity to receive competent and intensive training from internationally renowned specialists in the fields of opera, concert, oratorio, Lied, voice pedagogy, acting and conducting. Teachers in Hanover teach students, not methods in order to prepare the future generation of artists on the international market adequately for the professional world. 
This voice programme offers a broad range of courses with a high proportion of individual artistic training, requiring flexibility and discipline from both students and teaching staff.

Selected programme content
• Voice Major: (vocal training; stylistic practice and repertoire studies); artistic concentrations on style, period and genre (e.g. opera, Lied, oratorio, early music, new music).
• Acting: classes and individual lessons
• Vocal Ensemble (opera production, opera ensemble, ensemble/choir)
• Movement (e.g. stage dance, fencing and theatre techniques)
• Speech training
• Italian language and diction as well as diction in other languages
• Music theory
• Musik History and Musicology
• Courses in related subjects such as performance training, piano, professional matters such as contract law, business practise etc.
• Fundamentals of vocal pedagogy include basic competence in physiology, acoustics, specialized pedagogy for children, teenager and amateurs.
• Performance Majors participate in opera productions, opera ensemble, solo ensemble/choir projects
• Performance/Education The pedagogy requirements provide the opportunity to learn basic teaching skills such as lesson planning and content.  A strong practical orientation is assured by observation requirements, supervised teaching, placements with music schools, choirs, etc.   Academic and research assignments are required. Performance requirements include an emphasis on the various techniques required by different styles of singing in varied periods and genres, as well as extensive repertoire study.

Career possibilities and post-graduate studies 
Graduates are expected to be singers qualified for employment as soloists in opera or concert, as members of professional choirs, or as freelance singers or voice teachers.