Department of Performing Arts

The Department of Performing Arts was created in summer 2022, following City’s acquisition of the prestigious performing arts college, Urdang Academy, to join our renowned Department of Music.

This acquisition is part of an ambitious new strategy to enhance and innovate our existing Music offer, to develop a new portfolio in performing arts, creative practice and production, sound and design.

Recognised as one of the UK’s finest performing arts colleges, Urdang specialises in musical theatre, and has a strong international reputation. Its students and graduates are highly sought after within the industry and many alumni land roles in leading West End shows.

Music, as both a taught subject and academic research area, has been a part of City’s fabric for more than 45 years, with the first degree course launched in 1975.

Today, our courses are taught by internationally-renowned experts and leading practitioners in their fields, and our students are among the most satisfied in London. Our Music students experience conservatoire-level tuition, with all the benefits of a university setting. They study in facilities that include advanced recording and production studios, and performance and practice spaces. We offer a wide range of ensembles – including classical, contemporary, jazz and world music – providing students with regular opportunities to perform.

City’s Music, Sound and Technology course is creating the music and audio professionals of the future, ready to pursue careers in disciplines including music production, audio engineering, sound design, and composition for film and TV.

Following its integration as part of City, Urdang will retain its identity and will continue to operate from its current base, Old Finsbury Town Hall, just a five minute walk from City’s Northampton Square campus. London’s Theatre district is less than two miles away, giving students access to a wealth of cultural experiences and work-placement prospects.

With outstanding facilities and performance opportunities, we offer an inspiring environment for music and the performing arts. We help our students indulge their passions, whilst developing valuable technical and creative skills, which ready them for a range of performing arts-related careers.

The Department of Performing Arts at City, University of London offers courses at undergraduate and postgraduate degree level.

See which course is right for you:

Undergraduate

Music BMus (Hons)

Music, Sound and Technology BSc (Hons)

Professional Dance and Musical Theatre BA (Hons).

Postgraduate

Music by Research (MA)

PhD/MPhil Music.

Music Prizes, Awards and Bursaries

The Department awards a number of prizes each year, in recognition of outstanding achievement by students.

This includes prizes made possible by the generosity of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, the Robert Chalmers Memorial Bursary and JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Support).

Final Year

• Worshipful Company of Musicians Prize for the Undergraduate Final Year Major Project in Music
• Final Year Music Prize for Major Project: Dissertation
• Final Year Music Prize for Major Project: Composition
• Final Year Music Prize for Major Project: Performance
• Final Year Music Prize for BSc Music, Sound and Technology Major Project
• JAMES Richer Sounds Outstanding Achievement Award (BSc)
• Final Year Department Prize for Overall Achievement and Contribution to the Department

Second year

• 2nd year UG prize for overall achievement
• 2nd year UG prize for contribution to the department

First year

• 1st year UG prize for overall achievement
• 1st year UG prize for contribution to the department

(Prizes are not awarded in each category every year)

We also offer a prize for the best performance of a work by a female composer in the final recitals.

Bursaries

Students are also nominated or invited to apply annually for the following bursaries:

• Robert Chalmers Memorial Bursary (based on financial need): three awards of £1,000 each.
• Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Bursary (based on financial need; students need to be strong performers to play at Cordwainers’ dinners): two awards of £2,000 each.

Our research outlook is both cosmopolitan and international with an active postgraduate community and a research centre with a focus on contemporary sound and composition practices. Our research identity is based around three overlapping areas:

• Ethnomusicology, particularly of the urban environment
• The interface between music and technology, notably in relation to music and other media
• The various relationships between musical scholarship and performance.

Our department has a status as an internationally pre-eminent centre of research excellence. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 placed us 1^st in the UK for Music research rated as world-leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*), with 98% assessed as having reached these standards.

Further international recognition has been achieved through a wide range of publications, performances, recordings, broadcasts and conference presentations, to which all members of Music staff have contributed.

Our innovative research centre SPARC (Sound Practice And Composition @ City) also hosts international visiting artists who lead research seminars, guest lectures, masterclasses, and performances.

City boasts state of the art facilities where students develop their creative and technical skills. These include advanced recording and composition studios, and performance and practice spaces.

Students have access to facilities including four 5.1 surround studios, one 7.1 surround studio, and two stereo studios. All of the studios are equipped for sound editing, processing and mixing, and are equipped to deliver multi-track recording and mixing to a professional standard.

Urdang is based in The Old Finsbury Town Hall, just down the road from Sadler’s Wells. Urdang spent two years restoring the building to its former glory, ensuring it met the needs of students and their training and allowing full disabled access. Its rich Victorian heritage provides an inspiring backdrop for students to train, right in the heart of London and a ‘stone’s throw’ from the West End.

Our Music alumni work for a wide range of organisations including the BBC, Royal Opera House and Sony. Other graduates have gone on to become music teachers, music managers, and music marketing specialists.

Those graduating from our Music, Sound and Technology course are forging successful careers as audio engineers, sound designers, composers, working in live music and theatre, and providing technical support for the record industry.

Many alumni pursue further study at postgraduate level, including Masters degrees in sound art, and applied performance.

Urdang’s students and graduates are highly sought after within the industry and many alumni land roles in leading West End shows. A bespoke in-house agency, Link Talent, offers representation to third year students and recent graduates. This helps maximise support and industry advice, and to place them in high quality productions. Link Talent has successfully placed Urdang students in prime TV dance and talent shows and has organised auditions for acclaimed West End productions, UK tours, commercial dance, films, TV programmes, and commercials.