Folk musician

The Master's programme in Folk Music is a practice-oriented artistic education focusing on you developing a highly relevant set of professional skills. Its purpose is to make you a proactive, competent and well-informed folk musician who knows how to translate reflection into professional action. The programme aims to help you develop your own artistic and professional profile as a basis for a multifaceted career in music and cultural life.

The Master's programme focuses on five important and mutually supportive key roles for the professional musician:

THE PERFORMER:
The performer represents the core of musicianship at Danish National Academy of Music. This is where you develop your technical, musical and artistic skills, enabling you to achieve a high level of musicality and mastery of your instrument or voice, while learning to interact with audiences in various contexts, including concerts and balls, and to communicate your artistic vision in an engaging way to different audience groups.

THE TEACHER:
Teaching is your ability to communicate and convey your musical knowledge and skills. Teaching is a central part of many musicians' careers, which is why the programmes offer a strong basic pedagogical education, where you learn, among other things, to plan and implement teaching programmes for different target groups, including children, young people and adults.

THE CREATOR:
The creator is the role in which you explore and develop your own creative practice, whether in composition, improvisation, sound art or concept development. This role supports not only the traditional understanding of creating music, but also innovation in artistic expression and projects.

THE DEVELOPER AND ENTREPRENEUR:
The developer and entrepreneur role focuses on preparing you to navigate the economic and organisational realities of music and cultural life. Here you will acquire the tools to realise your own projects, create new opportunities and build a sustainable career.

THE LEADER:
The leader represents your ability to take responsibility and inspire others. This role is trained through collaboration, project management and organisational understanding, giving you the skills to take on leadership roles in various artistic, musical and interdisciplinary contexts.

During your master's programme, you will acquire a high level of knowledge, competencies and skills that will enable you to perform as a musician at the highest level and contribute to the development of the music industry and the arts and culture scene. You will have the opportunity to put this into practice in the large community-oriented project in the second semester, where you will apply your music and professional skills in a social and welfare-relevant context in close collaboration with an external partner. The Master's programme is a well-rounded educational programme that provides you with a foundation for a sustainable musical, artistic and pedagogical working life, and where you will have ample opportunity to develop your own unique artistic profile.

The programme is closely linked to the Danish folk music scene, of which our teachers are an integral part, and you will find that meeting audiences plays a significant role in your training as a folk musician. You can therefore look forward to participating in and playing at lots of concerts, jam sessions and Nordic dances, just as the folk music students also organise an annual tour, travelling around the country to give concerts at venues, schools and much more.

In addition to focusing on teaching the main instrument and ensemble playing, the Master's programme also focuses on instrumental pedagogy with courses in ensemble conducting, psychology and theoretical pedagogy.

 

SCHEDULE

Your schedule will vary from week to week throughout the year. Some subjects are only available for limited periods during the year, while other subjects are available throughout the year. In addition to the scheduled classes, you should plan to set aside time for practicing and for unscheduled study activities such as masterclasses, workshops and concerts. When you do not have scheduled classes, you can reserve available rooms for practicing alone or with other students.

 

• The master’s programme in Nordic folk music (NoFo) is a joint inter-Nordic collaboration between SDMK in Esbjerg, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Ole Bull Academy in Voss and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.