Msc.Jazz Studies

The aim of the programme is to prepare highly qualified musical artists with a high degree of skills in the field of jazz music performance. The continuing Master's programme builds upon and deepens the curriculum studied in the Bachelor's programme. It develops and systematises skills and knowledge related to the presentation of the student's own performance within jazz ensembles and as a soloist. The study focuses on mastering a wide range of repertoire of the highest possible performance difficulty and developing the student's individual musical expression. Emphasis is placed on conceptual thinking and realising and honing one's own artistic ideas. At the same time, students develop the ability to collaborate with a creative team, to organise and artistically and technically produce their own musical projects realised in the form of concerts or recordings.

The graduate emerges as a versatile, mature artistic personality capable of masterful, original and convincing musical expression in the performance of highly demanding, extensive and stylistically diverse repertoire. He or she is able to independently conceive, realise and publicly present an original work of art at an appropriate artistic and professional level and can competently lead their jazz ensemble bandmates towards this goal. They use and develop ideas and attitudes in an original way in the realisation of their own artistic intentions.
In the long term, graduates of the continuing Master's programme are able to maintain and further develop their artistic ambitions, to improve musically by further study and by following world musical developments in the field of jazz and beyond, and thus move closer to their musical ideal.

Expertise
Graduate of the Jazz Studies programme:
Has a comprehensive knowledge of jazz music repertoire and demonstrates a high standard in creating and delivering seamless musical experiences and interpretations.
Possesses a cultivated and experienced knowledge of improvisational techniques and processes and has the ability to apply them freely in a variety of contexts.
Develops, presents and implements artistic programmes that are coherent and appropriate for a variety of contexts.
Utilises specific technologies to create, disseminate and/or produce music, with respect to discipline, genre, and artistic practice.
Is oriented in the development of playing a specific instrument through knowledge of the history of world and national jazz music of a given time period. Has an overview of important soloists and innovators and can describe the distinctive features of their playing.

Professional skills
Graduate of the Jazz Studies programme:
Realises, transforms, creates, arranges and/or produces music at a high professional level, expressing their own artistic concepts at the level of a developed musical personality.
Has the ability to create, realise and express their own artistic concepts and can ensure that any areas of weakness in relation to the artistic practice of jazz music are overcome.
Demonstrates a high level of improvisational proficiency.
Publicly presents high quality artistic performance as a solo and ensemble player.
Assumes responsibility for connecting context, audience and musical material, presenting ideas with proficiency and confidence in a variety of contexts.
Has the ability to listen, collaborate and prioritise the common interest over asserting their own opinion.
Is flexible and able to acquire knowledge quickly in real time, and uses their imagination, intuition and emotional understanding to think and work creatively, flexibly and adaptively.
In relation to relevant career paths and opportunities, understands the field in depth and, on this basis, identifies and formulates strategies for developing collaborative work.

General competences
The graduate of the Jazz Studies programme
Demonstrates independence in all aspects of learning, social interaction, and in recognising opportunities.
Demonstrates appropriate skills in leadership, teamwork, negotiation and/or coordination, taking into account a variety of artistic contexts.
Is able to integrate knowledge gained from different contexts and perspectives.
Initiates activities and projects and works with others through interaction or collaboration.
Has a high level of appropriate presentation skills in all aspects of their practice and activities.
Has a positive attitude and willingly engages in ongoing (lifelong) personal and professional development.

There is a fee for studying in English. The amount of tuition fees for each study programme is set by the Dean's Decree, which is published in the relevant section of the faculty website in English.
The admission procedure for the continuing Master's programme Jazz Studies is organised in the form of an audition examination.
This audition is a single-round examination or, in the case of a large number of candidates, a two-round examination. The candidate presents his/her intended project, i.e. the theme and concept of the final output (concert, recording) on which they will work under pedagogical guidance during the study.
The condition for admission to the Master's programme is successful completion of a Bachelor's degree in the same or a related field. The Master's degree can be followed while engaged in professional practice. In addition to the successful completion of the Bachelor's degree, a prerequisite is the demonstration of quality in artistic practice. In the case of applicants from other schools, the faculty reserves the possibility of additional supplementary requirements to verify the applicant's level in subjects in which the curricula of HAMU and the school from which the applicant comes differ.
The conditions of the admission procedure, including the determination of the method of scoring and its range, are regulated for each academic year by the relevant decree of the Dean, which is subject to approval by the Academic Senate of the Faculty.

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