Students 2008-9
Adele Bates. "This MA is giving me the opportunity to focus on vocal practice within a theatrical context, both theoretically and practically, supported by a knowledgeable group of tutors. As a theatre practitioner it is also giving me the chance to collaborate with skilled musicians, directors and performers who are leading my research into otherwise inaccessible areas."
Riikka Jokelainen. "I'm a director and performer with a particular interest in authenticity, the sensual and poetic in performance. This is what lead me to music-based theatre, dance and opera. This course has hugely expanded my thinking in this area, and I've been able to develop my practice in many ways that I couldn't even have imagined. It is a challenging but inspiring course with a supportive department and great collaboration opportunities with other students."
Greg Mickelborough. "My research interests involve the preconceived relationships between audience and performer, and how these constructed roles can be challenged or changed within a theatrical context or setting. Alongside this, I am interested in how our perceptions of a performance from audience perspective, and vice versa, changes when mediatized using personal-stereos. I aim to create a theatrical installation where participants are invited move through a space by choosing to when listen to music on one of a choice of static headphones, essentially composing the work based on which headphones they listen to, when and for how long, whilst also performing for any other observers within the space through their own individual movements and journey through the installation.
The MA in Opera and Music Theatre has been both an academic challenge, with the theoretical and practical study of a significant range of theorist and practitioners, and yet immensely enjoyable due to lively debate, and a no-holds-barred attitude to creative practical work. The opportunity to research current music theatre practice through practice-based study was one not to be missed, and the course has more than lived up to its expectations."
Students on the course have benefitted from the following artistic and professional opportunities offered by the course:
A staged performance of Samuel Beckett's Cascando at the "Beckett and Music" symposium, directed and performed by students on the course, 2009.
Assistant Director for Tim Hopkin's staging of The Mask of Orpheus, BBC Proms, 2009.
Documentation of the Britten-Pears School Jerwood Opera workshop at the Snape Maltings, 2009.
Multi-camera video documentation of The Lost Chord, Opera North, Leeds, 2010.
Music theatre performance composed, directed and performed by students on the course, Postgraduate Showcase, The Basement, Brighton, 2010.