La Artistic research in music

A guide to doctoral studies in Europe

Abstract

In a context in which artistic research in music is making its way more and more rapidly into the educational landscape and in which students are demanding new educational options focused on research in musical arts, this article explores the educational offer at the doctoral level that is currently presented by universities and conservatories of music in Europe.

With a practical aim, this article offers a state of the art that reflects on the fundamental parameters that every student who wishes to enter this path of artistic research must consider. Likewise, the diversity of degrees that contemplate this approach is collected in an attached table where various parameters are presented, from admission requirements, to languages in which these studies are taught, credits, duration, collaborating institutions, attendance, mechanisms of monitoring the work, issues related to the viva, study areas, prices and financing modalities, among other aspects. In this way, those who approach this work will not only be able to select the center that best suits their needs, but will also obtain a global vision of the selected program.

In conclusion, this article offers answers to the current demand of musicians in search of doctoral programs that unify the interpretative/compositional path with that of research; programs whose approaches are far from the traditional ones that, sometimes unique until recently, were offered by higher education centers. We do not doubt that over time, both this table and the article will expand, in parallel with the dissemination and adaptation that the institutions will make of this new approach to research studies, which is slowly but surely gaining prominence.