Birmingham Conservatoire

Birmingham Conservatoire

Age: 125

History: Began life in 1859 as a department of the Birmingham and Midland Institute and was formally constituted as the Birmingham School of Music in 1886. The School became a part of the former Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 whilst retaining conservatoire status, and remains part of Birmingham City University to the present day. 1989 saw the formal inauguration of the School under the name of 'Birmingham Conservatoire'.

Address: Smack bang in the centre of Birmingham and in the cultural heart of the city, a few minutes walk from Symphony Hall.

Ambience: Feels and functions like an independent music college, but is also part of a major university. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming and students can also make use of Birmingham City University's other facilities, should they so desire.

Vital statistics: Almost 500 students (including undergrads and postgrads). Teaching in a wide range of options including solo performance, composition, chamber music, orchestral playing and jazz. Students on the four-year BMus (Hons) are encouraged to spend time studying in Europe or the USA. A new five-year BMus (Hons) route offers the chance to gain a PGCE at the same time as keeping musical skills in tip-top shape. There's also a BSc (Hons) in music technology offered along with the Technology Innovation Centre and an MA in digital arts in performance offered in collaboration with Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.

Added value: The Conservatoire is a major concert venue, putting on around 300 events a year. Top teaching and performing facilities include the 520-seat Adrian Boult Hall, the state-of-the-art recital hall, six recording studios and a specialised music library (recently rebuilt from the ground up) with around 8,000 books, 100,000 individual scores and parts and 12,000 sound recordings. Plans are in the pipeline for the relocation of the conservatoire to a brand new, purpose-built city centre site. Most tutors are active professional musicians. With nearly 200 visiting specialist tutors, there's roughly one member of staff for every two students.

Easy to get into? Performance at audition is what counts. Students usually need two A-level passes (or equivalent) and Grade VIII Distinction in their instrument of choice.

Glittering alumni: Notables in just about every musical genre: opera singers Richard van Allan and Jean Rigby; composer Brian Ferneyhough; guitarist and bassist Fred T Baker; jazz vocalist Sara Colman; CBSO principal trumpeter Alan Thomas; Hallé clarinettist Rosa Campos-Fernandez; organist Henry Fairs; folk musicians Joe Broughton and Jim Moray. Rising stars include David Quigley (piano); Alcyona Mick (jazz piano); David Chadwick (violin) and Nicola Wemyss (early music soprano).

Transport links: Five minutes' walk from New Street station; 10 minutes' from Snow Hill. Birmingham is easy to get to and from.

Who's the boss? Acting principal Professor David Saint, organist and director of music at St Chad's Cathedral, took up his position in August 2010.

Teaching: Up to scratch, according to a QAA audit in 2005; students praised the 'warm and friendly atmosphere and the accessibility of staff'.

Research: Performance and composition are the Conservatoire's raison d'être, and research degrees focused on these areas have been offered since 1993. The 2008 RAE results judged 20 per cent of the conservatoire’s research as ‘world class’.

Nightlife: As part of Birmingham City University, musicians have access to the students' union's bars (one of which is at the conservatoire) and events. The bright lights of Birmingham offer everything from clubbing to curry.

Any accommodation? Yes - university halls cost between £77 and £110 per week.

Cheap to live there? Not bad - rents locally are around £65-95 per week.

Fees: £3,375 per year for full-time undergraduates for 2011/2012. Fees for those entering studies in 2012 will be £8,200 per year.

Bursaries: A number of scholarships are offered, usually based on performance at audition. For details, see the website.

Prospectus: 0121 331 5901/2; www.conservatoire.bcu.ac.uk

UCAS code: B25