Welcome, from the Head of School
Welcome to our website. I hope that these pages will give you an insight into the exceptional breadth of creative and intellectual activity happening here at the School of Music and Media.
Music
Bangor is one of the few universities in the UK where you can study music in a genuinely all-embracing way, from early medieval polyphony to electroacoustic composition, via every genre in between. Within this broad framework we have specialisms in several fields of expertise, including 20th-century music, classical performance, music in health and well-being, and composition in all styles.
Our facilities include soundproofed practice rooms and newly updated electronic music studios, all open 24 hours a day. Combined with dozens of top-notch instruments, two magnificent concert halls, a vibrant concert programme, over a dozen performing ensembles that are all free to join, and a staff team comprising internationally-renowned musicologists, composers and performers, there can be no better place to study Music.
Media
If you’re looking for a career in the media, we have exactly the right course for you. All of our media programmes combine academic study with practical experience, meaning that you acquire the skills you need while developing your creativity. We offer courses in Film, Media Studies, Media Production, Creative Writing, Journalism, Theatre, and Game Design, most of which can be studied separately or in combination.
Our professionally equipped facilities include a theatre, a radio studio, digital edit suites, and plenty of top-spec video and audio equipment which students can borrow free of charge. Alongside world-class academics, our staff includes experienced practitioners such as film producers, performers and scriptwriters.
Stunning location
Bangor is unique for its glorious geographical location. No university is better situated for admirers of the great outdoors. The Music building boasts magnificent views of the North Wales coastline and the mountains of the Snowdonia National Park, while the Media building looks out to the Isle of Anglesey and is less than five minutes’ walk from the shores of the Menai Straits. All this and yet we are just three hours from London by train!
Regional identity and international outlook
A sense of place is particularly strong in Bangor. It is the cultural capital of north Wales, and is situated in a Welsh-speaking heartland. We are the only university in Wales where you can study some of our subjects (including Music) entirely through the medium of Welsh, should you so choose. But Bangor is also a cosmopolitan city which each year welcomes hundreds of students and other visitors from all over the world. This distinctive mix of regional identity and international outlook makes Bangor a stimulating place in which to study such a creative subject.
A convivial school
The one word which best sums up Bangor is conviviality. The School of Music and Media is a vibrant community of around 500 creative artists and thinkers, and I hope that you too will want to join us.
Professor Chris Collins
Head of School