Master’s in Research and Practice, string orchestra practice option

Course 

This graduate diploma course is unique in France, combining research and high-level practice. It is taught at Sorbonne University, in collaboration with the PSPBB.

A unique professional preparation course

This two-year Master’s in Research and Practice prepares students for work as an orchestra musician. It is currently open to string instruments only (violin, viola, cello, double bass).

This Master’s in Research and Practice, string orchestra practice option aims to allow string instrument students to continue their training beyond the DNSPM at the PSPBB.

The course is designed around three main areas:

• Very high-level individual and collective instrumental practices, including specific techniques for orchestra session preparation:
  • Deepening students’ individual overall musical skills (repertoire, instrumental performance)
  • Specific preparation techniques: excerpts, section playing, competition preparation, the role of section leader, individual preparation before orchestral sessions
  • Intensive orchestral practice, open to a wide stylistic and historic range, including musical creation and meetings with guest artists (composers, conductors, soloists, authors, and conductors among others)
• Study and research closely associated with orchestral practices (repertoire, analysis, creation, history, economy, sociology, posture, etc.) in the widest sense of the term. Students must pass a viva for their professional dissertation that highlights their research on a topic connected to orchestral practice, and which is related to their end-of-studies concert, that shows their technical and artistic analysis skills, their ability for theoretical and aesthetic reflection and their capacity to use scientific language and conduct bibliographic research.
• A professional development module, which covers all the elements making up live performance, including all related professions and available resources (mediation, legal status, copy right and related rights, preparing for professional integration, etc.)

The Course

Length of the course

The master’s program is four semesters long, taking place over two years (M1 and M2).

Conditions of admissibility

To be admitted, prospective students must pass an entrance exam and must have already completed a DNSPM or other undergraduate studies.

The course is designed for a class size of 12 musicians.

Prospective student profile

This specific course is meant for students:

• Possessing a high individual level on their instrument and seeks to develop a solid career path through an orchestral performance course
• Possessing a deep knowledge of contemporary music, particularly orchestral music
• Interested in musical events, and in particular musical creation
• Motivated by collective artistic creation such as in an orchestra as well as and the role that it plays in society

Artistic content of the course

The artistic content of the course is centred on four areas:

• Directed and undirected orchestral practices, with projects including solos, voice, and a creative project (one per year)
• Musicology classes, covering all eras and periods (from baroque to classical as well as contemporary)
• Orchestra sessions (four per year) are organised, which include at least two concerts
• Meetings and cross-over sessions (at least one every two years) are organised with foreign institutions (including the Hochschule, Haute École de Musique and conservatories)

Teaching team

The course is taught by permanent professors who lead at least one session per year, as well as by guest artists and conductors. Students are in contact with all members of the teaching team who work closely with students, acting as advisers and academic facilitators.

Graduation requirements

Over the two years of the course, students are required to be present for class and are evaluated via continuous assessment. Students are required to pass a research dissertation viva and perform a final recital related to their research topic. This final exam is preceded by intermediate assessment at the end of the first year (presentation of a research project and a recital).

Skills obtained 

The course will allow students to develop skills in the following areas:

• High-level individual and collective instrumental practices, mastery of fundamental technical and artistic orchestral techniques
• Musical analysis and contemporary musicology of orchestral practices
• Interpretation of contemporary works and creative openness
• Critical thinking about the elements of orchestral practices in the world today, about their relationship with audiences in all their diversity and the performance space

Career opportunities

The Master’s in Research and Practice, string orchestra practice option allows students to continue their studies at the doctoral level such as the Doctorate in Music Research and Practice is granted by Sorbonne University and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris as well as doctoral degrees in musical performance or in musicology offered, in numerous countries, by universities and conservatories.

Professional partnerships

Partnerships with the Théâtre de la Concorde, the Théâtre Monfort, the Théâtre de Vanves and La Seine Musicale venues and the Fièvres Musicales festival are currently in the works.

Created in collaboration with the musicology department of Sorbonne University for the study and research portion, the PSPBB teams up with partner producers and/or distributors (theatres, stages regardless of their recognition status, companies and creation centres, such as, music festivals) to broaden the professional development portion of the course: 

• A professional development module
  Residencies and sessions are organised as part of the programme.
• Artistic projects and guest lectures
  The course is planning to develop specific projects co-created with the partner structure: commissions, invitation of guest artists (conductors, soloists, authors)
• An associated musical programming with partner venues
  Several partner venues are associated with the PSPBB, in Paris, Grand Paris Seine Ouest (GPSO) public territorial institution, and the Ile-de-France region, allowing for the creation of a full concert season: string orchestra, chamber music and soloist concerts, as well as Artistic and Cultural Education (EAC) performances, mediation and workshops
• The resulting programming is organised around “tours” within the partner regions (Paris, GPSO and the Ile-de-France region).
• The spectator experience
  This programme is created with the different partner structures so that students are able to gain a close familiarity with these establishments, their programming and their audiences.

Entrance exam

Learn more and apply for the entrance exam