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Norges musikkhøgskole Norwegian Academy of Music Search

Mas­ter­’s Pro­ject

  • Course type: Concentration.
  • Year of study: Year 1 and 2, four semesters.
  • Final assessment: Artistic production, blog and dialogue.
  • Prerequisites: Admission to the Master of Performance Technology Degree Programme.
  • Language of instruction: Norwegian and English.

Course description

The Master’s project should be an independent, consistent and innovative project with a distinct focal point. It must show high artistic and technological proficiency as well as originality.

Learning objectives

Upon completion of the course, the student is expected to

  • use relevant knowledge to carry out an independent work of artistic research with a distinct personal profile and artistic integrity
  • be able to communicate regarding their artistic project, with their academic peers and the public
  • have a critical and contemplative attitude towards artistic research material, and be able to use it in their own projects
  • have knowledge of current ethical concerns of artistic practice and research

Overview

The Master's project consists of planning and carrying out either a concert/ concert lecture, a performance, or a production handed in on CD/DVD/Blu-ray or published on the internet.

The plan and preferred method of presenting the production will be developed together with the supervisor and must be described in the project description. (See also Course requirements below).

The students must publish and regularly update a blog about their master's project. The blog should document their working process and professional contemplation of the project.

Structure

Each student is assigned a principal supervisor for the Master's project. Other instruction will be organized together with the supervisor. Group instruction/project instruction may be considered.

Students are responsible for their own progression and must make regular appointments with and submit materials to the supervisor (papers, blog posts, recordings, internet publications, programs/apps etc.) so that they maintain their progression as agreed.

Students have registered automatically for instruction/supervision and assessment in the course in accordance with the study progress requirements set out in the individual education plan.

Course requirements

1. Project description and Supervision agreement

The project description must be 1200-2000 words in length and state the topic, contents, progress plan and supervisor(s) for the Master’s project. For more information, please see the Guidelines for the project proposal/description.

The project description must be approved by the principal supervisor no later than 15 November in the first semester of studies. The project description must be signed by both the student and the supervisor. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the supervisor.

When the project description has been approved and signed, a supervision agreement must be entered into between the student, the supervisor and the Academy. The supervision agreement states the obligations and rights of the student as well as the responsibilities and obligations of the supervisor. The project description must be enclosed in the supervision agreement.

Deadline: The supervision agreement and an approved project description must be submitted to the Exams Office no later than 15 November in the first semester of studies.

The project description may be changed during the process. All changes must be approved by the supervisor. If changes are made that affect the student’s planned progression in their Master’s project, a new supervision agreement must be drawn up.

2. Blog

Students will create a blog about the Master's work, and update it continuously. The blog should document the working process and the student's professional contemplation of the Master's work.

Deadline: The blog must be approved by the supervisor no later than 1 May in the fourth semester of the course.

Final assessment

All course requirements must be fulfilled and approved before the student is given a final assessment.

Students are assessed in relation to the learning objectives. The final assessment will be given as a pass/fail mark, which will be determined on the basis of artistic production, blog and dialogue with the examinations committee. The student must be able to discuss the working process in dialogue with the examinations committee. The master's project will be assessed as a whole, with an emphasis on artistic production if there is doubt about the final mark. All three components – production, blog and dialogue – are assessed as a whole.

The final assessments will be carried out by two examiners, out of which one will be from an external institution.

Artistic production

The project should result in an independent, consistent, innovative, artistic music-technological production. Examples of artistic productions are

  • concerts / concert lectures, performances, lasting no less than 45 minutes
  • CD/DVD/Blu-ray productions, lasting no less than 45 minutes
  • internet productions consisting of audio or a combination of audio and video

The production must be documented in a suitable and lasting format.

The student carries the responsibility for all practical planning, organizing and submitting documentation of the artistic production, including recordings and production expenses.

The production must be completed, documented and submitted to the Exams office by 15 May in the fourth semester of study. Six copies of the production must be submitted, as well as electronic submission.

Blog

A link to an updated version of the blog must be submitted to the Exams Office by 15 May in the fourth semester of study, together with the documentation of the artistic production.

Dialogue meeting

The student meets with the examinations committee for a dialogue session about the artistic production and working process.

New assessment

In the case of re-assessment, the same procedures as for an ordinary assessment will be followed.

Study component

Published: Apr 3, 2020 — Last updated: Apr 20, 2022