Our department is one of the leading centres for the study of music in Britain, being consistently ranked amongst the top 5 UK departments by the Good University Guide. We are part of a long-established collegiate university, with premises situated on a UNESCO World Heritage Site adjacent to Durham's magnificent medieval Cathedral. We are part of a collaborative Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) in Music, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE).
Our international staff comprises musicologists, composers and performers who are leading figures in their fields. They offer expertise in a notably diverse range of areas, including early music, 19th and 20th-century music, new music, electroacoustic music, performance, composition, ethnomusicology, analysis, aesthetics and cultural/critical theory. We attract students from all over the world and strive to make our department a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment in which they can fully realise their academic potential.
The Department of Music at Durham University participated in the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 and received detailed feedback in January 2009. Of the research assessed in the Department of Music, 60% has been assessed as being in the highest two categories as world leading and internationally excellent (4* and 3*),and with 85% recognised as being of at least international standing (2* and above). More on Music’s RAE 2008 success.
Postgraduate study in 2009/2010
You can now apply (online) to study in the next academic year. Please contact our departmental administrator Mrs Karen Nichol (karen.nichol@durham.ac.uk) for further information.
Information is now available for AHRC, Doctoral Fellowships and ORSAS awards available in 2009/2010 and can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/music/postgraduate/funding/
Postgraduate Web Video
A postgraduate web video has been produced and can be viewed here: http://www.dur.ac.uk/tour/academic/music/
Recent publications
- Jeremy Dibble: John Stainer: A Life in Music
- Fabrice Fitch: Hearing John Browne's motets: registral space in the music of the Eton Choirbook
- Max Paddison: 'Authenticity and Failure in Adorno's Aesthetics of Music'
- Michael Spitzer: Music as Philosophy: Adorno and Beethoven's Late Style
- Bennett Zon: Representing Non-Western Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain
- Patrick Zuk: Raymond Deane
News
Forthcoming Events
Tuesday 24 November 2009
- Guest Lecture: Patrick Zuk (Durham) 4:15pm , Music School, Palace Green
Thursday 26 November 2009
- Musicon Lunchtime Concerts 1:10pm to 2:00pm , Music School, Palace Green
Tuesday 1 December 2009
- Guest Lecture: Simon Mills (Durham) 4:15pm , Music School, Palace Green
Thursday 3 December 2009
- Musicon Lunchtime Concerts 1:10pm to 2:00pm , Music School, Palace Green
Society for Music Analysis events
Over the coming months, three events organised by the Society for Music Analysis and involving eminent international scholars are being hosted at Durham. For further information, please click here.
First International Conference on Irish Music and Musicians, 12-15 July 2010
From 12 to 15 July 2010, the Music Department will be hosting the First International Conference on Irish Music and Musicians, which is being organised in conjunction with a major three-year research project on Irish music conducted by Prof Jeremy Dibble, Dr Patrick Zuk and Dr Alasdair Jamieson.
Contact Details

