Program Overview

Students will develop their own musical voice and learn skills for a career on stage, behind the curtain, or in the production suite. 

Music and performing arts students work alongside each other to learn technical, theoretical and professional skills while developing their expertise in their chosen endorsements. Through additional elective modules and large-scale projects, students have the opportunity to specialise in their chosen field as they move through the degree.

This degree has two pathways:
 

• Music (audio production, composition/songwriting, performance)
• Performing Arts (theatre)

Music


Along with technical, theoretical, and professional skills, students will explore audio production, composition/songwriting and performance, and develop expertise in one or more of these areas through elective choices and specialisation within the core modules.

Audio Production - Capture and shape sound in innovative ways. Audio production students will learn:

• Audio engineering
• Mixing and producing
• Sound design

Technically engage with a wide range of music and multimedia contexts and develop a heightened sense of listening. Students will develop an understanding of the technologies and innovations of how sound is captured, manipulated, and reproduced. 

Performance - Perform music in live and studio environments. Performance students will learn:

• Vocal and instrumental technique
• Performance stagecraft
• Vocal, instrumental, and ensemble performance
• Studio recording

Students will develop a rich understanding of musical interpretation and enhance their practical, creative, and critical skills to become a professional musician in a variety of performance settings. Students will have opportunities to learn from professional teachers to develop technical and artistic skills on their chosen instrument/voice.

Composition/songwriting - Expertly craft the elements of music. Composition and songwriting students will learn:

• Songwriting
• Music and multimedia
• Notation and recording technology
• Instrumental genres and styles including film/game music, classical music, and sound art

Gaining the expertise to create music as a standalone art form alongside video/film, theatre, games, and other emergent technologies, students will develop control of the technology needed to craft the elements of music for a range of musical genres. 

Performing Arts 

Along with technical, theoretical, and professional competencies, students will develop further skills to be creative theatre practitioners. 

Performing arts students will work on arena musicals to intimate plays, dance shows to cabaret, and explore:

• Acting techniques
• Voice and singing 
• Directing and producing
• Movement and dance
• Stage management, set design, lighting, and sound 

Students learn in real theatre environments from some of New Zealand’s leading directors, choreographers, actors, musical directors, and writers. Additionally, students will perform regularly within the Wintec music and performing arts scene and are encouraged to audition for and participate in community, regional, and national productions while studying.

What you will learn


In the first year of the Bachelor of Music and Performing Arts, students will take three core modules:

• Music and Performing Arts Craft: Develop specialised skills
• Critical Methods: Understand the arts and the cultural world
• Professional Practice: Learn the ways of industry

To complement these modules, students will add two electives of their choice so they can broaden their creative toolkit—these electives include introductory papers on songwriting, performance, sound fundamentals, storytelling, moving image, design, photography, and more. 

These courses will give students a secure grounding in their discipline's technical, theoretical, and professional skills while also exposing them to broader ideas about the arts and the cultural world around them.