Regional cultural centre with international exchange

International Collaboration

International exchange activities are essential for exchanging artistic experiences, determining one's own level of development, as an incentive to improve one's own structures and strategies, to encourage greater mobility in teachers and students, and to strengthen the international profile of the Cologne University of Music and Dance.

Therefore, the Cologne University of Music and Dance maintains multi-layered relationships with partner universities around the world. The university has additionally achieved recognition as an international co-operation and dialogue partner through the European Academy of Music and Drama Montepulciano and the organisation of three international competitions.

Professional experience and market-oriented networking - co-operations of the university

In addition to its activities in Germany and numerous international projects as a regional cultural centre, the Cologne University of Music and Dance sees itself as a lively meeting place for artists and ideas, and strives to integrate itself as fully as possible into the cultural life of the city of Cologne and the state of North-Rhine Westphalia. This self-perception is manifested in a wide range of activities and co-operations. For example, the university collaborates intensively with cultural institutions of the city of Cologne (e.g. Cologne Philharmonie, Opera of the City of Cologne, Rhenish School of Music, WDR, Events Staff Section and Office of Cultural Activities of the City of Cologne, Stadtgarten, LOFT and many more), but also with the independent scene. This interaction gives rise to numerous projects and events that enable practice-oriented training for students, involving them in exemplary, diverse, often cross-disciplinary projects that encourage them to operate proactively in their future spheres of influence.

Diverse range of events

The Cologne University of Music and Dance hosts over 450 events open to the general public every year: from the Festival of Early Music to contemporary music concerts, from opera dance to symphony concerts and chamber music, from the Cologne Jazz Night to specialist conventions. At the Cologne site, the main building in Dagobertstraße houses a concert hall with 800 seats and a chamber music hall with 199 seats. The concert hall is equipped with a multi-functional stage (stage area 380 square metres) enabling opera and dance productions at a professional level. The dance department in Turmstraße has a studio stage, while smaller concert venues exist at the Wuppertal and Aachen sites.

Centre for International Art Management

The Centre for International Art Management CIAM, a collaboration between the Düsseldorf Academy of Art, the Robert Schumann University of Music Düsseldorf, the Cologne University of Music and Dance and the Cologne Academy of Media Arts, is a cross-university institution founded in 2005 to serve art and science in teaching, research and artistic activity. Its leading member is the Cologne University of Music and Dance. The CIAM organises and holds the four-semester Master degree course in International Arts Management, leading to the degree "Master of Arts". In addition, CIAM offers continuing education conventions, workshops and conferences aimed mainly at people who work in the fields of art and culture (and the corresponding cultural organisations). These events relate particularly to the subject areas of aesthetics and cultural studies, art and economics, art and law, art and society/politics.

The importance of harmony: the university's ensembles

In a modular, interdisciplinary system, making music in large and small ensembles is of central importance. Along with the indispensable individual training in the artistic main subject, it instils the ability to work in a wide professional field, including the independent scene.

In this respect, the future has already begun at the Cologne University of Music and Dance: chamber music in general, piano chamber music, vocal chamber music, ensemble work in early and contemporary music are already part of everyday training at the university, and are being expanded further. The "Opera Master" degree course will in future include stage and musical ensemble training as a central module.

The choir of the Cologne University of Music and Dance develops a programme each semester that is performed in the concert hall of the university on two evenings. The artistic director of the university choir is Prof. Marcus Creed. The symphony orchestra prepares two programmes per semester and presents the results of this work in public concerts. Students in the conducting classes are involved in orchestra management work. In order to provide comprehensive training in the field of orchestra playing, the university orchestra also accompanies stage performances of the opera school. Artistic responsibility for the symphony performances lies with Prof. Michael Luig, for the opera productions with Prof. Stephan E. Wehr.

In addition to regular weekly ensemble offerings such as a repertoire band, vocal ensemble, groove band, saxophone ensemble and many more, one-week project ensembles are offered in the jazz area throughout the semester that aim to bring specific musical programmes to stage (or production) readiness. These project ensembles of course also include the Big Band, which completes two one-week work phases with differing programmes (one of which is always reserved for arrangement students) each semester under the artistic direction of Prof. Joachim Ullrich.

The contemporary music ensemble 20/21, directed by Prof. David Smeyers, focuses on musical works of the previous century and the continuation and further development of the repertoire since the beginning of the new millennium. With flexible line-ups, the ensemble operates on the borders between chamber music and larger instrumental formations. What all ensembles have in common is that they collaborate with partners of the Cologne University of Music and Dance such as the Cologne Philharmonie, WDR, Deutschlandfunk, the City of Cologne, the Cologne Opera and many others.

Programme for gifted students: Pre-College Cologne

The Pre-College Cologne, a training centre for musically gifted students, was set up at the Cologne University of Music and Dance at the beginning of the winter semester 2005/2006. Students aged 10 and up receive special artistic training from the professors and lecturers of the Cologne University of Music and Dance with its sites at Aachen, Cologne and Wuppertal.

The Pre-College Cologne is managed by Prof. Ute Hasenauer. A differentiated admission procedure aims to pinpoint key areas of talent and enable individual support as far as possible. Almost all subject areas will be open to future Pre-College students.

Lessons mostly take place on weekends to avoid impinging on school hours. Successfully completed courses in minor subjects may be credited in a later degree course on application. Plans also include joint excursions and culturally oriented leisure programmes to promote a sense of community among the young students. The aim is to offer a flexible training programme where future artistic personalities can be optimally supported and develop an artistic identity that meets the professional demands of a subsequent career in music.

Research and Teaching

As a cross-disciplinary basic subject in all degree courses offered by the Cologne University of Music and Dance, musicology comprises the fields of historical musicology, systematic musicology, and history and theory of popular music. Research focuses mainly on the fields of cultural studies, opera, contemporary music, gender research, music psychology, pop theory and media effects research, among others. As a connecting link between teaching and research, the doctoral degree course currently offers approximately 30 doctoral candidates a scientific forum. The lecture series is the central musicological course of the university. It deals with a different relevant subject each semester. Varying weekly lectures and discussions, held by teachers at the university and external experts in collaboration with the musicological department and the artistic departments of the university, present insights and outlooks. Science and art embark on a dialogue, and everyone is invited to discover the university as a place of knowledge transfer, as a think tank. Musicology "live"!

Steeped in tradition, international and open to new developments: Cologne's cultural scene

In addition to a targeted, well-founded education, studying at the Cologne University of Music and Dance provides access to the environment of a cosmopolitan and innovative metropolis. Cologne is a multicultural city and has a reputation for tolerance; many foreign citizens have made their home here. What makes its atmosphere so special is the diversity of what the city has to offer its inhabitants and visitors: music, fine art, literature, film and media art; offerings in culinary, sporting, and many other fields also abound, and not to forget Cologne Carnival, which attracts many people to the city every year.