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Faculty of Music

FURTHER INFORMATION
FOR APPLICANTS 
TO
THE FACULTY OF MUSIC

Apply Now! The HfK's online portal for applications for the winter semester 2023/2024 will remains online. Please note the deadlines.
Students applying to one of HfK’s study programs submit their applications please exclusively online. The entrance examinations for the winter semester of 2023/2024 will be held at the Music Faculty, Dechanatstraße 13-15, 28195 Bremen.

The Faculty of Music at University of the Arts Bremen is a truly unique learning environment with a warm and welcoming atmosphere combined with the cosmopolitan outlook of a Hanseatic city. Frequent cross-campus projects and lectures staged in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts & Design provide regular opportunities for students to engage in interdisciplinary work alongside students from other programmes. Our programmes are bolstered by strong cooperative ties with international partner universities and institutions in Bremen, including the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra (the partner organisation of our “Master of Music Orchestral Academy” programme), the Deutschen Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Musikschule Bremen, Amadeo musical kindergarten, the University of Bremen and a number of other schools in the state of Bremen.

Requirements entrance examination

Date of examination Faculty of Music

Submitting an application

Much of the application process for the Faculty of Music is conducted online. Candidates are requested to submit their application through our dedicated online platform ARTIST.

Prospective students who want to start studying at the University of the Arts in the Bachelor's or Master's programme from the winter semester 2023/2024 onwards must apply for admission to the entrance examination and study before 31 March 2023 via our ARTIST platform.

In addition to online registration, applicants are requested to upload the following documents. Application documents sent by post will not be accepted and processed:

  • a personal résumé (bullet-point format)
  • your programme for the entrance examination (audition)
  • one passport photograph
  • copies of relevant qualifications and certificates
  • details of your school qualifications and any previous tertiary
  • qualifications that are relevant to or required for the programme you wish to attend

Foreign applicants are requested to send certified copies of relevant qualifications and certificates.

A fee of 50 € is charged for participation in the entrance examination. After checking your application, you will receive information on the bank details and the intended purpose by email. This fee must be received on the account of the University of the Arts Bremen at the latest two weeks before the entrance examination. Otherwise, participation in the entrance examination is not possible.

Prospective students who wish to apply for the concert exam in the summer semester of 2024 are suspected to submit an online application for admission to the entrance exam and degree program to ARTIST in November 2023. Information about the concert exam can be found at concert exam

The entrance examination

The entrance examinations for the winter semester of 2023/2024 will be held at the Music Faculty, Dechanatstraße 13-15, 28195 Bremen.
The actual entrance examination for our Bachelor programmes generally consists of three or four parts:

  • a practical performance examination in your Major subject(s)
  • a practical performance examination in your instrumental/vocal Minor subject
  • a written examination on music theory and aural skills
  • applicants for the following programmes will also undertake an examination on music education and performance: Bachelor of Music, Music education for instrumental and vocal performance (MEIVP), MEIVP/Music theory, and Music theory /composition

Candidates undertaking practical entrance examination(s) in their respective instrumental/vocal Major(s) will be required to perform several works for the examiners (approx. 20 minutes). The selection of works chosen for this examination should reflect the major stylistic periods of the respective subject area and include one work from the twentieth century. Candidates will be appraised by the examination commission on the basis of their technical accomplishment and artistic quality. Individual candidates may also be required to demonstrate their ability to sight-read or sight-sing as applicable.

Candidates for our Performance and Church Music Masters programmes will be tested in their Major subject(s) only. Candidates for the Master of Music Education and Performance programme are also required to take an examination in Music Education.

Eligible candidates will be notified of the precise examination dates in an email containing their invitation to take the entrance examination. For detailed information on the audition repertoire for the entrance examination and sample questions for prospective students undertaking examinations in music theory and aural skills, please see the Application tab on our website.

Recognition of music theory, aural training

Graded exams in the subjects of music theory and ear training completed as part of a youth program at a music conservatory or at a previous conservatory can be credited for those areas of the exam. If you receive credit, then you will not be required to take the theory section of the entrance exam.

In order to receive credit, please indicate this wish on the online portal for applications and upload the official transcript from the theory courses from your previous conservatory (in the form of a performance overview or Transcript of Records). You will find the exact instructions for this during the application process on the portal.

You will receive a reply in good time before the examination.

Please note:

  • Applications for recognition are no longer possible after the application deadline
  • Recognition of instrumental/voice Minor is not possible

Acceptance for a placement

Admission to a place after passed the entrance examination

Successful candidates will receive an email from the University of the Arts confirming that they have passed the entrance examination and take place on allocation for place to studies.

Admission to a place and acceptance for a placement

If you are awarded a placement at the University of the Arts, you should inform us of the acceptance of the place of study. You will receive information on this with the admission letter

Candidates that receive a letter of rejection will be placed on a reserve list and may be offered a placement in the event that a successful candidate does not take up their placement. If a follow-up procedure takes place, you will be notified automatically. We promise that all available placements will be filled!

Information for foreign applicants

Please Note, the proof of German language skills as obligatory pre-requisite for enrolment. Foreign applicants for a course of study at the University of the Arts must prove that they have good knowledge of the German language in oral and written communication.

Important dates for the Digital Entrance Examination 2022

01 until 31 March 2023
Application for admission to the entrance exams
May 2023
Invitation to the entrance exams
05 until 10 June 2023
entrance exam week on site
July 2023
Announcement of the entrance exams results and allocation of placement
09 October 2023
Lecture start winter semester 2023/2024

Subject to changes

Contact:

Dezernat 1 – Büro für Studierende