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Welcome to Music at Durham

We have been consistently rated as one of the top UK music departments running in The Complete University Guide and Guardian University League Table.

Find out more about us
6th in the UK for Research Output Quality in Music, Research Excellence Framework 2021
Athena Swan
Athena Swan Bronze Award since 2018
3rd
3rd The Complete University Guide 2025
6th in the Times / Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
QS World University Rankings 2024

World-leading status affirmed in QS World University Rankings 2024

Durham is now ranked joint 89th in the world top 100 universities. We are also ranked joint 30th in a new category of Sustainability, and 50th in the Employer Reputation category.

Learn more about the QS World University Rankings

Study with us

  

Undergraduate Study

Our expertise in this area impacts the lives of our students and many others, beyond Durham.
TAPPUCINO by DIM and Buttered Toast live performance

Postgraduate Study

The Music Department’s vibrant postgraduate research environment attracts high-calibre applicants from all over the world.
A person onstage reading a book during a lunchtime concert

 

 

Work with us

The Department of Music is one of the very best UK Music Departments with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our students.

Ranked #3 in REF2014, the Department of Music has internationally renowned research strengths in interdisciplinary research in musicology, theory and analysis, ethnomusicology, music psychology, performance, composition, and music technology.
See our recruitment pages for more opportunities
Music Students Work in the Electroacoustic Studio

 

 

What's new?

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  • Musicon - Ábifruvvá (2023)

    A recording of Eric Skytterholm Egan’s “Ábifruvvá”, premiered at MUSICON, is now available to watch online.
    Violin
  • Transformative Humanities framework launched

    Durham University's Transformative Humanities launched yesterday and gathered more than 130 researchers, colleagues, students, and partners from across the region and beyond to celebrate this new interdisciplinary framework.
    Transformative Humanities launch news banner
  • A new 3-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship awarded to our Music Department

    Dr Caroline Curwen has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship with us here at Durham University to investigate Synaesthesia's impact on musical imagination.
    Headshot
  • App brings Alice in Wonderland to our Botanic Garden

    Our Botanic Garden just got “curiouser and curiouser” with the introduction of an interactive family game based on classic children’s story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
    A mobile phone camera view of a woman and child on the grass next to a giant ant sculpture with AR artwork superimposed on the picture
  • Ekmeles release recording of James Weeks’ Primo Libro

    Dr James Weeks’ vocal ensemble work Primo Libro has been recorded by the New York-based Ekmeles and released on New Focus Recordings in February 2024.
    Medaille portrait
  • Durham Musicologists at The Glasshouse’s Big Bruckner Weekend

    On Sunday 3rd March Dr Katherine Hambridge and Professor Julian Horton took part in a public discussion about the Austrian symphonist and church musician Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) with Classic FM’s John Suchet, in front of a packed audience at The Glasshouse, Gateshead.
    Panel Discussion
  • International Women’s Day 2024

    The Music Department, with partners across Durham University, is hosting an exciting series of events to mark International Women’s Day 2024. At the heart of our programme are two concerts celebrating women’s achievement in music.
    A student playing a violin

Transformative Humanities framework launched

Durham University's Transformative Humanities launched yesterday and gathered more than 130 researchers, colleagues, students, and partners from across the region and beyond to celebrate this new interdisciplinary framework.
Transformative Humanities launch news banner

A new 3-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship awarded to our Music Department

Dr Caroline Curwen has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship with us here at Durham University to investigate Synaesthesia's impact on musical imagination.
Headshot

App brings Alice in Wonderland to our Botanic Garden

Our Botanic Garden just got “curiouser and curiouser” with the introduction of an interactive family game based on classic children’s story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
A mobile phone camera view of a woman and child on the grass next to a giant ant sculpture with AR artwork superimposed on the picture

Ekmeles release recording of James Weeks’ Primo Libro

Dr James Weeks’ vocal ensemble work Primo Libro has been recorded by the New York-based Ekmeles and released on New Focus Recordings in February 2024.
Medaille portrait

Durham Musicologists at The Glasshouse’s Big Bruckner Weekend

On Sunday 3rd March Dr Katherine Hambridge and Professor Julian Horton took part in a public discussion about the Austrian symphonist and church musician Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) with Classic FM’s John Suchet, in front of a packed audience at The Glasshouse, Gateshead.
Panel Discussion

International Women’s Day 2024

The Music Department, with partners across Durham University, is hosting an exciting series of events to mark International Women’s Day 2024. At the heart of our programme are two concerts celebrating women’s achievement in music.
A student playing a violin
  • Ekmeles release recording of James Weeks’ Primo Libro

    Dr James Weeks’ vocal ensemble work Primo Libro has been recorded by the New York-based Ekmeles and released on New Focus Recordings in February 2024.
    Medaille portrait
  • Julian Horton’s new book published by Cambridge University Press

    Professor Julian Horton’s new book entitled “Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto” has been published by Cambridge University Press. Offering a concise introduction to one of the most important and influential piano concertos in the history of Western music, this handbook provides an example of the productive interaction of music history, music theory and music analysis.
    Julian Horton
  • Dr Amanda Hsieh wins Kurt Weill Article Prize

    Dr Amanda Hsieh, Assistant Professor of Musicology at Durham University, won the $2,000 Kurt Weill Article Prize for “Jewish Difference and Recovering ‘Commedia’: Erich W. Korngold’s Die tote Stadt in Post-First World War Austria,” published in Music and Letters in 2022.
    Amanda Hsieh

Julian Horton’s new book published by Cambridge University Press

Professor Julian Horton’s new book entitled “Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto” has been published by Cambridge University Press. Offering a concise introduction to one of the most important and influential piano concertos in the history of Western music, this handbook provides an example of the productive interaction of music history, music theory and music analysis.
Julian Horton

Dr Amanda Hsieh wins Kurt Weill Article Prize

Dr Amanda Hsieh, Assistant Professor of Musicology at Durham University, won the $2,000 Kurt Weill Article Prize for “Jewish Difference and Recovering ‘Commedia’: Erich W. Korngold’s Die tote Stadt in Post-First World War Austria,” published in Music and Letters in 2022.
Amanda Hsieh

Transformative Humanities framework launched

Durham University's Transformative Humanities launched yesterday and gathered more than 130 researchers, colleagues, students, and partners from across the region and beyond to celebrate this new interdisciplinary framework.
Transformative Humanities launch news banner

A new 3-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship awarded to our Music Department

Dr Caroline Curwen has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship with us here at Durham University to investigate Synaesthesia's impact on musical imagination.
Headshot

Upcoming events

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We strive to provide innovative, research-led teaching that will assist our students to achieve their full potential as thinking, creative musicians and scholars.

Department of Music
Durham University
Palace Green
Durham
DH1 3RL
UK