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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
2nd in the Times / Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
QS World University Rankings 2024

World-leading status affirmed in QS World University Rankings 2025

Durham is now ranked 89th in the world top 100 universities. Our top performance came in the Sustainability category, where we ranked 19th in the world. We also have a world-class reputation with employers, being ranked 65th.

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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Alexandros Spyrou directs Delian Academy for New Music 2024

Alexandros Spyrou, founder of the Delian Academy for New Music, has this year been directing the academy once again to great success!
Group Photo

MUSICON - Ábifruvvá (2023)

A new video is now available to watch online. Eric Skytterholm Egan’s “Ábifruvvá”, premiered by Marie Schreer and John Garner in Durham Town Hall last year, explores how the past is linked to the present through our relationship with the sea.
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

Dr Kelly Jakubowski receives Early Career Award

Congratulations to Dr Kelly Jakubowski who received an Early Career Award from the Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC).
Academic receiving an award

Alexandros Spyrou’s ‘intra-’ performed at mise-en festival in New York

Dr. Alexandros Spyrou has recently returned from New York City, where his composition ‘intra-’ was featured at the 2024 mise-en festival.
Looking sassy
  • MUSICON - Ábifruvvá (2023)

    A new video is now available to watch online. Eric Skytterholm Egan’s “Ábifruvvá”, premiered by Marie Schreer and John Garner in Durham Town Hall last year, explores how the past is linked to the present through our relationship with the sea.
    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

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

Come and Sing Day: Henry Purcell

Saturday 12 October 2024 - Saturday 12 October 2024
10:00 AM to 6:15 PM
Chapter House, Durham Cathedral, Durham, DH1 3EH
Henry Purcell Closterman

The Portrait Players: Les Femmes Illustres – The Female Genius

Tuesday 15 October 2024 - Tuesday 15 October 2024
7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Elvet Methodist Church, 8 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HL
The all-female band The Portrait Players posing with their instruments in the woods

Fenella Humphreys (violin) and Martin Roscoe (piano): Fauré 100

Tuesday 29 October 2024 - Tuesday 29 October 2024
7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Durham Cathedral, Durham, DH1 3EH
(credit Alejandro Tamagno)

In Echo: Music in a Cold Climate – sounds of Hansa Europe

Tuesday 12 November 2024 - Tuesday 12 November 2024
7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Elvet Methodist Church, 8 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HL
Gawain Glenton, cornett player and director of In Echo

Questions about studying here?

Check out our list of FAQs or submit an enquiry form.

Your Durham prospectus

Order your personalised prospectus and College guide here.

Get in touch

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