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Department of Music

Durham University's Music Department has internationally recognised research expertise in a wide variety of topics including musicology, theory and analysis, ethnomusicology, music psychology, performance, composition, and music technology.
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Welcome to Music at Durham

We have been consistently rated as one of the top UK music departments 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 2022
1st
1st The Complete University Guide 2026
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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Faculty of Arts and Humanities Earns Prestigious Athena Swan Silver Award

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities has been awarded a highly regarded Athena Swan Silver Award, becoming only the second faculty of its kind in the UK to receive this distinction. This milestone acknowledges the significant progress made in advancing gender equality across all departments and highlights a firm commitment to continued improvement through to 2030.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
Group picture with Executive Dean Janet Stewart and Deputy Executive Dean (People and Workplace Culture) Alexandra Harrington.

Introducing department’s Decolonising the Curriculum Interns for 2025

The Department of Music is delighted to have appointed Amelia Awan and Harriet Nevin as its Decolonising the Curriculum Interns for 2025.
Student news
A pair of portraits of two students

ZHOU Mo wins 2025 British Forum for Ethnomusicology Fieldwork Award

Department of Music PhD Candidate ZHOU Mo is among three winners of the 2025 Fieldwork Award from the British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE), the UK’s primary ethnomusicology organisation.
Student news
A portrait of a student on a street

Durham PhD Student Wins Prize For Outstanding Paper

Ardi Echevarría, a third-year PhD student in the Department of Music, has been awarded the TAGS Prize for the best student presentation at this year’s Theory and Analysis Graduate Students Conference, hosted by the Society for Music Analysis at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Research news
A head shot of a man in glasses

Congratulations to Dr Angus Howie on Passing His Viva

We are delighted to congratulate Dr Angus Howie on the successful defence of his doctoral thesis, Symphonic Legacies: Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler in Vienna, 1911–1945. Angus passed his viva with flying colours earlier this spring.
Research news
Angus celebrating with internal examiner Dr Amanda Hsieh (left), and PhD supervisors Professor Julian Horton and Dr Katherine Hambridge (right)

Dr Amanda Hsieh Awarded Leverhulme Research Fellowship

Dr Amanda Hsieh, Assistant Professor in Musicology, has been awarded a 12-month Leverhulme Research Fellowship.
Research news
Amanda Hsieh

Applications are invited from UK and international applicants for PhD studentships through AHRC-funded Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership

The Department of Music at Durham invites applications from UK and international applicants for PhD studentships through the AHRC-funded Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership. Internal Deadline: Friday 6 December 2024 (5 pm)
Durham news
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More departmental news

Durham’s Dr Katherine Hambridge speaks on BBC’s Woman’s Hour about girls in cathedral choirs

On Good Friday Dr Hambridge outlined for Radio 4 listeners the history of the exclusion of women and girls from church music as part of a segment on the admission of girls to St Paul’s Cathedral Choir

Dr Katherine Hambridge

Another Timbre release recording of Dr James Weeks's media vita

Dr James Weeks’ chamber work media vita (2024) has been released on the Another Timbre label, performed by leading British experimental music ensemble Apartment House.
The front cover of a CD, with a detail from a painting

International Women’s Day 2025 in the Music Department

Durham University Department of Music marks International Women’s Day 2025 with a special concert. We present the Music Department Showcase: Pop, Rock & Jazz Special on Friday 7 March 2025 at 6:45pm.
woman singing

  • Durham PhD Student Wins Prize For Outstanding Paper

    Ardi Echevarría, a third-year PhD student in the Department of Music, has been awarded the TAGS Prize for the best student presentation at this year’s Theory and Analysis Graduate Students Conference, hosted by the Society for Music Analysis at Royal Holloway, University of London.
    Research news
    A head shot of a man in glasses

  • Congratulations to Dr Angus Howie on Passing His Viva

    We are delighted to congratulate Dr Angus Howie on the successful defence of his doctoral thesis, Symphonic Legacies: Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler in Vienna, 1911–1945. Angus passed his viva with flying colours earlier this spring.
    Research news
    Angus celebrating with internal examiner Dr Amanda Hsieh (left), and PhD supervisors Professor Julian Horton and Dr Katherine Hambridge (right)

  • Dr Amanda Hsieh Awarded Leverhulme Research Fellowship

    Dr Amanda Hsieh, Assistant Professor in Musicology, has been awarded a 12-month Leverhulme Research Fellowship.
    Research news
    Amanda Hsieh

Durham PhD Student Wins Prize For Outstanding Paper

Ardi Echevarría, a third-year PhD student in the Department of Music, has been awarded the TAGS Prize for the best student presentation at this year’s Theory and Analysis Graduate Students Conference, hosted by the Society for Music Analysis at Royal Holloway, University of London.

A head shot of a man in glasses

Congratulations to Dr Angus Howie on Passing His Viva

We are delighted to congratulate Dr Angus Howie on the successful defence of his doctoral thesis, Symphonic Legacies: Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler in Vienna, 1911–1945. Angus passed his viva with flying colours earlier this spring.
Angus celebrating with internal examiner Dr Amanda Hsieh (left), and PhD supervisors Professor Julian Horton and Dr Katherine Hambridge (right)

Dr Amanda Hsieh Awarded Leverhulme Research Fellowship

Dr Amanda Hsieh, Assistant Professor in Musicology, has been awarded a 12-month Leverhulme Research Fellowship.
Amanda Hsieh

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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