Composition
The education in composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm focuses on knowledge, experimental investigations and artistic deepening. Here you will find a creative environment and artistically active teachers with high competence.
The composition studies at KMH allow you to develop a personal artistry and prepare you for a future professional life in national and international contexts.
The studies are based on individual teaching, supervision, joint seminars and projects. In the projects, you can compose for ensembles, choirs, big bands, symphony orchestras, film, electroacoustic music, sound installations and much more.
KMH gives you access to well-equipped studios and concert halls where you can present your newly composed music, often with students from other disciplines or in collaboration with professional music life and the surrounding community.
Programmes
Bachelor's programmes in Composition
Composition, Western Art Music
Deepen your engagement with instrumental and vocal music where musical notation is a central tool.
Composition, Electroacoustic Music
Explore electroacoustic music and sound art with an open and experimental approach.
Master's programmes in Composition
Contemporary Performance and Composition, CoPeCo
Gain a unique opportunity to perform contemporary music while preparing for an international career. At CoPeCo, you study at four different institutions across Europe.
Composition, Electroacoustic Music
Combine artistic specialization with experimental working methods in a creative environment featuring specialized concert halls, a sound dome, and a well-equipped studio complex.
Composition, Film Music
Develop your artistic expression and deepen your understanding of how music interacts with other media in dramatic and engaging storytelling.
Composition, Jazz
Develop your personal artistry in jazz composition and prepare for a professional career, supported by experienced teachers and international networks.
Composition, Art Music
Develop your personal artistry in composition for art music, supported by individual mentors, collaborative projects, and regular concerts.
Teachers in Composition
The teaching staff at KMH are artistically active teachers with theoretical, practical and pedagogical competence.
Concerts and festivals
The composition students' music is performed yearly at concerts in KMH's concert halls and externally. ljudOljud is a student-run festival that composition and conducting students organize together to present music in concerts, installations and talks, often across departments and with guests from other contexts.
International collaborations
Teachers and students in composition education are active in several international networks. As a student, you are encouraged to exchange studies through Erasmus, and KMH also has many international program students. The composition education is continuously developed through teacher exchanges, study visits and participation in international projects, festivals and conferences.
Composition Projects
KMH's composition students can compose in projects specially designed for each major. In recent years, collaborations and recurring projects have been carried out with professional ensembles and external organizations such as Norrbotten NEO, Musica Vitae, KammarensembleN, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslän Big Band, Stockholms Läns Blåsarsymfoniker, Radiokören, KMH vocal ensemble, Stockholm Art, KTH, Technical Museum, Dansmuseet and a long line of professional musicians.
In addition, composition students collaborate every year with conducting and musician students in projects and concerts with KMH Symphony Orchestra, KMH Kammarkör, Edsberg and KMH Instrumental Ensemble, as well as ensembles from the instrumental course Contemporary music.
Research
At the Department of Composition, Conducting and Music Theory, artistic research in music is carried out in collaboration with other researchers, institutions and organisations. The composition education has several doctoral professors and lecturers, two doctoral students and one postdoc, and all are currently active in various national and international research projects.
The research anchoring in the composition courses is strong and runs through all courses. During your study period, you can participate in lectures, seminars and practical activities that prepare you for your independent work at the bachelor's level as well as your degree project at the master's level.