Performance – Folk Music/Art Music from Other Cultures

Please note that a good knowledge of the Swedish language is required for this programme.

Read more about general entry requirements

A unique education

KMH was the first to teach folk music at university level and we have the first professor of folk music in Sweden. For more than forty years, folk music has been featured at KMH. A very stable foundation for studies that develop your artistic and technical ability, provide a good repertoire knowledge and deepen your artistic insight has evolved over the years. Many of the courses are only available at KMH.

You will encounter a rich and stimulating folk music environment with Swedish and foreign folk music/art music traditions side by side. This programme will deepen your command of your own tradition and equip you for working with musicians in other idioms. All in order for you to manage a folk heritage but also develop your own musical style.

I had heard a lot about KMH from friends and applied already after a year in Sweden. I wanted to study here to learn more about harmony and music theory.

Ali Ali, alumnus.

Programme content

There is an increasing interest in music with roots outside the Western music traditions, and the work opportunities in this area are widened. Many distinguished musicians resident in other cultures' music live today in Sweden and contribute to new influences in music life and thus to the increasing interest. The new music scenes also create many opportunities for collaboration between musicians from different cultures.

Unique education

The purpose of the programme is to educate musicians who can work in national and international music life. You will of course also get prepared to work with musicians in other music areas - all in order for you to manage a folk music heritage but also continue to develop your own musical style. The education is individually designed and can involve both deepening in your own music tradition as well as broadening of western music traditions. You meet a rich and stimulating folk music environment with both Swedish and foreign folk music/art music traditions.

Focus on your own profile

Your own curiosity and willingness to understand other musical expressions and traditions through ensemble playing and various projects are a key part of the education. You will first get to know the diversity of genres and experiences that exist in the contemporary while you will be part of widening this diversity by using your particular focus and instrument.

As much as folk music and art music are constantly evolving in expressions and textual content based on people's needs and prevailing community image, your music style is allowed to develop with the help of courses in your main instrument and in ensemble and arrangement. All students in folk music and folk music from other cultures are part of a large ensemble called KMH FOLK.

The courses in this programme have been evolved over a long succession of years for the express purpose of suiting folk musicians, and many of them are only available at KMH.

Courses in music theory, folk songs and folk dance, piano, concert practice and freelance knowledge along with a wide range of elective courses enable further in-depth and/or broadening of your skills. In addition, your ability to produce music using digital tools and to reflect on popular music and its role in society based on analyzes of folk music history develops.

The programme includes a 15 ECTS independent assignment which means a concert or a corresponding artistic performance together with written reflections on music in an artistic perspective.

Workshops and seminars led by visiting teachers, musicians and artists, both national and international, are organised regularly.