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Overview
Develop your own charity performance project
This BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Arts Development degree will train you in musical theatre dance, singing and stage acting. You will select a focus from these three disciplines as you grow your arts development knowledge and practical resource skills and develop your own dedicated charity performance project.
You can audition for performance projects at the Alexandra Theatre, other regional theatres and in our campus performance spaces. Performance projects will range from large-scale musical theatre productions with full pit orchestra, set and costume, to straight plays, smaller ensemble projects and dance revues.
Musical Theatre and Arts Development at Chichester
Teaching and Assessment
How you will learn
You will complete theoretical and practical study. Your typical study week will include practical classes, lectures, seminars, tutorials, studio-based workshops and application of practice.
Outside of scheduled classes you will complete independent study including researching texts, completing individual or group tasks and working on your assignments.
Alice Morris
The Course
What you will study
You will study a selection of core and optional modules in each year. Each module is worth a number of credits is delivered differently, depending on its content and focus of study.
Modules
Select a year
Citizen and Change Maker
In this module, you will examine the role of the citizen as an agent of wider change within communities.
Community and Events Fundraising
This module explores a range of community fundraising activities, from collection tins to legacy appeals, in memorandum and commemorative fundraising.
This will give you the knowledge to design and support the implementation of your own community fundraising programme, introducing key skills for engaging and working with volunteers, anticipating and mitigating risks associated with income generation and marketing impact.
In addition, you will consider how to identify suitable events for a range of not-for-profits, write a brief including an outline budget, and support the management of an event.
Introduction to Grantmakers
This module will introduce you to the role of grantmakers. There are around 8,000 grantmakers in the UK, giving around £5bn a year to good causes. Grant fundraisers are great researchers and storytellers, they understand society and psychology and can have a big impact on the capacity for their charity to do good.
Introduction to Musical Theatre
The module introduces you to key skills in examining repertoire drawn from succeeding periods of musical theatre history, supporting an examination of musical structure with a parallel focus on developments in dance and drama within the genre.
Musical Theatre Skills 1
This all-year module focuses on the technical training in dance (jazz, ballet, tap) acting and singing which will form the foundation of your training for musical theatre. You will study a combination of dance technique and routines, acting techniques, vocal repertoire classes, musical styles and performance skills.
Performance Development
This includes your 1 to 1 tuition in your selected instrumental or vocal study.
Professional Resilience
This module will explore a range of different strategies designed to offer support to the emerging arts practitioner and will introduce students to a number of different models of successful self-development.
Charity Project
Working with a real charity you will join a student team and put your fundraising knowledge and skills to use in this live fundraising project that runs all year. Start by planning how to raise your funds, designing your fundraising materials and then ‘go live’. You will also work with students delivering a live creative event.
Events Management
This module explores the legal and logistical aspects of planning a range of different musical events and will experiment with presenting ideas to tutors and peers.
You will explore the relationships between stakeholders in event production, including artists, venues, audiences and funders, a range of models of event and festival production, and the diversity of approaches taken by different organisations and promoters.
As part of this, you will explore the input of artists and artist’s agents within event production and effective forms of operational and human resources management in the realization of festivals and events.
You will gain an understanding of the varying technical requirements related to promoting different types of musical events in distinct venues and locations, and a familiarity with licensing laws and health and safety considerations when related to festival and event production.
Fundraising Strategy
You will build on your knowledge of the different approaches to fundraising and ask ‘how do we plan to raise a large sum and create income sustainability’?
You will discover how to research a range of information about the organisation and its legal structure, external and internal fundraising trends, and the macro-environment and its role in informing the development of a fundraising strategy.
You will explore a number of planning tools and techniques to make the important business of deciding how to raise fund less daunting and more reliable.
Musical Theatre Skills 2
Building on the foundation of your first year of study this all-year module focuses on further developing your technical training in dance (jazz, ballet, tap, commercial, body conditioning), acting and singing. You will study a combination of more advanced dance techniques and routines, acting techniques including duologues, vocal repertoire classes, musical style and performance skills.
Performance Development
This includes your 1 to 1 tuition in your selected instrumental or vocal study.
Professional Resilience
This module will explore a range of different strategies designed to offer support to the emerging arts practitioner and will introduce students to a number of different models of successful self-development.
The Movie Musical
The module will introduce students to key skills in examining repertoire drawn from succeeding periods of movie musical history, supporting an examination of musical structure with a parallel focus on developments in dance and drama within the genre.
Business Project
This module is taken by Arts Management students and aims to develop competency in business planning and imaginative use of physical and creative resources.
Major Donor Fundraising
In this module you will consider the history and current trends in major-donor fundraising, including donor investments, to discover how your charity might develop valuable and supportive relationship with high-net-worth individuals.
You will discover the research, analysis and tools used for planning a major donor programme, including macro-environment data, and approaches to developing and sustaining a long-term relationship.
Musical Theatre Skills 3
This year-long module consolidates all the learning in Years 1 and 2, with training in the musical theatre disciplines of dance, acting and singing with a focus on advancing your technical understanding in your final year of study.
Personal Study (Recital)
This module sees you select an area of study in performance, and develop it over an extended period.
For performers, this is an opportunity to present a longer and more challenging programme of work.
Personal Study (Written)
This module provides you with an opportunity to select an area of study of your choice, to research it and present your findings in written form, and to develop this over an extended period.
Professional Resilience
This module will explore a range of different strategies designed to offer support to the emerging arts practitioner and will introduce students to a number of different models of successful self-development.
Project Design, Measuring Impact & Reporting
This module explores the process of designing a project from start to finish, measuring the impact of a project following it’s completion, and then reporting on the results.
Swing Project
This module allows you to enhance your contribution to ensemble performance and to develop your skills in solo work in the context of a large performance project.
Longer term planning, rehearsal and preparation strategies for performance techniques will be emphasised. The module will work towards, and culminate in, a semi-staged performance. You will be required to prepare effectively and thoroughly for this performance.
Understanding Charitable Organisations
Organisation forms, structures, management, and governance all have an impact on the ability of not-for-profits to generate income and maintain effective donor relations.
This module equips you with sufficient knowledge to make a meaningful contribution to strategic organisation level decision making that impacts on fundraising performance.
It also considers the skills needed to help facilitate change within the organisation.
Work Based Project (Personal Study)
In this module, you will continue to develop personal strategies and competencies in the areas of research, analysis, problem solving, communications and personal management.
Refresher sessions will review core knowledge in the areas of psychology, marketing, and project management, while providing opportunities to explore ideas and develop thinking at the forefront of these disciplines.
Further training will be given specifically in the areas of budgeting, financial management, record keeping, monitoring and reporting.
Facilities
Use industry standard spaces and equipment
Learning Resource Centre
The Learning Resource Centre (LRC) contains the library, a café, IT/teaching rooms and the Support and Information Zone (SIZ).
Library
Our campus library holds more than 200,000 books and over 500,000 eBooks.
Other facilities include:
- On-campus and off-campus theatre and concert performing spaces, including box office
- Studio performance space
- Dedicated dance studios with Harlequin flooring
- Lighting and sound equipment
- A suite of 30 practice rooms
- Dedicated pit band and orchestral rehearsal rooms
- Dedicated chamber music building
- High quality kits, amps, PA, mics and other equipment
- Dedicated acting rehearsal rooms
- Concert pianos supplied by Steinway & Sons
- Practice grand pianos supplied by Steinway & Sons.
The on-campus Assembly Theatre has been redeveloped into a multi-purpose rehearsal and theatre studio space, seating an audience of up to 80. Students will also use the 350-seater Alexandra Theatre in Bognor Regis, on campus recital and orchestral performance spaces and a range of external venues in the UK and overseas.
The Bognor Regis campus is seven miles from the Bishop Otter campus and is connected by frequent buses. Our students therefore have access to both an historic cathedral city and an iconic south-coast seaside resort.
Work Placements
Gain experience in industry
During your degree, you will have the opportunity to undertake work placements and complete work experience alongside your studies. This will shows employers that you already have experience in industry when you graduate.
Study Abroad
Explore the opportunity to study part of your course abroad
As a student at the University of Chichester, you can explore opportunities to study abroad during your studies as you enrich and broaden your educational experiences.
Students who have done this in the past have found it to be an amazing experience to broaden their horizons, a great opportunity to meet new people, undertake further travelling and to immerse themselves within a new culture.
You will be fully supported throughout the process to help find the right destination institution for you and your course. We can take you through everything that you will need to consider, from visas to financial support, to ensure that you get the best out of your time studying abroad.
Careers
Where you could go after your studies
This BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Arts Development degree will prepare you for your future career. You will have the opportunity to develop a broad range of skills to enhance your CV and your employability.
Many past graduates are now working in some of the principal producing houses.
As performers our alumni have gone into:
- West End productions
- Major touring productions throughout Europe
- Major cruise ships including Disney
- UK and International small-scale touring theatre
- Film and TV in both the UK and US
- Edinburgh Festival
- Cabaret
- Stage managers, arts managers and producers picking up contracts in the UK and around the world.
Further Study
You could choose to continue your studies at postgraduate level.
Study options at the University of Chichester include:
- MA Music Performance
- MA Music Teaching
- PGCE
- PhD/MPhil.
University of Chichester alumni who have completed a full undergraduate degree at the University will receive a 15% discount on their postgraduate fees.
Course Costs
Course Fees 2024/25
UK fee
International fee
For further details about fees, please see our Tuition Fee page.
For further details about international scholarships, please see our Scholarships page.
To find out about any additional costs on this course, please see our Additional Costs page.
Entry Requirements
Typical offers (individual offers may vary):
UCAS
BTEC
IB
IELTS
Auditions
You will need to demonstrate your ability in an instrument or voice, and display musical awareness and skill in a performance audition. Applicants with high levels of performance skills may be considered for a lower academic offer.
Contextual offers
We believe everyone deserves an equal opportunity to pursue higher education, regardless of their background.
When we receive your application we consider your personal circumstances and the factors surrounding your achievements to see if you are eligible for a contextual offer. This is an offer with a reduced entry tariff – typically the equivalent of 16 fewer UCAS points (two A-level grades).
Find out more about our contextual offers.
Interviews and Auditions
Auditions and interviews usually run from January until March/April.
We aim to offer you a genuine dialogue during your application process. This gives you a sense of worth and achievement from the audition process itself; a sense of ownership for you during the process and, ultimately, is an opportunity for us to get a clear understanding of who you are, what you need and how we can best prepare you for your degree.
We judge you on your skills, your potential and your personality, not your background.
If you are invited to audition you will receive an email asking you to book your audition date on ChiView. If you are unsuccessful we will email you to let you know.
You can usually choose between multiple days on ChiView at one time. If none of the current dates suit you please contact admissions@chi.ac.uk.
Once you have booked your audition, you will be able to access the audition guidance document on ChiView – just log into the ChiView portal, click on ‘Events schedule’ and then ‘View details’ to access the document, which will tell you how to prepare for your audition, what to expect on the day, etc.
If your situation changes and you can no longer attend your audition date, you should cancel your booking in ChiView by visiting your ‘Event Schedule’ and clicking ‘Cancel Attendance’. You also need to inform the admissions team by emailing admissions@chi.ac.uk, so we can send you a new audition invitation.
Sometimes if you are viewing your ChiView portal on a phone you will not be able to see the page correctly. If this happens you should try again on another device.
You may need to clear your browser history.
If you are still unable to see the ‘View details’ button, please check that you have successfully booked your audition by clicking ‘respond to interview invitation’.
If all else fails please email admissions@chi.ac.uk with your query and applicant number.
Once you have booked your audition, please log into the ChiView portal, click on ‘Events schedule’ and then ‘View details’ to access the audition guidance document, which will tell you (amongst other things) what will happen at the audition itself, a basic itinerary of the whole day, parking information, etc.
In brief, there should be an introductory talk by the department, the chance to meet lecturers and other applicants, as well as your opportunity to perform for the audition panel.
After your audition, the panel will discuss your performance and pass our decision onto the admissions team, who will update UCAS and email you with the outcome, whatever it might be.
- We make bespoke offers: Your offer is specifically for you. If we offer less than your predicted grades, this will reflect the potential and quality of your audition and we’d like to take a bit of pressure off of you heading into your exams.
- We don’t do unconditional offers: Unless you already have your grades (you are a mature student), we will always insist on certain grade achievements because we want you to succeed in all aspects of your academic life including your A levels, BTEC, etc.
- If you do not get the grades you wanted: Don’t panic. You received an offer because you were good enough for the department at audition. On Results Day, just ring us on the clearing hotline, so we can discuss things with you.
- We may offer you a different course: We may offer you a place on an alternative, relevant course within the department, rather than offer you the course you applied for. If this is the case, we will state this in your offer letter/email and update your course on UCAS. We will explain our reasoning, which will revolve around placing you on the most appropriate course where we think you will thrive.
Charlie
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Click the ‘Apply now’ button to go to relevant UCAS page.
Many qualifications have a UCAS Tariff value. The score depends on the qualification, and the grade you achieved.
Head to the UCAS Tariff Points web page where you can find a tariff points calculator that can tell you how much your qualification and grades are worth.
