Interpretation & Performance
Welcome to the profile Interpretation & Performance! Training at the ZHdK includes offerings in the Bachelor of Arts in Music, the Master of Arts in Music Performance and the Master of Arts in Specialised Music Performance degree programme.
Students of classical instruments and singing are part of an international community at the ZHdK. They benefit from personal study guidance and flexible curricula, which include more than 150 elective courses and numerous specialisations ranging from historical performance practice to contemporary music.
Music studies at the ZHdK take place at one of the largest integrated art colleges in Europe. Students are guided by excellent lecturers and benefit from state-of-the-art infrastructure. The flexible and permeable study programme and the broad networking with the professional world offer optimal conditions for the start of a professional career.
Degree programmes
Orchestra
Orchestral practice plays a central role at the ZHdK. The representative university formations “Orchester der ZHdK” and the ensemble for contemporary music “Arc-en-Ciel” and the polivalent “Kammerensemble der ZHdK” enrich the cultural offerings in the greater Zurich area.
The programme spectrum covers the repertoire from the early 18th to the 21st century for formations ranging from small chamber ensembles to large symphony orchestras. Through collaboration with the orchestras of the Tonhalle and Zurich Opera, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Zürcher Kammerorchester, students gain practice and insight into the world of professional orchestras.
Masterclasses
Public Masterclasses are held regularly at the ZHdK. Here, outstanding musical personalities from the fields of creation, interpretation and reflection can be experienced in intensive work with students.
Historically Informed Performance Practice
Historically Informed Performance Practice is an integral part of the music studies at the ZHdK. It deals with fundamental performance practice issues of musical interpretation on historical or modern instruments.
Contemporary Music
The Studio Contemporary Music is one of the institutions within the ZHdK with the most public events. Many questions that repeatedly arise in scores of older music can be directly posed and negotiated in contemporary music.
Improvisation
Group improvisation has a uniquely long tradition at the ZHdK Music and its predecessor institutions throughout Europe: it has been taught as a compulsory subject in classical music for over fourty years. These experiences also benefit the interpretation of notated music, and extended listening refines the quality of ensemble playing.
Sustainability in research and teaching is a top priority at ZHdK. This is why ZHdK offers one of the world's most comprehensive music physiology teaching, consulting, research and continuing education programs. Musicians who are trained in music physiology are healthier, more satisfied and more efficient.
More about Music Physiology at ZHdK
Infrastructure
Students at the ZHdK Musik benefit from an excellent infrastructure, live electronics and multimedia, audio productions with in-house sound engineers, historical instrument collections, an extensive equipment pool for loan and an excellent library.
Campus tour
Career Centre Music
The Career Center Music offers ZHdK music students a whole host of career-related content, enabling them to embark upon their professional life with success. It acts as the interface between study and career.