The ANU School of Music is uniquely positioned within Australia’s National University to realise its vision to contribute to shaping the future of music practice for all Australians. This vision is enhanced by the School’s commitment to ensuring all its students develop both the creative and technical production skills necessary to thrive in a contemporary musical world.

The research activities of the School of Music align with, and respond to, contemporary disciplinary shifts, generating new understanding of the role of music in today’s world. The School has three defined research clusters centred around Contemporary Music, First Nations Music, and Music and Well-being. The school identifies contemporary music as multi-styled and practiced within both community and industry contexts, intersecting with various media forms and disciplines.

Aligned with its research strengths the School offers innovative Bachelors, Honours, Masters and Doctoral programs embracing a broad and inclusive range of areas with Majors in Contemporary Music Production, Composition and Performance embracing popular, jazz and classical styles of music. These programs are all informed by the School’s position within a leading research-intensive university, with a strong focus on both traditional and practice-led research.

The School’s programs are supported by a state of the art recording studio and performance venues widely accessed by its students and the broader community. These facilities also support the School’s key strategic partnerships with major cultural events and organisations such as the Canberra International Music Festival, the National Folk Festival and Musica Viva.

The School also prides itself on its ground breaking work with First Nations musicians through its First Nations Studio and the Ngarra Burria First Peoples Composers program, actively supporting ANU’s mission ‘to transform Australian society with impactful, collaborative, Indigenous-led research and policy development.