The name jazz/pop says it all: at KASK & Conservatorium you can study jazz at master’s level, but also — as the only one in Flanders — pop music. Here we train musicians who are not only strong at their instrument, but also have a distinct artistic vision and individuality. In our Paddenhoek building – with numerous band rooms, recording facilities and our own concert venue Club Telex – we offer an inspiring environment for all of this.

In the jazz/pop study programme, each student is given full attention and space for maximum personal development and individual fulfilment. The student will always be encouraged to think critically and creatively. Knowledge of history and traditions is very important, but the imagination is also stimulated to determine their own original musical path.

The core concern of the training is playing music. Each week includes one hour of individual instrument or singing lessons. You learn the technical skills you need to express yourself optimally on your instrument. In addition, you learn the idioms of the various jazz or pop styles so that you can easily move in either traditional or contemporary repertoire. During these lessons, you develop your own unique voice, your sound. In addition to individual instrument lessons, there are also band classes. In these, you learn to play in groups, in various styles and genres.

To support the instrument practice, there are music theory subjects, including Arrangement, Harmony, Ear Training, Rhythm Class and Music Technology. These theory courses are also largely practice-orientated. For example, you are regularly given composition assignments in the harmony class. In ear training, you learn to ‘hear with your eyes’ and ‘see with your ears’. Your rhythmic skills are sharpened in rhythm class.

Moreover, musicality is made stronger through piano lessons (for piano students, these are Hammond courses), and students learn to deal with their bodies in a better way in body awareness.

In the jazz-pop performance programme, the focus is not only on the performing aspect, but creative development is given priority. You analyse works by leading artists, you learn to arrange a work for changing line-ups in different styles and are supported in writing your own songs.

Interaction between the different graduation projects is of great importance. For example, in Creative Lab, students of jazz, pop and music production work together on their own music. Cross-pollination, inventiveness and creativity are stimulated. By collaborating with music production students, performing musicians also come into contact with the most advanced recording equipment and state-of-the-art software. Trough interdisciplinary projects you also work with other departments within KASK & Conservatorium (film, photography, drama, …), which is one of the unique assets of the programme.

As an academic institution, we want students to engage a reflective and inquisitive attitude: to think about who you are and what you want to become, in a larger social, economic and historical whole, and possess general knowledge that inspires you to become an even better musician. For this reason, you gain insight into jazz and pop history, an introduction to philosophy, music psychology and music sociology and an understanding of research skills, at the end of which you write your own thesis.

Knowledge of the working field is essential. Subjects such as the Structure and functioning of the Music Circuit, and Music & Management ensure that you gain insight into the working field and that you are able to discover and strengthen your own place in that circuit.

KASK & Conservatorium houses an extensive artistic programme, in addition to education. Club Telex is our meeting place, with a concert stage and bar. Here, our students hold weekly jam sessions. Club Telex hosts master classes, workshops and concerts with domestic and foreign musicians. We regularly collaborate with partners in the field, including Ghent Jazz, Jazzlab Series and Democrazy. Every year sees a vinyl (Masterworks) release with a selection of tracks from our final-year students, and we organize Mastersounds, a multi-day graduation festival where our students present themselves directly to the outside world in state of the art locations like Minard and Handelsbeurs.

As an educational institution, we do not stay within our city limits. Students get the chance to participate in unique trips abroad. Trips have been organized to London and New York, as have visits to the Frankfurter Musikmesse. Through the Erasmus programme, students are also encouraged to spend one or two semesters studying at a foreign conservatory.

In addition, KASK & Conservatorium has the great asset of being located in Ghent. This city offers many advantages for jazz-pop students. Unesco crowned Ghent as Creative City of Music, and the city more than deserves it. Think of our many stages (Vooruit, the Bijloke Music Centre, HA Concerts, de Centrale, Democrazy, Hot Club de Gand, Damberd and more), festivals such as Gent Jazz and the Gentse Feesten, and hundreds of pop and jazz groups. Ghent is the perfect place to profile yourself as a beginning musician. Together with our educational programme, our teaching staff (all of them passionate about pop and jazz) and the countless stage opportunities we offer, this is a golden combination to start your career as a musician. You are following in the footsteps of such leading artists and bands as Absynthe Minded, Shht!, Amatorski, Balthazar, Zimmerman, De Beren Gieren, Nordmann, Nathan Daems (Black Flower), Lady Linn, Isolde Lasoen, Lander Gyselinck, Dishwasher and Oproer all came before you. Now it’s up to you!

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