jazz & pop

Making music is at the very heart of our education program. Whether the students’ major discipline is creating, performing or producing classical music, pop, jazz, making musical instruments, or any combination of these disciplines, technical skills (instrumental technique, soft- and hardware, craftmanship) and creative skills (composition, improvisation, design) are of the utmost importance, supported by solid theoretical foundations (music theory, human and natural sciences). In addition to the skill set, we cultivate the so-called curating mindset: a prosperous artistic practice requires a researching mind, continual critical reflection, and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Making music requires playing together, with or in front of an audience. Even when a student is pursuing a solo career, we believe that musical collaboration in various contexts is key. To this end we offer and stimulate various ensemble practices, e.g. (big)band, chamber ensemble, choir, studio recording sessions, orchestra, creative labs and interdisciplinary collectives. Students need to be able to present often and have their work confronted with peers and audiences, from experimental creations in the safe environment of the school’s premises, over musical instrument exhibitions and try-outs, to official concerts in public venues on and off campus.

Making music is a relational practice, where a musician as well as a musical instrument maker connects with a complex and intertwined ecosystem of colleagues, stakeholders, and audiences. Throughout our education program, we underscore and facilitate networking in expanding circles: from self-care and self-reliance, over creating collaborative networks with other artists and cultural organizations, up to a critical and socially engaged attitude to the global world we live in.

Besides the focus on performing, there is also plenty of room for creative development. You will analyse works by leading artists, learn to arrange songs for varying line-ups in different styles and receive support in writing your own songs. 

The interaction between the various courses is very important. In Creative Lab, for instance, jazz, pop and music production students work together on their own work. Cross-pollination, inventiveness and creativity are thus given an extra boost. Working together with music production students also gives them access to state-of-the-art recording equipment and software. Through interdisciplinary projects you also work together with other art departments within KASK & Conservatorium (film, photography, drama,...), one of the unique assets of this programme. 

As an academic programme, we also want to teach students a reflective and inquisitive attitude: reflecting on who you are and what you want to be, in a larger social, economic and historical whole, with the necessary general knowledge that will make you an even better musician. Therefore, you will gain insights into jazz and pop history, philosophy, music psychology and sociology, notions of research skills, and write your own Thesis at the end.

Knowledge of the professional field is also an essential component. Subjects such as structure and functioning of the music circuit, and music & management ensure that you gain insight into the professional field and are able to discover and strengthen your own place in the music circuit.

KASK & Conservatorium has an extensive artistic operation, complementary to its teaching practice. Club Telex is our meeting place, with concert stage and bar. Here our students hold a weekly jam session and we organise (twice a year during Project Weeks, among others) master classes, workshops and concerts with national and international musicians. To this end, we also regularly collaborate with partners in the field such as Gent Jazz, Jazzlab and Democrazy. Every year, we release a vinyl (Masterworks) with a selection of tracks by our final-year students and we organise Mastersounds, a multi-day graduation festival where our students can immediately show themselves to the outside world at top locations in Ghent such as the Minard and the Handelsbeurs.

As an education, we don't stay within our city limits. We already did study trips to London and New York, or the Frankfurter Musikmesse. You can also study at a foreign conservatoire for one or two semesters through the Erasmus programme. 

In addition, home city Ghent itself is also a great asset. The city received the title Creative City of Music from Unesco and is more than worthy of it. The many venues - VIERNULVIER, Muziekcentrum de Bijloke, Ha Concerts, de Centrale, Democrazy, Hot Club de Gand, Damberd, ...-, festivals such as Gent Jazz and the Gentse Feesten, and hundreds of pop and jazz groups make Ghent the place to be for budding musicians.

The study programme, the teaching staff, all of whom are experienced in the world of pop and jazz, and the numerous stage opportunities we offer, form a golden combination to start your career as a musician. Many high-profile artists and bands preceded you: Absynthe Minded, Shhti, Amatorski, Balthazar, Zimmerman, De Beren Gieren, Nordmann, Nathan Daems (Black Flower), Lady Linn, Isolde Lasoen, Lander Gyselinck and young violence as Dishwasher, Rhea and Ramkot and Oproer, .... Now it's up to you!

KASK & Conservatorium offers English-language master programmes in the visual arts, audiovisual arts, drama and music. Each year, dozens of foreign students choose the master programmes of our faculty to continue their studies. The presence of students from different international backgrounds is an enrichment for our educational tradition and provides an added value to the training of foreign master students and Flemish students moving on from the Dutch-language bachelor programmes alike.

The programmes are organized so as to facilitate encounters between Dutch-speaking and English-speaking students in informal contexts, in seminars and courses, and even in artistic projects they start up together. There are no differences in curricula, competencies, learning outcomes or organization between the English-language programmes and their Dutch-language counterparts. English-speaking candidates holding a master’s degree in music can also go in for the advanced master contemporary music or one of our postgraduate programmes.

Don’t hesitate to contact the study and learning track counsellors with your questions.