NEXT is a brand new, innovative programme of study created by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire to support early career musicians who want to dedicate their professional career to contemporary music. It is the only programme in the UK providing intensive, year-long training in contemporary music performance practice, offering musicians an unprecedented opportunity to learn from some of the most exciting performers and composers working today.
NEXT Musicians will receive coaching and one-to-one teaching sessions from BCMG players and world-famous soloists, and will have many opportunities to perform, including in side by side concerts with BCMG. Classes in contemporary music history and analysis, instrumental techniques and digital technologies complement musicians’ studies, while regular lectures from artistic directors, publishers and other invited guests from the music industry help with the necessary skills to present and promote new music to different audiences. NEXT Musicians will work directly with the world’s leading composers on the interpretation of their music and will build and develop their own ensembles and present and design performances using cutting edge performance techniques.
Applications for the 2019-20 NEXT cohort have now closed