Study with us

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington's New Zealand School of Music is the centre for artistic musical excellence and performance. Study with us and

The Bachelor of Music (BMus) is Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s main undergraduate Music degree, alongside the option of the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Music. There are a variety of graduate and postgraduate study options, including New Zealand’s only Master of Music Therapy.

Our undergraduate, honours, and diploma programmes will prepare you for further study abroad if this is an option you are looking to explore. At the same time, our postgraduate research degrees are bringing an increasing number of international students to New Zealand to study Music.

We offer many opportunities for cross-disciplinary study. Our timetable is carefully designed to encourage you to explore a wide number of areas in addition to your main areas of interest. We offer the largest Composition programme in New Zealand, comprehensive jazz, orchestral and vocal programmes, opportunities to study and explore a wide range of popular, film, Pacific Island, and Māori musics, and a range of specialist studies in areas such as early keyboard and music technology.

Several of our lecturers combine music with other disciplines—for example, Michael Norris (mathematics and music), Dr Ajay Kapur (performance, software engineering and robotics), and Dr Dave Lisik (jazz and sonic arts).

Graduates with degrees in music find employment in diverse fields. Careers range across all aspects of the music industry, and other industries such as film, theatre, social research, communications, arts and culture administration, events management, finance and law.

We are strongly committed to fostering student success at the highest levels, and facilitating transitions into satisfying careers in music. At the same time, we encourage a range of academic engagement as a portion of most music degrees, both because of the ways in which academics enhance the development of professional pathways, and because they offer a wide variety of transferable skills that will enable your music degree to be useful in fostering a career in a variety of fields.

Based in Wellington, New Zealand's creative capital, the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī offers students a study experience like no other. Wellington is small enough to walk almost everywhere, yet bike trails, miles of coastline and good weather make this a place where you can easily get away from it all when you want to. Tramping, surfing, cafes, bars, galleries, more eateries per head of population than New York, one of the world's most stunning harbours - this is a place that's famous for its energy and vitality. Just living here is an inspiration, no matter what you're studying. No other university in New Zealand has such a vibrant backdrop and yet provides the facilities for you to focus on your study and career. Find out more about Wellington is a great place to carry out your studies.

Whether your ambition is to be a solo musician, an orchestral performer, opera singer, composer, arranger, historian or teacher—or to add Music study to another degree—NZSM provides the ideal creative environment to help you achieve your music goals.