New Music Department to be Created within DCU

Cregan Library on the St Patrick’s College Campus in Drumcondra.

New Music Department to be Created within DCU

St Patrick’s College and Mater Dei departments to merge.

The music departments of St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, and the Mater Dei Institute of Education will merge this year to create a larger music department of Dublin City University (DCU). 

Music will be based in the newly formed School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music, and will see an increased team of six full-time academic music staff – Dr Róisín Blunnie and Dr Seán Doherty from Mater Dei, and Dr John Buckley, Dr Rhona Clarke, Dr Patricia Flynn and Dr John O’Flynn from St Patrick’s College. 

Dr O’Flynn, Head of Music Department, commented,

I’m greatly looking forward to working in an enlarged and enhanced area of music as we move towards full incorporation into DCU. Both existing music departments already share a commitment to student-focussed musical engagement, with staff in the two departments highly active in composition, musicology and performance. But the merger presents much more potential for prospective music students in terms of available undergraduate and postgraduate options and staff specialisms for prospective PhD students, along with opportunities to participate across a wide range of ensembles and styles.

He continued: ‘As a native of Dublin’s Northside, I’m more than pleased to see music expand and flourish in DCU, and continue to contribute to the cultural life of the region and beyond.’

Music at St Patrick’s College is currently based on the campus on Drumcondra Road, while the Mater Dei Music Department is located at the intersection of Drumcondra and Clonliffe roads. From September, all DCU music students and staff will be co-located on the renamed St Patrick’s Campus, DCU. Plans are also underway to double the number of music teaching spaces, practice rooms, seminar rooms, music technology facilities and offices.

Programmes
DCU will offer music in a range of programmes and levels, including the study of music in a three-year Bachelor of Arts, and in the four-year Bachelor of Religious Education and Music. Applications for both programmes are made through CAO. The auditions for the 2017–18 intake are scheduled for early April 2017.

A two-year, part-time MA in Music is also available in which students can specialise in musicology, composition or performance. Applications are currently open for the MA through PAC. The closing date for applications is 15 August.

Music may also be studied to PhD level in the areas of composition, musicology, performance and music development. A number of funded doctoral scholarships are currently available in the School of Theology, Philosophy and Music. The scholarship covers fees (EU or non-EU) and a tax-free stipend of c. €14,000. To register your interest and area of research, email patricia.flynn [at] spd.dcu.ie (). Applications should be made this month. The scholarship begins in October 2016 and provides funding for up to 4 years.

For further details on the new music department, visit https://goo.gl/CX6Y6P or email john.oflynn [at] dcu.ie.

Published on 22 May 2016

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