Docmus Doctoral School of Classical Music

Introduction

At the DocMus Doctoral School, doctoral studies and research mainly focus on music performance, composition and music theory, as well as church music. The artistic activities of the doctoral school are stylistically related to the Western tradition of art music, from antiquities to contemporary music styles. We encourage our students to discover their own individual profile and allow them to pursue a research style and culture of their own. We support our students’ individual artistic thought. We place great importance on instruction and teaching and our staff is easily available. Equality and transparency are at the heart of everything we do. In the doctoral school of music performance, research focuses on musicianship, instrument pedagogy, and musical institutions. The history of performance and performance practices as well as empirical study of performances are also key areas of research. Other research areas include music semiotics, post-tonal music theory, musical philosophy, history of music, and the psychodynamic approach to music and creativity research and related phenomena. In the doctoral school of composition and music theory, the obvious key areas of interest are composition and music theory. Composition students are guided towards independent artistic work, and they will also participate in projects organized in collaboration with various partners. Doctoral students of music theory benefit from the strengths of music theory research at Sibelius Academy in fields such as music analysis, Sibelius studies, and music history studies. In the doctoral school of church music, the focus is on service music and the special features of ecclesiastical music. Research areas range from topics in the history of church music, such as liturgical musical manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Reformation era, to present-day church music and hymn singing. In an artistic doctorate in church music  students demonstrate their proficiency in a liturgical context.