Art & Music Courses

Stay in three of Europe's most wonderful cities, cover around 2000 years of Western art, visit all the relevant museums and sites and yet feel like you’ve done no more than just skim the surface. The European Highlights combines a broad approach with profound analysis over the period of six weeks in Florence, Utrecht and Berlin. Seize this opportunity to travel back through time and through some of Europe's most incredible museums in only one summer!

The Utrecht Summer School offers an opportunity to travel back in time and experience the art from both traditions first hand, staying in two cities that played a pivotal part in their country's art: Florence and Utrecht. This highly interactive course for the most part takes place in front of the original artworks, enabling you to experience, discuss and learn about the artwork first-hand.

This four-week course takes place two weeks each in Utrecht and Berlin. By combining studies in Utrecht and Berlin, you will be able to get a glimpse of several centuries of art history in Northern Europe, compare differences and similarities between the two sites, and visit a wealth of museums and galleries. You will have the chance to explore the art scenes of these two vibrant cities both in the past and the present.

This course is offered in an online setting.

How do artists make their art? Does painting in oil result in different working procedures and visual effects compared to other media? Which material and technical properties determine the creative possibilities of prints, sculptures, and the applied arts? What can art historians learn from re-making art, re-working historical recipes, or reproducing material objects? This course will immerse you in discussions related to artistic production and (re-)making, materials and materiality, and techniques and technology.

Are you curious to learn more about Rembrandt's 'Nightwatch', Vermeer's 'Girl with the pearl earring', Hals's 'laughing figures' or other Dutch masterpieces from the 17th century? Sign up for this course and discover the 'Golden Age' and its marvellous paintings, applied arts and architecture. This course takes you out of the classroom and into cities and museums - you will not be able to get closer to the masterpieces themselves!

The International Rhythm Course Level 1 is a two week intensive online program to solidify the fundamental expressive qualities of rhythm and explore the rich world of rhythmic complexities. The course is led by composer/flutist Ned McGowan (Utrecht Conservatory), the eminent Carnatic violinist Dr. Mysore Manjunath, renowned percussionist B.C. Manjunath, and vocalist Kristina Fuchs (Antwerp Conservatory).

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The International Rhythm Course Level 2 is a six week online program, meeting once a week, to solidify the fundamental expressive qualities of rhythm and explore the rich world of rhythmic complexities. The course is led by composer/flutist Ned McGowan (Assistant Professor of Advanced Rhythm and Pulse, and Composition at the Utrecht Conservatory), the eminent Carnatic violinist Dr. Mysore Manjunath, renowned percussionist B.C. Manjunath, and vocalist Kristina Fuchs (main teacher voice Antwerp Conservatory).

Experience the highlights of Dutch art from the last 400 years at first hand! This track covers many of the country's most renowned artists, museums and cities. Discover the famous masters of the Golden Age. Examine Dutch art from the 18th and 19th century, up to the early decades of modernism, including artists such as Van Gogh and Mondrian. This track takes you out of the classroom and into cities, museums and churches - you will not be able to get closer to the masterpieces themselves!

Throughout the course in Berlin, we will focus on the circumstances that shaped the production and reception of German art during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During this long period, the formation of a German nation state and the problematic notion of a German national identity became connected to the question of a German style and artistic ‘expression’. You will learn all about this, while staying in the amazing city of Berlin. 

This course takes you through Dutch art from the 18th and 19th century, up to the early decades of modernism. After the grand 'Golden Age', innovations in the art world stagnated, until artists in the 19th century started to strive for the elusive ideal of truthfulness again, in a totally different way. Sign up for this course and discover the different styles, techniques and approaches of these modern Dutch artists, during both classroom lectures and on-site excursions.

Florence, originally founded by the Romans, was governed by the Medici family for centuries. Most of them had a passionate interest in painting, sculpture, architecture and literature. Even today, Florence keeps an exceptional artistic heritage which provides marvellous evidence of its aged culture. This course offers students the opportunity to study the works of art from the Renaissance period, while staying in Florence.

Film music is one of the most essential elements in audiovisual story telling. To become a film music composer, you will need a lot of exercise and experience in different areas. During this course we will cover various aspects of being a film music composer. How does music in film work? How to compose film music? How does film music relate to the other ingredients of the sound track: dialogue & sound? How to communicate with the director, editor and sound designer? Using both theory and practical exercises, you will learn about the complicated tasks of a film music composer.