Testimonials

"During my time at UU, I was able to explore my personal and professional identity and gain a clearer understanding of my path into the music world. I surprised myself by developing an interest in country music and its ever-developing relationship with gender discourses and queerness. The RMA truly made me a more expansive thinker and opened my horizons to new possibilities—including a semester exchange at the University of Toronto, where I have further grown as a scholar and as a person. 

Initially I had plans for continuing with a PhD. However, two months after finishing the RMA, I found a job as a music professional here in the Netherlands. I am currently Operations and A&R Coordinator at the independent classical music label PENTATONE, where I act as a key link between the artists and the label, from overseeing the creative and logistical aspects of new recording projects, to revenue data analysis and royalties calculations. I cannot express how much the RMA has prepared me for the music industry, from working under pressure towards deadlines to speaking in public and thinking analytically about everyday tasks. Writing research papers and presenting my research findings taught me how to communicate in a concise and yet interesting way, a skill that now helps me connect with my coworkers, but also with the artists and managers we are in touch with daily. Furthermore, developing the analytical skills needed for my RMA thesis has now made me a capable data analyst.  

 The many challenges and equal successes during this RMA have made me realize my abilities as a music professional and as a person and have prepared me for the non-academic world in ways that I never imagined when I first came to Utrecht to study in a Research MA programme."

"The great asset of this programme is that it welcomes students who have not taken a BA in Musicology, but have, in one way or another, experience with music(ology), some basic research skills and a genuine interest in advanced musicology training. This is rather unique among master's degrees in musicology. Coming from literary studies meant that I had experience with theories and methods widely used in musicology and beyond. The courses allow you to focus on your own research interest in the final papers and the thesis, so the programme really feels as the right place where you can hone your expertise with an extensive array of musicological tools and perspectives.    

During my second year, I did an internship at Museum Speelklok. I gained valuable hands-on experience; for example, I found myself researching the repertoire of a musical clock from 1738, editing a catalogue, and repinning a carillon drum with my adaptation of an 18th-century carillon arrangement. Combining research and several transferable skills that I acquired during the RMA programme proved to be ideal for these curator activities. Two months after finishing this internship, I started working as a junior curator at Museum Speelklok."

"The program had three major advantages for me. First, I loved the RMA’s customizability: for example, a friend and I wanted to learn about disability and music, so we approached a professor and designed a tutorial together. I also took an intensive internship with a gender studies professor, allowing me to get a real taste of doing original research. Second, the program is small, so everybody knows each other. Although my cohort had many classes online due to the pandemic, we developed a strong bond, organizing thesis retreats and staying in touch after graduation. Finally, staying in Utrecht meant I could strengthen all the connections I’d built during my BA: with friends, study association Hucbald, and the faculty. During my bachelor’s, the student-teacher divide was stricter; as a master’s student, I felt like professors and students were learning together.

With help from my professors and peers, I landed a position as PhD student in Music and Sound Studies at Cornell University in the US. Doing a PhD is anything but easy, but it would be much harder without the skills the RMA taught me: writing convincing and engaging texts, being confident and critical about your research, hosting seminars, and giving and receiving feedback. Not to mention the deep knowledge about the many musicological topics covered in classes and colloquia! If I were transported back in time, I would choose the RMA Musicology again in a heartbeat.”

"During the programme, I encountered a fascinating community of students, faculty, and visiting scholars that pushed me in all the right directions, making me wonder about topics I had not considered before or interesting ways in which I could reshape my research. Particularly, I think the musicology colloquium, as a full-on event in which this community converges, was one of the most exciting moments to look forward to. In addition to the opportunities found within the programme, I was encouraged to present my research in conferences, research school activities, and other academic spaces within and beyond the Netherlands.

When the time came to write my thesis, and despite it being a largely independent and lonely journey, I always felt supported by my supervisor, who was available to meet whenever the need would arise. The thesis process was complemented with frequent writing sessions, workshops, and a general sense of wellbeing provided by faculty members and fellow students alike.

I am currently working on my doctoral project at the University of Oxford, which consists of a further investigation of my master’s thesis topic. The many lessons that I learned in the Research Master’s in Musicology, from nurturing critical stances towards musicological issues to developing the skills necessary for independent research, provided me with the tools to confidently undertake my doctoral work, as well as the challenges that might lie ahead in my career.”

"The programme offers abundant developmental opportunities to seize proactively, with guidance from an exceptional faculty. Regular interactions in a community of professors and peers through classes, colloquia, research fora, and late-night library sessions enriched my experience. Encouragement from faculty also led me to explore external opportunities, including presenting research internationally and participating in an extracurricular MA Honours program. This proved a valuable addition to my bachelor’s in Musicology (also at UU), which I had already complemented with a minor in policy and public governance.

I found the RMA highly demanding but equally rewarding. I left the programme with valuable research and transferable skills, as well as new perspectives on academia and society at large. My thesis supervisor and coordinator at the time, Dr. Rebekah Ahrendt, always emphasized the applicability of our skills in various environments, a viewpoint affirmed by my subsequent career path. Inspired by my studies, I embarked on a journey into cultural and public policy, beginning with a formative traineeship at KEA in Brussels. This experience paved the way to a research role at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, where I now serve as a senior research officer.

In my current position, I continue to apply the skills and mindset cultivated during my RMA, contributing to policy-making that addresses societal challenges. This journey highlights the programme’s versatility in preparing graduates for diverse career paths and underscores that personal and professional growth as a researcher is an ongoing endeavour, both within academia and beyond."