Performing Arts ranked 25th in the World by QS

Best-connected and most international disciplines

THIS year’s QS World University Subject Rankings saw the University of Huddersfield ranked 25th in the world for 'Performing Arts'.  From mainstream UK universities, only the universities of Oxford and Cambridge ranked higher.

Performing Arts is one of the University’s best-connected and most international disciplines and has active research links with Harvard University, Stanford University and Northwestern University, which are also ranked in the 25 institutions.  Huddersfield can also boast links with the University of California - San Diego, the University of Chicago, Monash University, University of Montreal, Sydney University and the University of Melbourne.

Associate Deans for Research and International, Professor Monty Adkins and Professor Rupert Till, confirmed that Huddersfield has links with more than half of the Top 300 world-ranked institutions and are active in more than 30 countries.

World-leading research

The latest accolade also reflects the University of Huddersfield’s Music 2014 REF (Research Excellence Framework) results where 85% of music research at the University was judged to be Internationally Excellent, with 44% of the overall submission ranked as World-Leading.  The impact of Huddersfield’s research was judged in the REF to be fifth in the UK among the 84 submissions in music, drama, dance and performing arts, receiving the second highest possible score.

The University of Huddersfield is an internationally-recognised centre for new music, including composition and the application of new technologies to sound design, pedagogy and archeoacoustics, for which it has been recently awarded three significant European grants.  This flourishing activity produces a vibrant research community that also includes early music, performance, popular music and contemporary musicology.  The synergistic relationship it seeks to foster between disciplines has resulted in building a research network that includes numerous international partners.

Around this research network staff have developed Huddersfield Contemporary Records (HCR), since 2015, produced in partnership with NMC.  HCR produces outward-facing compilations, internationally contextualised but centred on new music in the UK.  The label develops concept-driven releases, typically featuring a single performing artist and multiple composers, often drawing on the resources of the Centre for Research in New Music’s (CeReNeM) industry partnerships and its international research network.

HCR’s releases have featured some of the leading ensembles for contemporary music, including ELISION, EXAUDI, Apartment House and the Nieuw Ensemble, as well as soloists and improvisers of international renown.  The diverse range of composers presented on HCR includes Michael Finnissy, Peter Ablinger, Rebecca Saunders, Christian Wolff, Liza Lim, John Cage, Georges Aperghis, Joanna Bailie, Michael Parsons, Claudia Molitor, Brian Ferneyhough, Johannes Kreidler and Richard Barrett, among countless others.

Drama, Theatre and Performance is also home to three international peer-reviewed Open-Access academic journals: the Journal of Embodied Research (JER); the Journal of Performance Magic; and the Journal of Performance and Mindfulness.  Over the past three years staff and students have presented performances, workshops and papers in the UK, Chile, Poland, Canada, USA, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, China, Malta, Holland, Germany, Finland, Australia and the Republic of Ireland.

QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) is a rating system that provides a detailed look at an institution, enabling potential students to identify the strengths of the universities present.  QS analyses more than 15,000 departments in over 1,200 institutions across the world, covering more than 20 million research outputs and over 200 million citations.  It also seeks the opinions of over 75,000 academics in over 140 countries across the world and consults over 40,000 employers.