The Cologne University of Music and Dance is a public university of music and dance in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. Cologne University of Music and Dance is one of the largest specialist institutions for music and dance in Europe, with campuses in Cologne, Aachen and Wuppertal. The university offers a portfolio that encompasses performance, composition, jazz, pedagogy, scholarship, dance and doctoral research. Institutional development 1845 — opening of a municipal music school in Cologne as the first institutional predecessor. 1850 – under Ferdinand Hiller the school became a conservatory. The academic profile today includes orchestral instruments, piano, voice, opera, guitar, harp, organ, church music, composition, conducting, jazz and pop, electronic music, music education, musicology, dance performance, dance education, dance studies and musician health. Why location matters: Our main campus is located in the heart of Cologne and is part of a Rhineland network that includes Aachen and Wuppertal, connecting students to opera houses, orchestras, radio and media organisations, churches, theatres, dance companies, festivals, schools and a large freelance scene.

This master file is a representation of the course portfolio of 11 undergraduate entries and 14 postgraduate entries . Appropriate subject combinations have been consolidated under their parent degrees . Orchestral Instruments, Piano and Keyboard Instruments, Voice and Music Theatre, Guitar and Harp, Organ and Church Music, Composition and Music Theory (undergraduate examples) Music Education, School Music Teacher Education, Dance (later entries) Postgraduate study Orchestral Instruments, Piano and Keyboard Instruments, Voice and Music Theatre, Guitar and Harp, Organ and Church Music, Composition and Music Theory, Dance Education, Dance Studies, Konzertexamen Each course is still a parent qualification and specialisations are recorded in the course entry, not as separate degrees being misrepresented.

Admission is done at the program level. The announced €50 application fee, which is paid only once per application round, is to be paid by the applicants. The application must include the required documents and artistic preselection materials as well as program-specific live auditions, aptitude tests, interviews or academic reviews. International applicants must also fulfilll the specified German requirement. Before the submission, applicants must verify the language of teaching, entry semester, subject prerequisites, selection procedure, and document route. International School or University Qualifications External evaluation, certified translations, APS documentation where applicable or other proof of academic equivalence may be required. Master’s committees may require module descriptions, portfolios, writing samples, professional experience or interviews. Admission to a doctoral program is independent of admission to a bachelor’s or master’s program and usually requires a viable research proposal, eligible supervision and formal acceptance by the responsible faculty.

There is no general tuition for regular consecutive degree study. The contribution for the winter semester 2026/27 is €354.30 on the Cologne campus, €370.30 in Aachen and €351.30 in Wuppertal. Personal artistic or production costs are in addition to the amounts published here. These institutional fees do not include rent, health insurance, food, learning materials, residence formalities, project costs or personal travel. If provided for by the relevant law or program regulation, special tuition may be provided for continuing-education, distance-learning, joint, second-degree, or long-term study formats. Funding (e.g. BAföG for eligible students, Deutschlandstipendium, DAAD and Erasmus+ mobility support, foundations, research employment or university-specific awards) is available, but each funding application is evaluated separately from admission.

Career preparation is in line with the university’s subject mix and is not a guarantyd placement scheme. Internships, applied projects, research assistantships, employer events, language development, entrepreneurship services, international mobility and a thesis developed in cooperation with an external partner can all help to improve professional readiness.