Oxford Brookes University closes music programme

Oxford Brookes University has today announced the closure of its music programme. In an open letter published on Twitter members of the university music department said they believed falling student numbers, and the discontinuation of the university’s combined-honours degrees to be among the reasons for the closure.

In today’s letter, signed by staff members Jan Butler, David Carugo, Paul Dibley, Barbara Eichner, Matt Lawson, Craig Prosser, Paul Whitty and Alexandra Wilson, signatories say the music department plans to finish teaching its final three cohorts of students before officially closing in 2026. They invite those concerned by today’s decision to contact the university vice-chancellor Alistair Fitt requesting a 12-month extension for the department to continue redeveloping music programmes.

In their letter, department staff acknowledged the financial difficulties Oxford Brookes University is facing, but said: ‘Coming out of the pandemic, and with the new building going up right across from the Richard Hamilton Building, we had hoped to be cautiously optimistic about the future. We were working on developing a suite of specialist Music programmes to attract new students, reflecting the wide range of our teaching and research expertise in the department. Rather than giving us time to explore this properly, the university has decided that was not to be, and one of the ironies of Brookes history will be that the university will finally offer a proper performance space, at the same time that it is closing the doors to music students.’ You can read the full letter here.

In a social media post today, Oxford Opera Society, the city’s main student opera society, said: ‘We are shocked to hear of the [Oxford Brookes University] decision to close so many of their key departments, particularly Music. Academics like [Alexandra Wilson] are doing popular, unique, and important work on current topics. It is a loss for Oxford and a short-sighted decision for Brookes.’