Norwegian Academy of Music

The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norges musikkhøgskole, NMH) is a music conservatory in Oslo, in the Majorstuen area of Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the country's highest level of music education. As a specialised university (vitenskapelig høgskole), it teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The Academy was established in 1973. Its roots reach further back: in 1883 Ludvig Mathias Lindeman and his son Peter Brynie Lindeman started a school for organists in Kristiania, the old name for Oslo. That grew into Norway's first and biggest music conservatory and laid the foundation for the Academy. The Lindeman conservatory closed in 1973, and the Academy's largest concert hall, the Lindeman Hall, seats more than 400 people in memory of the family. The Academy also merged with the former Østlandets musikkonservatorium in 1996.

Teaching is built around performance, composition and pedagogy, with room for research across music fields. Students train in folk music, church music, classical music and jazz. Admission is by audition or other verifiable qualifications, so the practical test matters more than a paper application alone. The Academy is also Oslo's biggest concert organiser, putting on around 300 concerts a year, which means students are regularly in front of an audience.

The Study in Norway list (HK-dir) shows 13 English-taught degree programmes here: 2 at bachelor's level, 9 at master's level and 2 at PhD level. Subjects are music, plus humanities and theology. The DBH register lists the institution under code 1210 as a state scientific college (statlige vitenskapelige høyskoler) owned by the Ministry of Education and Research.

For an international student, applying goes through the Academy's own system, with auditions as the core of selection. Students from outside the EU/EEA normally need a study permit from UDI. EU/EEA and Swiss students are generally exempt from tuition at state institutions, while other degree students pay an institutional fee. Check the current rules and deadlines on nmh.no before you apply.