Help Maria go to Oxford University!

Who am I?

• My name is Mariya Bakhmach. I am a 22 yo Ukrainian girl with passion for Music and everything related to it!
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Why am I here?

• I have been granted a life-changing opportunity to study Musicology (Music Theory) in University of Oxford during the period of October 2020 - Summer 2021. I am the first one in my family to obtain a Master degree as well as study abroad!
• The current cost of studying for a year is 26,405 Pounds Sterling or 32,171 US Dollars.
• The detailed description of MSt course in Musicology can be found here: https://www.music.ox.ac.uk/research/disciplines/musicology/
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Why music? Why University of Oxford?

• Music is my way of communication with the world and it gives me an opportunity to advocate for change in modern Ukrainian society, which is currently torn apart by political struggles, war and oppression of such minorities as LGBTQ+.
• I believe that University of Oxford is my place to be, because it's vibrant research environment is opened to people from all economical and social environments from all over the world.
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My Journey to the World of Music

I have been first introduced to the field of social music studies during the Popular music history course of my bachelor degree in Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Having been involved in music-making practices like singing and bandura playing from an early age, I have always been interested in such music styles like jazz, world music and, Ukrainian folk. But it was only in 2017, at the age of 19, that the idea of approaching music from the cultural studies position has crossed my mind. I have started familiarizing myself with the more general musical theory works of Tia DeNora and Theodor Adorno. Later on, I have realized that what has interested me most were the stories of those musical movements and performers, that were connected to the queer community. Combining both of my biggest passions, queer theory and, new musicology, I have decided to dedicate my last year of studying to the research on the life and work conditions of the LGBTQ+ musicians across the Netherlands. As a result, my final bachelor thesis on the topic has been finished in June of 2019.

As time has passed, I began to search for opportunities to further explore the topic of musical theory studies. Due to the fact that I believe that no great practical research can be conducted without an extensive amount of theoretical and historical knowledge, the path of continuing with the Master’s in the field of musicology seemed like the best choice for me. A possibility to combine my ambitions in academic research in queer musicology with the continuous study of social, cultural and aesthetic aspects of music – was what drew me towards the program at Oxford University. As well as the notion that there is no other country rather than the UK, in my opinion, that operates with such a great history of research in the field of historical and sociological studies of music. During my bachelor degree, I have grown to admire greatly the works of such scholars as Margaret Bent and Elizabeth Eva Leach. With this in mind, I consider Oxford University to be my pivotal choice of further study which will allow me to continue on the path towards deeper academic research in the area of social musicology.

Through the course of my studies, I have deliberately chosen course connected with the sociology of music in both, my alma mater, Erasmus University (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and my exchange university, Newcastle University (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the UK). In the first case, I have been studying the critical frameworks of Adorno, Benjamin, Deleuze and other theorists of culture during such courses as Popular Music and Society, Sociology of Culture and Modernity and Aesthetics. This has equipped me with the necessary theoretical knowledge and confidence to continue my studies abroad, in Newcastle, during the first semester of my last bachelor year. There I have been further advancing my knowledge in the field of cultural studies of music through the course of Dr. Paul Attinello on the link between cultural theory and music of 20^th and 21^st centuries. Those courses have helped me to develop a more critical approach towards the often sensitive topic of musical material analysis from the point of view of a cultural musicologist.

Alongside with the above mentioned academic activities, I believe that my extracurricular occupation has also helped me to decide where and what I want to do further in life. Being a part of music class in jazz singing in the music academy Codarts (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) has helped me to link the theoretical knowledge with the practicality of actual performance of musical material and operating with the musical circles of the city I have chosen to live in. This experience together with working as a manager assistant at the local alternative music venue, Rotown, has assisted me greatly during the final research for my bachelor thesis in the queer mapping of the local music scene. My volunteer experience for various music festivals and Rotterdam Pride have shown me how important it is for an amid researcher to go and explore the field you wish to study in the future.

I believe that every one of us had a couple of moments in their life that have predicated great changes. Something insignificant, yet special that makes further ground shift nearly ineffable. For me, as a future academic, applying to the master’s program in musicology at Oxford University means that I am choosing to fight for the opportunity to make a change for my queer music community through the knowledge and further research backed by the historical academic excellence of such an old institution. On the other hand, for me, as a Ukrainian queer woman, having an opportunity to be the first one in my family to be able to write the motivation letter for masters means much more than just seeing my name among the others in the application list, it means being heard, being recognized and being honoured to do something I do not imagine my life being complete without.