The Diploma Programme Music course (for first teaching from 2020) has been designed to prepare the 21st century music student for a world in which global musical cultures and industries are rapidly changing. The course is grounded in the knowledge, skills and processes associated with the study of music and offers a strengthened approach to student creativity through practical, informed and purposeful explorations of diverse musical forms, practices and contexts. The course also ensures a holistic approach to learning, with the roles of performer, creator and researcher afforded equal importance in all course components. The aims of the music course are to enable students to: z z z explore a range of musical contexts and make links to, and between, different musical practices, conventions and forms of expression acquire, develop and experiment with musical competencies through a range of musical practices, conventions and forms of expression, both individually and in collaboration with others evaluate and develop critical perspectives on their own music and the work of others. III. Assessment model Alignment with DP arts courses The curriculum moves into alignment with other DP arts courses, through the clear articulation of the balance between the theoretical and practical disciplines of music. A new set of assessment tasks that link directly to the processes and roles experienced in the curriculum have been developed. These robust tasks address the concept of holistic musical development by removing optionality (and thereby the possibility to specialize in one skill at the expense of others) and incorporating practical music-making into all tasks. Assessment tasks are now presented as coursework, balanced between internal and external assessment. There are three common components at SL and HL, with a discrete HL extension component which invites students to work within the parameters of real-life music industry practices. Engagement with diverse musical material The new course seeks to be inclusive of students with wide-ranging personal and cultural musical backgrounds. In place of prescribed musical content, students and teachers in the new course have the agency to personalise unique approaches to musical forms, genres and pieces. The exploration of diverse musical material is focused through the lenses of four areas of inquiry. z z z z Music for sociocultural and political expression Music for listening and performance, Music for dramatic impact, movement and entertainment Music technology in the electronic and digital age.