MORE MUSIC ANNUAL REVIEW 2016–2017
CONTENTS
Chairman’s Welcome
5
Director’s Message
7
Celebrating Success
9
Pioneering Research
11
Performance and Partnerships
13
Honouring International Talent
15
Digital Innovation
17
Celebrating Our Heritage
19
Forging Bright Futures
21
Supporting Talent
23
RCM Junior Department
25
Learning for All: RCM in the Community
27
Our Generous Supporters
29
2016–17 in Numbers
30
More Music Campaign Progress
33
Thank You
34
Student Numbers
37
Global Alumni Community
39
Finances
41
Council and Directorate
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CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME 2016–17 has seen work begin in earnest on our exciting More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music development. This once-in-ageneration project will make our campus fit and ready for the future. In June I was delighted to plant the first spade in the ground in what will become our stunning new courtyard. Our President, HRH The Prince of Wales, hosted a gala concert at Buckingham Palace in February in support of the RCM’s ambitions. It featured performances by students, alumni and our new Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin Maxim Vengerov. The More Music Campaign will provide two new performance halls, extra practice and rehearsal spaces and a bright atrium and enlarged entrance hall to welcome and inspire our students, staff and visitors. As well as offering greatly improved facilities for our talented students from across the world, More Music looks to the future by making available further scholarships and bursaries to attract the finest aspiring musicians. It will also widen access to RCM Sparks, our community and educational outreach programme, and promote innovation through new academic appointments and digital resources. Generous donations mean we have so far raised 68% of our £40 million target, a figure the RCM will then match.
As a further sign of our forward and outward thinking we have established a new Joint Institute in China with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. This will prepare the best high school students in China for a music conservatoire education. We cherish our heritage and will bring that into the future too by giving a new home to the RCM Museum. We have also started the process of digitising its entire collection of 25,000 extraordinary musical treasures.
Opposite Royal Gala at Buckingham Palace
We were sorry to say goodbye to Council members Lady Robey, Gillian Moore and Alex Fryer and I thank them for their contributions, but in turn we welcome Geoffrey Richards and new Students’ Union President Nathan Cho. As this will be my final Chairman’s report I would like to say thank you to all who have made my time at the Royal College of Music so enjoyable over the last ten years. Professor Lord Winston Chairman
The More Music Campaign will unlock the RCM’s potential and secure its long-term future as a world-leading music conservatoire; I am excited to see the architect’s vision come to life.
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DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE The Royal College of Music has surpassed itself and reached new heights this year. We are now ranked the top institution for performing arts in both the UK and Europe, and second in the world (2017 QS World University Rankings). The quality of our teaching and our ‘exemplary’ Creative Careers Centre were also praised when we were awarded a gold rating in the Department of Education’s new Teaching Excellence Framework (2017). We are immensely proud when the achievements of our gifted student composers, conductors, singers and instrumentalists are recognised. This year alumna Louise Alder won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, while at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards baritone Julien Van Mellaerts won First Prize and alumnus Gamal Khamis was awarded the Accompanist’s Prize. RCM Junior Department composer Alexia Sloane and RCM alumna Dani Howard were both successful in Classic FM’s 25th Birthday Commissions competition. Our President HRH The Prince of Wales conferred honours on conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, former RCM Director Dame Janet Ritterman, opera singer Sir John Tomlinson and composer Joseph Horovitz, who has recently retired after teaching composition
at the College for more than 50 years. The RCM thrives as a diverse and global community and this academic year Maxim Vengerov joined us as Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin, together with international professors Jianing Kong, Gitte Marcusson and Maurizio Malagnini.
Opposite Composer Eduardo Andrade in the Britten Theatre
Our long tradition of welcoming students, professors and other staff from around the world continues, and will not change following the EU referendum. Current and incoming EU students (for entry in both 2017 and 2018) will be charged the same tuition fees as UK students throughout their programme and will be eligible for the same funding and support as current EU students. Finally I should like to thank Professor Lord Winston whose tenure as Chairman during a period of great transformational change comes to an end after ten years. We are delighted to welcome Lord Black of Brentwood as our new Chairman from August 2017. Professor Colin Lawson CBE Director
Our achievements this year reinforce the RCM’s reputation as a world-class institution, both for teaching and professional career development. Students and staff from all over the globe bring exceptional talent, creativity and inspiration, and I am immensely proud of our diverse community.
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Royal College of Music / Annual Review 2015-2016
CELEBRATING SUCCESS We aim to support and nurture each and every one of our exceptionally talented students and to help them all achieve their full potential. We then take great pride in celebrating their success as they distinguish themselves both at home and abroad. This year Richard Miller won the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s Christopher Brooks Composition Prize, and he has written a work to be performed in their new concert season. Lara Poe was awarded the William Schuman Prize for the most outstanding score at the BMI Student Composer Awards, and Composition for Screen student Karim Younis came second in the ‘Music and Cinema’ Lavagnino Competition. Our keyboard players have had a fine year too. Hyun Jung Won was the winner of the 15th Don Vincenzo Vitti International Music Competition, while Martin James Bartlett was among four RCM pianists who travelled to Texas to compete in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Angela Lau was named Woking Young Musician of the Year, and Jorge Nava released his first solo album, Russian Portraits. RCM musicians have been successful once again in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition. Piano duo Bertram Wee and Lynette Yeo took home the Strings and Keyboard Ensemble Prize, bassoonist Justin
Sun won the Sussex Prize for Woodwind, mezzo soprano Ashlyn Tymms was named Outstanding Australian Musician and alumnus Gamal Khamis was awarded the Accompanist’s Prize.
Opposite Soprano Carly Owen in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera
After winning the third Arts Club – Sir Karl Jenkins Music Award, cellist Jamal Aliyev will record a short work specially written by the composer to be broadcast on Classic FM. He has also been selected as a Young Classical Artists Trust artist, and made his debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Countertenor Feargal Mostyn-Williams, soprano Carly Owen and alumnae Polly Leech and Sinead O’Kelly have been selected as Young Artists at the National Opera Studio. Soprano Rowan Pierce has joined the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Rising Stars scheme alongside alumnus Nick Pritchard, while tenor Joel Williams won First Prize, and bass baritone Hugo Herman-Wilson won the Audience Prize, in the Somerset Song Prize competition.
The RCM Symphony Orchestra was inspired by its conductor, every gesture for the players, and I was absorbed by what I heard…the talented young musicians were so attentive to his every intimation. Even now, I am not sure I have done this performance justice! Classical Source on Daphnis et Chloé conducted by Bernard Haitink
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MUSICAL IMPACT Musical Impact, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, has been investigating the health and wellbeing of musicians studying and working in the UK. The Centre for Performance Science, in partnership with Conservatoires UK, has assessed and interviewed more than 800 musicians in order to understand the physical and mental demands of music-making. After finding evidence of some potentially harmful behaviour and attitudes, new ways of promoting health are being developed, with the Healthy Conservatoires Network set to encourage discussion and good practice in our conservatoires. News of Musical Impact has already been spread internationally at more than 50 conferences as well as in scientific journals and on social media, and the project has led to the development of new technology to monitor musicians’ health.
BRAHMS AND HIS POETS: A HANDBOOK Brahms and His Poets: A Handbook is a study by Head of Postgraduate Programmes Dr Natasha Loges, published in November 2017. The solo songs of Johannes Brahms remain a core part of the sung repertoire, yet many of the poets whose work he set are virtually forgotten. Organised as an easyto-use dictionary, it offers detailed entries on each of the writers, and the substantial introduction puts Brahms’ approach to poetry within a wider context of AustroGerman culture. It draws on a broad range of source material including Brahms’ own library and unpublished notebooks, and is designed to be an indispensable reference work for singers, accompanists and scholars. The publication received an American Musicological Society Thomas Hampson Award in 2016.
PIONEERING RESEARCH We are proud of our reputation as a world-class centre for innovative music research and of our diverse and dedicated research community. This year we have been awarded a number of major Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) grants, including £1 million to the Centre for Performance Science’s Health, Economic and Social impact of ARTS engagement: a Public Health Study project, which looks at the impact of the arts and culture on health and wellbeing. A second AHRC grant of £665,000 was awarded for Music, Home and Heritage: Sounding the Domestic in Georgian Britain, a research collaboration between the RCM and the University of Southampton, while the project Excellence, Inclusion and Intervention in Music (MUSOC), a partnership between the RCM and York St John University, won an AHRC Research Networking Scheme award worth £45,000.
The Centre for Performance Science continues to thrive, and has won the Royal Society for Public Health’s Arts & Health Award 2016 for its ambitious programme of research into the impact of the performing arts on physical and mental health.
Opposite Participants of the Sing with Us project
Meanwhile, RCM Research Fellow Daisy Fancourt was selected for the 2017 New Generation Thinkers programme after a nationwide search by BBC Radio 3 and AHRC, and she will have the chance to make programmes for Radio 3 and BBC Four.
SING WITH US Led by the Centre for Performance Science, Sing with Us explores whether singing affects mental health, wellbeing, quality of life and social support for people affected by cancer. A pilot study revealed that a single choir session reduced stress hormones and increased levels of immune proteins, and Sing with Us is now examining the effect of singing over several months. Collaborating with Tenovus Cancer Care, the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and London Cancer Alliance, patients, staff, carers and the bereaved have been invited to join free choirs in Chelsea and Sutton or to take part in research from home. So far 490 people have consented to take part in the study, and the results will be available in 2018.
Singing in the London Tenovus Choir won't cure me but for an hour every Wednesday afternoon I’m lifted out of myself and my problems by the joy of song and by the warmth of singing with other people who are going through the same ordeal. Sing with Us participant
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One of the richest and most intensive programmes of public performance of any conservatoire in the world. Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
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PERFORMANCE AND PARTNERSHIPS Our public performance programme lets students develop their skills by working with high-profile artists from around the world, and our events are regularly attended by a large number of supporters and the public. Bernard Haitink conducting two performances of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé with the RCM Symphony Orchestra and Chorus was our autumn highlight. Violinist Thomas Zehetmair also led a week of chamber and orchestral music ending with unforgettable performances of Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Many distinguished visitors shared their exceptional knowledge and skills with our students in masterclasses this year, including Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin Maxim Vengerov, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Stefan Dohr, Sir James Galway, Howard Shelley and Maxim Rysanov. In the spring season our orchestral performances included Shostakovich with Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, and a riveting performance of Mahler’s immense Sixth Symphony under the baton of Nicholas Collon. A unique collaboration with the Académie de l'Opéra national de Paris and the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles saw performances at Opéra Bastille in Paris and the RCM’s Britten Theatre of Rameau’s opera-ballet Les fêtes d'Hébé – the first staged
performance in the UK since its composition in 1739. The Financial Times described the project as a ‘pleasing example of European co-operation in harmony’.
Opposite top Rameau’s Les fêtes d'Hébé at Opéra Bastille
Also this year we featured a week dedicated to our composer in residence David Lang, and hosted a first visit of our new Quartet in Residence, the Grammy Award-winning Harlem Quartet, whose repertoire stretches from Beethoven to Dizzy Gillespie. The Harlem Quartet is generously supported by Victoria, Lady Robey OBE and the Freakley Family.
Opposite middle Bernard Haitink in rehearsal with the RCM Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Our Festival of Percussion included drummer Benny Greb and the RCM Big Band, and the RCM International Opera School performed Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, Handel’s Faramondo (in conjunction with the London Handel Festival) and, to round off the year, a double bill of Chabrier’s Une éducation manquée and Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias.
Opposite bottom RCM musicians and harp professor Ieuan Jones in rehearsal with the Harlem Quartet
This charming production – wittily staged, vividly designed and meticulously choreographed by Thomas Lebrun – perfectly captured the inconsequential élan of the original…the voices were young, but stylishly deployed, and in the pit Jonathan Williams encouraged spirited playing from the RCM Baroque Orchestra. The Times on Les fêtes d'Hébé conducted by Jonathan Williams
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HONOURING INTERNATIONAL TALENT We welcomed His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, President of the Royal College of Music, to our annual awards ceremony, where he honoured outstanding figures in international musical life. Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, opera singer Sir John Tomlinson, former RCM Director Dame Janet Ritterman and composer Joseph Horovitz all received Honorary Doctorates. During his visit HRH The Prince of Wales listened to a performance of a guzheng, a rare 21-string Chinese zither, by Xiao Ran, which was given to him during the State Visit by China in 2015. The guzheng will be on loan to the RCM, which already houses close to 1,000 extraordinary musical instruments, with kind permission of HRH The Prince of Wales. It is an especially fitting gift given the RCM’s recent agreement with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to establish a new Joint Institute in China.
Some of the College’s exceptional recent graduates and current students also performed, including soprano Rowan Pierce, who won The President’s Award; bass baritone Simon Shibambu, recipient of the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rosebowl; and percussionist Kizzy Brooks and bassoonist Todd Gibson-Cornish, who both received Tagore Gold Medals.
Opposite HRH The Prince of Wales and RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson with those honoured at the 2017 awards ceremony
Fellowships of the Royal College of Music were conferred on Simon Halsey, Elizabeth Watts, Alistair Mackie, Jakob Lindberg, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood and Nigel Clayton. Florence Ambrose, Tania Lisboa, Mark Traves, Miranda Francis, Richard Adams and Rosemary Millar were admitted to Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music.
Bringing music to life is the task of every musician, and the Royal College of Music nurtures and develops a steady stream of singers and instrumentalists, composers and conductors, vital for the future of music worldwide. It is a great privilege to be honoured by a great College dedicated to this noble cause. Sir John Tomlinson
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DIGITAL INNOVATION At the Royal College of Music we continue to be forward-thinking and excited about the future, and have a strong track record of technological innovation in music. In 2016–17 we launched learn.rcm, our cutting-edge virtual learning environment that offers new ways of learning, teaching and sharing knowledge. It allows students to submit projects, share work online and interact with their professors in between lessons. Students can also upload recordings of their own performances to share with their peers and professors. We have provided training sessions for staff on digital accessibility, giving an opportunity to share good practice in teaching and to support students with disabilities. The RCM has also been awarded a grant of £44,412 by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to support the development of new online teaching and learning resources.
The RCM Museum has embarked on a major project to record playable historical instruments in the RCM’s collections. Some 50 videos and 300 audio recordings will allow audiences around the world to see and hear the instruments being played via the RCM website and platforms such as Google Arts and Culture. The recordings will be a valuable teaching tool for students and a fantastic resource for researchers. The project, carried out in partnership with the RCM Studios, features the performing talents of world-renowned RCM professors and will take two years to complete.
Opposite Double bassist Samuel Beck-Johnson in a recorded rehearsal
Meanwhile we continue to live stream a number of events each year to an international audience via our YouTube channel and partner platforms. In February, our live-streamed masterclass with Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin Maxim Vengerov received 14,000 views and is the RCM’s most successful live stream to date.
The Royal College of Music is a world-leader in the use of digital technologies to prepare students for successful careers as professional musicians. The HEFCE award will enable staff and students to work together to develop ground-breaking learning techniques in music performance. Professor Richard Wistreich Director of Research
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MINIM-UK The RCM Museum has led the MINIM-UK (Musical Instrument Interface for Museums and Collections) project, in partnership with the Horniman Museum and Gardens, University of Edinburgh, Royal Academy of Music and Google Arts and Culture, supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The major new website aims to enhance the visibility, knowledge exchange and educational impact of musical instrument collections throughout the UK, by providing a platform for them to deliver and present dynamic records about their holdings. The platform provides over 20,000 individual instrument records from at least 150 public collections in the UK, and has now launched to the public. Find out more at www.minim.ac.uk
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CELEBRATING OUR HERITAGE The Royal College of Music’s extraordinary collection of instruments, manuscripts, archive items and music-related art and memorabilia is one of the richest in Europe. It will be housed in a new museum that will open in 2019–20 as part of the More Music Campaign. The RCM has been awarded a grant of £3.6 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support the development. The funding covers construction, climate control, conservation, new displays, an extensive education plan and the digitisation of more than 20,000 items to be made available on the RCM’s website. Among the remarkable instruments in the collection are four English bass viols donated by Jane Kessler, which were restored by her late husband Dietrich Kessler, and the clavicytherium, the earliest known stringed keyboard instrument in the world (c1480). The new digital catalogue which was launched in July 2017 includes instruments, paintings and sculptures, and offers the chance to hear rare historical instruments being played. The Google Cultural Institute and the Higher Education Funding Council for England have given support to make these objects accessible.
Meanwhile the RCM Library has acquired a letter, dated 23 February 1882, inviting J Earnshaw to a meeting at St James’s Palace which proposed the foundation of the Royal College of Music. It represents the very beginning of the College’s story as an independent institution.
Opposite RCM Librarian Peter Linnitt and students with the Anne Boleyn Music Book
In addition we have celebrated one of the most significant manuscripts of early 16thcentury music in Britain: the Anne Boleyn Music Book. This Renaissance music book, reputed to have belonged to Henry VIII’s second queen, has been rebound and we have published a facsimile of the manuscript. A special event was held at the RCM, with short talks by experts from the universities of Cambridge and Manchester and music from the book performed by the Alamire ensemble. The conservation and publication was made possible through the support of The Cayzer Trust Company Limited and The Hon. Mrs Gilmour with additional support from the Society of Renaissance Studies.
The RCM collections offer a rich and stimulating insight into musical life in London, Europe and the world, covering more than five centuries. Our digital catalogue will give access for the first time to thousands of objects that currently lie unknown in our collections and provide a precious resource to all music lovers. Gabriele Rossi Rognoni RCM Museum Curator
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FORGING BRIGHT FUTURES Our graduates are highly employable. 96% of Royal College of Music graduates who completed a survey by the Higher Education Statistics Agency in 2016 were either in employment or further study six months after graduating. We are a world-leader in career development for musicians largely because of the pioneering work of our renowned Creative Careers Centre. In the highly competitive music industry it aims to bridge the gap between student and professional life by offering tailored career advice, support, referrals, workshops and internships to both students and graduates for up to five years after graduation. Our students have gained valuable performance experience in more than 40 different venues this year, including the prestigious St Martin-in-the-Fields, Steinway Hall and the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room, as well as in galleries and museums, retirement homes and hospitals.
96%
OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS
The Creative Careers Centre also manages a thriving Professional Engagements Service. Musicians can be hired by organisations and members of the public to perform or to work as freelance orchestral and session players, accompanists, répétiteurs, chorus members and composers. Their fees and contracts are negotiated by our specialist team.
Opposite Cellist Carola Krebs performing at the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition
This year more than 600 students performed professionally in some 698 performances, earning them an income of over £190,000. The Creative Careers Centre has continued to develop its strong partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts, generously supported by Dasha Shenkman. For the latest series In Tune With both institutions co-created bespoke projects around exhibitions combining music and art. Opportunities on offer at the Royal College of Music go beyond musical training and performing, and our Teaching Service matches members of the public with an RCM student or graduate teacher. Last year,130 individuals received tuition via the service. The Centre also trains students in entrepreneurial and business skills.
IN EMPLOYMENT OR FURTHER STUDY
SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION Higher Education Statistics Agency Survey (2016)
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SUPPORTING TALENT We believe that no talented student should be denied the chance of a Royal College of Music education for want of funds. This year our scholarship programme awarded £2.7 million to 469 students to help with their tuition fees. The Royal College of Music has a rich heritage of musical patronage. Scholarships form the core of this tradition and allow our donors to connect with young musicians as they develop their talent at and beyond the RCM. Support of the best talent is crucial to our mission, and currently more than 55% of students benefit from financial support from an array of scholarships. We have ambitions to increase this to 75% of students over the next five years through the More Music Campaign. The success of our scholars proves how important financial investment is to their College experience and to their career opportunities. Baritone Julien Van Mellaerts, a Fishmongers’ Company Scholar supported by a Toeman Weinberger Award, won First Prize at the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Awards. Mezzo soprano Katie Coventry, the Independent Opera Voice Scholar, won the intercollegiate Joaninha Trust Award, joined the English National Opera (ENO) Harewood Artists programme and made her ENO debut in The Pirates of Penzance.
Violinist Emily Sun took First Prize in the Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition. Emily is a Dasha Shenkman Scholar supported by a Mike Rimmer Scholarship. Cellist Timothée Botbol, who is supported by a Musicians’ Company Lambert Studentship, A F Marescotti City of Carouge Award and the Fondation Francis & MarieFrance Minkoff, was announced as Grand Special Prize winner in the II Agustín Aponte International Music Competition.
Opposite Scholars Julien Van Mellaerts and Harriet Eyley in Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias
Tom Foskett-Barnes, who is a Soirée d’Or Scholar supported by the Clifton Parker Award, has completed a new audio-visual composition, MIDWAY, in collaboration with Sound and Music in his role as Composer in Residence with technology company ROLI. Charles Stewart Richardson Scholar Piyawat Louilarpprasert was selected as Composer in Residence for KulturKontakt Austria, and scholar Ákos Lustyik worked as Composer Assistant on the Hungarian short film Sing (Midenki), which won the Oscar for Live Action Short Film at the 89th Academy Awards. We are grateful to all those who generously fund our much-needed scholarships.
Studying in such a wonderful environment at an inspiring institution is a privilege. Without the financial assistance that has been so graciously given to me then it is almost certain that I would not be able to continue my studies. Stephen Mills Dmitri Hvorostovsky Scholar
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RCM JUNIOR DEPARTMENT The Royal College of Music Junior Department (RCMJD) offers advanced training at the highest level to young musicians aged eight to 18. This exceptional education includes individually tailored programmes of one-to-one instrument, voice and composition tuition, supported by chamber music, orchestra, choir and musicianship. Although entrance to the RCMJD is highly competitive and by audition, we remain committed to ensuring successful applicants should not be prevented from joining through financial hardship. This year over £200,000 of bursary support was awarded to families who needed it. RCMJD students took part in more than 100 concerts at such celebrated venues as the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Globe Theatre, the 606 Jazz Club and Sandringham Palace for HRH The Prince of Wales. They also benefitted from working with distinguished professional musicians, including Oscar-nominated composer Mica Levi, RCM professors Mark Messenger and Simon Holt and Onyx Brass.
Many of our students are members of leading ensembles including the National Youth Orchestra, National Children’s Orchestras and National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. The current leader of the NYO is an RCMJD student.
Opposite RCMJD guitarist
Several of our young musicians won prizes in the recent BBC Proms Inspire competition and composer Alexia Sloane won the Classic FM 25th Birthday Commissions competition, resulting in a new work for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s season. Eyra Norman, an RCMJD vocal student, was crowned Young Musician of the Year 2017 (Vocal Category) by Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland.
Our creative partnership with the English National Ballet Youth Company has flourished, culminating in a collaborative project featuring English National Ballet company dancers, orchestral musicians, youth company dancers, dancers from local schools and our JD musicians in a stunning performance at Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
I am so thankful for my time at the RCM Junior Department. I have made some strong friendships, been given some wonderful opportunities and I’m sure it will stand me in good stead for the future. RCMJD student
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LEARNING FOR ALL: RCM IN THE COMMUNITY Our inclusive and inspiring RCM Sparks programme encourages children and their families from all backgrounds to make and learn about music. This year we ignited creativity in more than 3,000 members of the local community as well as training 188 RCM students and graduates. The learning and participation programme is open to all, with free or subsidised places available for children who are eligible. This year 549 children took part at 94 Sparks workshops, with 46% of attendees accessing free or subsidised places, while 36% were from non-white ethnic backgrounds. RCM Sparks continues to work closely with the Tri-borough Music Hub in the London boroughs of Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea. The aim is to engage with schools and families and to offer high quality music education and the chance for pupils to realise their musical potential. This year we worked with more than 2,150 pupils from 43 different schools, and through the Hub and other partners with a further 66 schools.
RCM Sparks also developed its profile in early years music with the expansion of Mini Sparks, reaching the wider community in North Kensington.
Opposite Participants in an RCM Sparks family workshop
Sparks Juniors, now in its eighth year, is an exciting opportunity for eight pupils to receive a free three-year programme of high level tuition led by RCMJD staff and RCM student mentors. This year four viola players and four French horn players joined up following selection workshops in local primary schools with higher than average free school meals. Their programme includes instrumental lessons, training choir, musicianship and practical ensemble classes.
Below Participants in the Get, Set, Play programme
Our revised community access programme Get, Set, Play was launched to families in three community centres in North Kensington. The year-long free programme at weekends, run in partnership with the Royal Albert Hall, provides a welcoming, accessible and affordable way for parents, grandparents and carers to learn music alongside their children. This year’s programme increased the proportion of participants from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, with 117 family members taking part, 65 of whom were from access families.
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Royal College of Music / Annual Review 2015-2016
OUR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS This has been a momentous year for the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign. It is the biggest development in our history and, after ten years of planning, our vision that promotes access and excellence is starting to become a reality. We are extremely grateful to all our donors whose generosity is helping to support young musicians and to build on our existing strengths as we pursue our vision for the future. In particular, we would like to recognise Rena and Sandro Lavery, Kingdom Music Education Group, Philip and Christine Carne, Ruth and Michael West, Bruno Wang, The Polonsky Foundation and The Julia & Hans Rausing Trust for their significant contributions. We also acknowledge the tireless work of our senior volunteers and loyal supporters who have made the initial stage of the Campaign a success. In February 2017 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, President of the Royal College of Music, hosted a special gala concert at Buckingham Palace. The event featured violinist Maxim Vengerov, Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin, alumni conductor John Wilson and soprano Louise Alder, current violin student Emily Sun, the RCM Symphony Orchestra and a selection of vocal students in a spectacular evening that showcased music and musicians from the RCM and raised over £850,000.
By the end of 2016–17 more than £27 million (68% of the Campaign’s philanthropic target of £40 million) had been secured in cash and pledges; £16 million of which will go to fund the building development (where the target is £25 million).
Opposite Trumpeter Erika Victoria Curbelo in an RCM Big Band rehearsal
We wish to thank everyone who has supported the RCM over the past year and to acknowledge the great generosity shown by donors, friends, supporters, parents, leadership volunteers and the general public who attend our concerts, events and activities. From becoming an RCM Friend through to leaving a gift in a will, every contribution truly makes a difference. There has never been a better or a more exciting time to be part of the RCM community.
Thanks to the support of our generous donors we have raised more than £27 million of our £40 million target; this is a momentous achievement. Professor Colin Lawson CBE Director
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2016 –17 IN NUMBERS
£6.1 MILLION
£19.09 AVERAGE
DONATION WHEN
BOOKING A CONCERT TICKET
RECEIVED FOR THE MORE MUSIC
CAMPAIGN
68% OF OUR MORE MUSIC CAMPAIGN REACHED
581
GIFTS FOR THE
MORE MUSIC CAMPAIGN
ALUMNI ACTIVE IN
86
COUNTRIES
RCM International Opera School’s production of Chabrier’s Une éducation manquée
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Royal College of Music / Annual Review 2016-2017
428
DONATIONS MADE
ONLINE SCHOLARSHIPS
AWARDED TO
365 NEW SUPPORTERS
469 STUDENTS
7,513
MEMBERS
OF THE RCM ALUMNI NETWORK
464 MEMBERSHIP SUPPORTERS
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Royal College of Music / Annual Review 2014-2015
MORE MUSIC CAMPAIGN PROGRESS Philanthropic Targets
£10 million Scholarships
£1 million RCM Sparks
£1 million
RCM Junior Department
£25 million
£3 million
Building development
Academic initiatives
Campaign Progress Targets:
£10,000,000
84%
Progress:
£3,000,000
60%
£25,000,000
64%
£1,000,000
48%
£1,000,000
58%
SCHOLARSHIPS INITIATIVES
ACADEMIC INITIATIVES
BUILDING DEVELOPMENT
RCM JUNIOR DEPARTMENT
RCM SPARKS
£8,440,696
£1,790,146
£16,022,972
£478,595
£576,687
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THANK YOU Music has the power to transform lives. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, generations of gifted students from around the world have been nurtured and trained at the RCM. We would like to thank in particular our More Music Founding Patrons and Leadership Supporters. Donors are listed alphabetically by surname and recognise all those who have donated £1,000 or more between 1 August 2016 and 1 August 2017.
MORE MUSIC FOUNDING PATRONS
ABRSM The Estate of George Frederick Burgan The Estate of Basil Coleman Heritage Lottery Fund The Estate of Christopher Hogwood CBE HonDMus Kingdom Music Education Group Sandro & Rena Lavery The Estate of Neville Wathen LEADERSHIP SUPPORTERS The Derek Butler Trust Philip Carne MBE HonRCM & Christine Carne The Estate of John & Marjorie Coultate The Estate of Margaret Dewey The Foyle Foundation The Future of Russia Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation Linda Hill HonRCM & Dr Tony Hill The Leverhulme Trust The Mirfield Trust The Polonsky Foundation The Estate of Michael Rimmer Victoria, Lady Robey OBE The Estate of Emma Rose Soirée d’Or Scholarships Dr Michael & Ruth West HonRCM MAJOR SUPPORTERS Jane Barker CBE Laurie Barry In memory of Lady Chelmsford Meredith & Denis Coleman Peter & Annette Dart Gisela Gledhill The Harbour Foundation
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The Headley Trust HEFCE Kirby Laing Foundation John Lewis Partnership Philip Loubser Foundation The Estate of William Mealings Rosemary Millar HonRCM & Richard Millar John Nickson & Simon Rew P F Charitable Trust The Pure Land Foundation The Julia & Hans Rausing Trust The Reed Foundation & The Big Give Christmas Challenge The Estate of Olive Gwendoline Rees Geoffrey Richards HonRCM & Valerie Richards Sir Simon & Lady Robertson Dasha Shenkman OBE HonRCM Alethea Siow & Jeremy Furniss H R Taylor Trust Bob & Sarah Wigley The Wolfson Foundation Henry Wood Accommodation Trust SUPPORTERS Dr Kamal Ahuja & Anna Gustafson Charles Alexander Anglo-Norse Society of London ArtPoint Foundation Artsabroad Ltd J. R. Asprey Family Charitable Foundation BAE The Biddy Baxter & John Hosier Trust Dr Linda Beeley The Bliss Trust Lord Black & Mark Bolland The Boltini Trust Bowerman Charitable Trust Anne Bradley ARCM
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2016–2017
Gary & Eleanor Brass Sir Roger Carr & Lady Carr HonRCM The Thomas Sivewright Catto Charitable Settlement The Cayzer Trust Company Ltd Roger Chadder HonRCM & Rosemary Chadder Dhairya & Karina Choudhrie Helen Chung-Halpern & Abel Halpern The Estate of Roselyn Ann Clifton Parker Concordia Foundation Karen Cook The Costa Family Charitable Trust Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE Douglas and Kyra Downie The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust The Drapers' Company The Ann Driver Trust The Gilbert & Eileen Edgar Foundation Sir Vernon Ellis FRCM & Lady Ellis Lee Abbey London Lesley Ferguson Finsbury Fishmonger's Company Fiona & Douglas Flint Douglas & Adele Gardner The Estate of Gwyneth George Dr Chris Gibson-Smith The Hon. Mrs Gilmour In memory of Alvin Gold Elaine Greenberg & Linda Perez Andrew Haigh Julian Hardwick Help Musicians UK The Derek Hill Foundation Terry Hitchcock The Hobson Charity The Estate of Barbara Margaret Holt Sir George Iacobescu CBE & Lady Iacobescu Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells JMC
Ruth Keattch The Estate of Michael Kennedy CBE The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK James & Clare Kirkman The Honourable Society of the Knights of the Round Table Lark Insurance Sascha Lasserson Memorial Trust The Estate of Ralph Lavender Professor Colin Lawson CBE FRCM Dr Mark Levesley and Christina Hoseason Carol & Geoff Lindey Natalie Livingstone Peter & Veronica Lofthouse The Loveday Charitable Trust Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust The Hon Richard Lyttelton & Romilly Lyttelton Lord and Lady Magan of Castletown Marcus McDonald HonRCM The Mercers’ Company The Howard & Abby Milstein Foundation Ellen Moloney The Countess of Munster Musical Trust Music Talks Pro Musica Ltd Midori Nishiura HonRCM Humphrey Norrington OBE FRCM & Frances Norrington Ofenheim Charitable Trust The Oldhurst Trust Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust Gordon Palmer Charitable Trust The Patron's Fund The Charles Peel Charitable Trust Michael Perry The Stanley Picker Charitable Trust Postlethwaite Music Foundation PRS for Music Foundation Rev Lyndon van der Pump FRCM & Edward Brooks FRCM Russell Race Andrew Ratcliffe The Estate of Charles Stewart Richardson Roland Saam Christopher Saul Professor Luigi & Elisabetta de Simone Niquesa John Simpson CVO RIBA John & Susan Singer Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable Trust South Square Trust Peter & Dimity Spiller
St Paul's, Knightsbridge Steinway & Sons Ian Stoutzker CBE FRCM Sudborough Foundation Janis Susskind OBE HonRCM Robert & Betty Sutherland Tait Memorial Trust Ian & Meriel Tegner Craig Terry Edmund Truell & Cédriane de Boucaud Universal Music Group HSH Dr Prince Donatus von Hohenzollern Rhoddy Voremberg The Wall Trust Sir Peter & Lady Walters Josef Weinberger Ltd Anthony Weldon FRCM & Jane Weldon The Mills Williams Foundation Jane Wilson Professor Lord Winston & Lady Winston Moira Witty The Worshipful Company of Musicians WPP The Wyseliot Charitable Trust CIRCLES FOR EXCELLENCE MEMBERS
Chairman’s Circle Brian & Janice Capstick Philip Carne MBE HonRCM & Christine Carne Helen Chung-Halpern & Abel Halpern Guy Dawson & Samantha Horscroft Gisela Gledhill Linda Hill HonRCM & Dr Tony Hill Terry Hitchcock TSH Prince Donatus and Princess Heidi Von Hohenzollern David James Clare & James Kirkman James & Margaret Lancaster Lark Insurance Dr Mark Levesley & Christina Hoseason Victoria, Lady Robey OBE Roland Saam Dasha Shenkman OBE HonRCM Alethea Siow & Jeremy Furniss Dr Michael & Ruth West HonRCM Quentin & Sarah Williams
Director’s Circle Sir Peter & Lady Middleton FRCM John Nickson & Simon Rew Richard Price FRCM & Sue Price Russell Race Peter & Dimity Spiller Robert & Betty Sutherland Brian & Anne Wadsworth OBE Patrons’ Circle Isla Baring OAM Jane Barker CBE John & Halina Bennett Lady Bergman Lorraine Buckland Tania Chislett Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM & Lady Cleaver Elisabeth de Kergorlay Dr Ian & Janet Edmondson Michael Estorick Sabina Fatkullina Professor Alice Gast Marie Noelle & Mathias Gislev Lily & Julian Harriss Greta Hemus John & Susan Heywood William & AnnaMarie Hill David & Sue Lewis Charles & Dominique Lubar David Mildon Ellen Moloney Judy & Terence Mowschenson Jennifer Neelands Susan Pudifoot-Stephens Kara Radcliffe Victoria Rock Kerry & Dimity Rubie Sir Richard & Lady Sykes Louisa Treger Rhoddy Voremberg John Ward Jane Wilson Sir Robert & Lady Wilson Dr Yvonne Winkler And those who wish to remain anonymous
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STUDENT NUMBERS International
231 (28%) Home/EU
589 (72%) Other
1 (0.1%)
Female
383 (46.75%) Male
436 (53.15%) Doctoral
48 (4.75%)
Postgraduate
410 (50%)
Undergraduate
362 (45.25%)
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GLOBAL ALUMNI COMMUNITY Our former students are our greatest ambassadors, and our global alumni community is central to all that the RCM stands for. We are extremely proud of the achievements of all graduates as they continue to have a significant influence on the music industry. This year, soprano Louise Alder not only won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, but also Young Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards. Tenor Nick Pritchard was named Breakthrough Artist in UK Opera in the What’s On Stage’s Opera Poll, and composer Charlotte Harding had an ambitious new work commissioned by the Tri-borough Music Hub, which will receive its premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019. Our violin alumni have also had a successful year. Benjamin Baker secured First Prize at the 2016 Young Concert Artists auditions in New York, as well as Third Prize in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition held in New Zealand. Zoë Beyers was appointed Leader of the English Symphony Orchestra, and Nicholas Wright is the new Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, having been a member of the orchestra for the last six years.
In addition, five RCM graduates won prizes in the First Berliner International Music Competition, pianist Luka Okros took home First Prize in the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, and conductors Neil Ferris and Sofi Jeannin were appointed Chorus Director of the BBC Symphony Chorus and Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers, respectively.
Opposite Soprano Louise Alder at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World
Our growing network now stands at over 7,500 alumni living in 86 countries. We plan to further extend and develop our alumni programme and activities in the year ahead. The RCM remains a natural first choice for talented students from around the world, and we hope that you will continue to be a part of our exciting future. The joy of nurturing young musical talent is surely one of the most rewarding of all human experiences. We invite all lovers of music to join the wider RCM family and to support us in our mission to further the talents of future generations of music students.
I’m always delighted to come back and teach in the Junior Department, lead Sparks workshops and talk to students, and I’m so happy to continue to have a relationship with the College. Ruairi Glasheen Percussionist
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FINANCES In 2016–17, the Royal College of Music made a surplus before gains and losses of £10.7 million, however this included £9 million of donations made specifically for the More Music courtyard development and legacy donations of £513,000. After adjusting for these restricted items, and £828,000 of related expenditure, the underlying surplus was £2 million (the comparable underlying surplus for 2015–16 was £827,000).
Income before legacy and courtyard development donations Expenditure before courtyard development spend Surplus before legacy and courtyard development donations Legacy donations Courtyard development donations Courtyard development spend Surplus before gains and losses on fixed assets and investments
2017 £000s
2016 £000s
26,278
22,641
–24,310
–21,814
1,968
827
513
1,681
9,046
0
–828
0
10,699
2,508
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COUNCIL AND DIRECTORATE Patron Her Majesty The Queen
President His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, PC, ADC
Vice-Presidents The Most Revd and Rt Hon the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Revd and Rt Hon the Lord Archbishop of York The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of London Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM (appointed 2007) Lady Middleton FRCM (appointed 2004) Mr Humphrey Norrington OBE, FRCM (appointed 2004) Dame Janet Ritterman DBE, HonDMus (appointed 2005) Mr Ian Stoutzker CBE, FRCM (appointed 1999) Professor Lord Winston (appointed 2017)
Council The President Professor Lord Winston (Chairman) (term completed July 2017) Lord Black of Brentwood (Chairman) (appointed August 2017) Mrs Jane Barker CBE (Deputy Chairman) Mr Peter Dart Mr Douglas Gardner Mr Andrew Haigh Sir George Iacobescu CBE (appointed January 2017) Ms Ruth Keattch The Hon Richard Lyttelton Ms Gillian Moore MBE, FRCM (term completed July 2017) Mr John Nickson Mr Andrew Ratcliffe Mr Geoffrey Richards HonRCM (appointed August 2017) Lady Robey OBE (term completed July 2017) Ms Alethea Siow Mr Rhoderick Voremberg Mr Bob Wigley
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2016–2017
Council ex-officio or elected members Professor Colin Lawson CBE, FRCM (Director) Professor Ashley Solomon HonRCM Professor Vanessa Latarche FRCM Mrs Elly Taylor HonRCM Mr Alex Fryer (Students’ Union: term completed July 2017) Mr Nathan Cho (Students’ Union: elected July 2017)
Clerk to the Council Mr Kevin Porter HonRCM (Deputy Director)
Directorate Director Professor Colin Lawson CBE, FRCM (Chair) Deputy Director Kevin Porter HonRCM (Deputy Chair) Artistic Director Stephen Johns FRCM Director of Communications Talia Hull Director of Development and Alumni Engagement Lily Harriss Director of Finance and Estates Marcus McDonald HonRCM Director of Research Professor Richard Wistreich
Photography by Chris Christodoulou (pages 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 36, 40, 41), Phil Rowley (pages 6, 32), Sheila Burnett (page 27), Paul Burns Photography (page 4), Studio j’adore ce que vous faites (page 12), Nick Gurney (page 20) and Brian Tarr (page 38). All details correct at time of going to print. Design by www.splashofpaint.com
Prince Consort Road London SW7 2BS United Kingdom +44(0)20 7591 4300 info@rcm.ac.uk
www.rcm.ac.uk /royalcollegeofmusic @RCMLondon /RCMLondon @RCMLondon RCMLondon
Patron Her Majesty The Queen President His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales Chairman (term completed July 2017) Professor Lord Winston Chairman (appointed August 2017) Lord Black of Brentwood Director Professor Colin Lawson CBE, MA (Oxon), MA, PhD, DMus, FRCM, FRNCM, FLCM, HonRAM The Royal College of Music is a registered charity. No 309268
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