BUILDING OUR FUTURE ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
CONTENTS
Chairman’s Welcome
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Director’s Message
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Celebrating Success
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Pioneering Research
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Performance and Partnerships
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Honouring International Talent
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Digital Innovation
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Celebrating Our Heritage
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Forging Bright Futures
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Supporting Talent
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RCM Junior Department
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Widening Access: RCM Sparks
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Investing in Our Facilities
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Green Credentials
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Our Generous Supporters
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More Music Campaign
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2017–18 in Numbers
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Thank You to Our Supporters
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Student Numbers
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Global Alumni Community
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Finances
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Council and Directorate
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CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME The last year has been a momentous one for the Royal College of Music. We have watched with pride as the transformational development of Prince Consort Road has gathered pace, marked the 50th anniversary of the RCM Studios, unveiled the new organ in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall and celebrated the remarkable 25-year tenure of HRH The Prince of Wales as our President. All of these achievements sum up with precision what makes the RCM so special – a respect for our traditions and our history set alongside the change and renewal which point the way to an ever more exciting future. The progress of our More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign is astonishing, as we create two new performance halls along with an interactive museum, extra rehearsal and communal spaces and an enlarged entrance hall. As well as improving facilities for our students, More Music looks to the future by offering further scholarships and bursaries to attract the finest musicians. Crucially, it will also widen access to RCM Sparks, our community and educational outreach programme, and promote innovation through new academic appointments and digital technology. In addition to installing the new £1million Flentrop Orgelbouw organ, this year we also launched a major new website documenting around 20,000 historically significant instruments. We are extremely proud that Professor Aaron Williamon, Head of the Centre for Performance Science, was
nominated for the Health Humanities Medal in August for his team’s work in supporting and improving the health and wellbeing of musicians.
Opposite The RCM Philharmonic in rehearsal for the Orchestral Masterworks series
We were sorry to say goodbye to Council members Bob Wigley, Professor Ashley Solomon and Nathan Cho and I thank them for the great service they have given the College. We welcome Veronica Wadley, David Whelton, Kevin Porter, William Mival and Students’ Union President Eleanor Mackie. Finally, I would like to thank outgoing Chairman Professor Lord Winston for his immense contribution to the College over the last decade. We are profoundly grateful to Robert, and welcome his ongoing support as Vice President. I look forward to my Chairmanship with great pride in what we have achieved so far, and determination to see through the ambitious plans that will safeguard the RCM's legacy, and our international reputation for excellence, for generations to come. Lord Black of Brentwood Chairman
With the foundations firmly in place and two new performance spaces beginning to take shape, I thank all those involved for their continued support as we watch the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign transform the College.
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DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE I am immensely proud that for the third year running, the Royal College of Music has been ranked the top conservatoire for performing arts in the UK (QS World University Rankings 2018). During our ambitious development, the College also achieved 89% in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2018. We were top music conservatoire in the UK for overall satisfaction according to the Times Higher Education. Developing the talent and character of our students to thrill on the world stage and thrive in their professional life is a core aim of the RCM, and our students never fail to deliver. This year, Daniel Evans took Joint First Prize at the Nice International Piano Competition, and we had success once again at both the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the Royal OverSeas League Competition, where saxophonist Jonathan Radford won the Gold Medal. In a special prize-giving in his 25th year as President, HRH The Prince of Wales awarded pianist Sir András Schiff an Honorary Doctorate while Nicholas McCarthy, who was the first one-handed pianist to graduate from the RCM in 2012, was made an Honorary Member. It was a particular pleasure to see Professor Lord Winston made a Fellow after his transformational Chairmanship from 2007 to 2017.
While uptake in arts GCSEs falls, four musicians from the RCM’s Junior Department, plus RCMJD alumna Stephanie Childress, made it to the BBC Young Musician category finals, highlighting the College's continued commitment to nurturing a love of the arts in young people.
Opposite A gamelan rehearsal for the RCM Percussion Showcase
Thinking globally, our new partnership with Moscow’s Central Music School builds on our collaboration with the Shanghai Conservatory, and an RCM Symphony Orchestra concert conducted by Bernard Haitink was streamed live across the world in a joint initiative with medici.tv. Finally, I welcome our new Chairman, Lord Black of Brentwood, and look forward to the RCM’s continued success under his guidance. Professor Colin Lawson CBE, FRCM Director
The vibrancy of our campus and impact of our collaborations are strengthened by the diversity of our students and staff, something we are proud of and will continue to champion.
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Royal College of Music / Annual Review 2015-2016
CELEBRATING SUCCESS We aim to support and nurture all our students and to encourage them to achieve their full potential. We take great pride in celebrating their success as they distinguish themselves both at home and abroad. Among our keyboard players, Daniel Evans won Joint First Prize in the International Nice Côte d’Azur Piano Competition, Michelle Candotti was the Junior Jury Award winner in the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition and Irena Radić was awarded a Finalists’ Prize in the Bromsgrove International Musicians’ Competition. In the Piano Section of the Joan Chissell Schumann Competition, Stephanie Shucksmith, Prajna Indrawati and Alex Stobbs won First, Second and Third Prizes, respectively. Meanwhile, in the Joan Chissell Schumann Competition for Singing, Glen Cunningham, Josephine Goddard and Joel Williams won First, Second and Third Prizes, respectively. Josephine Goddard also won Second Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, where fellow soprano Catriona Hewitson won the Song Prize, while Katy Thomson took Second Prize in the Patricia Routledge National English Song Competition. RCM musicians had an extremely successful year again at the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition where saxophonist Jonathan Radford won both the Wind, Brass and Percussion Section Final and the overall Gold Medal. Violinist Emmanuel Bach won the Strings Section Final, the Marmen Quartet
won the Ensembles A Final, and wind quintet Ensemble Solaire was awarded the Elias Fawcett Prize for Outstanding Ensemble. Pianist Bradley Wood won the ROSL Award for an Outstanding New Zealand Musician, while baritone Kieran Rayner, also from New Zealand, won the Philip Crawshaw Memorial Prize for an Outstanding Musician from Overseas.
Opposite Soprano Josephine Goddard performing Mozart's Requiem
Our Strings Faculty also enjoyed much success this year. Violinist Emma Arizza was selected as a Fondazione La Società dei Concerti Artist in Residence, while Dillon Jeffares won Joint Second Prize in the Leonid Kogan International Competition for Young Violinists. At the 2017 British Composer Awards, Shiva Feshareki won the Award for Innovation, and Lara Poe and Joel Järventausta were selected for the London Symphony Orchestra’s Panufnik Composers Scheme. Woodwind award winners included flautist Sirius Chau, who won the Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition; bassoonist Justin Sun, who won the Musicians’ Company Maisie Lewis Award; and trumpeter Paul Mitchell who reached the semi-final of BBC Radio 2’s Young Brass Award 2018.
I was incredibly privileged to be one of the Artists in Residence for La Fondazione La Società dei Concerti di Milano, which has given me the chance to grow as a musician. I will be forever grateful for the support I have received from the RCM and I wish to always represent it at the highest level. RCM violinst Emma Arizza
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TELMI (TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PERFORMANCE) Musicians, scientists, engineers and designers have come together in this international collaboration in order to create new tools to enhance the way music performance is learned and taught. With funding from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework, the RCM’s Centre for Performance Science has worked with our professors and students to help develop new technologies to analyse musicians’ movement and tone, intelligently guide practice habits, and allow teachers and students to communicate in new ways. The TELMI technologies and research have been published, presented and demonstrated at conferences and festivals internationally, and work is being done to make the tools available to RCM students this academic year before bringing them to the wider musical market and adapting them for use in medicine, business and other performance-focused disciplines.
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
PIONEERING RESEARCH The Royal College of Music is proud to be a world-class centre for innovative music research and we continue to champion our diverse and dedicated research community. In September 2018, the first group of students embarked on our new Master of Education programme, which combines research elements to develop students’ vocational skills by building on their music educational experience. The programme is aimed at musicians already working in education, and is delivered part-time over a period of between two to four years to fit around a professional musician’s other commitments. This is the latest stage in a major enhancement of music education teaching at the College, and is currently a unique initiative among UK conservatoires.
HEARTS: HEALTH, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE ARTS The HEartS project, led by the Royal College of Music Centre for Performance Science, with Imperial College London and University College London, is exploring the impact of arts and culture on health and wellbeing, from individual, social and economic perspectives. Smaller studies have demonstrated links between cultural participation, good health and enhanced wellbeing, but to date there have been few larger-scale studies. HEartS, with £809,000 in funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is a three-year project running until January 2021. Working with arts, health and academic partners across the UK, the team is documenting the effects of a wide range of arts and cultural pursuits on health and wellbeing among diverse groups of people.
This year also saw the first students successfully complete the new postgraduate Women in Music module. This researchbased project culminated in performances at the Royal Academy of Arts, where pieces by female composers, including an RCM composer, were linked to works by women artists.
Opposite A participant in the TELMI project
Major funded research projects which commenced in 2017/18 include TELMI, HEartS and MUSOC, detailed below.
MUSOC MUSOC is a new network of researchers and practitioners working in music education, community music, music therapy, psychology and the criminal justice system. It is funded by a £45,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to the RCM, in partnership with the International Centre for Community Music at York St John University. MUSOC explores the concepts of excellence and inclusion in music activity in schools, hospitals, community centres and prisons, and aims to help professional musicians adapt to these different environments. The project involves a series of public debates, the outcomes of which are published on the MUSOC space on learn.rcm. The public are invited to respond and so far people from 23 different countries across five continents have interacted with the project.
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PERFORMANCE AND PARTNERSHIPS The RCM’s world-leading performance programme develops the skills and experience our students need for the professional life ahead of them. An exciting autumn saw Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct the RCM Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, while in November, the RCM Symphony Orchestra and Chorus joined with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, to celebrate the life of Sir David Willcocks, RCM Director from 1974 to 1984. In December, technology enabled a remarkable performance at the RCM and the Vienna Conservatoire as musicians in the two venues performed together using state-of-the-art live streaming software to celebrate 50 years of the RCM Studios. The term rounded off with a delightful production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen. In the spring, we unveiled our new custombuilt Flentrop organ with a memorable performance of Strauss' Alpine Symphony, conducted by Bernard Haitink, followed by a celebratory all-day Organ Festival. The RCM Symphony Orchestra was later joined by soloists from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory for an all-Stravinsky concert, while the RCM Chamber Choir performed Les noces at the Royal Festival Hall, conducted by Vasily Petrenko. A new production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream set the work in 1930's Berlin in an unforgettable cabaret setting.
The summer began with five new mini-operas on the theme Frankenstein (The Modern Prometheus)¸ written and performed by RCM composers and soloists, and finished with a double bill of British opera – Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse and In the Locked Room, by Huw Watkins. RCM Chorus members joined the Philharmonia to perform Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder in London and Paris. Further concerts took place in the RCM residency at Cadogan Hall.
Opposite main and bottom right Marching drums and RCM Big Band saxophonist performing at the Percussion Festival Opposite bottom left RCM trumpet player in rehearsal with Stefan Dohr
Other celebrations included a Festival of Percussion and Super String Sunday, while our distinguished visitors included Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin Maxim Vengerov, Pinchas Zukerman, Jordi Savall, Martyn Brabbins, who joined us as Visiting Professor of Conducting, and Sir Thomas Allen. Our important collaborations continue, including our work with the Exhibition Road Cultural Group in which we run joint events and share staff expertise. We are also part of the Virtual Conservatoire, alongside seven conservatoires around the UK, which runs student-led sessions including improvisations and performances, and will culminate in a large performance in March 2019.
The RCM give the pros at the English National Opera a run for their money ... Liam Steel’s dark, mercurial fantasy is anchored by strong orchestra playing under conductor Michael Rosewell, and by a really outstanding cast. There’s not a weak link to be heard. The Spectator on the RCM’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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HONOURING INTERNATIONAL TALENT In his 25th year as President of the Royal College of Music, HRH The Prince of Wales honoured some of those who have made outstanding contributions to music. Celebrated pianist Sir András Schiff was awarded an Honorary Doctorate, and Nicholas McCarthy became an Honorary Member of the RCM in acknowledgement of his flourishing career since becoming the first one-handed pianist to graduate from the RCM in 2012. Professor Lord Winston, who was Chairman of the Royal College of Music for ten years, and recently became Vice President, was also made a Fellow of the RCM. ‘I am passionate about the Royal College of Music and immensely proud to be honoured,’ he said. ‘I remain committed to an institution which nurtures the most exceptional musical talent from across the globe.’
HRH The Prince of Wales heard the RCM’s magnificent new organ, designed and built by Flentrop Orgelbouw, for the first time, with performances of works by RCM alumni Sir Hubert Parry and JS Bach. Some of the College’s exceptional recent graduates also performed, including recorder player and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rose Bowl recipient Katie Cowling, bass-baritone Julien Van Mellaerts and violist Bryony GibsonCornish, both of whom won Tagore Gold Medals when they graduated. Composer and pianist Eduardo Andrade received the President’s Award.
Opposite HRH The Prince of Wales and RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson with those honoured at the 2018 awards ceremony
Sean Rafferty, who has presented BBC Radio 3’s flagship music programme In Tune for 20 years, and Lady Victoria Robey OBE, founder of the charity London Music Masters, which works to give every child access to extraordinary music, were both admitted to Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music.
I am delighted to be recognised as an Honorary Member of the RCM. I hope this recognition will serve as a positive example for other disabled musicians and help me in my continuing campaign to get more disabled musicians into the arts. RCM alumnus Nicholas McCarthy
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DIGITAL INNOVATION This year we celebrated 50 years of the Royal College of Music Studios. We were the first conservatoire to be equipped with such a pioneering electronic music facility and we continue to lead the field in the use of technology to support and enhance learning for students. Our innovative virtual learning environment, learn.rcm, is now firmly in place, helping students share work online and interact with their professors. The Virtual Conservatoire – our partnership with The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama and The Royal Academy of Music – allows students from the RCM and other institutions to use super-high speed online connections to collaborate, improvise and experiment in regular ‘scratch sessions’. For the Global Auditioning Training Programme, the RCM has joined up with conservatoires in Cleveland, Miami, New York and Denmark for instruction in orchestral audition techniques around the world. The RCM continues to develop its streaming capacities. All RCM orchestral performances and many others are now filmed with multi-cameras and made available on the dedicated RCM Stream for private study. The College also makes use of medici.tv, the RCM YouTube Channel and, most recently, the OperaVision platform.
The MINIM-UK virtual museum project has brought together 20,000 instruments from 200 UK collections to create the largest virtual collection of historically significant musical instruments in the country. Led by the RCM in partnership with the Royal Academy of Music, the Horniman Museum and the University of Edinburgh, it launched in October 2017 with support from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Catalyst Fund.
Opposite A recorded rehearsal at the RCM Studios
The RCM Museum, meanwhile, is in the second year of its major project to record playable historical instruments in its collection, and will soon include around 50 videos and 300 audio recordings, allowing audiences around the world to see and hear the instruments via the RCM website and other platforms such as Google Arts & Culture.
I enjoyed the streaming which was very well produced and directed with a number of cameras ... this makes the production available to a lot more people than can get into the bijou Britten Theatre, so this is definitely the way forward. Alan Fitter (London Theatre 1) on the live stream of Frankenstein – The Modern Prometheus
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CELEBRATING OUR HERITAGE The Royal College of Music’s extraordinary collection of instruments, manuscripts and music-related art and memorabilia will soon be in the new Royal College of Music Museum, due to open to the public in 2020. Supported by a grant of £3.6 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the new museum space will include a gallery with permanent and temporary displays, a hands-on discovery centre and a fully climate-controlled space for educational activities and performances on historic instruments. It also features a research centre with on-site storage, where a large part of the Museum collection will be easily accessible to RCM students and professors and external researchers. In the build-up to the opening, work has included conservation of some of our most precious objects, reassessment of those that will go on display and further digitisation of of around 20,000 items. In October 2017, we launched the MINIMUK project in partnership with the Royal Academy of Music, the Horniman Museum and the University of Edinburgh. It is now the largest virtual collection of historically significant musical instruments in the UK.
The RCM Library has continued its transcription work on the Herbert Howells collection, and has also scanned each of the more than 1,200 items in the frequently consulted archive of the Society of Women Musicians.
Opposite Baryton, Magnus Feldlen (Vienna, 1647) Royal College of Music Museum
This year the Library received two outstanding gifts. First is the archive of Sylvia Spencer, who studied oboe at the RCM during the 1930s. It includes the autographed oboe parts for Britten’s Two Insect Pieces. The other is a framed page in Sir Hubert Parry’s hand of the vocal line for the second verse of Jerusalem. It was generously donated by Parry’s last surviving great-grand daughter Catherine Russell, and means the RCM now holds two of the three autograph sources for this work. Finally, this year’s Restore a Score event in April marked the centenary of the death of Parry, the RCM’s second Director, and raised £10,895 to help conserve manuscripts in the Library’s collection.
Our digitisation programme gives us the unique opportunity to study over 20,000 objects from our collections. More than 5,000 items were photographed, catalogued and published online last year, leading to the re-discovery of a pencil drawing by Edward Burne-Jones as well as the earliest portrait of Franz Liszt. Gabriele Rossi Rognoni RCM Museum Curator ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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FORGING BRIGHT FUTURES Students from the Royal College of Music continue to be among the most employable in the UK according to data published in July 2018 by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Of the RCM alumni who graduated in 2016/17, 100% of those who responded to HESA’s Employment of Leavers survey reported that they had moved into employment or further study six months after graduating. We are a world-leader in career development for musicians, emphasising the need for students to be confident and versatile communicators. Our renowned Creative Careers Centre provides an unparalleled service to all students and alumni for up to five years after graduation. It offers bespoke careers advice, workshops and presentations by industry specialists as well as training in entrepreneurial and business skills. Our students gain valuable performance experience at more than 40 venues, including the prestigious St Martin-in-the-Fields, Steinway Hall and the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room, as well as at galleries, museums, retirement homes and hospitals. The RCM's Creative Careers Centre also manages a thriving Professional Engagements Service. Musicians can be hired by organisations and members of the public to perform at events, or work as freelance orchestral and session players, accompanists, répétiteurs, chorus members and composers. Their fees and contracts are negotiated by our specialist team. In 2017/18, 576 different musicians played professionally in more than 700 performances.
The Centre continues to develop its strong partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts, supported by Dasha Shenkman. The ongoing concert series ‘In Tune With’ sees RCM composers and performers presenting new works and programmes inspired by RA exhibitions and collections. Teaching is widely valued as a way to share a musical passion and expertise, and our popular Teaching Service matches members of the public with an RCM student or graduate teacher. Last year, 190 individuals received tuition via the service.
Opposite RCM flautist performing at the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition
IN 2017/18
576 MUSICIANS
PLAYED PROFESSIONALLY IN MORE THAN
700
PERFORMANCES
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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. In 2017/18 more than £2.9 million was given in scholarships and other awards to 60% of the student body. We have ambitious plans to increase this to 75% over the next five years. The success of our scholars proves how important financial investment is to their college experience and career opportunities. George Harliono, a 17-year-old RCM Scholar supported by the Ruth Keattch Piano Award and an Elsie Gertrude Martin Scholarship, was one of five emerging artists shortlisted in the first ever Classic BRIT Awards ‘Sound of Classical’ poll by Classic FM. Violinist Emmanuel Bach, a Drapers de Turckheim Scholar, won this year’s Royal OverSeas League Strings Final and clarinettist Elliot Gresty, an RCM Foundation Scholar supported by the JMC Award and a Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Scholarship, won the ROSL Award for a woodwind player of promise. Soprano Josephine Goddard, who is an ABRSM Scholar, took Second Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, while her fellow soprano Catriona Hewitson, an Emma Rose Scholar supported by the RCM and a Norah Popple Award, was awarded the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize.
Baroque flautist Amelia Shakespeare is a Christopher Hogwood Scholar supported by the Henry Wood Trust. She won the McKenna Early Music Prize from the RCM after her Masters graduation recital. Amelia was also selected for the School of Excellence at the Basel Schola Cantorum and is on the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Experience Scheme.
Opposite Scholar Catriona Hewitson in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Trumpet player Erika Curbelo, who is a Jane Barker Scholar supported by a Michael Quinn Award, was awarded a Martin Music Scholarship Fund Fellowship by the Philharmonia Orchestra. As part of our continued commitment to diversity, we are also funding three UK students from ethnic minority backgrounds in 2018/19. We are immensely grateful to all individuals, organisations and charitable trusts who generously support our scholars. Particular thanks goes to the Soirée d’Or Committee, a group of leadership volunteers led by Lady Carr. The Soirée d’Or annual fundraising gala raised £220,000 for scholarship support in 2017.
The RCM has played an essential role in the development of my career, providing me with the experiences, opportunities and confidence necessary to forge a career in the music industry and surrounding me with the perfect support network. The openness and generosity of the RCM makes this conservatoire truly special. Alumnus Jonathan Radford, winner of the 2018 Royal Over-Seas League Gold Medal
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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 8 to 18. This exceptional education provides individually-tailored programmes of one-to-one instrument, voice and composition teaching, supported by chamber music, orchestra, choir and musicianship. Although entrance to the RCMJD is by audition, we are committed to ensuring successful applicants can attend regardless of financial means. In 2017/18 more than £200,000 of bursary support was awarded to families with the most need. RCMJD students took part in more than 100 concerts this year, performing at a range of prestigious venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall. Students also benefitted from working with professional musicians of the highest calibre, including RCM heads of faculty and the RCM Quartet in Residence, the Harlem Quartet. Our creative partnership with the English National Ballet Youth Company continues to flourish, and this year RCMJD musicians recorded the soundtrack for a new work by RCMJD alumnus Thomas Hewitt Jones at Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
Our highly successful chamber and orchestral programme offers all students the opportunity to develop their ensemble skills to the highest level and many are members of leading ensembles such as the National Youth Orchestra, as well as the National Children’s Orchestras and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.
Opposite A young musician in the RCM Junior Department
Our students are also successful in national and international competitions, and 2017/18 was an outstanding year. Young composer Chelsea Becker was named a winner of the 2017 BBC Proms Inspire Competition in the Lower Junior Category, and her piece New York was performed at the 2018 BBC Proms and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Four students – Marie Sato, Toril Azzalini-Machecler, Will Duerden and Francis Bushell – and RCMJD alumna Stephanie Childress reached the category finals of the 2018 BBC Young Musician competition.
After my first day in the RCM Junior Department, I instantly knew that I had picked the perfect place. The standard of the orchestra was second to none and my individual lessons were phenomenal. It is thanks to the constant support of the Junior Department that I have now gone on to study at the College and am committed to a career in music. Sam Grade, undergraduate bass player
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WIDENING ACCESS: RCM SPARKS The Royal College of Music’s learning and participation programme, RCM Sparks, provides inspiring opportunities for families, schools and young people to engage with music education. This year we ignited creativity in 3,500 local community members and trained 129 RCM students and graduates. RCM Sparks workshops offer inspirational learning experiences for all, regardless of financial means. In 2017/18, some 46% of attendees at workshops accessed free or subsidised places (up from 23% in 2013/14) while 39% were from non-white ethnic backgrounds. Free or subsidised places are available for children (and their families) who are eligible for pupil premium, ‘lookedafter’ children (and their families), children who live in social housing, families eligible for housing benefit and/or working or family tax credit, families or individuals eligible for disability benefit and service families. RCM Sparks continues to work closely with the Tri-Borough Music Hub to bring musical activities to schools and families in the London boroughs of Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea. In 2017/18, the programme worked with more than 2,868 pupils from more than 38 individual schools. RCM Sparks' partnership with the Tri-borough Music Hub also provides a direct route to employment – 13 RCM students and graduates are currently employed by the organisation following their work with RCM Sparks.
Our successful, free community access family programme Get, Set, Play offers a welcoming, accessible, affordable and informal way for parents, grandparents and carers to learn music alongside their children. In 2017/18, we increased the number of participants in Get, Set, Play by 50%. Approximately 55% of young people and families who engaged in the community programme as a whole were from target groups this year, increased from 46% in 2016/2017.
Opposite Participant in the RCM Sparks Ignite & Explorers programme
RCM Sparks Juniors, now in its ninth 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 cellists and four mini bass players joined. Their programme includes instrumental lessons, training choir, musicianship and practical ensemble classes.
Fantastic and fun for families. One of the most inspiring things I have ever done. RCM Sparks programme participant
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INVESTING IN OUR FACILITIES A key priority of the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign is the physical transformation of our campus with the construction of dynamic new spaces. The development will provide cutting-edge facilities and an inspirational environment in which our international student community can learn, perform and research music. The new development will provide two new performance spaces, a café bar and restaurant, the new Royal College of Music Museum, more practice rooms and improved access to the Library, South Building and the Britten Theatre. The Campaign was launched in February 2017 at a gala concert with dinner hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace, and construction work began in June 2017. Great progress has since been made across the campus. The first major work was undertaken during the 2017 summer vacation. This involved the demolition of existing old buildings that were no longer fit for purpose, the installation of 12 additional Amadeus practice pods and the expansion of the current Students’ Union area in order to provide a better social space and a larger area for events.
Then, in the autumn, we completed the piling to form a new sub-basement, finished excavation for a new performance hall and installed reinforced concrete walls and steel beams to form the new structure. While building work has been going on, teaching, practice, rehearsal and performances have continued around the College. We have also seen the unveiling of our new concert hall organ, custom-built by Flentrop Orgelbouw. The organ was generously supported by the Kingdom Music Education Group, and named in recognition of James Zheng Huang HonRCM.
Opposite Rehearsal in an Amadeus practice pod Below A new structure is laid in the courtyard as the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign progresses
We also refurbished the Bloomfield Building tower teaching and instrument storage rooms, and moved the Composition Suite and Video Editing Suite facilities to new purpose-built rooms. An intensive maintenance programme was carried out during the summer, including refurbishment of the campus’ boiler system.
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GREEN CREDENTIALS The Royal College of Music has continued in its commitment to going green, and to a low carbon future, with its long-standing programme of eco-friendly initiatives. Our commitment to sustainability was acknowledged in August with the award of the highest international accreditation for environmental management, the ISO 14001 (2015) certificate. The award came in the midst of one of the most extensive periods of development in the RCM’s history, and so carries extra significance.
In June, we also successfully ran a Health and Wellbeing Week to raise awareness of environmental issues among students and staff. There was a Vulpestruments workshop showcasing instruments made from recycled and reclaimed materials, a sponsored 5k run and walk, as well as eco-friendly promotions across the College.
Opposite RCM reusable coffee mugs help us to keep waste to a minimum and reduce our impact on the environment
In August, the South Kensington campus also attained a B energy rating. As most buildings of the RCM’s size and age are rated a D or E, this is testament to our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.
The RCM's commitment to sustainability and our actions to minimise our environmental impact have been acknowledged with the award of the highest international accreditation for environmental management, the ISO 14001 (2015) certificate. Professor Colin Lawson CBE Director
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Royal College of Music / Annual Review 2015-2016
OUR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS The Royal College of Music’s influence on the development of music is incalculable. Generations of gifted students have forged their careers with us. Our graduates are equipped to succeed, are eminently employable and progress to the very top of the profession as performers, composers, scholars and teachers. Our strong history of philanthropy has made this possible and the level of commitment from our generous supporters and legacy pledgers continues to be inspiring. We are realising the most exciting and far-reaching development in our history and are deeply grateful to everyone who supports our vision for the future of music and who joins us on the Campaign’s exciting journey.
Philip Carne MBE, HonRCM and Christine Carne, The Harry and Gylla Godwin Charitable Trust, Sara Nelson Horner, The Linbury Trust, Victoria, Lady Robey OBE, HonRCM and The Wolfson Foundation. We are very grateful for the work of our senior volunteers and loyal supporters who have helped make the initial stages of the Campaign a success.
By July 2018, more than £18.8 million had been secured in cash and pledges towards the More Music building development target of £25 million. We thank Bob Wigley for his support as More Music Campaign Chairman between 2012 and 2017. He played a vital role in helping us reach this milestone. We also welcome new Campaign Chairman Geoff Richards HonRCM, who is a long-time supporter of the College.
We thank everyone who has supported the RCM over the past year and wish 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 to leaving a gift in a Will, every contribution truly makes a difference.
We have received many significant contributions towards the Campaign. In particular, we wish to recognise Dr Michael and Ruth West HonRCM, Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Colt Clavier Collection, G & K Boyes Charitable Trust,
Opposite The RCM’s new Flentrop Orgelbouw organ, unveiled at the Organ Festival in February 2018
We still have much to achieve as we enter the critical public phase of our Campaign and we will call upon all our RCM friends and family of supporters to help us raise the remaining funds needed to realise our vision. Lily Harriss Director of Development & Alumni Engagement
There has never been a better or more exciting time to be a donor and supporter of the RCM community as we enter the final stage of the More Music Campaign. Geoff Richards HonRCM Chairman, More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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RCM bassoon player in rehearsal at the Royal Festival Hall
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
MORE MUSIC CAMPAIGN Philanthropic Targets
£10 million
Support the most talented
£25 million
£3 million
Strengthen our facilities:
Promote innovation
building development
£2 million Widen access
Campaign Progress Strengthen our facilities: building development Target:
£25,000,00
75% 50%
25%
STRENGTHEN OUR FACILITIES Total raised:
£18,848,560
Remainder:
£6,151,440
2017/18 raised:
£5,546,502
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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2017–18 IN NUMBERS
690
GIFTS TO THE MORE MUSIC CAMPAIGN
£25
£10
MILLION RECEIVED FOR THE MORE MUSIC CAMPAIGN THIS YEAR
AVERAGE ONLINE DONATION
MORE THAN
8,000 MEMBERS OF THE RCM ALUMNI NETWORK
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RCM College Opera Studio’s production of Review The Lighthouse Royal of Music / Annual 2016-2017
SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED TO
437
OUR ALUMNI ARE ACTIVE IN MORE THAN
80
STUDENTS
COUNTRIES
226
NEW SUPPORTERS
421
DONATIONS MADE ONLINE
75%
OF OUR MORE MUSIC BUILDING DEVELOPMENT FUNDRAISING TARGET REACHED
40% OF THE MORE MUSIC CAMPAIGN FUNDED BY LEGACIES
476
RCM FRIENDS
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS Music has the power to transform lives. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters and legacy pledgers, 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, Leadership and Principal Supporters, as well as those who have made donations of £1,000 or more between 1 August 2017 and 1 August 2018. Gifts are listed alphabetically in order of surname. MORE MUSIC FOUNDING PATRONS
ABRSM The Estate of George Frederick Burgan The Estate of Basil Coleman Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Foundation Heritage Lottery Fund The Estate of Christopher Hogwood CBE, HonDMus Kingdom Music Education Group Rena & Sandro Lavery The Estate of Neville Wathen Ruth West HonRCM & Dr Michael West Garfield Weston Foundation LEADERSHIP SUPPORTERS
Jane Barker CBE, FRCM G & K Boyes Charitable Trust The Derek Butler Trust Philip Carne MBE, HonRCM & Christine Carne The Estate of John & Marjorie Coultate The Estate of Jocelyn Cruft The Estate of Margaret Dewey The Foyle Foundation The Future of Russia Foundation The Harry and Gylla Godwin Charitable Trust HEFCE Linda Hill HonRCM & Dr Tony Hill Sara Nelson Horner The Leverhulme Trust The Linbury Trust The Estate of William Mealings The Mirfield Trust The Polonsky Foundation Geoffrey Richards HonRCM & Valerie Richards
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The Estate of Michael Rimmer Victoria, Lady Robey OBE, HonRCM The Estate of Emma Rose Soirée d’Or Scholarships The Wolfson Foundation PRINCIPAL SUPPORTERS
Meredith & Denis Coleman The Estate of Thomas Cottrell The Estate of Heather Curry J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust The Harbour Foundation Kirby Laing Foundation John Lewis Partnership Philip Loubser Foundation John Nickson & Simon Rew The Pure Land Foundation The Julia & Hans Rausing Trust Leopold de Rothschild 1959 Charitable Trust The Estate of Humphrey Searle Dasha Shenkman OBE, HonRCM The Peter Sowerby Foundation H R Taylor Trust The Estate of Ivor Charles Treby The Estate of Gweneth Urquhart Sir Siegmund Warburg's Voluntary Settlement MAJOR SUPPORTERS
Laurie Barry The Bertarelli UK Foundation The John Curwen Society Peter & Annette Dart Fishmongers’ Company Hamish & Sophie Forsyth The Hargreaves and Ball Charitable Trust The Headley Trust
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK The Dolly Knowles Charitable Trust Professor Christopher & Vivienne Liu The Estate of Billy Newman The Estate of Ann Richardson Peter & Dimity Spiller Steinway & Sons Michael Whittaker and the Big Give Christmas Challenge The Henry Wood Accommodation Trust
SUPPORTERS
The Estate of Gillian Ashby Ashley Family Foundation The Estate of Kenneth Atkinson Dr Linda Beeley Lord Black & Mark Bolland The Boltini Trust Bowerman Charitable Trust Cambridge in America Brian & Janice Capstick Sir Roger & Lady Carr HonRCM The Estate of Ella Carstairs Thomas Sivewright Catto Charitable Settlement Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE The Drapers' Company The Gilbert & Eileen Edgar Foundation Lesley Ferguson Fiona & Douglas Flint The Freakley Family Gisela Gledhill Elaine Greenberg & Linda Perez Helen Hamlyn Trust The Abinger Hammer Award Terry Hitchcock The Houston Family Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells David James
JMC Ruth Keattch James and Clare Kirkman The Honourable Society of the Knights of the Round Table James & Margaret Lancaster Lark Music Lee Abbey London Dr Mark Levesley and Christina Hoseason Carol & Geoff Lindey Ian and Natalie Livingstone Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust The Hon Richard Lyttelton & Romilly Lyttelton Ian Mactaggart Trust The Estate of Anthony Mason The Mercers' Company Sir Peter & Lady Middleton FRCM Jamie Milford Rosemary Millar HonRCM & Richard Millar The Howard & Abby Milstein Foundation Midori Nishiura HonRCM P F Charitable Trust The Charles Peel Charitable Trust The Stanley Picker Charitable Trust Pro Musica Ltd Richard Price FRCM and Sue Price Russell Race The Hon Robert Rayne and Mrs Benita Refson The Estate of Charles Stewart Richardson Sir Simon & Lady Robertson Roland Saam Christopher Saul Hilda Scarth Alethea Siow & Jeremy Furniss Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable Trust Bryan Stott Ian Stoutzker CBE, FRCM Betty Sutherland Ian & Meriel Tegner Richard Toeman / Weinberger Opera Scholarship Universal Music Group Rev Lyndon van der Pump FRCM & Edward Brooks FRCM Their Serene Highnesses Prince Donatus & Princess Heidi von Hohenzollern Brian and Anne Wadsworth OBE Sir Peter & Lady Walters Bob & Sarah Wigley
Jane Wilson Professor Lord Winston & Lady Winston The Worshipful Company of Musicians The Wyseliot Charitable Trust CORE CONTRIBUTORS
Robert Anderson The Anglo Norse Award Isla Baring OAM John & Halina Bennett Lady Bergman Blenheim Music Circle The Bliss Trust Gary & Eleanor Brass Frank Bridge Bequest Edward Brooks Lorraine Buckland Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM & Lady Cleaver Andrew Curran Jonathan Davie The Derek Hill Foundation Douglas and Kyra Downie The Ann Driver Trust Dr Ian & Janet Edmondson The Finnis Scott Foundation Douglas & Adele Gardner Professor Alice Gast Elaine Gould Peter Granger Edwin and Hilary Green Julian Hardwick Lily & Julian Harriss Greta Hemus John & Susan Heywood Lilian Hochhauser CBE, FRCM The Estate of Barbara Margaret Holt Professor Colin Lawson CBE, FRCM David & Sue Lewis Charles & Dominique Lubar Marcus McDonald David Mildon Ellen Moloney Music Talks Jennifer Neelands Ofenheim Charitable Trust Keith O’Nions Gordon Palmer Charitable Trust Kevin Porter HonRCM Kerry & Dimity Rubie South Square Trust
Sudborough Foundation Janis Susskind OBE, HonRCM Robert Swannell Sir Richard & Lady Sykes Kara Radcliffe John and Jenny Reid Janet Richardson Avenue Chapter of Royal Arch Freemasons Anthony Thornton Rhoddy Voremberg Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust The Wall Trust John Ward Marc Wassermann and Lisa Osofsky Sir Robert & Lady Wilson Yip Wing-Sie The York Competitive Festival of Singing
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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The first set of the 2018 RCM Opera Scenes in the Britten Theatre
STUDENT NUMBERS International
248
(29.63%)
Home/EU
589
(70.37%)
Other Female
429
1
(0.12%)
(51.25%)
Male
407
(48.63%)
Doctoral
47
(5.62%)
Undergraduate
404
(48.27%)
Postgraduate
386
(46.11%)
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
GLOBAL ALUMNI COMMUNITY Our global alumni community is central to all that the Royal College of Music stands for, and our former students are our greatest ambassadors. We are extremely proud of the achievements of every one of our graduates as they continue to influence all spheres of the music industry.
This year, pianist and former Benjamin Britten Piano Fellow Alexander Ullman was awarded First Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, winning €20,000 and a career development programme. Soprano Marie Lys won the Grand Prix at the Concours International de Belcanto Vincenzo Bellini competition, and violinist Wonhee Bae took the First Prize in the Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition, as part of the Esmé Quartet. Violinist Nadine Galea had the honour of performing for HM The Queen, the Royal Family and the leaders of all the member countries at Buckingham Palace at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and soprano Amy Manford sang the Australian national anthem in front of HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the moving Anzac Day dawn service. At the Royal Wedding in Windsor of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2018, soprano Elin Manahan Thomas sang Handel’s Eternal Source of Light Divine as the bride made her entrance and walked up the aisle at St George’s Chapel.
Composer George Kallis was named Breakthrough Composer of the Year by the International Film Music Critics Association, while Marcos Fernandez was awarded the Composition Prize by the BBVA Foundation and the Association of Spanish Symphony Orchestras.
Opposite Benjamin Britten Piano Fellow Alexander Ullman at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition
Rodrigo Moro Martin joined the double bass section of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and Antonio Romero Cienfuegos was appointed double bass teacher in the Higher Conservatory of Salamanca in Spain. Iris Derke, meanwhile, was the flute soloist in the world premiere of Dinos Constantinides’ Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra at Lincoln Center, New York. Our growing network now stands at more than 8,000 alumni living in more than 80 countries, and we plan to extend and to further develop our alumni programme and activities in the year ahead. We hope that you will continue to be a part of our exciting future and 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 was absolutely thrilled to be asked to sing at the Royal Wedding. The whole day was a wonderful and uplifting event, and I can’t imagine a happier couple. Seeing the Duchess walk down the aisle as I sang Handel is a memory that I will cherish forever. RCM alumna Elin Manahan Thomas
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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RCM cellist in rehearsal for the Orchestral Masterworks series
FINANCES In 2017/18, the Royal College of Music made a surplus before gains and losses of £10.4 million, however, this included £5 million of donations made specifically for the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign and legacy donations of £2.5 million. After adjusting for these restricted items, and £145,000 of related expenditure, the underlying surplus was £3.1 million. The comparable underlying surplus for 2016/17 was £2 million.
2018 £000s
2017 £000s
RCM Only
RCM Only
27,421
26,278
-22,336
-24,317
Surplus before legacy and building development donations/expenditure
3,085
1,961
Legacy donations
2,468
513
More Music building development donations
4,964
9,046
-145
-828
10,372
10,692
Income before legacy and More Music building development donations Expenditure before More Music building development spend
More Music building development spend Surplus before gains and losses on fixed assets and investments
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
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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 FRCM (appointed 2017)
Council The President Lord Black of Brentwood (Chairman) (appointed August 2017) Mrs Jane Barker CBE, FRCM (Deputy Chairman) Mr Peter Dart Mr Douglas Gardner Mr Andrew Haigh Sir George Iacobescu CBE Ms Ruth Keattch The Hon Richard Lyttelton Mr John Nickson Mr Andrew Ratcliffe Mr Geoffrey Richards HonRCM Ms Alethea Siow Mr Rhoderick Voremberg Ms Veronica Wadley CBE (appointed April 2018) Mr David Whelton OBE HonRCM (appointed April 2018) Mr Bob Wigley (term completed April 2018)
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC / ANNUAL REVIEW 2017–2018
Council ex-officio or elected members Professor Colin Lawson CBE, FRCM (Director) Professor Ashley Solomon HonRCM (term completed July 2018) Professor Vanessa Latarche FRCM Mr William Mival FRCM (elected July 2018) Mrs Elly Taylor HonRCM Mr Nathan Cho (Students’ Union: term completed July 2018) Miss Eleanor Mackie (Students’ Union: elected July 2018)
Clerk to the Council Mrs Charlotte Martin HonRCM (appointed September 2018) Mr Kevin Porter HonRCM (term completed August 2018)
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 HonRCM Director of Development and Alumni Engagement Lily Harriss Director of Finance and Estates Marcus McDonald HonRCM Director of Research Professor Richard Wistreich FRCM
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