UPBEAT AUTUMN 2019 THE LATEST NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC IN THIS ISSUE
RCM RESEARCH FUNDING SUCCESS MARTIN PHILLIPS ON LIFE AS A VIDEOGRAPHER
LORD BLACK ON HIS FIGHT FOR MUSIC EDUCATION
HIGHLIGHTS
A DINNER ENGAGEMENT & TROUBLE IN TAHITI
The RCM Opera Studio took audiences back to the booming fifties this summer with a double bill of Bernstein’s sardonic Trouble in Tahiti and Berkeley’s delightful comedy of manners, A Dinner Engagement.
Photos: Chris Christodoulou Front cover photo: Adam Ferguson
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The future of music – in its many forms – is top of the agenda in this issue of Upbeat. Chairman of the RCM’s Council Lord Black of Brentwood, who features on our cover, offers a heartfelt call to arms in a piece about the vital need for our society to treasure and nurture musical education. It’s a subject that needs to be part of a national and international conversation, as he explains on page 10. And where better for that conversation to start than at the RCM, which has been ranked number one conservatoire in the 2020 Guardian University Guide? Videographer Martin Phillips is our Spotlight feature (page 9) and he talks to Upbeat about how technology is aiding a new generation of students – and how his job has taken him to some unexpectedly dizzying heights! We unveil the eagerly awaited new entrance, which very much sets the tone of the RCM in embracing the new while preserving tradition – restoring the iconic mosaic floor while ensuring that access to the College is vastly improved. This is just part of our More Music Building development. For more, turn to page 7. Do please share your own recent projects and achievements by emailing news@rcm.ac.uk. The deadline for the next issue of Upbeat is Monday 20 January 2020.
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NEWS
The latest news and activities from the Royal College of Music
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CONTENTS
WELCOME TO UPBEAT
RCM ACHIEVES FUNDING TO FURTHER WORLDLEADING RESEARCH
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT RCM Videographer Martin Phillips
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LORD BLACK OF BRENTWOOD
Makes a defiant case for the importance of music education
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SUPPORT US
STUDENT UPDATES
STAFF UPDATES Professor Colin Lawson CBE FRCM, Director
ALUMNI UPDATES
IN MEMORY
UPBEAT ONLINE Upbeat is available to read online at www.rcm.ac.uk/upbeat. Please help us to reduce our carbon footprint by receiving Upbeat digitally. Update your preferences via updateyourdetails@rcm.ac.uk Director of Communications Talia Hull Editor Harriet Smith Designer May Yan Man Design www.splashofpaint.com Contact news@rcm.ac.uk
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NEWS
IN THE NEWS ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC TOP CONSERVATOIRE IN GUARDIAN MUSIC LEAGUE TABLE
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he Royal College of Music has been ranked number one conservatoire in the 2020 Guardian University Guide’s music league table. Criteria for The Guardian’s league table includes student satisfaction with the course, teaching and feedback based on National Student Survey (NSS) data, the institution’s student-to-staff ratio, spend per student, average entry tariff, continuation rate and graduate career success. The RCM scored particularly highly in the areas of career success, continuation and spend per student, with the last of these scoring 9/10. RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson commented: ‘I am delighted to see this result which reflects the investment we make in every student. We provide the world-class training our students need to have successful careers when they graduate, and we remain the natural choice for talented musicians across the globe.’ This league table success follows an excellent result in the 2020 Complete University Guide in which the RCM was named top UK conservatoire for music. It was the top music conservatoire for overall student satisfaction in the latest National Student Survey according to the Times Higher Education and has been top of the QS World University Rankings for performing arts in the UK for four consecutive years (2016–2019).
WORLD-RENOWNED MUSICIANS JOIN AS RCM PROFESSORS
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he Royal College of Music welcomed several world-renowned musicians to its teaching staff at the start of the autumn term. In the Strings Faculty, Carina Cosgrave, who regularly performs as part of Florilegium with the RCM’s Chair and Head of Historical Performance Ashley Solomon, joined as Baroque Double Bass Professor and Jana Boušková, known for her interpretations of Czech music, joined as Harp Professor. Alexander Gilman will combine his work as a soloist and founder of LGT Young Soloists, a string ensemble of gifted young musicians, with a role as Visiting Professor of Violin. In the Brass Faculty Rebecca Smith, Principal Trombone of the English National Opera (ENO), joined as Tenor Trombone Professor. London Symphony Orchestra trumpeters Niall Keatley and David Newell each took up the post of Trumpet Professor, as well as Kate Moore, Principal Trumpet of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and James Fountain, who became Principal Trumpet of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) while still a third-year student. Newly appointed Horn Professor John Thurgood is Principal Horn of the ENO and a prominent chamber musician, most notably with the English Chamber Orchestra, while Kira Doherty has taken up her professorship alongside performing in the Philharmonia Orchestra’s horn section. Matthew Knight, Co-Principal Trombone of the RPO, has become Tenor Trombone Professor. The Woodwind Faculty has appointed Emily Hultmark, Principal Bassoon with the Philharmonia Orchestra, as Bassoon Professor. Emily has a passion for the bassoon’s capacity to play within improvisatory and experimental groups. Robert Giaccaglia also takes up the same professorship alongside performing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as Principal Bassoon. Finally, the RCM is delighted that Jane Rogers, one of the UK’s leading exponents in baroque and classical viola, has joined as Historical Viola Professor. She is Principal Viola with The Academy of Ancient Music, La Nuova Musica and Brecon Baroque.
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RCM ALUMNI RECOGNISED IN THE QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST
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oyal College of Music alumnus Alfie Boe has been appointed OBE for services to music and charity in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, alongside composer Anna Meredith and soprano Sophie Bevan, who each receive an OBE for services to music. Alfie Boe studied for his undergraduate degree at the RCM and received an honorary Fellowship from the College in 2013. He has performed on the world’s most prestigious opera stages, led the cast of Les Misérables in London’s West End for nearly a year and performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace. He has also had three sold-out UK tours and achieved platinum album sales in the UK. ‘One of the most innovative minds in modern British music’ according to Pitchfork, Anna Meredith is a composer, producer and performer of both acoustic and electronic music. Her music has been performed at the Last Night of the BBC Proms, as a flashmob performance in the M6 Services, in fashion campaigns and Apple adverts and at festivals, clubs and concert halls all over the world. Her pieces are also regularly broadcast across BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. Sophie Bevan was the recipient of the 2010 Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent, The Times Breakthrough Award at the 2012 South Bank Sky Arts Awards and the Young Singer Award at the 2013 inaugural International Opera Awards. She has performed at many of the world’s greatest opera houses and worked with conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano, Daniel Harding and Andris Nelsons.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION SUCCESS FOR GEMMA SUMMERFIELD
Below L–R Sophie Bevan, Anna Meredith (photo by Kate Bones) and Alfie Boe
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oyal College of Music alumna Gemma Summerfield has won First Prize at the prestigious Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino, receiving €7,000 and the opportunity to audition for roles at some of Europe’s leading opera houses. This is the fifth year of the International Opera Competition of Portofino, in which 105 singers from 38 countries competed in front of a jury of representatives from major European opera houses. Gemma’s winning repertoire included ‘Nun eilt herbei’ from Nicolai’s Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor and ‘Se’l mio duol non è sì forte’ from Handel’s Rodelinda. Gemma graduated from the RCM Opera Studio in 2016. Reflecting on her achievement, she commented: ‘I’m delighted to have done myself justice in front of such a formidable panel. I am grateful to the team who make me the singer I am, which includes many RCM affiliated individuals, such as my teacher Rosa Mannion, and Philip and Christine Carne who have supported me in my studies and beyond.’ This season Gemma will sing Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte for Opéra National du Rhin and Musetta in La bohème for Grange Park Opera, as well as making debuts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Hallé.
The Queen’s Birthday Honours, released annually since the mid-19th century, recognise the achievements of extraordinary people from the UK and across the Commonwealth. This year’s honours coincided with the Queen’s 93rd ‘official’ birthday on 7 June.
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NEWS
YOUTH CLASSICAL TRUST ARTISTS 2019 Below RCM Junior Department alumnus Ben Goldscheider and RCM pianist George Harliono have been announced as YCAT Artists 2019
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oyal College of Music pianist George Harliono and RCM Junior Department alumnus Ben Goldscheider have been announced as Youth Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) Artists 2019. George and Ben were selected for representation at YCAT’s Final Public Auditions held at Wigmore Hall in May. They performed alongside five other finalists, chosen from more than 100 applicants, in front of a jury consisting of senior representatives from Askonas Holt, Saffron Hall, Enticott Music Management, Decca Classics, Verbier Festival, Snape Maltings and YCAT. A top prize-winner at the 2016 Grand Piano Competition in Moscow, George has appeared as a soloist with orchestras across Russia. In 2017 he became one of the youngest students ever to take up a four-year scholarship at the RCM for a BMus degree, studying with Professor Vanessa Latarche. After studying horn at the RCM Junior Department, Ben Goldscheider was a Concerto Finalist in the BBC Young Musician Competition, performing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican. He made his debut at the BBC Proms in 2018 and is currently studying at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. YCAT provides essential opportunities, guidance and support to talented young artists at the start of international performing careers. George joins many RCM alumni YCAT Artists, including cellists Jamal Aliyev and Christopher Graves, violinists Daniel Roberts and Benjamin Baker, bassoonist Amy Harman, mezzo-soprano Anna Huntley and pianist Alexander Ullman.
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC IN COLLABORATION WITH BBC RADIO 3
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he Royal College of Music has partnered with BBC Radio 3 and the National Centre for Early Music to introduce the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble, announced as part of BBC Radio 3’s autumn/ winter season. The New Generation Baroque Ensemble is a new scheme aiming to support and nurture a young UK-based baroque ensemble. The chosen group will be given coaching, research and performance opportunities with the Royal College of Music, as well as opportunities to record studio sessions for BBC Radio 3 and concerts and professional development with the National Centre for Early Music. The chosen ensemble’s journey will be followed in a new programme for the radio station’s autumn/winter season: Early Music Now. This will air on Monday afternoons and will be dedicated to the very best in baroque music recordings from across Europe. Professor Ashley Solomon, RCM Head of Historical Performance, commented: ‘I am delighted that the Royal College of Music will be involved in this new initiative. Nurturing and inspiring the new generation of historical performers is part of our ethos at RCM and I look forward to working with, and mentoring the successful ensemble. It is a wonderful opportunity for these New Generation Baroque Ensembles as they embark on their careers.’
RCM LOOKS EAST: HONG KONG ALUMNI RECEPTION
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n 11 September the Royal College of Music celebrated its strong ties with Asia through its first-ever Alumni Reception at Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club. The occasion was hosted by RCM alumna Dr Joanna Lee and it celebrated the international launch of the College’s More Music: reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign. Joanna Lee was joined by, among others, the RCM’s Director, Professor Colin Lawson, Lily Harriss, Director of Development & Alumni Engagement and Midori Nishiura, the RCM’s International Ambassador for Japan. Lily Harriss talked of the importance of maintaining ties with the RCM, particularly for overseas alumni, of which Hong Kong boasts a particularly strong community. She also gave an update on the More Music campaign, with its vision of access and excellence for all students, including two new performance venues, as well as an interactive museum, practice rooms, and catering facilities. Of the £25 million building target, over £21 million has already been reached. Professor Colin Lawson then added his thanks for the fundraising efforts before introducing the musical element of the evening: a short recital of Albéniz, Ysaÿe and Kreisler performed by RCM alumna Australian violinist Emily Sun. While at the College she won all the available prizes, including the Tagore Gold Medal. Since graduating she has built on that success, having been named Australian Young Performer of the Year and been awarded the Gold Medal and Commonwealth Musician of the Year in the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition. She has also made debuts at the Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall and Moscow Tchaikovsky Great Hall; her first CD is released on ABC Classics in 2020.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC UNVEILS NEWLY TRANSFORMED ENTRANCE
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he Royal College of Music has unveiled its newly transformed Entrance Hall and Foyer Hall, which have been made more open and accessible, complete with a new Box Office and Reception.
Above RCM Alumna Emily Sun at the RCM Alumni Reception in Hong Kong (left) The RCM’s newly refurbished Entrance Hall (right)
The RCM’s Grade II-listed Blomfield Building has seen generations of world-famous musicians cross its threshold since its foundation in 1894 by the College’s original benefactor Samson Fox. His initials are emblazoned in the celebrated mosaic floor, which has been painstakingly preserved. The works were funded by donations to the More Music: Make an Entrance Appeal. The Appeal was part of the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign, which has a philanthropic target of £40 million to support the construction of new facilities and the expansion of the RCM’s scholarship provision, outreach programmes and digital capabilities. RCM Director, Professor Colin Lawson, commented: ‘I am thrilled by the transformation of the College’s entrance. We have preserved both the RCM’s illustrious heritage and ensured the building is fit for the future. It is wonderful to see a new cohort of students enjoying the new space as we enter the new academic year and I would like to thank everyone who supported the Make an Entrance Appeal so far.’ The RCM has £4 million left to raise as it enters the final stages of the More Music building development. Two new performance spaces, new practice rooms, social spaces and a new RCM Museum will open at the heart of the RCM campus in 2020.
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FEATURE
RCM WINS FUNDING FOR WORLD-LEADING RESEARCH The RCM continues to strengthen its reputation as a centre of excellence in a wide range of fields of research.
Below Musicians working with patients in a Dutch university hospital (top) Image: Deborah Roffel ZikMus will study the effects of singing on the well-being of families affected by the Zika virus in Brazil (bottom)
MIGRATION AND MUSIC
HEALTH-FOCUSED PROJECTS
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‘Music, Migration and Mobility: The Legacy of Migrant Musicians from Nazi-Europe in Britain’ will be led by RCM researcher and vocal coach Norbert Meyn. The major interdisciplinary project will run for three years and study the creative output of musicians who came to Britain from Nazi-ruled Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, shedding new light on the experiences of migrant musicians in post-war Britain.
‘Managing the psychological needs of families affected by the Zika virus: Exploring the impact of music as a social tool’ has been awarded a British Academy Knowledge Frontiers grant of £50,000. RCM researchers Dr Tania Lisboa and Dr Rosie Perkins will collaborate with Dr Diana Santiago at the University of Bahia in Brazil to investigate the role music can have in supporting mothers to bond with small children affected by the Zika virus.
Royal College of Music project researching the effects of migration on music has been awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) grant of £900,000.
Lead researcher Norbert Meyn will work in collaboration with two co-investigators, Peter Adey, Professor of Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Nils Grosch, Professor of Musicology at Salzburg University. Together they will probe the challenges of performing and mediating a largely unknown body of work by migrant composers for today’s audiences. Norbert commented: ‘I am hugely excited about this opportunity to work with an international and multi-disciplinary team in a project that puts the music of migrants at centre stage. I hope it will enable us to understand better the significance of migration and mobility for music and contribute to wider debates about the impact of migration on British life.’ The outcomes of ‘Music, Migration and Mobility’ will include a series of open rehearsal workshops, public performances and recordings, along with an ambitious programme of archival research in the UK, Germany, Austria and the Isle of Man. Online resources and public performances will tell the musicians’ newly uncovered stories and reveal the roles they played in forming some of Britain’s most important classical music institutions, such as Glyndebourne, the BBC and the Royal Opera House.
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wo new RCM projects into the ever-expanding area of health and wellbeing have also secured funding.
The findings of this 18-month project will be fed back into hospital practices and made available to practitioners and clinicians throughout South America. Dr Tania Lisboa commented: ‘Receiving the funding for this project is particularly exciting as it marks a significant development of the RCM’s strategy to share expertise with researchers in the developing world.’ The second project, ‘Professional Excellence in Meaningful Music in Healthcare’, was awarded €33,000 by Dutch research funder SIA as part of a larger trans-European RAAK-PRO grant. Lead researcher Dr Rosie Perkins will examine the professional development of musicians and nurses through person-centred improvisation in hospital settings, alongside researchers from Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, The Netherlands and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, among others. Dr Rosie Perkins commented: ‘This project adds to the RCM’s impressive portfolio of work in arts and health, allowing our researchers and musicians to work together to discover new learning contexts and to connect with new audiences.’
FEATURE
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: MARTIN PHILLIPS Martin Phillips talks to Upbeat about his journey from undergraduate trumpeter to cutting-edge Videographer.
If proof were needed that early musical experiences can launch the most unexpected of career paths, that of Martin Phillips is a good example. Little did he think when he attended the Royal College of Music Junior Department that he’d end up as the College’s Videographer. After leaving school Martin spent four years at the College studying the trumpet. It says much for the College’s non-prescriptive attitude that while an undergraduate his interest in video and filming was encouraged, allowing him to develop his skills and make vital contacts in the music and film industry, where he spent 20 years before returning to the RCM just under four years ago. Even in that relatively short time his job as Videographer has developed. ‘No two days are the same and there is always something interesting to work on, prepare for and to be challenged by!’ Martin is part of the RCM’s Studio team, which runs the day-to-day recording and audio-visual requirements for the College. ‘My role involves being out and about with a camera to record interviews or promotional material and to edit it down into the short films that appear on the website or on social media. And our concerts are recorded live on a remote-controlled multiplecamera system in the Concert Hall, so I need to ensure that everything is set up correctly and to run the cameras, with other members of the team running the audio. These concerts all need to be edited and prepared for our students to watch on our internal streaming platform, RCM Stream.’ As with any career in the technical sector, things are constantly developing. Martin is understandably proud of the new Video Production Suite, installed just this summer. ‘It allows us full video and audio recording capability not only at the existing venues at the College, but the two new ones opening next year. It is designed to give us and the next generation of RCM students the capacity to record multiple venues simultaneously, along with a major upgrade to our livestreaming and broadcasting capabilities. Additionally, we
have installed a new set of 4K cameras in the Concert Hall – the pictures are superb, and will be certainly taking our livestreaming quality to the next level.’ Nor has the audio side been neglected, with a full Dante network audio system allowing multiple recording capabilities. The job inevitably comes with a mix of highs and challenges. Martin recalls the challenge of working on the timelapse film, showing the new More Music Courtyard building rising out of the ground. For starters, he admits to not being great with heights – and the camera needed to be very high up on the roof of an adjoining building. Then they faced the problem of the equipment freezing as the ‘Beast from the East’ arrived early in 2018. But all was eventually well and, as he says, he’s now much better with heights! A high of a different kind came in the recent production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Sir Thomas Allen, which Martin and his colleagues recorded for OperaVision, which has to date had over 12,000 views and a big vote of confidence from both students and the opera’s production team.
Above Martin Phillips in action in the RCM’s new Production Suite
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FEATURE
CHALLENGING THE THREATS TO MUSIC EDUCATION Lord Black of Brentwood, the Chairman of the RCM’s Council and a keen musician, makes a defiant case for the importance of music education – and explains how we all have a vital role to play in ensuring its future.
Opposite Lord Black addresses Council (top) and students (bottom), and visits the More Music building development
These are extraordinary times and it is up to us all to explain how vital music is for the well being and education of young people, as well as for the success of the UK’s economy. Lord Black of Brentwood
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When I went to my first meeting of the RCM Council ten years ago, I never dreamed that a decade on I would hear myself having to utter these words - that we are now in a pitched battle to secure the future of music itself. How on earth has this happened? My own musical journey in some ways illustrates the profound change that has taken place. It began when I was at Brentwood School in Essex. I remember to this day the electrifying moment when I started for the first time to make music – as so many do – on a recorder. I was hooked. The piano, which I still play, followed, along with the trumpet, clarinet and organ. Music dominated much of my time at school – making me, I think, a more rounded and happier pupil who did better in other subjects as a result. I took ABRSM exams, I did GCSE and A level, I played in orchestras and sang in choirs. My parents encouraged me – taking me to concerts in London and buying me records (wonderfully now back in fashion). That was how, listening for the first time to the Great C Major – which will be performed at the College
this term – I fell in love with Schubert, whose music has been the enduring passion of my life. And, of course, I took all this for granted – because music then was an opportunity that all children, no matter what school they went to or what their background, enjoyed. Tragically, that is no longer the case in state schools, where music is under sustained and brutal attack. An understanding and appreciation of music, and the ability to take part in it, should be the birth-right of all children, not just the privilege of those who can afford it. But because of short-sighted changes to the curriculum and funding cuts for local authorities, music in many places is dying out. In many schools, there is no music provision at all. The numbers taking GCSE and A level music are plummeting. The number of teachers is declining, as is music outside the classroom. And, as a study commissioned by the RCM and others earlier this year showed, it is the most disadvantaged – who need music the most – who are suffering.
The consequences will be extremely damaging. Damaging for children, because music improves their cognitive ability and is good for their mental health, which is so important to young minds. Damaging for our economy, because the creative industries – already hanging under the dark cloud of Brexit and an end to freedom of movement, which is vital for the profession, – depend on a robust music sector. Damaging to our national identity which hinges so much on our musical heritage and international reputation for excellence. And damaging to our great conservatoires, who need a pipeline of talent from schools in the UK to complement the wonderfully diverse and wide range of students we attract from across the globe. For all these reasons, music education must not become an add-on in schools – but a must have. The challenges are huge and the solutions not straightforward: there is no magic bullet to undo a decade of damage and decline. Many things will have to happen – changes to the curriculum, new models of regulation, increased funding as part of a long overdue new National Strategy for Music Education, and perhaps above all a realisation among politicians of all parties that for our creative economy – which supports 1 in 11 of all jobs in the UK, and makes up 5% of our economy – to flourish, then we have to value music and support it right across the education system, from early years to conservatoire or university. So, all of us who love music have a fight on our hands. It’s something in which the RCM Council takes a profound interest. As a group we are made up of people from all walks of life. My colleagues – to whom I am indebted for their service – play an often unsung but massively important role in the life of the College in terms of governance, finance, fundraising, marketing and long-term strategy, supporting Colin Lawson and his exceptional leadership team. We are all determined to do what we can to help secure the future for music, because we know how important it is for future generations of our children, and for the soul of our country. And there is hope! Already some things have improved. The Russell Group of Universities – the leading ones in the UK – have changed the way they view music as a ‘facilitating subject’ for those applying to them. Work is underway – led by my colleague on Council, Veronica Wadley – on a new model music curriculum. We are promised a new National Plan soon. And above all I think the message is beginning to get home politically that this is a deeply serious problem. Certainly, the reaction I receive to speeches and questions in Parliament is overwhelmingly positive – as is the support I get from so many groups and organisations who are campaigning in this area.
Our task now is to harness that passion and energy to make the case for music and the case for change. The RCM, with its international reputation for excellence, has a profoundly important role to play. That’s in part because we symbolise what an optimistic future for music looks like. Our amazing Sparks programme shows just how you can widen access and nurture an increasing diversity of rich talent. Our international reputation for excellence – we are consistently ranked among the top three in the world – underlines the UK’s position as a global champion of music. And the More Music campaign – led so energetically by my colleague Geoff Richards – is transforming our College for this and future generations of students, helping secure our future success. That’s exactly what a successful future for music education should look like. But it’s also because, above all, our students and our alumni can play a part as ambassadors for music. In an ideal political world, we shouldn’t need, of course, to make the case for music. These are extraordinary times, however, and it is up to us all constantly to make that case and to explain how vital it is for the well being and education of young people as well as for the success of the UK’s economy. Talk to your MPs, talk to schools, write on your blogs and social media, talk to all those in the world of music who, like the RCM, are campaigning for change. Make sure your voices are heard loud and clear. It really will make a difference. I know how deeply passionate all those whose lives have been touched by the College – as students, teachers, staff and Council members – are about this great cause, and it is that passion and energy which will win us through. Let the future be more music.
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SUPPORT US
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS 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 Royal College of Music (RCM). We would like to thank all those listed below, as well as those who wish to remain anonymous, who have made donations of £1,000 or more between 1 August 2018 and 1 August 2019. We would also like to thank those who have pledged a gift to the RCM in their Will.
SUPPORTING THE FUTURE OF MUSIC From becoming an RCM Friend to leaving a gift in your Will, there are many ways you can support the Royal College of Music. For more information, please visit www.rcm.ac.uk/ support Alternatively, contact the Development team on dae@rcm.ac.uk
More Music Founding Patrons ABRSM The Estate of George Frederick Burgan The Estate of Basil Coleman Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Foundation The Estate of Christopher Hogwood CBE HonDMus Kingdom Music Education Group Rena & Sandro Lavery National Lottery Heritage Fund Geoffrey Richards HonRCM & Valerie Richards 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 Colt Clavier Collection Trust The Estate of Thomas Cottrell 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 Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust The Linbury Trust Philip Loubser Foundation
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The Estate of William Mealings The Mirfield Trust The Polonsky Foundation The Julia & Hans Rausing Trust The Estate of Michael Rimmer Victoria, Lady Robey OBE HonRCM The Estate of Emma Rose Soirée d’Or Scholarships Their Serene Highnesses Prince Donatus and Princess Heidi von Hohenzollern The Wolfson Foundation Principal Supporters Amaryllis Fleming Foundation C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG Meredith & Denis Coleman The Estate of Heather Curry Peter & Annette Dart Fishmongers’ Company J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust The Harbour Foundation John Lewis Partnership Rosemary Millar HonRCM & Richard Millar John Nickson & Simon Rew The Pure Land Foundation The Reed Foundation and The Big Give Christmas Challenge Leopold de Rothschild 1959 Charitable Trust The Estate of Humphrey Searle CBE FRCM 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 Bob & Sarah Wigley The Worshipful Company of Musicians
Major Supporters The Alchemy Foundation The Art Fund Laurie Barry Ian Boag The Estate of Brian Guinness Clifford Brooks The John Curwen Society Finsbury Dolly Knowles Charitable Trust James & Margaret Lancaster The Estate of Zoe MacGibbon The Estate of Sir Neville Marriner FRCM The Estate of Christopher Mason The Estate of Mary Midgley The Mills Williams Foundation The Estate of Ann M Naysmith Michael and Dorothy Needley Sir Simon & Lady Robertson Alethea Siow & Jeremy Furniss Miss Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable Trust Steinway & Sons Universal Music Group Van Cleef & Arpels Vaseppi Trust The Henry Wood Accommodation Trust QuiPing Wu Supporters Robert Anderson Arts Council England/ V&A Purchase Fund Ashley Family Foundation The Estate of Kenneth Atkinson BAE Systems Vivien & Peter Beckwith Dr Linda Beeley June Birch Lord Black & Mark Bolland Ingbert Blüthner Rudi & Florence Bogni The Boltini Trust
The Estate of Joan Bowles The Estate of Charles Branchini Peter Brooks David Brownlow Charitable Foundation Burford Capital Brian & Janice Capstick Sir Roger & Lady Carr HonRCM The Estate of Ella Carstairs Noël Coward Foundation Diane Davies Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE The Manny and Brigitta Davidson Charitable Foundation The Drapers’ Company Bob & Susan Eagle The Gilbert & Eileen Edgar Foundation Marc Feigen Lesley Ferguson Fiona & Douglas Flint The Freakley Family Irina Gaydamak Dr Chris Gibson-Smith Elaine Greenberg & Linda Perez The Abinger Hammer Award The Estate of Jeanne Henbrey Terry Hitchcock The Houston Family Kay Huffner Gillian Humphreys OBE HonRCM & Peter David Sir George Iacobescu CBE & Lady Iacobescu Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells David James JMC Joseph & Jill Karaviotis Ruth Keattch James & Clare Kirkman The Honourable Society of the Knights of the Round Table Lark Music Professor Colin Lawson CBE FRCM Lee Abbey London The Lennox Hannay Charitable Trust Dr Mark Levesley & Christina Hoseason LIBER Foundation Carol & Geoff Lindey Professor Christopher & Vivienne Liu The Loveday Charitable Trust The Kenneth Loveland Gift Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust The Hon Richard Lyttelton & Romilly Lyttelton Ian Mactaggart Trust The Hon Mrs Rita & Mr Ronald McAulay The Mercers’ Company Sir Peter & Lady Middleton FRCM
Jamie Milford The Howard & Abby Milstein Foundation Terence Mowschenson QC & Judy Mowschenson Pro Musica Ltd Professor Luigi & Elisabetta de Simone Niquesa Midori Nishiura HonRCM The Charles Peel Charitable Trust Harriet & Robert Pickering/ BP International Ltd Richard Price FRCM and Sue Price Russell Race The Estate of Charles Stewart Richardson Alan Rubin Roland Saam Christopher & Anne Saul Hilda Scarth Philip & Rebecca Shelley Slaughter & May The South Square Trust Peter & Dimity Spiller Steinway & Sons Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust Bryan Stott Sir Ian Stoutzker CBE FRCM Betty Sutherland Tait Memorial Trust The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK Ian & Meriel Tegner Anthony Thornton Mrs Lynette Tiong Richard Toeman/Weinberger Opera Scholarship Universal Music Group Rhoddy Voremberg Anne Wadsworth OBE & Brian Wadsworth Sir Peter & Lady Walters Marc Wassermann & Lisa Osofsky Garry Watts MBE & Carolyn Ward Anthony Weldon FRCM & Jane Weldon Professor Lord Winston & Lady Winston The Wyseliot Charitable Trust Core Contributors The Estate of Gillian Ashby The Estate of John Barker Mary Batten John & Halina Bennett The Bliss Trust Gary & Eleanor Brass Peter Brooks Lorraine Buckland Lady Buchanan Roger Chadder HonRCM & Rosemary Chadder
Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM & Lady Cleaver Robert & Henri Cowell Andrew Curran Jonathan & Belinda Davie Elisabeth de Kergorlay Douglas and Kyra Downie The Ann Driver Trust Dr Ian & Janet Edmondson Alyce Faye Eichelberger-Cleese The Everard Foundation FTI Consulting Douglas & Adele Gardner Professor Alice Gast The Hon. Mrs Gilmour Peter Granger Margaret Guido’s Charitable Trust The Derek Hill Foundation Richard & Susan Jarvis The James and Lucilla Joll Charitable Trust Lady Annie Harding & Sir David Walker Julian Hardwick Lily Harriss HonRCM & Julian Harriss Greta Hemus John & Susan Heywood The Hintze Family Charitable Foundation Guy Dawson & Sam Horscroft Clare Hyland Il Circolo Michael Jefferies ARCM in memory of Beryl May Jefferies (West) Peter & Veronica Lofthouse Charles & Dominique Lubar Sir John Margetson Avenue Chapter of Royal Arch Freemasons Marcus McDonald Ellen Moloney Music Talks Peter Neal Jennifer Neelands Humphrey Norrington OBE FRCM Ofenheim Charitable Trust Gordon Palmer Charitable Trust Pilgrim Trust Kevin Porter HonRCM Rev Lyndon van der Pump FRCM & Edward Brooks FRCM Thomas Purcell John & Jenny Reid Stuart Rose Kerry & Dimity Rubie Sudborough Foundation Siqi Sun Janis Susskind OBE HonRCM Robert Swannell OBE Sir Richard & Lady Sykes Craig Terry Edmund Truell & Cédriane de Boucaud
The Wall Trust Qing Wang John Ward Marie Wells Lifei Weng Jane Wilson Sir Robert & Lady Wilson Moira Witty Lin Yi Xian RCM Legacy Ensemble Jill Anderson Robert C Andrews Brian Barker Jane Barker CBE FRCM Lord Black & Mark Bolland Elizabeth Blackman Brenda Bunyan Valerie Byrom-Taylor Sir Roger & Lady Carr HonRCM Chris Christodoulou HonRCM Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM Colin Cree Katia de Peyer Dr John Donnelly Paul Duffy Michael Hodges Catherine James Edwards Nicholas King FRCM Matthew Knight Noel Lamont Professor Colin Lawson CBE FRCM Juliet Merz Madeleine Mitchell FRSA MMus GRSM ARCM Avril Nelson & Graham Fearnhead Grant Newman & Neville McDonough John Nickson & Simon Rew Humphrey Norrington OBE FRCM Sue Pudifoot-Stephens Dame Janet Ritterman DBE HonDMus Hilda Scarth William & Valerie Shackel Barbara Simmonds Robert Sutherland Frances Tait
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STUDENT UPDATES Below Jessica Cale in the RCM’s production of A Dinner Engagement
UPBEAT AUTUMN 2019
VOCAL ACCOLADES
STRING SUCCESSES
Jessica Cale, winner of the AESS Patricia Routledge Singing Competition, has won Second Prize in the Pendine International Voice of the Future at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, following on from her recent performances in the RCM opera double-bill… Dafydd Jones, Dafydd Allen and Eiry Price enjoyed success in the National Eisteddfod… Eyra Norman (BMus 1) made her ENO debut in Dido and Aeneas… Six BMus students made their ENO debuts in Noye’s Fludde at the Stratford Theatre Royal…Kiri Foundation Award Holders Manase Latu (Masters 1) and Samson Setu (Grad Dip) had success at the 2019 Australian Singing Competition: Manase Latu was the tenor winner, while bass-baritone Samson Setu was a finalist.
Kieran Carter has been selected for a George Drexler Foundation award.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC COMPETITIVE PRIZES Samuel Mallia has won the Jane Melber Prize for Saxophone 2019… Nick Walker has won the Trumpet Prize… Merin Rhyd has won the Trombone Prize… Grady Hassan has won the Tuba Prize and Kristina Yumerska has won the Overall Prize in the 2019 Solo Brass Competition… Juhee Yang and Katherine Yoon have been jointly awarded the Violin Prize and Line Faber has won the Unaccompanied Bach Prize in the 2019 Violin Competition… Connie Pharoah has won the Viola Prize and and Ana Dunne Sequi has won the Unaccompanied Bach Prize in the 2019 Viola Competition… Will Glenn and RCM alumnus Eirian Lewis are joint winners of the Guitar Prize… and the joint winners of the Harp Prize are Henriette Poos and RCM alumna Inês Cavalheiro… Highly Commended are Tristan Lambert and the Renaissance Flute Consort in the Historical Performance Competition.
Left Dr Tania Lisboa Below Ralph Salmins
STAFF UPDATES
STAFF UPDATES
SHARE YOUR NEWS Tell Upbeat readers about your recent successes by emailing news@rcm.ac.uk
Martin Gatt premiered a new Bassoon Concertino by Sarah Wormell in Taunton on 21 September; the programme also featured clarinettist and RCM alumnus Colin Parr in the Duet-Concertino by Richard Strauss. Current Head of Undergraduate Programmes Dr Christina Guillaumier has recently become a director on the board of West Sussex Music. Praising Dr Guillaumier’s international profile, West Sussex Music Chief Executive James Underwood said he was ‘delighted to welcome someone of Christina’s calibre to the Board of Trustees. She is highly respected and brings with her a huge wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as sharing our passion for music education.’
Chris Ridley took part in a three-month tour over the summer with the Royal Opera House’s timpani section. Ralph Salmins, Drum Kit professor, returned in October from a worldwide tour with the Waterboys.
Dr Tania Lisboa, Research Fellow in Performance Science, gave a talk at the Schumann Academy in Düsseldorf about the RCM’s In Sync research project, which included, by way of demonstration, a jazz session between the RCM and Düsseldorf. Susan Milan has been awarded this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Flute Association in recognition of her commitment to music and the flute. It was presented to her in August at the 47th Annual National Flute Association Convention in Salt Lake City.
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ALUMNI UPDATES
ALUMNI UPDATES SHARE YOUR NEWS Tell Upbeat readers about your recent successes by emailing news@rcm.ac.uk
Right Howard Griffiths receiving the ‘Verdienstorden’ (Order of Merit) of the Land Brandenburg, Germany Below Louise Goodwin
Louise Alder made her debut at the Royal Opera House as Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and will sing Susanna in a new production of The Marriage of Figaro conducted by Kevin John Edusei. Rosie Aldridge, Susanna Hurrell and He Wu performed in ENO’s Hansel and Gretel in Regent’s Park. Sophie Bevan sang the Governess (The Turn of the Screw) for Garsington Opera. Dr Cathal Breslin has recently been appointed to a new position as Assistant Professor of Piano at Arizona State University School of Music, at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Colin Clague, who was the last of Ernest Hall’s trumpet students, recently retired from the position of Principal Trumpet at English National Opera after 41 years. Prior to that, Colin spent two years at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Iris Derke has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Chorus America.
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At the Emmy Destinn Foundation Singing Competition Milly Forrest was overall winner, Katy Thomson was awarded best Czech song and Hamish Brown won the pianist award. Louise Goodwin was recently appointed as Timpanist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Harriet Eyley has sung Norina (Don Pasquale) and Frasquita (Carmen) for Welsh National Opera.
In July Howard Griffiths received the ‘Verdienstorden’ (Order of Merit) of the Land Brandenburg, Germany for his work as General Music Director of the Brandenburg State Symphony Orchestra.
Milly Forrest has won the AESS Patricia Routledge Singing Competition and the Hurn Court Opera Competition.
Joseph Horovitz has been elected to an Honorary Fellowship of New College, Oxford. This summer his Clarinet Sonatina has been
performed by Andreas Ottensamer and Yuja Wang on tour in Europe. His cantata Summer Sunday was performed at the Sintra Festival in Portugal in September. Daniel Kidane’s Woke opened the Last Night of the Proms on 14 September 2019. Denis Lakey was one of 10 singers selected to perform in John Cage’s EUROPERAS 1 & 2 at the Oper Wuppertal earlier this year. He also created the role of the eunuch Loulou in the world premiere of Richard van Schoor’s opera Alp Arslan (libretto by Willem Bruls) at the Stadttheater Giessen. Composer Youngjin Lim has had competition successes at the Franz Josef Reinl Foundation competition (second prize; no first awarded); the Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition (third prize, no second prize awarded); Seoul International Computer Music Festival Call for Works (first prize); and the First Agape International Church Music Competition and Festival (second prize).
Gareth Valentine will be Dance Music Arranger for Disney’s forthcoming live action movie The Little Mermaid directed by Rob Marshall. In spring 2020 he conducts 42nd Street at the Lyric Opera, Chicago, and next summer he conducts his ballet Strictly Gershwin, which he originally wrote for English National Ballet, at Rome Ballet. He Wu took up a teaching position at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music this autumn. Nine RCM singers appeared as Apostles in Elgar’s The Apostles at the Royal Festival Hall conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
CONNECT Join our LinkedIn group at www.linkedin.com/ groups/1806681 or contact the Alumni team on alumni@rcm.ac.uk or 020 7591 4353.
Julieth Lozano joined the National Opera Studio.
RCM SOUNDTRACK
Soraya Mafi has sung Amor (Orfeo) at English National Opera.
The latest album releases from our alumni community
Soraya Mafi, Ellie Sanderson Nash and Lizzie Holmes performed in Grange Park’s Hansel and Gretel this summer. The Marmen Quartet has been awarded joint First Prize at both the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition (with the Los Angeles-based Viano Quartet) and the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition (with the Simply Quartet, currently based in Vienna). Tim Morgan, Peter Kirk, Richard Pinkstone and Tim Edlin appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Nevill Holt Opera.
Helen Habershon released her third album Found in Winter in July on the Divine Art Records label. Gary Carpenter’s latest album of orchestral works, SET, was released in March on the Nimbus label and ranges in mood from works that are energetically jazzy to more reflective pieces. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Clark Rundell and Andrew Manze.
Rowan Pierce recently made her debut as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro at the Grange Festival, after winning its inaugural International Singing Competition in 2017.
Georgina Graham released her debut album in July; called Loved, it is a meditative collection of original improvisations for harp based on scriptures and prayers.
Theo Platt won Second Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards.
Andrew Nethsingha, Director of the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, has recently released a disc titled Magnificat; five of the six featured composers are alumni of the RCM: Charles Villiers Stanford, Herbert Sumsion, Herbert Howells, Michael Tippett and Gabriel Jackson.
Huw Montague Rendall and Joel Williams appeared in Fantasio for Garsington Opera. Michael Robertson has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his outstanding contribution to brass in Carnoustie and Angus, Scotland. Harry Thatcher sang Fiorello (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at Glyndebourne.
A second album of pianist Norma Fisher: Norma Fisher At The BBC, Vol. 2, featuring music by Liszt, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Debussy, has been released on Sonetto Classics.
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IN MEMORY
IN MEMORY
LEAVING A LEGACY By remembering the RCM in your Will you can play a significant role in helping the College continue to inspire and educate musicians of the future. For more information on leaving a legacy to the RCM, please contact Miriam Thiede on 020 7591 4761 or Miriam.Thiede@ rcm.ac.uk
Barrington Pheloung FRCM was born in Manly, New South Wales, in 1954. He studied guitar, composition and conducting at the RCM between 1972 and 1977, where his guitar professors were John Williams and Julian Bream. He got his first composition commission – for a ballet score – when only in his second year. Dance was something close to his heart, with a particularly longstanding collaboration with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. He is arguably best remembered for the ITV series Inspector Morse, starring John Thaw, which began in 1987 and ran to 33 episodes over the following 13 years, for which he composed the instantly recognisable theme and incidental music. Pheloung perfectly captured in his music the complexity of its main character and he was duly asked to write the music for its successor, Lewis (2006–15) and the prequel Endeavour (2012–18). Morse was not Pheloung’s only detective – he also composed the music for the first three series of Dalziel and Pascoe (1996–8). By the time of Inspector Morse, he already had television experience, having been commissioned to write the music for Boon, starring Michael Elphick as the eponymous ex-fireman hero. One of the writers on Boon was Anthony Minghella, who in 1986 asked Pheloung to write the music for his new play Made in Bangkok (the first of several commissions for stage) but also the soundtrack to Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), starring Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson. Other major film commissions
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included Nostrodamus (1994) and Hilary and Jackie (1998), the biopic of Jacqueline du Pré starring Emily Watson. Common to everything he did was an acute ear for orchestration and an ability to conjure the most haunting of melodies that were fresh and yet instantly recognisable. Also striking was the fact that he always worked with live musicians to create soundtracks, rather than relying on technology. He was honoured with an RCM Fellowship by HRH The Prince of Wales during his President’s Visit in 2016. Away from the studio, he was a great crossword solver (aptly enough for the man who created the soundworld to Morse) and a fine amateur cricketer. He passed away on 1 August 2019.
June Aubretta Linda Nunn was born in 1929 and grew up in Loudwater in Buckinghamshire. She attended the RCM from 1946 to 1950 and after graduation taught music at several schools in and around the Buckinghamshire area. She was a fine pianist and singing teacher and put her skills to good use as a committed member of the Schools Music Association. She gained an ARCM in 1948 for piano teaching. After taking early retirement she worked as a private music teacher until her early seventies. Her interests ranged from crosswords and Scrabble to steam trains and researching her family’s history. She passed away on 16 April 2019.
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For one week only, your support could have twice the impact on our students’ lives. With your help we can obtain up to £50,000 of matched funding. This will provide much-needed scholarships for our gifted students, enabling them to excel in their studies, whatever their background. Did you know the RCM is a registered charity no 309268 and you can donate online at www.rcm.ac.uk/thebiggive or by phone on 020 7591 4862 UPBEAT AUTUMN 2019
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Box Office: 020 7591 4314 weekdays 10am–4pm Upbeat: 020 7591 4730 news@rcm.ac.uk Alumni: 020 7591 4353 alumni@rcm.ac.uk Supporting the RCM: 020 7591 4750 development@rcm.ac.uk Hiring RCM musicians: 020 7591 4367 diana.roberts@rcm.ac.uk The Royal College of Music is a registered charity. No 309268
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