Snapshot of a Year

Professor Helena Gaunt Principal

Our vision is to change lives, transform and connect communities through the arts. It drives our strategic approach, and it is what inspires us to do the work we do. In this report, we offer a snapshot of the work we have done across an academic year (2021-22) so that readers can better understand what we do, how we do it and why, and the difference it makes.

People often kindly tell us how they are inspired by this special place. We see and hear that every single day, across all disciplines.

As we move forward, we want to share our special place even more widely and build stronger connections with all kinds of people. We believe that deeper engagement with diverse communities

will only ever enrich us, ensure that we are accessible, relevant and enjoyed and feed into standards of excellence in every part of the organisation.

How can we best track and measure the difference we make? We certainly don’t have a full picture yet, but we’re on a journey and will continue to share our progress with you.

As you read about the work, I hope you will feel more closely connected to us.

We would love to hear all feedback so that we can learn as we go, and we always appreciate inspiration from other organisations and individuals.

Our students’ extraordinary talent and potential is fused with exceptional teaching and unrivalled industry links, to bring dreams to life.

Who we are and what we do

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama attracts the best creative talent from across the globe. As Wales’ national conservatoire, we fire imagination and drive innovation, offering training to more than 800 actors, musicians, designers, technicians and arts managers from more than 40 countries. Our students’ extraordinary talent and potential is fused with exceptional teaching and unrivalled industry links, to bring dreams to life. A space for everyone, creative ambition and collaboration are central to our excellence.

Our students are immersed in a live industry environment from the moment they arrive. With some of Wales’ most prestigious venues, we operate a dynamic arts centre, and our performance programme of world class professionals is integral to students’ training.

We nurture our future professionals so they push new boundaries and make their mark in the creative industries, aspiring to brilliant careers.

ROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC & DRAMA

Our strategy

We work to a strategy driven by our vision, mission and purpose, underpinned by our shared values. This strategy is built on five strategic pillars, which bring focus to the change we want to achieve as an organisation.

Our Vision

To change lives, transform and connect communities through the arts

Our Mission

Pioneering, immersive professional education, creative excellence and an inclusive and international artistic community

Excellence and opportunity for all Artistic tradition and new work Welsh culture and a global stage to represent Wales as a distinctive, creative force across the world Future

enterprise Sustainable business model

Our Values

Contemporary and Collaborative Expert and Inclusive

Resourceful and Responsible

It starts with our students

Students are our lifeblood...

The exceptional quality of their experiences at RWCMD is what drives us, aiming to make it the very best it can be. Across the year, the College campus was alive from early morning until late at night with the sights and sounds of RWCMD students in action. Covid challenges were tackled head on, and thanks to a cross-College effort, the work continued with all spaces open to students almost every day of the year.

New programmes for industry needs

RWCMD launched two new cohorts into new programmes designed around industry need. BA Musical Theatre students joined from across the world, while Foundation in Scenic Construction students were already exhibiting work on day one of the full term, having started term six weeks early, to build sets for the first season of shows. A number were already being offered professional work just six weeks in.

Every single tutor on this course fosters an incredibly open and safe environment. An environment where I truly feel like there is no wrong answer. I feel like I’ve grown so much as a person already.

Ritesh, Year 1 BA Musical Theatre student

Performances to inspire

Even before lockdown restrictions lifted, students continued live concerts through streamed performances such as AmserJazzTime every Friday night. With audiences returning, loyal jazz fans created special t-shirts to mark their appreciation.

Cast as the lead in I, Joan while still studying at RWCMD, Isobel Thom made history as a non-binary actor in the iconic Globe Theatre’s queer smash hit. Writer of I, Joan Charlie Josephine first met Isobel at RWCMD on the production Moon Licks a commissioned play for RWCMD’s 2022 NEW season.

Student jazz guitarist Tom Harvey so impressed Gregory Porter that he was invited to perform with him on stage at his Cardiff show. The two had struck up a conversation at a hotel bar the previous evening, and Porter thrilled fans when he introduced Tom as his special guest.

I saw this joyous theatrical celebration last week. I promise I knew nothing at all about @isobelthom at the time, but Izzy’s physical and linguistic ease, breezy charm, magnetic effervescence and emotional courage lead me to lean forward and think, ‘That’s a Royal Welsh performance. That’s got to be a Royal Welsh performance.’ I kid you not I actually did a little victory dance when I learned I was right. Take a bow @rwcmd and bravo Izzy. Beautiful work.

Rakie Ayola

More than 400 live performances across the year

Removing barriers

Making the most of technology, more than 2,500 auditions were offered online this year. The introduction of specialist software Acceptd reduced travel and accommodation costs for applicants, making it easier for everyone to take part at this crucial stage.

Baritone Mica Smith performed the lead as Figaro, in their first lead role in a full opera since coming out as non-binary. Supported through the College journey with Asperger Syndrome, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, Mica says RWCMD’s inclusive approach allowed them to grow.

12 year old Shuchen Xie, a student at the Junior Conservatoire, won the Chief Composer Prize competition at the Urdd National Eisteddfod for her string quartet Rhapsody in G Minor, making her the youngest winner of a main prize in Urdd history.

I'm so proud to be part of a College and a city where I feel diversity is embraced, where I can be free to truly be myself, and where my gifts and talents are recognised and celebrated.

Mica Smith

Fast facts...

8 close collaborations between Music and Drama, driving new ways of working

Employability

100 % Job offers for Arts Management students

3 Degree programmes revalidated MMus, MA Stage and Event Management and MA Design for Performance

More than 4000 people applied to study at RWCMD for 343 places

Inhouse entrepreneurial company REPCO supported

8 student-led productions... with 140 participants and more than 350 audience members

100% of London showcase actors got agent interest

It took just

6 weeks for new Scenic Construction students to be offered work

Our

810 Students had access to campus for 100% of this pandemic year

Our graduates make their mark

This

The College had promised that students would be rewarded with a proper graduation and it kept its word. By the end of the year it had held in-person graduation ceremonies for the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022. The 2022 cohort was the largest ever.

Impact across industry and the world

Graduate Amy Wadge, who is also an Honorary Fellow and ongoing supporter of the College, played a key creative role in the UK’s long-awaited Eurovision Song Contest success story. Amy co-wrote the UK entry with Sam Ryder, securing Eurovision’s return to the UK in 2023.

RWCMD success went from strength to strength this year. Graduate of 2020 Callum Scott Howells was nominated for a Bafta and won Best Actor at RTS Awards for his role as Colin in Russell T Davies’ It’s A Sin.

RWCMD Design graduates secured six of the 12 coveted places for the Linbury Prize for Stage Design – the design world’s most prestigious award for emerging talent. Half of all finalists over the last four Linbury Prize years have been from RWCMD.

Anjana Vasan was Bafta nominated for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, for Channel 4’s We Are Lady Parts. Both Callum and Anjana also won Royal Television Society awards for the same performances.

was a year like no other – and not only because the College saw three cohorts of students graduating in 2022.

Impact

Designer – and Olivier Award nominee –Gabriella Slade won a prestigious Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical for her sensational designs for the smash hit musical Six. Fellow graduate and RWCMD tutor Dominic Bilkey, who is also Head of Sound and Video at National Theatre, was Tony nominated for Best Sound Design of a Play for The Lehman Trilogy

Composition graduate Joanne Higginbottom, now based in LA, wrote music for Primal –an Emmy-winning series. With no dialogue, music was key to the storytelling.

Brass Band in residence Cory Band were again crowned European Brass Band champions for 2022. Music and arts management graduate

Toks Dada joined the Southbank as Head of Classical Music, shaping the venue to reflect classical music today, and to make it more accessible.

MA Opera graduate, and winner of the Sir Ian Stouzker Prize, Elena Zamudio, reached the final of the Kathleen Ferrier award, performing at the Wigmore Hall, London. Elena performed for King Charles, then Prince of Wales, when he last visited the College.

Woodwind graduate Cameron Cullen performed his debut with Orchestra of St Luke’s (NYC) in Carnegie Hall.

Constanca Sims, conducting graduate, was selected as one of the Women Conductors (WOCO) programme, in partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Society, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Sage Gateshead.

I’m so grateful to the Royal Welsh College for everything my teachers and coaches taught me during my time there.

I genuinely feel like everything I brought to the role of Colin, and continue to bring to every role I play, is embedded in all the invaluable lessons I was taught while I was there.

Callum Scott Howells

across industry and the world

The College delivered more diverse and ambitious productions than ever before

Fast facts...

150 Bachelors degrees awarded... including 60 First Class Honours

Nearly

300 alumni welcomed back

3 Graduation ceremonies

70 Masters degrees awarded... including 32 Distinctions

We work with communities

Connecting with communities is a central part of the RWCMD ethos. Drawing on the talents and creativity of our students, we develop new work with a wide range of community partners. Always working collaboratively, we share our ideas, skills and knowledge to create opportunities and we are committed to a future which will see our students emerge powerfully as makers in society.

Breathing new life into Cardiff’s Old Library building

Cardiff’s Old Library building was looking for its purpose, when RWCMD bid to breathe new life into the old stone through vibrant music and drama. Under a long term lease, the College will reimagine the space, working with communities to take it back to its roots as a place for shared education.

Just four days after receiving keys to the building, the internal space was transformed and ready for use as a fully functioning teaching and rehearsal space, with five studios kitted out with technology and equipment. Over the summer, during major work to restore the building, a sixth studio was created thanks to clever use of space.

A June puppetry performance Now & Then wittily telling a colourful story of Cardiff was the space’s first show and was an audience sell-out.

Our expert tutors and students in puppetry and movement ran a special workshop with 80 Year 5 children from Mount Stuart Primary School, exploring coal mining through performance skills. Pupils immersed themselves enthusiastically in the session, and the school told us that it 'moved their learning on.'

90 children came to see Now & Then with their primary schools St Mary the Virgin, Ysgol Gymraeg Pen-Y-Groes and St Paul’s, with the children staying on to try puppetry after the show.

The children were so excited walking back to school they truly felt the experience was like a museum being brought to life. It was so engaging and educational but at a perfect pace where the children were able to follow the story. I’d just like to pass on our gratitude and appreciation, it really was fantastic and something the children will never forget.

St Mary the Virgin School, Butetown, Cardiff

Interactive music sessions across Wales

Despite the challenges of Covid restrictions, music students reached almost 2000 participants across Wales though interactive community engagement sessions, including workshops, performances and events. This work reached more than 70 schools and community venues and spanned all kinds of music from opera to jazz. On average, each activity was delivered to 30 people at a time. This is part of a longer term plan to focus community activity as a major part of the student learning experience, aimed at an holistic training approach for future graduates. As part of this ethos, RWCMD will create 40 music residencies across communities in Wales by 2025.

During the year, Directors of Music and Drama also toured secondary schools across Wales, targeting those in more deprived areas, where they had personal links.

Final year Design students Jasmine Veiga de Araujo and Millie Lamkin spent a year doing weekly workshops at Cardiff’s Oasis Centre, working with refugees on screen printing, sewing and language skills. The participants had creative control over their work, which was incorporated into a larger map as part of the Balance exhibit in London and Cardiff. The Oasis team also created tote bags which were sold at Splott Community Fair.

Around 40% of community engagement was funded through First Campus activity, the HEFCW-funded programme aimed at widening access and targeting those in the lowest areas of deprivation.

Pupils don’t often have a concept of what is beyond the four walls of the school, but you showed them what is out there and busted many a myth! You stretched their imaginations, fuelled their thirst for creativity and inspired them to be a better version of themselves. Thank you for helping them to build their dream!

St Joseph’s School, Port Talbot

Fast facts...

40% of music community engagement... in areas of deprivation

Almost 2000 participants

4 days... to prepare Old Library for teaching and rehearsal

More than

70 schools and community venues

6 new studio spaces... created in the Old Library

99 years... the lease length for the Old Library

Industry links to power excellence

RWCMD pushed new boundaries by working with leading artists.

Bringing audiences a wider range of artistic voices, the College delivered more diverse and ambitious productions than ever before and used these collaborative opportunities to enrich learning. Our work also benefits creative industries businesses who employ a high proportion of our graduates.

Roy Williams OBE, one of today’s most sought-after playwrights, was RWCMD’s 2021/22 Writer in Residence. His play Freedom (March on Selma) was written especially for the College, as one of the four plays for the NEW season which premiered in Cardiff and then transferred to The Yard Theatre, London.

As well as creating work directly with students, he also fed the cultural DNA of the College by facilitating the current conversation about plays, writers and the repertoire we are teaching and programming.

Composer, musician and Honorary Fellow, Errollyn Wallen CBE’s ground-breaking Paradis Files took opera to new levels of accessibility, creatively incorporating British Sign Language, captioning and audio description into the performance by Graeae, a company which includes d/Deaf and disabled artists.

For RWCMD, it marked the first production of this scale of accessibility ambition and it

fuelled an appetite to stretch further in future. On Nov 4th at a concert celebrating her work at Cardiff’s St David’s Hall, this inspirational international artist was welcomed as the College’s Artist in Residence.

The Matsena Brothers' Shades of Blue merged protest with performance to make audiences really think.

Among the newest Honourary Fellows for RWCMD, the brothers also collaborated on Dream – a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Director of Performance (Drama), Jonathan Munby, which they choreographed with their unique energy.

RWCMD worked collaboratively with nearly 60 artists and ensembles across the year, each of them bringing fresh inspiration to the student experience, through creative challenge, learning and growth.

Ticket-buying

behaviour has changed since before the pandemic.

This year, 78% were booked online, 11% by phone and 10% in person.

Before Covid it was 58% online, 19% by phone and 23% in person.

Student-led collaboration, The Flying Bedroom, took its work on the road. Developed through a partnership with Firefly Press, the company combines four BMus performance students, a BMus composer and two MA Design students who bring children’s stories to life through puppetry and performance. The Flying Bedroom start-up toured north Wales with eight school workshops and eight performances in partnership with Theatr Clwyd Music Service.

Fast facts...

58 visiting artists and ensembles

25,929 tickets sold

Collaborative partnerships: BBC NOW, WNO, Manchester Collective, NOYO, Paines Plough, Open Door and many others too

8

New Honorary Fellows appointed...

Sarah Alexander, Nicola Benedetti, Paule Constable, Gareth Evans, Sarah Hemsley-Cole, Anthony Matsena, Kel Matsena, Dennis Rollins

54 masterclasses

Wales-based and world class

One of the best conservatoires in Europe

RWCMD was confirmed as being among Europe’s very best conservatoires, following an independent quality review. MusiQuE sets international standards in higher education conservatoire training and is the ultimate test of quality in conservatoire training. The College achieved top marks through comprehensive peer review. It is the first time a UK institution has put itself forward for this level of review, across music, drama and under-18 provision.

The 5 Things You Need to Know About RWCMD Quality

1 In the recent international MusiQuE quality review, RWCMD achieved top marks.

2 RWCMD is the first UK institution to achieve this gold standard level of quality assurance across music, drama and under 18s.

3 Reviewers were especially impressed with the RWCMD approach to individual student experience, multidisciplinary collaboration and overall ambition.

4 After closely examining every aspect of College, the review concluded RWCMD is a shining example of best practice across European conservatoires.

5 We will wear this badge of honour with pride, as a reflection of the exceptional people and unique community we have at RWCMD.

The College achieved top marks through comprehensive peer review

Bringing harp home to Wales

After years of planning, the 14th World Harp Congress arrived at College in Summer 2022. Held every three years around the world, it represents harp from more than 50 countries and seeks to promote the exchange of ideas, stimulate contact, and encourage the composition of new music for the harp. Over the week, more than 800 delegates from 37 countries took part in recitals, masterclasses, workshops, concerts and lectures.

Artists as makers

Our ethos is that artistry lies in much more than performance alone. Our students are the makers of work, constantly breathing new possibilities into all kinds of creative practice. Those possibilities are limitless, and we strive to offer an environment which pushes boundaries so that our graduates make a powerful mark on the world.

Musicians as Makers in Society, led by RWCMD Principal Professor Helena Gaunt, is a concept emerging from

the international four-year Association of European Conservatoires project Strengthening Music in Society.

As we move forward into innovative approaches to music education, we are creating more and more work across our disciplines of music and drama. That offers fresh opportunities through collaboration and, importantly, prepares our students for the careers ahead of them.

We aim to push boundaries so that our graduates make a powerful mark on the world

Fast facts...

The Musicians as Makers paper has had more than 14,000

Views on research platform Frontiers...

More views than 92% of all articles across a wide range of academic disciplines

RWCMD attracts students from 40 countries around the world

New international partnerships... Shanghai Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto, Shanghai Theatre Academy, Central Academy of Drama Beijing and Xiamen School of Music

We became the world’s first Steinway Exclusive Conservatoire

RWCMD achieved 9th place from more than

200 universities in higher education social media performance tracker Edurank

We look after people

More than 70% of colleagues have embraced agile working, freeing up more spaces for training.

80% of the College’s IT equipment was replaced, allowing everyone to work in an agile way.

In staff training, 39 colleagues are trained in Restorative Practice - 14 at Level 2 - so that they can support conflict resolution in a safe space.

The new in-house catering team handled more than 120,000 transactions in their first year of operation. Student feedback shows the food offer is appreciated more than ever.

RWCMD joined forces with other Cardiff universities to launch the Mental Health University Liaison Service, offering direct referral for students to mental health support without GP referral.

Despite being a small institution, RWCMD decided to become a distribution centre for Covid testing kits, with more than 50,000 Covid testing kits used across the College to keep productions on track, and keep staff and students safe.

colleagues are trained in Restorative Practice

Our people are what make us. Through a tough year of the Covid pandemic, we adapted and innovated for the future.

39

Our promise to future generations

We recognise the global climate emergency and join the many organisations around the world calling for urgent action to tackle climate change.

We have pledged to be

100% carbon neutral by 2040 – sooner if we can

We are working with the Carbon Trust to develop a roadmap to help us reach that goal and explain the action we are taking.

We have also joined forces with the Race to Zero, underlining our commitment to a healthy and resilient zero carbon recovery. It is essential that we strive to be a sustainable and flourishing organisation, and we are determined to reduce our environmental footprint and commit to protect future generations. Our promise is a pledge to take concerted action over time to support the global cause for a better, greener future for our planet and for us all.

Professor Helena Gaunt, Principal

Our promise is to build a sustainable, carbon neutral College for future generations

Fast facts...

Across the year, the College was powered by 100% renewable energy

Our vehicle fleet is moving to hybrid and electric only

This year’s design exhibition, Balance, reduced its environmental impact –land fill was 80% less and CO2 emissions

38% less

70% of lighting is efficient LED

90% of the material removed from the Old Library capital works in summer 2022 has been recycled

Solar panels were installed to supply more than

40% of our electricity on the main campus

A space for everyone

As a community, RWCMD expects each and every member to respect each other. That also extends to the welcome we extend to all, and the way we push ourselves to be better in future. We are on a journey to truly be a space for everyone, and we are making progress.

Joining forces to make a difference

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) and the National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) launched the Cardiff NOYO Centre in July 2022, a major partnership offering the first progression route for talented young disabled musicians in the region.

Aiming to reduce the musical exclusion and develop the skills of talented young disabled musicians, the partnership will also increase sector support for artists. As the world’s first disabled-led national youth ensemble open to both young disabled and non-disabled musicians, NOYO lays the foundations for a more diverse orchestral sector.

There aren’t other youth orchestras who are as passionate about showing disabled people can play on the same stages as non-disabled people. Lots of the music we play, you wouldn’t really get that in a stereotypical classical music concert – you wouldn’t have the instruments! We believe that it’s best if disabled and non-disabled musicians can integrate together, and then we can come up with fresh new ideas and be more creative, explore different parts of music.

Noyo Harpist, Holli Pandit

Targeting support where it's most needed

The richness and vibrancy of the performing arts is dependent on ensuring that exceptionally talented young people from diverse backgrounds have the opportunity to develop, express and contribute their creative voices. This year we re-shaped our approach to scholarships and bursaries. Scholarships are now prioritised for talented students who are in the most financial need, from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds and with protected characteristics. As a further move to enable the widest possible access to our training, we have introduced a new sectorleading Bursary Scheme that makes automatic annual awards to every student who joins RWCMD from a household with a below-average

income. Both initiatives are helping us to achieve our goals of enriching our community through wider representation and re-balancing opportunity to ensure that those with talent and potential can train with us.

When we asked recipients what difference it had made:

+ 100% of survey respondents strongly agreed that the Bursary Fund helped relieve financial pressure during their studies.

+ 67% of students said it was a factor in deciding to accept their place at the College.

+ Almost 30% of new students qualified for an automatic bursary of £1200 because their household income is less than £30,000.

A space for everyone

Bursary students tell us….

It has alleviated the pressure of needing money and seeking help from my family members, with the bursary I’ve been able to support myself and remain focused on my studies without the worry of my finances.

Receiving a bursary allowed me to attend university which is something I wouldn’t have achieved otherwise. I was incredibly grateful to receive this, as in my first year I have earned skills that will allow me to flourish in a difficult industry and it’s allowed me to enjoy university without the worry of trying to live without financial support. Instead, I’m able to put all of my energy into my work, which has made a huge difference to my experience and getting the most out of my education.

Without that funding, so many people do not have the opportunity to receive the same education as those around them due to financial difficulty, but the funding can allow them to work on a similar level without the stress of struggling to financially support themselves.

Thank you for reading our snapshot. If you would like to learn more about our work, please contact us at info@rwcmd.ac.uk

We also thank everyone who makes RWCMD the special place it is –our community of colleagues and students as well as the public bodies, individuals, trusts, foundations and sponsors who support us, including members of Connect, Friends Connect and The '49 Circle and annual Prize Givers.