Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music is a music school in London, England and one of the leading music institutions in the world. It was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 and in 1830 was granted a Royal Charter by King George IV 'to promote the cultivation of the science of music and to afford facilities for attaining perfection in it by assisting with general instruction all persons desirous of acquiring knowledge thereof'. Many of the most important musicians have studied at the Academy since then.

The Academy

The Academy enjoys a prime location in central London, alongside Regent's Park. Facilities, which include the 450-seat Duke's Hall, a modern Opera Theatre and other concert rooms, were expanded in 2001 with the opening of a new 150-seat recital hall and the York Gate Collections, a public museum of musical instruments and artefacts from the Academy's collections. There is also a junior department, for under 18s, which takes place every Saturday. The Junior Academy schools some of the most musically talented under 18s in the world. It has a reputation as being the most sought-after junior department of the UK conservatoires.

The library has over 160,000 items, with a large stock of books and sheet music including significant collections of early printed and manuscript materials and audio facilities. The Library also houses a Sir Arthur Sullivan archive and a Sir Henry Wood archive. Among the Library's most valuable possessions are the manuscripts of Purcell's The Fairy-Queen, Sullivan's The Mikado, Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and Serenade to Music and the newly-discovered Handel Gloria. A grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund has assisted in the purchase of the Robert Spencer Collection — a set of Early English Song and Lute music, as well as a fine collection of lutes and guitars. The York Gate Collections now display many of these items. The Orchestral Library has about 4,500 sets of orchestral parts, constantly augmented with new acquisitions. Important collections include the libraries of Sir Henry Wood and Otto Klemperer.

The Academy's students, who make up a vibrant community in which over fifty countries are represented, follow diverse programmes ranging from performance to composition, jazz, musical theatre and Royal Academy Opera. The Academy enjoys an established relationship with King's College London, particularly the Department of Music, whose students receive instrumental tuition at the Academy. In return, many students at the Academy take advantage of the range of Humanities choices at King's, and its extended academic musicological curriculum.

The current Principal is the noted scholar Curtis Price, a graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Harvard University.

Performances

Academy students perform regularly in the Academy's concert venues, and also nationally and internationally under important conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Christoph von Dohnányi, Lutz Koehler, Sir Charles Mackerras, Diego Masson, James MacMillan and Trevor Pinnock. In September 2005, Sir Colin Davis conducted an orchestra which combined students from the Academy and New York's Juilliard School at the BBC Proms.

The Academy collaborates with other conservatoires world-wide, including participating in the SOCRATES student and staff exchange programme. In 1991 the Academy became the first conservatoire in Britain to introduce a fully-accredited degree in Performance Studies. In September 1999, the Academy was the first conservatoire to become a full constituent college of the University of London.

The Academy regularly celebrates the work of a living composer with a festival in the presence of the composer. Previous composer festivals at the Academy have featured Witold Lutosławski, Michael Tippett, Krzysztof Penderecki, Olivier Messiaen, Hans Werner Henze, Luciano Berio, American composers including Elliott Carter, Academy graduates, Alfred Schnittke, György Ligeti, British and American Film, Franco Donatoni, Russian composers including Galina Ustvolskaya, Arvo Pärt, György Kurtág and Mauricio Kagel.

In February-March 2006, an Academy festival celebrated the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who first visited London 175 years earlier in 1831.

Courses

The Royal Academy of Music offers training in performance, composition, conducting, music theatre and opera from pre-college level (Junior Academy) to PhD.

People

Notable alumni

• John Barbirolli (conductor)
• Arnold Bax (composer)
• Richard Rodney Bennett (composer)
• Harrison Birtwistle (composer)
• Virginia Black (harpsichord)
• Christopher Bowers-Broadbent (organ)
• Dennis Brain (French hornist)
• Galliard Wind Ensemble
• William Crotch (first Principal of the Royal Academy of Music)
• Clifford Curzon (pianist)
• John Dankworth (jazz composer)
• Christopher Elton
• Rumon Gamba (Conductor)
• Lesley Garrett (soprano)
• Evelyn Glennie (percussionist)
• Otto Goldschmidt (Piano)
• Alan Harverson (organ)
• Myra Hess (pianist)
• Richard Hickox
• Joe Jackson
• Elton John (rock musician) Junior Academy
• Freddy Kempff (pianist)
• Philip Langridge
• Annie Lennox
• Felicity Lott (soprano)
• David Worswick (violinist)
• David Martin
• Joanna MacGregor (pianist)
• Philip Mortimer (violinist)
• Michael Nyman (composer)
• Denise Orme
• H from Steps (groover)
• Paul Patterson(composer)
• Alex Barnes (musical saw)
• Sir Simon Rattle (conductor)
• Augusta Read Thomas (composer)
• David Sanger (organist)
• Arthur Sullivan
• Eva Turner
• Maxim Vengerov (Violinist) Junior Academy
• Christopher Warren-Green (conductor)
• Henry Wood
• Henrik Jul Hansen (conductor)
• Izzy Johnston (star of Wild and FHM)
• Ralph John Cupper (Organist and composer)

Notable past and present teachers

• Kenneth Amis (International Brass Chair)
• Professor Simon Bainbridge (Head of Composition)
• Sir John Barbirolli
• Joshua Bell (Violin - Visiting Professor)
• William Bennett (Flute)
• Sir Harrison Birtwistle (Composition)
• Barbara Bonney (Opera - Visiting Professor)
• Ian Bousfield (Trombone - Visiting Professor)
• Keith Bragg (piccolo, Head of Woodwind)
• Zakhar Bron (former professor of violin)
• Daniel Bruggen (Recorder)
• Colin Carr (Cello)
• Simon Carrington (Timpani)
• Laurence Cummings (Head of Historical Performance)
• Sir Colin Davis (International Chair of Orchestral Studies)
• Professor Christopher Elton (Head of Keyboard)
• Ian Fountain (Piano)
• Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (Vice-Principal and Director of Studies)
• Nicolai Gedda (Opera - Visiting Professor)
• Dr Amanda Glauert (Head of Research)
• Clio Gould (violin and ensembles)
• Mary Hammond (Head of Musical Theatre)
• Maurice Hasson (Violin)
• Christopher Hogwood (consultant visiting professor)
• Peter Holtslag (Recorder)
• Stephen Hough (visiting professor of piano)
• Skaila Kanga (Head of Harp)
• Lutz Kohler (Principal guest conductor)
• Jerzy Kosmala (visiting professor of viola)
• Anthony Legge (Director of Opera)
• Michael Lewin (Head of Guitar)
• Joanna MacGregor (piano)
• Duncan McTier (double bass)
• Andrew Marriner (visiting professor of clarinet)
• Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (Composition)
• Colin Metters (Head of Conducting)
• Anne-Sophie Mutter (Former Head of International Violin Studies)
• Owen Murray (Head of Classical Accordion)
• Dennis O'Neill (Visiting Professor of Opera)
• Jonathan Papp (Vocal Coach)
• Paul Patterson (Manson Chair of Composition)
• György Pauk (Ede Zathureczsky Professor of Violin) Naxos Website
• Neil Percy (Percussion)
• Gerard Presencer (Head of Jazz)
• David Pyatt (French Horn - Visiting Professor)
• Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (Composition - Visiting Professor)
• Martin Roscoe (piano)
• Patrick Russill (Head of Choral Conducting)
• Tanya Sarkissova (Piano)
• Alexander Satz (visiting professor of piano)
• Paul Silverthorne (Viola)
• David Strange (Cello, Head of Strings)
• Jeremy Summerly (Head of Academic Studies)
• Robert Tear (Opera - Visiting Professor)
• David Titterington (Head of Organ)
• Patsy Toh (Piano)
• Mark van de Wiel (Clarinet)
• Maxim Vengerov (Violin)
• Richard Watkins (French Horn)
• James Watson (Trumpet, Head of Brass)
• Mark Wildman (Head of Vocal Studies)
• John Williams (Guitar - Visiting Professor)
• Sir Henry Wood (former head of conducting)

In 1999 the Academy became a full member of the largest British university, the University of London.

York Gate collections

York Gate was designed in 1822 as part of the main entrance to Regent’s Park, and was an important feature in John Nash’s architectural designs for Regency London. The interior of York Gate was largely destroyed by bomb damage in the 1940s, but the Nash exterior has Grade 1 listed building status. The Royal Academy of Music moved to Marylebone Road in 1911, and held a lease on part of York Gate during the 1920s and 1930s. A major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled the Academy to acquire and refurbish this magnificent building to house studios and practice rooms and the Academy's Museum, The York Gate Collections.

The Royal Academy of Music has a fine collection of more than 200 stringed instruments from the violin family. These have been acquired for the benefit of students and recent leavers and they are maintained in playing order by the Academy's resident luthier and include several Stradivari, Amatis and Guarneris including:

• Stradivari, ‘Habeneck’ violin, c1734
• Stradivari, ‘Joachim’ violin, 1698
• Stradivari, ‘Maurin’ violin, 1718
• Stradivari, violin, c1666
• Stradivari, ‘Markevitch’ cello, 1709
• Stradivari, ‘Marquis de Corberon’ cello, 1726
• Stradivari, violin, c.1727
• Stradivari, ‘Kustendyke’ violin, 1699
• Stradivari, ‘Archinto’ viola, 1696
• Stradivari, `Viotti´ex-Bruce violin, 1709
• Antonio and Girolamo Amati, five-string cello, c.1600
• Antonio and Girolamo Amati, violin, 1629
• Nicolò Amati, violin, 1662
• Girolamo Amati II, violin, 1671
• Andrea Guarneri, violin, c1665
• Francesco Rugeri, cello, 1695
• Vincenzo Rugeri, violin, 1705

The galleries form the heart of the York Gate development and present an opportunity to display material from the Academy’s important collections of instruments, archives, manuscripts and images. Most importantly, York Gate is a 'living museum', acting as a showcase for the work of performers, composers, instrument makers and scholars from a wide range of musical and other relevant disciplines.

Other Collections: Jenny Lind (1820-1887) Collection, David Munrow (1942-1976)Collection, the Priaulx Rainier (1903-1986) Collection and The McCann Collection.

External links

• Royal Academy of Music website
• Royal Academy of Music's Museum