The Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music has been training musicians to the highest professional standards since its foundation in 1822. As Britain's senior conservatoire, its impact on musical life, both in the UK and abroad, is inestimable. The music profession is permeated at all levels with Academy alumni, including classical giants such as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir John Tavener and Sir Harrison Birtwistle, pop stars Sir Elton John and Annie Lennox, a host of opera stars such as Dame Felicity Lott and Lesley Garrett, principals in some of the world's leading orchestras (including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera New York, and all of London's leading orchestras), best-selling recording artists such as Katherine Jenkins, and media celebrities Aled Jones and Myleene Klass.
An institution that trained Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sir Henry Wood, Sir John Barbirolli, Dame Myra Hess, Richard Lewis, Dennis Brain and Sir Clifford Curzon, and with strong associations back to Mendelssohn, is bound to be proud of its history; but the Academy is firmly focused on refreshing creative traditions for tomorrow's musical leaders in the classical, jazz, media and musical theatre worlds. Every year some of the most talented young musicians from over fifty countries come to study at the Academy, attracted by renowned teachers and by a rich artistic culture that broadens their musical horizons, develops their professional creativity, and fosters their entrepreneurial spirit. In addition to a busy schedule of lessons, classes and masterclasses, students benefit from the Academy's ambitious and unrivalled calendar of concerts, operas, musical theatre shows and other events, in which they work regularly with leading practitioners such as Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Trevor Pinnock, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Thomas Brandis and Barbara Bonney. All these facets of Academy life contribute to what The Guardian has recently described as the Academy's ‘cosmopolitan confidence that is in tune with the global music industry'.
Ever since its inception, the Academy has been committed to transporting its musical activities from its central London home to the widest possible national and international audiences. Today, Academy students perform at many leading venues and festivals, including Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Kings Place and the Aldeburgh Festival. They collaborate with distinguished partners such as the London Sinfonietta, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Juilliard School in high-profile projects that attract national attention and critical plaudits. The Academy's own CD label, with distribution through Harmonia Mundi, has received critical acclaim for over twenty releases. The Academy is committed to lifelong learning, ranging from the Junior Academy that trains musicians up to the age of 18, through many ‘Open Academy' community music projects with schools in London and further afield, to performances and educational events for the musically curious of all ages.
The Academy's museum is home to one of the world's most significant collections of musical instruments and artefacts. Highlights include the important collection of Italian stringed instruments (with many examples by Stradivari, Guarneri, and members of the Amati family), a unique collection of nineteenth-century keyboard instruments, composers' manuscripts (including Purcell's The Fairy Queen and Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis) and collections that belonged to Sir Henry Wood, Sir John Barbirolli, Lord Menuhin, Otto Klemperer, Robert Spencer, Norman McCann, David Munrow and Sir Charles Mackerras. These collections are an invaluable educational and artistic resource for the Academy's entire community, underpinning teaching and research and enabling young musicians to find their own artistic profile in the context of musical riches of the past.
As the Academy approaches its bicentenary it goes from strength to strength. In 2009 alone, the Academy was rated the best conservatoire for research, it was the second-highest rated institution in the country for student satisfaction, and The Guardian rated it the best of the country's specialist institutions and the best place to study music in Britain.
