The Academy’s mission is to provide pre-professional, undergraduate and postgraduate musical training of the highest national and international standards. We aim to enrich musical culture by training and educating the most talented musicians. The Academy was founded in 1822, and ever since has trained versatile and resourceful musicians with the skills they need in the ever-changing profession.
Great traditions do not guarantee future success, but at the Academy they do inspire us to achieve an especially happy blend of continuity and cutting-edge work. Cherish as we do our distinguished alumni, our many exceptional teachers and our enterprising study programmes, at the Academy we never simply rest on our reputation.
he Academy occupies a striking, purpose-built Edwardian building dating from 1911, joined to the converted Nash-designed terrace of 1-5 York Gate by the David Josefowitz Recital Hall. The Academy includes all the requirements of a modern conservatoire. The Royal Academy of Music is founded by Lord Burghersh, at the first premises in Tenterden Street, Hanover Square. King George IV grants a Royal Charter. Arthur Sullivan (later Sir Arthur Sullivan) enters the Academy. The Academy now has more than 340 pupils. A system of metropolitan examinations for teachers begins. The Academy moves to new custom-built premises in Marylebone Road. Sir Henry Wood, a former student, joins as a professor. Junior Academy is founded.
The official Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II: co-ordination of choral and orchestral arrangements is entrusted to Hugh Marchant and David Martin, both of the Academy. HM The Queen is the Academy's Patron. Harrison Birtwistle (later Sir Harrison, Visiting Professor of Composition) studies clarinet at the Academy. Sir John Barbirolli, a former student, joins the Academy as Conductor of the First Orchestra. The new Library is opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
Simon Rattle (later Sir Simon), Chief Conductor/Artistic Director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 2002, studies at the Academy from 1971 to 1974. The Sir Jack Lyons Theatre is opened in the presence of HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the Academy's President. The Academy presents its first International Composer Festival, each of which is devoted to the work of a distinguished living composer, with a tribute to Wiltold Lutoslawski. The composer himself attends the festival.
The Academy’s innovative BMus degree course is launched. The Sinfonia’s first overseas orchestral tour travels to the Republic of Korea. The refurbished Duke’s Hall is re-opened. The Da Capo Composers Festival, featuring over 60 composers who studied at the Academy. The British and American Film Music Festival features four concerts conducted by Ron Goodwin, Michael Nyman, Michael Kamen and John Williams. HRH The Duchess of Gloucester becomes the Academy’s President. The Sinfonia makes its first orchestral visit to Beijing and Tokyo.
The Academy becomes the first conservatoire to be admitted as a full member of the University of London, Britain's largest university. The Academy’s new museum and the David Josefowitz Recital Hall are both opened. The new two-year postgraduate Royal Academy Opera course is introduced.
Sir Elton John performs at the Royal Opera House with the Academy’s Symphony Orchestra and musical theatre choir, raising nearly £1million for the Academy’s Elton John Scholarship Fund. The Academy, with generous assistance from the Foyle Foundation, acquires Yehudi Menuhin's archive. A combined orchestra of students from the Academy and Juilliard School perform under Sir Colin Davis at the BBC Proms. In the final events of the Academy’s Paganini in London festival, Maxim Vengerov plays Paganini's Cannone violin — the instrument’s first visit to London since Paganini himself played it here.
Academy students play crucial roles in critically-acclaimed performances of Luigi Nono’s Prometeo and Gérard Grisey's Les espaces acoustiques at the Southbank Centre, in collaboration with top professional ensembles. New facilities include a suite of practice facilities and an opera rehearsal suite. The Guardian's league tables show that Royal Academy of Music is Britain's top specialist institution in higher education, and also number one for Music. The Academy is ranked Britain’s top conservatoire in Times Higher Education Table of Excellence, which is based on results from the national Research Assessment Exercise.
Honorary Doctorates are presented to Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez and Stephen Sondheim. The acclaimed premiere production of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s Kommilitonen!. Honorary Doctorate is presented to Sir Simon Rattle, who studied at the Academy in the 1970s. The Guardian’s table for music education is topped by the Academy for the third year running. The Academy celebrates a century in Marylebone, and 190 years since the first discussions which led to its founding in 1822.
Appointments include Maxim Vengerov, Semyon Bychkov and Sir Harrison Birtwistle. An orchestra of Royal Academy of Music and Juilliard School students performs at the BBC Proms, conducted by John Adams with soloist Imogen Cooper. Installation of the new Sir Elton John / Ray Cooper Organ in the Duke’s Hall.
Outline planning permission is granted for a new theatre and recital hall: construction began in Summer 2015.
New appointments include Robin Ticciati (Sir Colin Davis Fellow of Conducting), Edward Gardner (Sir Charles Mackerras Chair of Conducting) and Oliver Knussen (Richard Rodney Bennett Professor of Music). Historical performance instrumentalists and singers from the Academy and the Juilliard School in New York combine to perform in the United States and Europe, conducted by renowned Bach authority Masaaki Suzuki. Honorary Doctorate is presented to Quincy Jones. The Academy is host conservatoire for the Menuhin Competition London 2016, celebrating the centenary of Yehudi Menuhin.
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I consider the Royal Academy of Music to be one of my favourite ever places. As an adult learner of my particular instrument I feel immensely grateful and privileged that I am allowed to attend the masterclasses and other events to which the public are admitted. The people I encounter are always friendly and the experience is so educative and rewarding. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Thank you RAM.
By Peter Nobes (Jun, 2018) |
I have been working with The Royal Academy of Music now since 2010. They have always been a positive and highly supportive energy within the music circle I work in. I love the musicianship there and I love the staff as they are always welcoming and respectful. The Dukes Hall is the best room I have ever recorded virtual reality in. A great and grandiose place to perform.
By Sanj Surati (Apr, 2018) |
I and thousands like me owe quite literally my whole career to this fantastic place, the staff, and the students themselves. First rate teaching and an incredible support network.
By Elise Campbell (Aug, 2016) |
The Royal Academy of Music is a wonderful building, with incredibly good facilities for teaching musicians. I studied here, and the teaching is unparalleled, it provided me with a wealth of skills that I use every day in my career, not only musically but socially and professionally as well. The building itself is incredibly historical, with many interesting antiques for the public to browse in the museum, a fantastic large scale performance platform in the spacious Duke's Hall, with a phenomenal newly built organ donated by Elton John. The small chamber music spaces are also acoustically brilliant, specifically in the David Josefowitz Recital Hall, where in summer you can come and watch the final recitals of the musicians who study here. There is a vast range of concerts that they provide (most for free!), as the numerous students have new and exciting programmes that they perform on a daily basis. The lunchtime recitals are a particular favourite, as the variety of works portrayed shows the increased diversity of musical interests that only students can have. I couldn't recommend the establishment any higher than saying that the people I worked with, the staff that taught me, and the building itself are all completely incomparable to other institutions.
By Matthew Blunt (Aug, 2016) |
The Academy is a fantastic place, not only to study music, but also to hear some of the most exciting young British and international musicians perform. There are concerts open to the public almost every day (many of them free!) and the quality of performance and repertoire is unmatched. The teachers are some of the most respected performers and pedagogues in the world, and student life is a good mixture of serious practice, curiosity in research, intensive lessons and lots of fun. I did two degrees here and would not have the (ever-expanding!) freelance career that I have now; I should thank them for the incredible amount of support I received, both financially and pastorally. This institution has launched the successful musical careers of so many of my colleagues and friends, and I whole-heartedly recommend coming to the building, whether as a student, teacher or listener.
By Hayley (Aug, 2016) |
There is no way that I would be where I am today without having studied at this establishment. The opportunities provided to me throughout my time studying here were second to none, getting to play under some of the best conductors in the world. All of the staff are incredibly friendly, supportive and helpful and I would recommend studying here to absolutely anybody.
By Ross Learmonth (Aug, 2016) |
The Academy was the perfect place for me to study - to be surrounded by world class musicians every day (both teachers, visitors and fellow students) was incredible. I would recommend the Academy to any aspiring musician who wants to work in a professional and stimulating environment and have great fun whilst doing it! The staff were always friendly and I had so many great musical experiences - even just within my first term. Thanks to the Academy for providing me with the best possible springboard to the music profession and for the best four years of my life so far!
By Imogen Hancock (Aug, 2016) |
I wouldn't change anything about the Academy - All the staff took time to get to know me and help me to the best of their abilities and I came out the other end with a degree I am proud of and friends I will keep forever. The building has a magical yet homely buzz about it and the music-making is of the highest standard I could have imagined. There is such a solid support network and community created by the presence of like-minded and hard-working people. I couldn't recommend this establishment highly enough.
By Eleanor Tinlin (Aug, 2016) |
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The education my child receives at this London university is nothing short of extraordinary, where the incredible faculty genuinely invest in student success and foster remarkable growth in every learner.
By Nokukhanya Vilakazi (Jan, 2024) |