Royal College of Music facts for kids
Front façade of the Royal College of Music
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| Type | Public |
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| Established | 1882 |
| Endowment | £44.3 million (2023) |
| Budget | £34.1 million (2022/23) |
| Chairman | Guy Black, Baron Black of Brentwood |
| President | Charles III |
| Director | Colin Lawson |
| Patron | vacant |
| Students | 810 (2015/16) |
| Undergraduates | 420 (2015/16) |
| Postgraduates | 390 (2015/16) |
| Location |
Prince Consort Road, London
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51°29′59″N 0°10′37″W / 51.49972°N 0.17694°W |
| Campus | Urban |
| Affiliations | Conservatoires UK Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Universities UK |
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The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a famous music school in South Kensington, London, UK. It was officially started in 1882 by a special royal document. The RCM teaches students from around the world. They can study music from their first year of college all the way to getting a doctorate degree.
The college offers training in many areas of Western music. This includes playing instruments, writing music, leading orchestras, and learning about music history. Many important musicians from around the world have studied here. The RCM also does research, especially on how music is performed and how it affects people.
More than 900 students from over 50 countries attend the RCM. Their teachers are often famous musicians themselves. The college is part of important music groups like Conservatoires UK. Its buildings are right across from the Royal Albert Hall in London. It is also near Imperial College London and many museums.
Contents
History of the Royal College of Music
How the College Started
The Royal College of Music was created in 1883. It took the place of an earlier school called the National Training School of Music (NTSM). The idea for a music school in London came from Albert, Prince Consort many years before. Other big European cities had good music schools. But London's main music school, the Royal Academy of Music, was not training enough professional musicians. In 1870, very few orchestra players in London had studied there.
The NTSM opened in 1876 with Arthur Sullivan as its head. But the NTSM did not work very well. By 1880, a group of music experts said the school was not organized enough. Sullivan left in 1881. The first plan was to combine the Royal Academy of Music and the NTSM. The NTSM agreed, but the Royal Academy said no.
In 1881, George Grove helped create a plan for a new music school. The Prince of Wales also supported this idea. The Royal College of Music opened on May 7, 1883, in the same building the NTSM used. George Grove became its first director. The school started with 50 students who won scholarships. There were also 42 students who paid for their lessons.
Early Years of the RCM
George Grove wanted the new college to be a great place for training orchestra players. He worked with violinist Henry Holmes and composer Charles Villiers Stanford. They believed a strong college orchestra would help students. It would help instrumentalists learn to play together. It would also let student composers hear their music played by an orchestra.
The first group of scholarship students included 28 who studied an orchestra instrument. The college orchestra could have many players. This included 33 violins, five violas, six cellos, and other instruments. Grove hired 12 teachers for orchestra instruments. He also hired famous teachers for other music areas. These included Jenny Lind (singing) and Hubert Parry (composition).
The first building became too small. So, a new building was planned in the early 1890s. It was built on Prince Consort Road in South Kensington. The building was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield. It was made of red brick and light-colored stone. Construction started in 1892, and the building opened in May 1894. Much of the money for the building came from Samson Fox. His statue is in the entrance hall.
Grove retired at the end of 1894. Hubert Parry took over as the new director.
Later History and Famous Connections
After Hubert Parry, many other directors led the RCM. These included Sir Hugh Allen (1919–37) and Sir George Dyson (1938–52). The current director, Colin Lawson, started in 2005.
The RCM has over 200 music teachers. Many of them are famous musicians from around the world. Some examples include Dmitri Alexeev, Natalie Clein, and Maxim Vengerov. Teachers also include leaders from major London orchestras. These are groups like the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The college has always had strong ties to the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth II was its patron. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was president for 40 years. In 1993, Charles III (who was then Prince of Wales) became president.
In 2016, the RCM opened Prince Consort Village. This is a special place for over 400 students to live. It has soundproof bedrooms and practice rooms. The college is also a registered charity.
What Students Learn at RCM
The Royal College of Music teaches all kinds of Western classical music. Students can study from their first year of college up to getting a doctorate. There is also a junior department. Here, 300 children aged 8 to 18 come to learn music on Saturdays.
Working with Other Schools
Since 2011, the RCM has worked with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. They now offer college and postgraduate degrees together. Students get degrees from both schools.
Places to Perform Music
The RCM has many places where students can perform.
- The Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall seats 468 people. It was built in 1901 and fixed up in 2008–09.
- The Britten Theatre seats 400. Queen Elizabeth II opened it in 1986. It is used for opera, ballet, and plays.
- There is also a recital hall that seats 150 people. It was built in 1965.
- Several smaller rooms, called Parry Rooms, have organs.
A big project costing £40 million was finished in 2021. This almost doubled the size of the college. It added two new performance spaces. The Performance Hall seats 140 people. The Performance Studio is a smaller place for solo and chamber music.
Royal College of Music Collections
The Royal College of Music Museum has over 14,000 items. These show how music has been made for more than 500 years. The museum has many old instruments. One is a clavicytherium. It is thought to be the oldest keyboard instrument still existing. The museum also has the earliest known guitar. The museum was updated in 2020–21.
The RCM also has many important old music papers and items. These date back to the 1400s. They include original music written by famous composers.
- Anne Boleyn's Music Book
- Chopin's Minute Waltz
- Elgar's Cello Concerto
- Haydn's String Quartet No. 48 Op. 64/1
- Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K491
There are also larger collections of music by Herbert Howells and Frank Bridge. The college has film music by Stanley Myers. More than 300 original paintings are also part of the collection. These include a painting of Weber from 1826. There is also a painting of Haydn from 1791. A recent addition is a painting of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke.
The RCM has 10,000 prints and photos. This is the largest collection of musician images in the UK. The college also has 600,000 concert programs. These show concert life from 1730 until today. There are also over 800 musical instruments.
Famous People Who Studied at RCM
Since it opened in 1882, the RCM has had many famous teachers and students. Many composers who helped create the "English Musical Renaissance" studied here. This was a time when English music became very important.
Students who studied with Stanford and Parry include:
Later famous students include:
- Sir Thomas Allen
- Benjamin Britten
- Dame Sarah Connolly
- Sir James Galway
- Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Julian Lloyd Webber
- John Williams
Directors of the RCM
- Sir George Grove (1882)
- Sir Hubert Parry (1895)
- Sir Hugh Allen (1918)
- Sir George Dyson (1938)
- Sir Ernest Bullock (1953)
- Sir Keith Falkner (1960)
- Sir David Willcocks (1974)
- Michael Gough Matthews (1985)
- Dame Janet Ritterman (1993)
- Colin Lawson (since 2005)
Awards and Honors
The Royal College of Music gives out different awards. These include ARCM (Associate), LRCM (Licentiate), and FRCM (Fellow).
Each year, the RCM also gives special honors. These are for people who have done amazing things for the college or for music.
See also
In Spanish: Royal College of Music para niños
- List of music museums
- Royal College of Music war memorial
