The Royal College of Music (RCM) in London promises a rich tapestry of musical experiences with its upcoming 2024 event calendar. From intimate chamber performances at historical venues like St James's Piccadilly to immersive exhibitions at the RCM Museum, the lineup highlights the institution's dedication to blending historical musicology with contemporary creativity. Aspiring musicians from the Junior Department, seasoned professionals, and the magnificent collection of historical instruments all play their part in this vibrant celebration of music. Whether you’re a classical music enthusiast or an adventurous art aficionado, these events offer something genuinely captivating.

A Symphony of Heritage and Innovation: Royal College of Music's 2024 Event Highlights

Enjoy a varied programme of chamber music from Royal College of Music musicians at this lunchtime concert at Pallant House in Chichester.

RCM at Pallant House

Pallant House Gallery

This is your opportunity to see all the RCM Junior Department's major ensembles perform, including the Brass Dectet, Wind Octet, String Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Advanced Vocal Ensemble and Upper Voices.

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RCMJD End of Term Concert

Royal College of Music

Join RCM musicians for a performance inspired by the Museum’s stunning collection of instruments.

Museum Lates

Britten’s dazzling Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is a work full of flair and charm. Vaughan Williams’ ballet Job: A Masque for Dancing closes the performance, bursting with drama and complex emotion that reveals a less commonly heard side to the composer.

RCMJD Symphony and Chamber Orchestras Concert

Visit the Royal College of Music for a vibrant programme featuring new works composed by RCM Junior Department composers for RCMJD ensembles.

RCMJD Contemporary Music Concert

Royal College of Music Museum

This unique concert features a series of short works for solo, duo and trio ensembles alongside the striking images that inspired them. The performance will take you to the far ends of the Earth, from the deepest seas to the driest deserts, with music that builds on these evocative images of the natural world.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Torleif regularly plays not only with all the leading orchestras in Scandinavia, but also with some of the world’s major orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. He is an active as a chamber musician, and as such appears in prestigious concert venues worldwide such as Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall in New York.

Cello Masterclass with Torleif Thedéen

Also featured are RCM composers past and present. Hannah Kendall’s Verdala is inspired by the SS Verdala, a ship that brought West Indian soldiers to the trenches during the First World War, whilst RCM competition winner Jacques Allen reflects on aspects of sexuality and gender in Elegy for the Feminine Man.

New Perspectives: Elegy

Known as the ’Sun King’, Louis XIV was famed for his lavish court at Versailles, and for his generosity as a patron of the arts. His great-grandson, Louis XV, was nicknamed ’Louis the Beloved’ and showed similar support for musicians – partly thanks to the musical tastes of his wife, Queen Marie, and his influential mistress, Madame de Pompadour.

Le roi s’amuse – Music from the Courts of Louis XIV and XV

Enjoy a charming after-hours performance by RCM musicians, inspired by the surrounding historical collection of the Museum.

Museum Nocturne

In the midst of presentations, workshops and a lunchtime recital, enjoy the opportunity to hear instruments made by Arnold Dolmetsch (1894 after Hass, RCM0211), a pioneer in the restoration of historic musical instruments, and Derek Adlam (1995 after Hubert).

CPE Bach Clavichord Day

Our musical tripych ends with Ravel's popular one-act opera, the comédie musicale L’heure espagnole, follows a farcical plot featuring the hapless Torquemada, his mischievous wife and a host of comical characters concealed in clocks.

Opera Triple Bill: Britten, Weill & Ravel

Enjoy a varied programme of chamber music from Royal College of Music musicians at this lunchtime concert at the Austrian Cultural Forum.

European Horizons: RCM at the Austrian Cultural Forum

Austrian Cultural Forum

A hot drink and a pastry are included in the ticket price.

Classical Coffee Morning at the Royal Albert Hall: Relaxed Concert

Royal Albert Hall

Classical Coffee Morning at the Royal Albert Hall: Aeolian Winds

The Royal College of Music Junior Department is formed of inspiring young musicians aged eight to 18. See these rising stars perform a varied programme of works for small ensembles.

RCMJD Chamber Music Concert

Ole has extensive experience playing orchestral repertoire and has performed with the Swedish National Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Bassoon Masterclass with Ole Kristian Dahl 

Richard Harris and Steve Wilson perform a trombone recital, featuring Flood for two trombones, electronics and narrator, a piece written in response to the murder of George Floyd.

Trombone Recital with Richard Harris and Steve Wilson

The Hochstein School

Royal College of Music organist Barney Silverstone performs in the RCM’s Organ Interludes series, exploring a variety of works on the Flentrop Orgelbouw organ.

Organ Interludes

Richard Harris has crafted an eclectic musical career. He teaches at the University of Denver, is the former Assistant Principal Trombone of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and regular guest trombonist with many top US symphony orchestras.

Trombone Masterclass with Richard Harris and Steve Wilson

For over 15 years, RCM Sparks has enriched the lives of young people through engagement with music. Sparks also gives RCM students opportunities to gain practical training experience and undertake work placements.

Music and Ideas: Behind the Scenes with RCM Sparks

This deeply moving work is characterised by its poignant tone; the Austrian summer light that infused Mahler’s earlier music has attenuated to a sliver of wintry sunshine, illuminating the past as the shadows lengthen. Alban Berg wrote that the first movement is a valedictory ’expression of an exceptional fondness for this earth, the longing to live in peace on it, to enjoy nature to its depths’.

RCM Symphony Orchestra: Mahler 9

Composed when Mahler was a teenager, the Piano Quartet shows the influence of Brahms, Schubert and Robert Schumann.

Pre-concert performance: Mahler Piano Quartet

Saariaho’s Neiges cycles through variations based on snowflakes in a Finnish night sky, while Villa-Lobos’ first Bachianas brasileiras fuses Brazilian folk music with Baroque harmony and counterpoint.

Chamber Spotlight: Scandanavia to South America

Chamber Tuesdays

Through a distinguished career as one of the world’s top horn players, a professor, and a celebrated cultural personality, Frøydis has made a tremendous contribution to the art of horn playing and contemporary music repertoire. Born in Oslo into a family of musicians, she pursued her horn studies in several countries including Sweden, Russia, and the US, under the tutelage of esteemed instructors such as Wilhelm Lanzky-Otto and Vitali Bujanovsky.

Horn Masterclass with Frøydis Ree Wekre

Yury has appeared in major international concert venues including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall and has also performed with acclaimed orchestras. In recent years, he has taken top honours at the World Piano Competition, the Maracaibo International Piano Competition, and the Yale Gordon Competition.

Piano Masterclass with Yury Shadrin

This unique concert showcases the dedication of these young artists, who both curate and perform.

Junior Fellow Showcase

While Arnold’s Peterloo Overture portrays the events of the ’Peterloo’ incident in Manchester in 1819, lamenting those lost and injured but ultimately ending in triumph, Tchaikovsky’s Marche slave depicts tales of Russia’s stand in the Serbian-Ottoman War, using both Serbian and Russian folk songs to represent the oppression and victory of the Slavonic people.

RCMJD Sinfonia: War & Peace

Joaquín's extensive career has taken him to international concert halls including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Radio France in Paris, Beijing Concert Hall and the Vienna Konzerthaus. As a soloist, he has performed with a plethora of prestigious orchestras such as Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de España, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.

Guitar Masterclass with Joaquín Clerch

Get lost in an evening of invigorating percussion works, with performances on a range of instruments from Royal College of Music ensembles including the renowned PERC’M.

Percussion Showcase

Amy is Principal Flute of the Hallé orchestra, having previously held the same position with the Royal Northern Sinfonia. She has also appeared as guest principal flute with orchestras including the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra. Amy's recent performances include recitals at Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith Square.

Flute Masterclass with Amy Yule

With playing described as ‘delectable’ by The Times, Armand Djikoloum regularly performs with Chineke! and the Kaleidoscope Ensemble. He was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust International Auditions 2021, and in the following year was nominated as a Rising Star by Classic FM.

Oboe Masterclass with Armand Djikoloum

The Moscow-born, Israeli pianist is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling interpreter. Critics have praised his ‘singing line, variety of touch and broad dynamic palette capable of great surges of energy’ (Washington Post) as well as his impassioned, narrative-driven approach to performance: 'the interplay of spiritual calm and emphatic engagement is gripping, and one could not wish for a more illuminating, lyrical or more richly phrased interpretation' (Suddeutsche Zeitung).

Piano Masterclass with Boris Giltburg

RCMJD Classical Coffee Morning at the Royal Albert Hall: Peter Ryan and Finn Kjaergaard

Hear these impressive young instrumentalists and witness the stars of the future perform.

RCMJD Soloists' Concert

Anthony Marwood enjoys a wide-ranging international career as soloist, director and chamber musician; recent highlights have included his debut at the Tanglewood Festival in the USA, playing Ligeti’s Violin Concerto, conducted by Thomas Adès. He was appointed an MBE in the 2018 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List and was made a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music in 2013.

Violin Masterclass with Anthony Marwood

The film’s themes are echoed in the dramatic Doctor Atomic Symphony by John Adams, and there is serene contrast in the form of Takemitsu’s luminous Spirit Garden, one of his last works. Takemitsu drew a parallel between his orchestral style and the nature of a garden: both are ‘composed of various different elements and sophisticated details that converge to form a harmonious whole’.

Oppenheimer

In collaboration with RCM musicians, the Brodsky Quartet unfolds a varied programme of string classics, all of which are arranged for small ensemble by Paul Cassidy, with the exception of Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for Octet. The programme features Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, a pivotal chamber piece of unprecedented scale and remarkably modern effects – from extreme contrasts of dynamics and tempo to jagged lines and surprising shifts in mood.

Brodsky Quartet: Serenade for Strings

RCM String Orchestra at St Bartholemew the Great

St Bartholomew the Great

As a celebrated opera star and song recitalist, Gerald has performed in the world’s leading opera houses and concert venues with signature roles including J Robert Oppenheimer (John Adams’ Doctor Atomic) and Harry Heegan (Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie) to name but a few. Having collaborated with some of the world’s greatest composers, orchestras and conductors, Gerald brings a wealth of experience to the Britten Theatre stage.

Vocal Masterclass with Gerald Finley

Orawa, a work rooted in the Podhale ’highland’ region of Poland, opens the programme, followed by Joanna Marsh’s In Winter’s House, which draws on poems of fairy tales, darkness and light.

RCM String Orchestra: Evergreen

The programme includes Kitchen by Royal College of Music alumna, percussionist Louise Goodwin, and the suite from Martinů’s convivial one-act ballet – in which the dancers are called upon to portray an array of cooking utensils.

Chamber Spotlight: Cuisine

Acclaimed not only for her technical ability, but also for tone quality and interpretation, Carole’s extensive career has taken her to Europe, Asia, South Africa, the United States, Canada and Australia, where she played Haydn’s Concerto with the Australian Symphony in Melbourne at a live-telecast open air concert with an audience of over 100,000.

Trumpet Masterclass with Carole Dawn Reinhart

First Prize Winner at the International Harp Contest in Israel in 2022, Claudia has been applauded for her ‘vibrant energy’ and ‘natural virtuosity’. With accolades from over 30 international competitions, she has toured worldwide, and released two albums with Linn Records and Orchid Classics.

Harp Masterclass with Claudia Lucia Lamanna

Classical Coffee Morning at the Royal Albert Hall: Louis-Victor Bak

This secular oratorio grew out of troubling political events and reflects Tippett’s pacifism in its sincere and profound call for peace. The piece embraces a fascinating array of influences, from Bach’s Passions and Handel’s Messiah to African American spirituals such as ’Deep River’, used like Bach chorales to punctuate the oratorio with folk music, emphasising the work’s universal message. By the end of the work, we have moved from winter to the hope of spring but, as Tippett put it, ’spring with an ache in it’.

A Child of Our Time 

This two-day course is open to anyone who plays a brass or percussion instrument, is aged eight to 25 years old, and identifies as female or non-binary. Participants will be split into junior and senior ensembles for workshops, masterclasses and performances.

Brass and Percussion Course

RCM Springboard is a FREE yearlong course allowing participants to expand their musical knowledge, deepen their creativity and develop their own musical personalities through inspiring, practical workshops.

RCM Springboard: Half-Term Collaborative Composition Course

Royal College of Music organist Jake Scicinski performs in the RCM’s Organ Interludes series, exploring a variety of works on the Flentrop Orgelbouw organ.

Musicians from the RCM Vocal & Opera Faculty perform a varied programme of songs and vocal works on themes inspired by Robert Schumann‘s song cycle, Frauen-Liebe und Leben.

Song Plus: Frauen-Liebe und Leben

Jennifer enjoys an international career as a versatile cellist, praised for playing with ‘intelligence’ and a ‘mixture of elegance and gutsiness’. Principal cellist of Florilegium since 2000, she has recorded numerous award-winning discs for Channel Classics Records, and is a founding member of Richter Ensemble, focussing on the interdependence of today’s music with the past.

Baroque Cello Masterclass with Jennifer Morsches

Praised in reviews by Diapason, the Financial Times and Fanfare Magazine, Alexandre Dossin has an extensive performance and recording career. His discography includes over 15 recordings featuring the complete piano sonatas of Mozart, released in 2023. His career has led him to work with conductors and orchestras all over the world, and he currently serves as Vice President of the American Liszt Society.

Piano Masterclass with Alexandre Dossin

Gold Medal winner of the 2019 Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition, Kris Garfitt is in demand as an orchestral musician, performing frequently as guest trombonist with many of Europe’s leading orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He showcases his talents regularly as a soloist as well as performing in a duo with celebrated Korean pianist Seri Dan.

Trombone Masterclass with Kris Garfitt

An award-winning violinist, Peter has appeared with orchestras and ensembles worldwide, from the Melbourne Symphony and BBC Philharmonic to numerous performances across Scandinavia, including with the Oslo and Stockholm Philharmonic. He has recorded 16 violin concertos earning three Norwegian Grammys, while his Per Nørgård recording was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award and was Editor’s Choice in The Strad and International Record Review.

Violin Masterclass with Peter Herresthal

Then comes Sibelius’ Symphony no 5, which opens with a glorious evocation of sunrise and culminates in the finale’s sweeping strings and jubilant horn theme, written after Sibelius witnessed the awe-inspiring sight of 16 swans in flight. This proved to be a defining moment for the composer, who wrote in his diary: ’One of the great experiences of my life! God, how beautiful’.

Orchestral Masterworks: Sibelius 5

This season introduces a new series of late-morning concerts in The Carne Room, overlooking the Royal Albert Hall, beginning with a performance of Haydn’s string quartets.

Carne Room Elevenses

Amongst a range of exciting works is Jonathan Harvey’s tape-delay five-part canon and Michael Gordon’s Industry, a work inspired by the Industrial Revolution, technology and instruments as tools.

Electric Dreams

Renowned as both a soloist and orchestral musician, Ross Knight has played with top orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich among others. His passion for inspiring the next generation of musicians has led him to give regular masterclasses and collaborate with the Australian Youth Orchestra, contributing to their European and China tours.

Tuba Masterclass with Ross Knight

Principal Clarinet of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Maximiliano is also in constant demand as a soloist and chamber musician, and teaches masterclasses all around the world. He has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, with highlights of the past years including concertos with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, and Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, amongst others. He is one of the Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Festival of La Villa de La Orotava, held every year in his hometown. 

Clarinet Masterclass with Maximiliano Martín

He performs works by by Debussy, Rachmaninov, Kabalevsky and Chopin, as well as an original, self-composed piece of music.

RCMJD Classical Coffee Morning at the Royal Albert Hall: Matty Oxtoby

Maxim Rysanov has established himself as one of the worldʼs most vibrant and charismatic musicians: as a violist, he is principally known as a frequent guest of the crème of the international music scene, and has performed with top orchestras and conductors including the BBC Symphony, Russian National and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras.

Viola Masterclass with Maxim Rysanov

Adam was appointed principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra at the age of 21. In 2009, he received the Outstanding Young Artist Award at MIDEM Classique and the following year, won a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. As a soloist, he regularly performs with major UK orchestras, and as a committed chamber musician with a creative approach to repertoire and programming, he launched the Orsino Ensemble in 2018.

Flute Masterclass with Adam Walker

Traversing through time and place, the concert explores how brass instruments, techniques and styles have evolved over the course of music history.

RCM at Regent Hall

The Salvation Army (Regent Hall)

RCM Brass Ensemble: Through the Ages

In discussion with RCM colleagues Sarah Fuchs and Peter Linnitt, Paul Campion considers the deep personal attachments we develop towards objects we own, as well as the importance of personal collecting practices to institutions of learning.

Music and Ideas: Collecting and the History of Opera

Chamber Rush-Hour

Almass Badat is an international DJ, MC and broadcaster who weaves global sounds with cultural crossover and live instrumentation. Her DJ sets uplift and connect people, journeying through her South Asian heritage, Lusaka and London upbringing, and world travels. If you see her live, you’ll catch yourself singing and moving along with Almass but dancing to your own beat – the epitome of exploring yourself through music.

Closing Celebration with DJ Almass Badat

Enjoy a varied programme of chamber music from RCM musicians at this lunchtime concert. 

Denis regularly gives cello and chamber music classes at the Royal College of Music and at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and is visiting professor with the Nederlandse Strijkkwartet Academie (NSKA) in Holland giving classes in string quartet performance. In 2023 he led masterclasses at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and presented a Beethoven Seminar at the Yonsei University School of Music, Seoul, Korea.

Cello Masterclass with Denis Brott

At the age of 18 years of age, Matthias was engaged as Solo-Trumpeter at the Philharmonic State Orchestra in Hamburg, where he enjoyed the fascinating world of opera for 16 years. At the same time, he became a member of the GERMAN BRASS Ensemble, with whom he has released more than 20 recordings, and continues to achieve worldwide success. In October 2016 GERMAN BRASS was awarded with the ECHO Klassik.

Trumpet Masterclass with Matthias Höfs

Classical Coffee Morning at the Royal Albert Hall: String Quintet 256

The RCM Museum's temporary exhibition Awaken: Sufi Music & Women of South Asia will open an hour early for anyone who may benefit from a reduced-sensory experience of the exhibition and museum.

RCM Museum: Relaxed Opening

This event offers singers the opportunity to sing to a panel of RCM Vocal & Opera professors and receive immediate feedback within a supportive and friendly environment. It is designed to assist singers in their decision to apply to a conservatoire and to help provide answers to key questions such as: 

RCM Vocal & Opera Open Door 2024

Enjoy a varied programme of chamber music from Royal College of Music musicians at this lunchtime concert at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.

Enjoy polished chamber performances amongst a beautiful collection of historic artefacts and instruments.

Friday Music in the Museum

Enjoy a varied programme of chamber music from Royal College of Music musicians at this lunchtime concert at St Mary Abbots Church in Kensington.

RCM at St Mary Abbots Church

St Mary Abbots Church

This meditative and reflective service last for around 45 minutes, giving space to pause for a moment as the day draws to a close. Evensong also gives visitors and worshippers the opportunity to experience the incredible voices of our Cathedral choir, who perform different, specially-selected choral works as part of each service.

RCM at St Paul’s Cathedral Evensong

St. Paul's Cathedral

Academic professor at the RCM and Chief Music Critic of The Daily Telegraph Ivan Hewett reveals insight and explores answers to the question: why should anybody care what music critics say?

Music and Ideas: Who needs critics?

They perform music influenced by Caribbean, Brazilian, Cuban, African, Indian and Middle Eastern cultures. Also on the bill are Paul’s own arrangements of songs from the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds.

RCM Jazz Orchestra: Journey

Enjoy a varied programme of chamber music from talented Royal College of Music musicians at this lunchtime concert.

RCM at St James's Piccadilly

St James's Piccadilly

Join Paul Booth and the RCM Jazz Orchestra for an interactive RCM Sparks concert, exploring music influenced by the Caribbean, Brazilian, Cuban, African, Indian and Middle Eastern cultures.

Lunchtime Concert for Schools: Jazz Journey

Enjoy a varied programme of chamber music from RCM musicians at this rush-hour concert. 

The Royal College of Music Museum contains the earliest known guitar, the earliest stringed keyboard instrument and the most recognised portraits of Joseph Haydn and Farinelli. Learn about these and 56 other fascinating instruments specially chosen from the RCM’s designated collection of over 14,000 items.

RCM Museum entry

Born in Stockport, England, Clare Farr moved to Jørpeland, Norway in 1989, where she opted for the louder, more social life of the bass trombonist. She has held long-term positions with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Norrköping Symphony Orchestras, and has regularly worked with many Norwegian and European orchestras and ensembles.

Trombone Masterclass with Clare Farr

Each project starts with different stimuli, such as a theme or structure from an epic piece of music, photographs, films, fascinating scales used in gamelan or exciting rhythms in Latin percussion. Each workshop will result in a creative, original group piece of music, eventually working towards participants inventing individual compositions towards the end of the course.

RCM Springboard: Creative Workshop

The film exemplifies stories of musical communities told in the exhibition and provides invaluable cinematic context to the instruments and objects displayed in Awaken: Sufi Music & Women of South Asia.

Indus Blues (2018) Screening

Performance Studio

The powerful Hymn to the Fallen is taken from Steven Spielberg’s film Saving Private Ryan, a compelling account of the pivotal D-Day landings that took place 80 years ago this year, whilst Lucy Armstrong’s Life is a Daring Adventure or Nothing depicts her challenging journey through the Himalayan mountains.

RCM Wind Orchestra: Adventure

Learn about the earliest stringed keyboard instrument, the most recognised portraits of Joseph Haydn and Farinelli and 56 other fascinating instruments specially chosen from the RCM’s designated collection of 14,000 items.

Museum Guided Tour

The RCM Museum is delighted to present the unique opportunity to learn about and hear instruments on display in Awaken: Sufi Music & Women of South Asia as Harjit Shah speaks about the craft, production, and restoration of South Asian instruments between London and Delhi.

Royal College of Music

Oct 1 - Dec 31, 2024

RCM Museum entry

Dec 13, 2024

RCM at Pallant House

Dec 7, 2024

RCMJD End of Term Concert

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