Undergraduate Studies

The Royal Academy of Music offers an internationally recognised springboard into the music profession.

We are a friendly community of students and staff who insist on the highest standards of musical excellence.

Family and friends may ask you why you want to come to the Academy, and your response is probably because you want to become a professional musician. Our renowned BMus offers you a clear route to realising your career aspirations. From performing in Academy events through to learning directly with the world’s greatest musicians, our collaborative performance environment nurtures your individual talent to its utmost potential.

Every student at the Academy is valued, and we ensure that your four undergraduate years are challenging, engaging, motivational and inspirational – and, above all, tailored to your own artistic personality and career goals.

Hannah Morgan ‘I am really enjoying my time at the Academy.For me it was the ideal place to pursue mystudies: the tuition, both instrumentallyand academically, is exceptional and itis a privilege to be surrounded by suchaccomplished musicians.

The Academy provides so many wonderfulopportunities. I have played in orchestralconcerts with renowned conductorsincluding Yan Pascal Tortelier, EdwardGardner and Peter Schreier; premieredSir Peter Maxwell Davies’s operaKommilitonen!; and made a CD recordingwith Trevor Pinnock. I’ve played in a joint Academy/Juilliard orchestra in collaborative performances in New York and at the Proms, conducted by John Adams.

Chamber music and solo playing are also nurtured – I’ve been offered many performance opportunities, both inside the Academy and at external venues. Numerous masterclasses and individual lessons with international players and Academy professors have broadened my outlook and have been inspirational and motivating.

The Academy is a unique place in whichone can flourish both musically and as aperson. One could not hope for a betterstart to a professional career in music.’

Introduction

Performance: our insistence upon excellence in live performance and the astonishing expertise on offer from our staff — a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of music.

Professional Development: we believe that the skills needed for employment as a successful musician are broader than the techniques needed to perform, so we teach you about the music world and how to thrive in it.

Place: being in central London brings significant added value and cultural gravitas to the start of your career, as well as a real buzz of entrepreneurial energy to your development — not to mention the enormous number of performance opportunities.

Pastoral care: the one-to-one personal support we provide throughout your time, as we guide you through every aspect of your study and ensure that your musical well-being is supported and enhanced by everything you do.

Wenhong Luo ‘I came here simply because the Academy is one of the world’s very top music schools. From my first visit I was struck by the atmosphere here, even by the paintings on the wall, and from then it was always in my mind that I’d like to study here. I also love the international nature of London.

We get the most impressive teachers at the Academy. I even had a masterclass on Paganini’s Campanella with Maxim Vengerov last term — he played the piece on my viola, beautifully of course!

Being a member of a Leverhulme Fellowship quartet has brought a lot of new experiences and opportunities to me — including external performances at prestigious venues and the opportunity to record in a small ensemble under the direction of Trevor Pinnock.

I’d love to keep on living in London after I’ve graduated. I hope to specialise mainly in soloand small ensemble repertoire, but the level of orchestral playing and the calibre of themajor conductors who work at the Academy has made me realise that I want to keep playing in orchestras too!’

The Academy

Three values underpin the BMus and are the ‘ABC’ of everything you study: Artistry; Belonging; and Challenge. Read on to find out more...

The Academy’s distinctiveness emerges from four factors:

‘You can listen to the next generation at the Royal Academy of Music. The very best musicians train here... It’s the most accessible and friendly musical venue anywhere’ Sunday Times

‘The Royal Academy is internationally known and recognised as representing the highest values’ Daniel Barenboim

Being artistically successful at an international level requires numerous skills. The most important of these is listening. All the modules you study have their roots in listening, which we conceive broadly as underpinning a huge range of activities, for example: Hearing and responding to subtle expressive nuances from the other members of your quartet Notating complex contemporary melodies and chords Hearing a score in your inner ear and reading it at a keyboard or arranging it for brass quintet

Analysing the aural effect of Mahler’s orchestral technique Getting feedback from teachers, peers and audiences Learning about music in multimedia Blending your own intonation with your ensemble Giving an oboe lesson to a beginner Identifying errors in Baroque counterpoint Leading an improvisation with a group of children Listening to your players as you conduct a rehearsal Discriminating between edits for your demo CD in our recording studios.

Principal Study lessons on your instrument or in composition are your primary means of developing ways of listening professionally, and they are geared around developing your interpretative abilities alongside the requisite technical facility.

In addition to individual lessons, Academy students have: Performance classes with visiting professors such as Rachel Podger and Steven Osborne Opportunities to perform in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as with Maxim Vengerov and Håkan Hardenberger Chamber music with ensembles such as the Escher Quartet Placements with top UK orchestras such as the LSO, Philharmonia, BBC SO and London Sinfonietta Sessions with principals of the very best European orchestras — including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra Concerts under distinguished visiting conductors including Mark Elder, Semyon Bychkov and Trevor Pinnock.

Fanning out from Principal Study, the rest of the programme develops complementary musical skills. These fall into two overlapping types:

practical skills, which concern live performance directly; and professional skills, which enhance employability and help you to learn the vital skills of self-management.

Practical skills are developed in numerous popular practical modules, of which the following are representative: departmental activity (e.g. string orchestra, big band, orchestral repertoire sessions, historically informed performance classes), Introduction to Conducting, Aural Skills, Techniques and Analysis, Composition for Performers, Attentive Listening, Performing Baroque Music, Improvisation for Pianists.

Professional skills are developed in modules that address employability head on and train you up for life as a working musician. These include: Principles of Teaching, Recording and Digital Editing, Instrumentation and Computer Transcription, Music in Community, Music Business, Music and Arts Management. Your individual programme of study develops and combines these practical and performance skills in various ways and gives you a safe and supportive space in which to experiment and develop as a musician — to challenge and be challenged.

Artistry

‘With a list of alumni that reads like a Who’s Who of classical music over the last two centuries, there is no doubting that the Royal Academy of Music has successfully retained and developed its status as a centre of excellence’ Classical Music magazine

Our alumni have made many of the most influential recordings of the 20th century (e.g. Simon Rattle, Henry Wood, Moura Lympany, John Barbirolli, Dennis Brain, Lionel Tertis, Clifford Curzon). They have become key players in the music business (e.g. Edward Gardner, Harrison Birtwistle, Lesley Garrett, Evelyn Glennie, Felicity Lott, Elton John, Annie Lennox).

Our library and museum contain internationally significant materials, including manuscripts and letters by Purcell, Handel, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms and Vaughan Williams, a peerless collection of violins, books belonging to Queen Elizabeth I, and the archives of iconic figures such as Yehudi Menuhin, Otto Klemperer, Kenny Wheeler and Charles Mackerras.

Given this extraordinary heritage at your fingertips as an Academy student, a significant proportion of your programme focuses on historical and technological contexts of music making: what it means to live in our present age, to belong to our unique artistic lineage, and to make music today — and tomorrow — with the support of this distinguished tradition behind you.

Optional modules include: Crossing Cultural Frontiers, Exoticism in the Western Classical Tradition, Landmarks in Postwar Music, Maestro: A History of Conducting, The Music of Brahms, Mozart’s Later Operas, Messiaen in Context. Through modules like these you develop ways of engaging with musical heritage and create a musical identity for yourself that is individual and employable.

Scott Chapman ‘Studying at the Academy has been a steeplearning curve for me. Being exposed to somany different styles and approaches toplaying and writing music was exactly whatI’d come here for, and in my first year aloneI noticed a significant change in my playing.

It’s a real privilege being taught by andworking on a personal level with some ofthe best musicians on the UK jazz scene,as well as having regular masterclassesfrom other renowned international artists.A particular highlight for me so far washaving Dave Douglas with us for a wholeweek — he had so much to say, on boththe creative and the business sides ofbeing a successful musician. It’s sovaluable playing with and receiving advicefrom people who speak from experienceat a high level.

The performance opportunities are also fantastic and have enabled me to play atvenues such as the 606, Pizza Express jazz club and the Forge, where I was fortunate to perform with Julian Siegel. Playing with the other students is always a source of enjoyment too, and it’s great to be in an environment where we learn from each other as well as from our professors.’

Belonging

Sir Elton John and the Principal with students in the Academy bar after a concert

We understand that you will embark on a demanding and sometimes difficult personal journey while you are studying at the Academy. Being a musician is a privilege but also requires commitment. You are one of tomorrow’s musicians and have an important double responsibility: to develop and deepen the understanding of musical traditions, and to develop innovative ways of making music.

We support your development by giving you unique performing opportunities, challenging you constantly, and rewarding your success. You will graduate from the Academy as a fully paid-up citizen of the professional musical world, ready to challenge the world as an artist.

Above: John Adams conducts a combined Royal Academy of Music / Juilliard School Orchestra at the BBC Proms.

Challenge

One of the things that our students say about their time at the Academy is that it is stimulating, inspiring and flexible. They also say that it is the friendliest and most heart-warming environment in which to pursue your ambition.

You will find that you make friends for life here and begin rich musical relationships that sustain your professional career — human stories of music making that bind us together.

‘A student’s choice of university makes a difference when it comes to finding a job or a place in a graduate program,according to a survey released last week by the British government... The Royal Academy of Music was the only British post-secondary institute with a perfect score’ International Herald Tribune

Marylebone Road London NW1 5HT | tel. 020 7873 7373 www.ram.ac.uk | Registered Charity No. 310007www.facebook.com/royalacademyofmusicwww.twitter.com/RoyalAcadMusic

Patron: HM The QueenPresident: HRH The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO

Principal: Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood