University News Last updated 09 May
Friends,
We are now at the start of the end-of-year assessment period for our Music students, with each of our performers preparing a recital to be given over the next month. It is that moment when a year of preparation, lessons and solo practice are distilled into a single session of high performance – in the same way that those of us whose education was assessed just by examinations will remember with a mix of familiarity and perhaps a level of PTSD. I am sure you will join me in wishing all our students the best of luck.
It is now two years – and one week – since I arrived at RBC, so I have been doing a certain amount of taking stock. There has been quite a lot of change within RBC and in the wider University; but also a great deal of continuity, with the high standards, hard work and creativity of our staff and students providing regular inspiration to each other.
At a time when the whole of Higher Education, including Conservatoires, has been facing some very serious challenges – both financial and in terms of the pipeline of students – we have held up well, and our recruitment for next year remains strong in most areas.
But the headwinds are still there, especially in terms of the opportunities for young people to access excellent and relevant arts and culture before they reach the age of 18. We are doing as much as we can in this area – not least through our Junior RBC and the work of our Learning and Participation team – but it is never enough to cover all those areas where opportunities have disappeared. As a sector, we continue to lobby strongly for some more stable long-term government support for Music and Theatre Education.
There have also been more performances and productions than I can count – most recently this week the last Birmingham New Music night of the year, devised and led by our highly imaginative Composition students. Before the term is out, there will be many more, including our end-of-term RBC Symphony Orchestra concert, in which the conducting duties will be shared by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) Music Director Kazuki Yamada and our very own Daniele Rosina.
In a fortnight, we will be hosting the first edition outside Goa of the Serendipity Festival, welcoming artists from South Asia here for an exciting long weekend of music, film, visual art and talks. All the events are free, and are hosted either here at RBC or in Symphony Hall, where you can hear our brilliant students in two very special lunchtime events: The new Banda Brasileira on Sunday 25 May, and the well-established RBC Folk Ensemble, who will be taking their unique energy and exuberant music-making to the Symphony Hall stage on Monday 26 May for the very first time. I do hope you can join us for some of these events – it promises to be a hugely energising experience.
Stephen Maddock
Principal