Staff updates
Share #UpbeatOnline
Alongside their College commitments, Royal College of Music professors and staff members continue their involvement in a wide range of activities.
Awards, accolades and appointments
Vocal professor Dame Sarah Connolly is to receive the King’s Medal for Music in 2024, awarded to an outstanding individual or group who have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation.
Historical clarinet professor Dr Ingrid Pearson has been selected as a member of the Advisory Group reviewing the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education‘s 2024–25 Music Subject Benchmark Statement.
Visiting Professor of Voice Nicky Spence won the 2024 Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the ‘Singer’ category, recognised by the RPS for his outstanding performances and for ‘nurturing young talent‘.
[image1]
Professor of violin Emily Sun has been named the latest custodian of ‘The Adelaide’ violin, crafted in Milan in the 18th century by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.
Emily Sun becomes custodian of 'The Adelaide' Guadagnini violin
— Classical Music (@ClassicalMusic_) December 11, 2023
The instrument, which was collectively purchased by the people of South Australia is loaned to artists with a connection to the region by the UKARIA Cultural Centre @emilysunviolinhttps://t.co/80iWT24ivt
James Williams, who takes up his role as Director of the Royal College of Music in September 2024, became an LVO in the New Year Honours in recognition of his significant contribution to the music for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in 2023.
Research and publications
Lecturer in Music Education Dr Dave Camlin has recently published his book Music Making and Civic Imagination.
Research Fellow Dr Tania Lisboa’s research into music and wellbeing in South America has reached a significant milestone with the creation of the ‘Music, Health and Wellbeing’ discipline as part of the music education undergraduate programme at the Federal University of Bahia in Salvador – a direct result of three years of collaborative research.
RCM Junior Department piano teacher Clara Rodriguez has conceived a series of books called Venezuelan Treasures for Piano. The first of her editions comprises three volumes of piano pieces by Venezuelan composer Federico Ruiz published by Clifton Edition and distributed by Stainer & Bell.
Recordings, performances and talks
Research Associate Dr Ed Bennett released Strange Waves, a collaboration with Kate Ellis, on the Ergodos label.
[image3]
Harpsichord professor Terence Charlston has released Chit chat: music for two clavichords on the Prima Facie label.
RCM Junior Department Jazz Piano and Jazz Ensemble Tutor and Senior College Guest Improvisation Tutor Sara Dhillon has become the Musical Director of the new Afro-Cuban/Latin Jazz Music Collective at the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, an ensemble she helped to set up. The Collective recently gave its sold-out debut gig at Ronnie Scott’s, with performers including RCM alumnus Pablo Barrios on piano and RCM musician Toril Azzalini-Machecler on congas.
[image4]
Composition professor Dr Deirdre Gribbin’s cello concerto Mná, ‘Is she a witch, is she a fairy, is she the wife of Michael Cleary’, was recently broadcast on BBC Radio 3, with cello professor Natalie Clein as soloist.
Piano professor Leon McCawley has released Natural Connection, a compilation of piano music inspired by the natural world, on SOMM Recordings.
Violin professor Natalia Lomeiko and piano professor Dinara Klinton have recorded a new album of music by Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Prokofiev and Szymanowski, to be released on Orchid Classics in April.
[image6]
RCM Museum Digital & Documentation Officer Richard Martin spoke at an Association of Performing Arts Collections (APAC) event about the RCM Museum, developing the Wolfson Centre in Music & Material Culture, and recent research projects such as the 3D printed instruments and Materialising Musical Instruments.
Governance Services Administrator and Clerk to Council Sharon Moloney performed in the Donne ‘Let Her Music Play’ 24-hour livestream of music by female and under-represented composers, set to break the Guinness World Record for longest acoustic live-streamed concert.
24 hours of non-stop music to break a @GWR
— BBC Radio 3 (@BBCRadio3) February 22, 2024
100% written by women and non-binary composers
Let HER MUSIC Play @Donne_UK @GDiLaccio will attempt the longest acoustic, live-streamed concert ever staged, on Thursday 22 February from 12pmhttps://t.co/SQ8kDs3tam
Publications Officer Joanna Wyld recently gave pre-concert talks for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and for the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall’s Clore Ballroom, with another Philharmonia talk coming up in April.
Send your updates for the Summer 2024 printed edition of Upbeat to news@rcm.ac.uk by Friday 10 May.
