We’re delighted to announce two new appointments to the prestigious Vocal & Opera Faculty! Award-winning bass Jonathan Lemalu becomes Deputy Head of Vocal & Opera, and distinguished pianist, coach and conductor Mark Austin joins as Assistant Head of Vocal & Opera. bit.ly/RCM-VandO-appointments

Nirvana fans of the MTV Unplugged in New York album should check out the @rcmlondon.bsky.social exhibition about the recording. The guitar, the jumper and rare memorabilia are on display until November 18 in London.

Tell us your news! 📣 We love to hear from RCM staff, students and alumni – from performances to projects to publications. Send your updates to [email protected] by Friday 26 September, and you could feature in the autumn edition of Upbeat magazine. 📸 Chris Christodoulou

Meet the extraordinary musicians who will be Royal College of Music Fellows for the 2025/26 academic year - congratulations to all! 🎉 Find out more about them: bit.ly/RCM-Fellowsh...

We wish all scholars well for the term ahead 🍂

This #FlashbackFriday listen to RCM flautist Samantha Rowe perform Brett Dean's effervescent work for solo flute, 'Demons' 🫧 Learn more about the piece and watch the full performance on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/aOaqyNmgql8

Tra le fiamme, the latest recording on Channel Classics, brings together the RCM's innovative new 3D printed instruments with rare originals from the RCM Collection, performed by alumni and leading professors from our Historical Performance Faculty! Discover the recording: bit.ly/RCM-Tralefia...

Last week #RCMSparks kicked off the Springboard Young Composers Course with a special rehearsal visit at the Royal Albert Hall and a trip to the RCM Museum's Kurt Cobain Unplugged exhibition. Well done to the new students for creating amazing work inspired by music from the BBC Proms! 🎶

We’re thrilled to welcome three outstanding new professors to the Strings Faculty! 🎶 Joining our faculty are principal harp of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Elizabeth Bass, award-winning harpist Oliver Wass, and internationally acclaimed violinist Esther Yoo. Read more➡️ bit.ly/RCM-Stringsp...

RCM singers take centre stage at the BBC Proms this week! Tonight, alumna Ava Dodd joins Visiting Professors Brindley Sherratt and Nicky Spence in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth. Then on Sunday, look out for alumni Laurence Kilsby and Elizabeth Watts in Bliss’ cantata The Beatitudes.

Can you name that character? 🐺🦆🐦 Hear Prokofiev’s iconic Peter and the Wolf, brought to life by RCM musicians in this intimate arrangement. Watch the full performance on YouTube, led by RCM conductor Sam Scheer & narrated by the wonderful Lucy Hollins: youtu.be/25Jt_Dklkzs

#RCMSparks is delighted to once again be partnering with GALSI (Gender and the Large and Shiny Instruments) to offer an exciting two-day course at the RCM! 📅28–29 October 🎟️Pay What You Can – Free places also available Learn more and apply: bit.ly/galsi2025

Meet the two wonderful vocal studies professors joining the Royal College of Music this autumn! We look forward to welcoming sopranos Mary Nelson and Sarah Tynan to the Vocal and Opera Faculty, adding their expertise to our world-class teaching staff. Find out more about them: bit.ly/RCM-vocal

Missed out on the RCM Opera Studio’s spring production of Le nozze di Figaro? You are in luck – the production will be streamed worldwide this Friday on OperaVision! Don’t miss out on a fantastic performance of Mozart’s beloved opera. Watch from 6pm: operavision.eu/performance/...

How can singing change the lives of new mothers? Read The Guardian to find out how research led by Royal College of Music Professor @rosielperkins.bsky.social is making a difference in Australia ⬇️ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Look out for RCM alumni Louise Alder and Huw Montague Rendall in The Marriage of Figaro at the Proms tomorrow! This weekend, Hugh Cutting performs in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, and don’t miss a world premiere by Hannah Kendall. Read more about our alumni at the BBC Proms⬇️ bit.ly/RCM-BBCProms

Using performance nerves as your superpower! 💪 In her inspiring horn masterclass earlier this year, hear Sarah Willis' wise words with RCM musician Jack Bradley-Buxton on using nervousness to benefit your musicality. Have you ever felt that being nervous helped you perform better? #FlashbackFriday

Celebrating Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s 150th anniversary! Hear the RCM alumnus' spirited Novelleten for string orchestra, performed by talented young musicians of the RCM Junior Department earlier this year. Read more about his legacy and life at the RCM: bit.ly/3V0UJtT #FlashbackFriday

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born OTD 150 years ago. Here's his rather lovely Clarinet Quintet: youtu.be/YhkxzmDbVN8?...

Celebrating Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s 150th anniversary! Hear the RCM alumnus' spirited Novelleten for string orchestra, performed by talented young musicians of the RCM Junior Department earlier this year. Read more about his legacy and life at the RCM: bit.ly/3V0UJtT #FlashbackFriday

Looking for exciting concerts and performances in London? Look no further – booking is now open for our Autumn Season of events! With chamber music, family events, orchestral concerts and masterclasses, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Book now: www.rcm.ac.uk/events

Enjoy some peaceful Purcell this #FlashbackFriday 🧚 Performed by the RCM Baroque Orchestra, hear the delightful Rondeau from Henry Purcell’s Suite from The Fairy Queen. Learn more about the RCM Historical Performance Faculty: www.rcm.ac.uk/hp/

Priority booking is now open for our Autumn Season! If you are an RCM Friend, take advantage of the seven-day priority booking period and secure your seats for rousing concerts and events this autumn. Want to become an RCM Friend? Learn how at www.rcm.ac.uk/support/frie...

Our production of Mozart’s timeless masterpiece, The Marriage of Figaro, will be streaming worldwide on OperaVision later this month! 🎥 Stream free from 29 August - available for 6 months. Find out more: bit.ly/RCM-OperaVis...

We’re delighted to announce that Dr Sarah K Whitfield (@sarahinthepark.bsky.social) has been appointed Reader in Musical Theatre at the Royal College of Music and has also been appointed Head of Doctoral Programmes. Read more about Sarah’s achievements: bit.ly/RCM-Sarah-Wh...

What an ending! 🌟 Today's #FlashbackFriday is Mendelssohn's Octet at @wigmore-hall.org.uk, as part of our RCM Strings Showcase. What a fantastic feeling to be in the room for this thrilling finale – watch the full performance now on our YouTube channel. #MendelssohnOctet #WigmoreHall

A huge well done to everyone who took part in the #RCMSparks Launch Pad course this week! The Nirvana interpretations created in the sessions were reflective, epic, and truly inspiring. Everyone took it to the next level – legends in the making 🎸 #Nirvana #CreativeLegends

Announcing our Autumn Season! 🍂 Join us at the Royal College of Music for a rousing season of concerts and events, with something for all musical tastes to enjoy. Booking opens on 13 August, or 6 August for priority bookers. Browse all events now: www.rcm.ac.uk/events/

A fascinating few days hosting the inaugural Music and Parental Wellbeing Symposium at the RCM, where over 75 international speakers came together to explore music’s vital role in supporting parents’ wellbeing. Find out more about the RCM’s research: bit.ly/RCM-Symposium

Royal College of Music auditions are coming to Australia! 🌏 We're thrilled to announce Sydney as our newest audition location, joining a global network of audition locations including London, the USA, and countries across Asia. Find out more: bit.ly/RCM-Sydney

‘Here I am, living my dream!’ Did you catch RCM alumnus Nicholas McCarthy performing Ravel at the #bbcproms? Read about the successes of our alumni, students and staff in #RCMUpbeat magazine, plus our Proms roundup and all the latest news: bit.ly/RCMCommunity 📸 Chris Christodoulou

We're proud to see our alumni thriving in their careers after graduating! New data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency has revealed that 93% of RCM 2023 graduates who completed the survey were in high-skilled employment 15 months after finishing their studies.

Electronics and echoes... ⚡ Hear RCM saxophonist Meg Glover perform Jonathan Harvey's ingenious Ricercare una Melodia. The piece uses a tape-delay system to create a five-part canon from a single melody line – listen out for the harmonies it creates! #FlashbackFriday

A very happy birthday to the extraordinary Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who turns 100 today. Anita survived Auschwitz, where she played cello in the camp orchestra.

Looking forward to unplugging from everyday life at the BBC Proms this season? Why not stay unplugged a little longer with a visit to our Kurt Cobain exhibition, just across the road from the @royalalberthall.bsky.social. Book your tickets: bit.ly/RCM-Cobainex... #BBCProms

Ever wondered about the impact one choice has made on your life? When Dani Howard composed The Butterfly Effect about her time at the Royal College of Music, she was reflecting on just that! 🦋 Read how Dani enjoyed ‘some of the best years of her life’ at the RCM 👉 bit.ly/DaniHoward

On 22–23 July, the RCM will host the inaugural Music and Parental Wellbeing Symposium, bringing together over 75 international speakers to explore how music can support parents’ wellbeing. Find out how the RCM’s work has already made a difference: bit.ly/RCM-Musicand...

The BBC Proms begin this week! Keep an eye out for RCM students, staff and alumni throughout the season. This weekend alone, alumnus Nicholas McCarthy makes his Proms debut while the First Night features new music by composition professor Errollyn Wallen and a performance by alumnus Gerald Finley.

The best of Beethoven ✨ This #FlashbackFriday, we’re rewinding back to RCM pianist Magdalene Ho’s wonderful performance of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto earlier this year. Over the summer we’ll be sharing highlights from our 2024-25 events every Friday. Stay tuned for more!

Once again, the quality of the Royal College of Music’s learning resources mean our Library earned the top score among conservatoires and one of the highest across all UK universities in the National Student Survey, recognising our specialist resources that support every student’s journey.

A purr-fect day 🐱 Last month #RCMSparks hosted a wonderful Lunchtime Concert for Schools. Presented by the fantastic Lucy Hollins, we explored the characters, instruments and themes in Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, from the clarinet's crafty cat to the oboe's dawdling duck!

Spotted our exhibition in Time Out London? We’re thrilled to announce more dates for Kurt Cobain Unplugged. We are now booking until 18 November. Don’t miss this chance to explore the legacy of Kurt Cobain! 🎫 bit.ly/Cobain_newda... #KurtCobain #Nirvana #Rock #Grunge

That’s a wrap! ✅🎶 2024/25 has been another wonderful year of performances, masterclasses, festivals and more. See a few highlights below in our #RCMRoundUp!

From 2026/27, the Royal College of Music will validate and confer degrees at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance! This exciting new partnership gives students at both institutions unique opportunities to work closely together, bringing music and dance together in creative exchange.

Did you catch RCM Librarian Peter Linnitt discussing alumnus Samuel Coleridge-Taylor on BBC Radio 3’s The Hiawatha Phenomenon? Listen again on Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... @emmaharding.bsky.social

A very warm welcome to all those celebrating #RCMGraduation with us today! Each ceremony will be broadcast live on bit.ly/rcm-graduati...

‘Young composers worry about finding their voice. Don’t worry – experiment!’ In Upbeat magazine, Mark-Anthony Turnage chatted with Professor Jonathan Cole about 20 years of RCM teaching, Turnage’s opera Festen, and the friendships at the heart of the RCM Composition Faculty. bit.ly/Turnage_upbeat

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Daphne Boden, distinguished harpist and a cherished member of the Royal College of Music community, where she taught in the Junior Department and was a professor in the senior College for over 50 years.

We look forward to welcoming our students and their families to #RCMGraduation tomorrow 🎓 For those who cannot attend the celebrations in person, a live stream of the ceremonies will be broadcast on our website's homepage via bit.ly/rcm-graduati...

Nathan Amaral with composer, Daniel Kidane, after his performance of Daniel’s violin concerto Aloud with Kirill Karabits and the @rcmlondon.bsky.social Symphony Orchestra 👏 Last week at the Aldeburgh Festival ☀️ #YCATartists