University News Last updated 01 November
Principal Stephen Maddock shares recent events he has enjoyed at RBC, highlights two important festivals coming up this month, and provides an update on recruitment.
As we reach the halfway point in our autumn term, RBC is a permanent hive of activity. Our new students are now well settled in Birmingham, and all students are finding the best way to balance their academic classes, professional training, outside work and still find time for a social life (which is also really important!). Crucially, many are also contributing to the Conservatoire’s busy performance programme here and elsewhere.
In the last few weeks, I have been lucky enough to enjoy: two entertaining and thought-provoking Third Year Acting productions at the Crescent Theatre (The Welkin and The Things Good Men Do); a really thrilling (and sold out) performance by the RBC Symphony Orchestra of Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 and a rare performance (my first) of the monumental Berlioz ‘Symphonie funèbre et triomphale’.
I have also enjoyed an excellent new work by RBC composer Nicholas Olsen; a superb baroque concert by the RBC Chamber Choir with Jeffrey Skidmore; a special VC Concert of music by black composers to celebrate Black History Month; and several enjoyable and well-attended lunchtime concerts.
In the next couple of weeks, we have two important festivals: our Organ Festival to welcome our new ‘Juliet’ organ, and our Fauré and His World festival of songs, piano and chamber music, in which we turn our Recital Hall into a French salon for the week.
We also have a first appearance of our new RBC Salsa Orchestra at Hockley Social Club, a recital by our Vice President Peter Donohoe, and our annual Opera Scenes run of performances.
Alongside all these performances, the RBC staff team have been working hard on our recruitment activities for next year (I am still getting used to the fact that this annual cycle begins before we have fully completed the enrolment of THIS year’s students!). It’s early days but our applications look very strong once again, with good international numbers alongside a steady position in most of our UK recruitment.
It remains a curious fact about the UK scene that while the number of students taking A Level Music continues to be in long-term decline, the number of people taking music exams at Grades 6, 7 and 8 has now recovered to a position that is higher than it was before the Covid pandemic. So, it is a mixed picture, and at RBC we need to make sure that we continue to do everything we can to encourage the best students to want to study here.
Although it’s already beginning to look a lot like Christmas in central Birmingham (with the Frankfurt Christmas Market starting tonight!), we still have nearly 80 further events at RBC until we can put up our mistletoe and crack open the mulled wine – so I hope we might see you at a few of these before the year is out.