HEFCE Annual Conference 2012

Higher education: balancing public benefit and individual reward

About the venue

The Royal College of Music provides an inspirational education for some of the most promising young musicians of each generation, with over 700 students from 54 countries studying at undergraduate, masters and doctoral level. Its professors are distinguished musicians who continue to perform on the international stage, compose and research, ensuring that RCM musicians connect effectively with a fast-changing profession.

Former students include some of the most distinguished figures in British music history: composers Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber; conductors Leopold Stokowski, Sir Colin Davis; singers Dame Joan Sutherland, Sir Thomas Allen; and instrumentalists Sir James Galway and John Lill.

RCM prides itself on its learning, participation and outreach programme for people of all ages to engage in music-making at the college.

The RCM provides concert and practice facilities that reflect contemporary standards of sound insulation and lighting, such as those in the recently transformed Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, part-funded by HEFCE, and the Britten Theatre which continues to contribute the reputation of the RCM International Opera School.