Professional development
“...The Oxbridge of the music world: the Royal Academy of Music. The UK’s oldest conservatoire is often — rightly — spoken of with reverence, training nearly 700 students from over 50 countries in more than 20 disciplines and having produced such esteemed alumni as Edward Gardner, Lesley Garrett and Harrison Birtwistle. For proximity to the upper echelons of the classical world, the Royal Academy of Music is nigh on unbeatable... A healthy professional development scheme means that students are regularly involved in numerous and varied external bookings — and, for many students, only the legacy and legend of London’s classical music scene will do.”Muso magazine
Head of Professional Development: Marc Ernesti
Professional Development offers ‘drop-in’ guidance as well as a wide range of useful support links on the Academy’s intranet.
Professional Development is a centre for industry excellence, delivering current, relevant professional activity which is embedded at the heart of the Academy’s ethos.
It delivers a holistic and streamlined series of events, seminars, lectures and training opportunities which provide the student with a rich and varied professional experience throughout their studies.
The Royal Academy of Music encourages the attitude that a student enters the profession on the day they begin their course. By the time a student graduates they should be an expert, not just in their instrument, but in the profession as a whole.
The service provides the student with the skills to tap into every element of their musical talent, whatever that talent may be.
As the concert hall increasingly becomes only one of many avenues through which a musician makes a career, the Student Professional Development Service endeavors to ensure the student is informed and skilled in making a living out of the ever expanding pool of greater opportunity through a combination of ability, imagination and knowledge.
Read more about cellist Sacha McCulloch’s experiences with Professional Development
“For proximity to the upper echelons of the classical world, the Royal Academy of Music is nigh on unbeatable... A healthy professional development scheme means that students are regularly involved in numerous and varied external bookings — and, for many students, only the legacy and legend of London's classical music scene will do.” (Muso, December 2011)
The Open Academy Business Placement Scheme provides students with front-line, professional experience in a range of innovative and stimulating environments. These opportunities complement both academic and practical study, and aim to provide a working knowledge of the current industry climate.
We have established placement schemes with music festivals, publishers, art galleries and more, and also with professional departments within the Academy.
