Open Academy is about sharing the highest quality musical experiences, opening minds and ears and allowing people of all ages to explore and grow.
Head of Open Academy: Julian West BA Hons
Professional Development Advisor: Janet Marshall BA, MMus
Senior Administrator: Helen Wills BA, Hon ARAMOutreach and Musem Support Administrator: Alexandra Clarke BA, MA
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Telephone 020 7873 7442 / Email openacademy@ram.ac.uk
The Academy's mission has always been to provide musical training at the highest level. Open Academy expands this opportunity beyond enrolled Academy students and out into the fullest range of society - challenging preconceptions of what music conservatoires do. Academy students also benefit directly by engaging in innovative education projects alongside some of the country’s leading musicians and workshop leaders, often in collaboration with organisations including Wigmore Hall, Spitalfields Music, The Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment, Glyndebourne Opera and English Touring Opera.
The changing profession
The Academy is acutely aware that performers now make their living in a wider pool of opportunity than ever before. The traditional concert hall is now only one of many different places where students gain experience of an evolving profession. As part of our Music in Community programme, students learn about the work carried out by musicians and arts organisations as they seek to redefine their relationships with the general public. Workshops take place in schools, libraries, hospitals, care homes and other venues to give students first-hand practical experience of this work in action. Academy students are given the opportunity to learn the skills needed to be effective musicians in this ever more important field of work. As students progress through their Academy careers, opportunities exist for them to develop these skills further through taking specially devised elective courses, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.