The Academy regularly welcomes great artists from around the world to work with and inspire its students. This coming term, renowned American conductor Roderick Cox returns to lead the Academy Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s insurgent Fifth Symphony and Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben (17 Oct). The ensemble then takes on another work that shook the musical world a century later, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, with the Academy’s Henry Wood Chair of Conducting John Wilson (7 Nov). This programme also features Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 1, with Academy pianist Emanuil Ivanov as the soloist.
Musical innovation is then brought to the theatre stage as Royal Academy Opera presents a new production of Bizet’s Carmen (18-21 Nov). Directed by Harry Fehr and conducted by Head of Opera Christopher White, Academy singers portray the passion, lawlessness and moral defiance of Bizet’s most infamous work.
From revolution to reinvention, regular collaborator Ryan Wigglesworth conducts the Academy Soloists Ensemble in a programme of works rearranged for chamber orchestra at Wigmore Hall (26 Oct). Schoenberg’s reduction of Johann Strauss’ Kaiser-Walzer is paired with Anthony Payne’s reimagining of Bruckner’s Symphony No 2, which reveals the luminescent appeal of the composer's symphonic writing in a more intimate setting. Before this concert, the Academy releases a new recording on Linn Records of a previous project led by Ryan Wigglesworth – an all-Nielsen programme presented in chamber arrangements by Hans Abrahamsen (5 Sep).
Resounding Shores, the Academy’s series celebrating the music of Henry Purcell and his forebears and contemporaries, continues with three concerts in the autumn term. First, acclaimed lutenist and Dean of Students Elizabeth Kenny directs students from the Academy and the Paris Conservatoire in a programme of late 17th-century dramatic music for small groups of singers (5 Oct). The programme, featuring Charpentier’s poignant The Denial of St Peter, is then repeated in Edinburgh in an event presented by The Georgian Concert Society (6 Oct). Next, avant-garde Baroque violinist Bjarte Eike returns to the Academy to play alongside students in a performance of Purcell and his contemporaries that promises infectious energy (2 Nov). Finally, a programme of anthems and motets is performed by the Academy Baroque Soloists and conductor John Butt (30 Nov), featuring Purcell’s The Yorkshire Feast Song – an inventive celebration of the history of York since Roman times, complete with subtle references to the Glorious Revolution.
This term’s Composer in Residence is Lotta Wennäkoski, whose works are performed frequently in concert halls around the world. Across three events (27 Nov), her music is explored by Academy musicians and Head of Composition Philip Cashian, featuring a performance of a work commissioned for the Academy’s 200 PIECES series in 2022.
SIDE-BY-SIDE projects at the Academy continue to provide students with the experience of working alongside leading musicians in a completely professional context. In the coming term, the Academy Manson Ensemble performs the music of Pierre Boulez alongside London Sinfonietta at the Southbank Centre, conducted by George Benjamin (5 Oct). Jazz Department students take part in a SIDE-BY-SIDE project with legendary saxophonist and composer Jason Yarde and other leading artists as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, offering a rare and powerful glimpse into intergenerational collaboration (15 Nov).
Other jazz events include an Academy Jazz Orchestra concert with bassist and jazz icon Anders Jormin, featuring UK premieres of his electrifying large ensemble works (3 Oct), and a celebration of the NDR Big Band with Academy Professor Nikki Iles, who was recently appointed as the ensemble’s Principal Conductor (23 Nov). This concert highlights the long line of collaboration between the NDR and some of the UK’s most celebrated jazz composers – from Mike Gibbs and Kenny Wheeler to Julian Siegel and Trish Clowes.
Completing the season is a new production from the Royal Academy Musical Theatre Company tracing the extraordinary influence of Trevor Nunn (2 Dec). Featuring music by legends such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and Claude-Michel Schönberg, the concert journeys from Hamlet to Les Misérables and Oklahoma! to Cats, revealing how Nunn’s artistry reshaped the language of theatre for generations.
There is also ample opportunity across the autumn term for audiences to see celebrated artists and students explore new musical perspectives in public masterclasses. The Academy looks forward to visits from accordion soloist Martynas Levickis (16 Sep), operatic baritones Sir Thomas Allen (30 Sep) and David Butt Philip (6 Oct), Principal Flutists Emily Beynon (8 Oct) and Denis Bouriakov (25 Nov) and conductor, pianist and vocal coach Audrey Saint-Gil (27 Nov).
Online booking opens at 10am on Friday 11 July, when all events will be live here.