In recognition of Mrs Jebsen’s outstanding support, 1-5 York Gate, a large Nash-terrace building, part of the Academy’s main site on London’s Marylebone Road, will be named Aud Jebsen House. The donation will be staggered and the Grade II-listed Regency building will undergo major works over the next three years. The Academy’s Museum and Collections (home to a significant collection of prestigious string instruments – including world-renowned Stradivari – played by staff and students) will be reimagined. The transformation will include a complete, top-level acoustic refit of teaching, rehearsal and practice rooms ensuring students continue to prepare for the technical demands of a fast-evolving music industry.
Mrs Jebsen, who has supported many music and dance-focussed arts organisations with generous gifts to the Royal Ballet School and Royal Ballet and Opera says: ‘I believe in supporting the very best. Students need the best teachers, and they also need the finest spaces in which to explore and extend their musical potential. I am proud to support this outstanding organisation and to contribute to the life and prospects of its students. I feel so lucky that my late husband Kristian Gerhard’s extraordinary business life enables me to make this gift.’
The adjoining hall, currently known as the David Josefowitz Recital Hall, will also receive full internal reconfiguration to create a world-class venue, with refreshed acoustic treatment, interior design and audience facilities to match the Academy’s other public performance spaces. It will be named the Aud and Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Recital Hall, in honour of Mrs Jebsen and her late husband.
Wright & Wright Architects have been appointed to carry out the three-year project. They have recently completed significant work on cultural landmarks, including the British Museum, the British Academy and the Royal Opera House. Many of the practice’s projects are situated on sites of national or international importance, where they help clients reimagine and enhance their buildings to enrich the experience of visitors and users.
These works will further enhance the Academy’s Marylebone facilities, adding to the award-winning Susie Sainsbury Theatre and Angela Burgess Recital Hall which opened in 2018, and will complement the work underway to fit out an entirely new building for large-scale rehearsals and teaching in east London, due to open in early 2027. Last year, state-of-the-art composition and recording facilities were opened in the Academy’s Cross Keys Practice Centre off Marylebone High Street. These developments were only made possible by generous donors.