Conducting | Royal Academy of Music

Immerse yourself in our friendly, collaborative environment and benefit from regular coaching from leading conductors

The Academy’s postgraduate Conducting degree is one of the most respected in the world.

'It was without doubt thanks to the top-of-the-line education I received that I was able to dip straight into intense professional work as Assistant Conductor of the Hallé'

Jonathon Heyward, alumnus

By focusing on a small, high-quality intake, we are able to offer students many opportunities to rehearse and perform in different settings, from two-piano workshops and intimate chamber ensembles to full symphony orchestra.

The course begins with technical and rehearsal skills, followed by opportunities to integrate your work into other departments, including early music performance, opera, contemporary music, and education and outreach.

We offer a two-year course of principal-study conducting at postgraduate level leading to an MA or MMus. It is also possible to take a one-year Professional Diploma aimed at professional musicians who want to move from their own specialism into conducting.

At undergraduate level, you can study conducting as a second subject, starting with introductory classes, which you can continue as an intermediate or advanced elective.

See audition requirements

The Academy's flag on the front of the building

Introduction to the Conducting Department with Sian Edwards

Susanna Mälkki

Graduated 1994

Conducting

Susanna Mälkki

Graduated 1994

Conducting

‘Unmatched for podium presence’ (New York Classical Review) and with an ‘ability to create viscerally arresting performances’ (LA Times), Susanna Mälkki is one of today’s most sought-after conductors in the world.

Mälkki continues to guest-conduct at the very highest level, with recent appearances including return visits to the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, London Philharmonic and London Symphony orchestras, and the Münchner Philharmoniker and Orchestre national de Lyon.

This is Mälkki’s fourth season as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, with plans including premieres by leading national composers Kaija Saariaho and Lotta Wennäkoski and a new work by Felipe Lara. As part of her third season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mälkki paid tribute to the late Oliver Knussen with his Violin Concerto. She was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

A renowned opera conductor, Mälkki was to make her debut at the postponed 2020 Festival d’Aix en Provence, conducting the world premiere of Saariaho’s new opera, Innocence, having returned to the Opéra national de Paris to conduct Philippe Boesmans’ Yvonne, princesse de Bourgogne. In 2018, she debuted at the Wiener Staatsoper in Gottfried von Einem’s Dantons Tod; December 2016 marked her debut at The Metropolitan Opera for its premiere of Saariaho’s L’amour de loin.

A former student of the Sibelius Academy, Mälkki studied with Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam. In June 2010, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and is also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Other awards include the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland, Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, Musical America’s 2017 Conductor of the Year and the Nordic Council Music Prize.

Photo by Simon Fowler