The Academy and the Industry

Household names Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Elton John, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Max Richter through to the next generation of boundary-breaking artists such as Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jacob Collier, Freddie De Tommaso and Emma Rawicz developed their craft and built their future careers from links they made while at the Academy.

World-Stage Performance & Ensembles

Performing is not just an occasional event at the Academy, it is a way of life. With hundreds of public events every year, you will immerse yourself in a vast breadth of repertoire, gaining vital ensemble experience and performing to sold-out audiences.

You will showcase your talent not only within our own spectacular concert halls but on the world's most prestigious stages, including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Snape Maltings, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Rudolfinum. Our Musical Theatre and Royal Academy Opera productions are fully staged, costumed, and directed by renowned industry figures, while our Jazz students regularly feature at the EFG London Jazz Festival.

Our premier ensembles include:

• Symphony Orchestra & Chamber Orchestra: The core of our orchestral training, working with pre-eminent conductors
• Royal Academy Opera & Musical Theatre Orchestra: Providing pit-orchestra experience for fully realised, high-production theatrical runs
• Baroque Soloists: Championing historically informed performance practices on period instruments
• Manson Ensemble: Our dedicated vehicle for contemporary music and avant-garde exploration
• Big Band: A powerhouse ensemble driving our award-winning Jazz department
• Sainsbury Royal Academy Soloists: An elite, conductor-less string ensemble for high-level chamber collaboration
• Symphonic Wind & Brass Ensembles: Delivering large-scale, specialist repertoire performances

SIDE-BY-SIDES

Across every department, masterclasses and workshops are delivered by artists at the top of their profession.

Regular guest conductors and creative partners include Sir Mark Elder, Barbara Hannigan, Semyon Bychkov, Edward Gardner, John Wilson, Ryan Wigglesworth, Trevor Pinnock, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Rachel Podger. Recent inspirational masterclasses have featured visits from leading artists such as Dame Imogen Cooper, Hilary Hahn, Steven Isserlis and Imelda Staunton.

For over 20 years, our SIDE-BY-SIDE projects have played an indispensable role, allowing you to sit directly alongside professional musicians, elevating your collaborative skills and professional network. Our cornerstone partnerships include:

• Czech Philharmonic: One of world's leading orchestras whose principal players lead masterclasses and chamber and orchestral projects in annual Academy residencies.
• London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO): A premier partnership offering intensive orchestral experience, leading to high-profile joint public concerts
• London Symphony Orchestra (LSO): Providing exceptional professional exposure and mentoring alongside world-ranked players
• Philharmonia Orchestra: Immersing students in top-tier professional symphonic life and standard-setting repertoire
• London Sinfonietta: Our founding contemporary music partner since 2002, pushing the boundaries of new chamber music
• Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE): Offering an intimate look into elite international chamber music-making
• Academy of St Martin in the Fields: Working with one of the world's most recorded, brilliant chamber ensembles
• Nash Ensemble: Collaborating closely with our celebrated Ensemble in Residence across diverse chamber seasons
• Riot Ensemble:Leading exponents of the British new music scene, collaborating with students on events throughout the year.
• Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment: Period instrument orchestra resident at the Southbank Centre and Glyndebourne Festival are regular creative collaborators with students.
• Knussen Chamber Orchestra: Founded in memory of Oliver Knussen, this ensemble performs contemporary programmes across London and the Aldeburgh Festival, offering crucial mock auditions, specialised coaching, and new-music execution
• Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra principal string players

Industry Preparation & Connections

The music business is highly competitive. That is why our Artist Development team is entirely focused on equipping you with the practical tools, entrepreneurial skills, and self-knowledge required to build a sustainable, resilient career in an unpredictable world.

Career-Building Support Includes:

• Core Skills Seminars: Expert-led workshops covering self-employed finances, tax, securing grant funding, preparing professional portfolios, creating self-tapes, effective concert programming and navigating online digital content
• Specialist Masterclasses: Dedicated sessions targeting specific career paths, such as orchestral fixing, West End theatre work, living and working in the EU, and writing for video games, TV and film
• One-to-One Career Guidance: Personalised consultations with an expert team specialising in orchestra life, opera, new music, interdisciplinary work and fundraising to map out your post-graduation transition

Industry Performance Platforms & Partnerships

• The Future Artists Scheme: A landmark partnership with the Southbank Centre, creating a vital bridge to the professional world by offering students exceptional performance platforms and profile-raising opportunities at one of the world's leading cultural venues
• Glyndebourne Opera Unplugged: An intensive course with Glyndebourne’s Artistic Director where composers, instrumentalists, and singers collaboratively create, workshop and share raw new dramatic work
• Students Create Festival: An annual cross-genre festival where students take over the Academy's building for their own curated events. This major platform gives you the absolute freedom to devise, pitch, budget and publicly perform your own original projects under the guidance of an expert industry mentor
• Decca Classics Partnership: A unique collaboration with one of the world's leading record labels, giving students direct insight into the commercial classical recording industry, A&R (Artists and Repertoire) processes and digital music distribution
• The Askonas Holt Mentorship Scheme: A valuable professional link with a top-tier global artists management agency, providing students with insider knowledge on building an international performance career, securing representation and navigating the music business
• Open Academy Community Projects: Opportunities to engage in ground-breaking creative learning and community music work, partnering with schools, hospitals, and care settings to develop vital skills as a socially conscious, versatile twenty-first-century musician
• The Multi-Story Orchestra Partnership: A collaborative three-day workshop exploring innovative, community-focussed ways to bring classical music to entirely new, non-traditional audiences

Commercial Recording Opportunities

Recording has been an intrinsic part of Academy life for nearly three decades. We give you the tools, agency, and confidence to independently chronicle your work, understand commercial studio environments, and release your music to a global audience.

• Linn Records Partnership: Since 2012, our unique relationship with independent label Linn Records has produced critically acclaimed commercial albums charting the trajectory of our finest young soloists and ensembles
• Young Artists Recording Scheme: Generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, this initiative empowers ambitious young musicians to independently curate, perform, and produce professional video and audio recordings at the prestigious Voces8 Centre to jumpstart their professional portfolios
• Abbey Road Studios & Global Releases: Our Jazz Department’s Grammy-nominated album Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores—recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios alongside icons like Norma Winstone and Evan Parker—was named one of The Times’ 'Best Jazz Albums'

A Global Network & Future-Facing Initiatives

Music transcends borders. The Academy ensures your education is globally connected and actively shapes the future of the art form through commissions and high-profile scholarship schemes.

The Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme

Launched by the Academy to expand musical horizons and cultivate global citizenship, this prestigious scheme enables up to 20 exceptionally talented students each year to participate in educational exchanges. Varying from intensive one-week projects to a full academic year of study, our partner network includes 12 top-tier international conservatoires, such as The Juilliard School (New York), Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Hanns Eisler Academy (Berlin) and Tokyo University of the Arts.

For a comprehensive look at eligibility and our full list of partner institutions, please visit our separate Exchanges and Studying Abroad page.