We will continue to support members affected by this consultation and explore alternatives to closure. Image credit: Shutterstock.
Under proposals by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), it is set to cease its weekly Young RWCMD sessions from the end of this academic year, affecting over 300 students, six members of salaried staff and a further 112 on variable hours.
Other big name signatories include Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Joanna Clare MacGregor CBE, Mark Wigglesworth, Charlotte Page, Suhayla El-Bushra, Richard Baker, Steven Isserlis CBE, Murray McLachlan and Maimuna Enya Memon.
Read the open letter to RWCMD below
We, the undersigned, are extremely concerned by Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) proposals to close Young RWCMD.
This would bring an end to its weekly Junior Conservatoire and Young Actors Studio sessions from the end of this academic year. It is the only provision of its kind in Wales. Over 300 current students will be affected.
Parents have been informed that RWCMD expects the changes to affect the academic year starting in September. This does not leave enough time to search for alternative models and/or funding sources to be found, or meaningful consultation with the 118 staff affected. And what are current and prospective students supposed to do?
As signatories to this letter, we believe in:
- Access to high level music education provision and opportunity for all
- Celebrating artistic tradition
- Creating opportunities for and supporting new and diverse voices
- Bringing Welsh culture to a global stage.
We call on RWCMD to:
- Continue Young RWCMD for the next year academic year while alternative models and/or funding sources can be found
- Engage in meaningful collective consultation on proposals to close Young RWCMD with staff affected as part of this process and their representative bodies, including the Musicians’ Union.
Full signatory list:
- Brett Alderton-Green, Arts Practitioner, UK
- Georgia L, Supporter, London
- James Blair MBE, Artistic Director Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, London
- John Evanson, Professional musician, London
- Susan Bullock CBE, Opera Singer, London
- Sera Baines LRWCMD PDip RAM LRAM, RWCMD alumni, singing teacher, performer, Welsh musician, London
- David Hill, Conductor, Rutland
- Anne Lovett, Pianist, London
- Martin Pyne, Musician & MU member, Surrey
- Tim Garrard, Partnerships Lead, Music Teachers' Association, London
- Ian Skelly, Broadcaster, London/Cardiff
- Stuart Whatmore, Head of Tri-borough Music Hub, West London
- Emilija Karaliute, Musician, London
- Tim Lloyd, Music teacher, Westminster
- Katy Ambrose, Director of Music, The Grey Coat Hospital, London
- Richard Ireland, Violin teacher at RAM and ex-CEO & Artistic Director of ChamberStudio, London
- Miranda Francis, Head of Junior Programmes RCM, London
- Michael Berkeley, Composer and Fellow, Knighton
- Joanna MacGregor, Dame Myra Hess Chair of Piano, Royal Academy of Music, London
- Rosie Biss, Parent of young musician and Principal cello WNO, Cardiff
- David Adams, Parent of young musician and Leader of the Orchestra of WNO, Penarth
- Rob Marshall, Professional pianist and RWCMD alumni, Swansea
- Matthew Scrivener, Leader of English National Ballet Philharmonic Orchestra, Penarth
- Michael Roll, Musician and Pianist, Beaconsfield
- Bryan Gould, Concerned member of the public, New Zealand
- Andi Hopgood, Vice Chair of MU Executive Commitee, Ipswich
- Adrian Wilson, Principal Oboe RSNO, Ensemble 360, Glasgow
- Rachel Weston, Singer, London
- Charlotte Page, Singer and Actress, Ludlow
- Alistair McGowan, Music lover, Chair of Ludlow Piano Festival, Ludlow
- Dan Whitehouse, Singer-Songwriter, Wolverhampton
- Julian Jacobson, Former Head of Keyboard Studies RWCMD, London
- Juliette Bausor, Flautist, London
- Sarah Williams, Vice Chair of MU Executive Committee, London
- Richard Lightman, Senior Lecturer, Rochester
- Howard Shelley OBE, Conductor & Concert Pianist, Epsom, Surrey
- Emily, Independent Musician, London
- James Topp, Freelance Horn Player & Teacher, Director of ESO Youth, MU Executive Committee member, Worcester
- Emily Hultmark, Musician, London
- Robin Hutchinson MBE, Chair of Creative Youth, Kingston-upon-Thames
- Claudia Ajmone-Marsan, Violinist, Ensemble 360, London
- Tim Horton, Pianist, Oxford
- Abigail Fenna, Principal Viola, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London
- Nigel Braithwaite, MU Member, West Midlands
- Murray McLachlan, Pianist, Teacher, Educator, Manchester
- Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director, English Symphony Orchestra/The Elgar Festival, Penarth
- Mark Concar, Professional Musician, Cheshire
- Rick Finlay, Musician, Teacher and MU Activist, Barnet
- Alex Gascoine, Chair of MU Executive Committee, Glasgow
- Eileen Spencer, BA, ARCM, Professional Musician, Leeds
- Alice Angliss, MU Executive Committee Member, Milton Keynes
- Manon Eames, Writer, Swansea
- Andy Gleadhill, Musician, West Wales
- Matthew Whiteside, Composer, Scotland
- Xenia Horne, Musician and Music Leader, Norwich/Cardiff
- Katie Manasse, MU Executive Committee Member, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Naomi Pohl, MU General Secretary, London
- Steven Isserlis CBE, Cellist, London
- Daniel, Co-Director Creative Youth, London
- Stephen Simpson, Head of Alternative Provision, Kingston
- David Juritz, Violinist, Artistic Director Burton Bradstock Festival, London
- Richard Baker, Composer, Tregaron
- Mark Wigglesworth, Conductor, London
- Sonali Bhattacharyya, Playwright & Screenwriter, London
- Rhodri Thomas, Musician & Record Label Owner, New York/Neath
- Cathy Newman, Journalist, London
- Daf James, Writer, Composer, Parent, Cardiff
- Jon Shave, Grammy-nominated songwriter & music producer, London
- Maimuna Memon, Composer, Lyricist, Writer, Actor, London
- Alun Saunders, Actor, Writer & Parent, Cardiff
- Celia Greenwood, Teacher, London
- James Fornara, RWCMD Alumni, London
- Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini, Writer & Filmmaker, London
- Sharon Morgan, Actress & Writer, Cardiff
- Eve Leigh, Playwright, London
- Jason Hughes, Actor, Brighton
- Simon Harris, Freelance director/writer and ex-RWCMD YAS tutor, Penarth
- Tabby Lamb, Theatre Queers, London
- Naomi Sheldon, Writer, London
- Lisa Parry, Playwright, Cardiff
- Tom Wentworth, Playwright, London
- Camille Curtis, CEO, Hammersmith & Fulham
- Suhayla El-Bushra, Playwright, Shoreham-by-Sea
- Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Playwright, screenwriter & WGCM Theatre Committee member, London
- Che Walker, Teacher & Playwright, London
The MU is supporting members who are affected
Naomi Pohl, MU General Secretary said: “We are devastated by these proposals and are now engaging with RWCMD and supporting members who are affected, after the College took the disappointing and frustrating decision to exclude us from the initial consultation meetings.
“If this closure goes ahead then RWCMD will be the only conservatoire in Britain without a junior department, with no other equivalent provision in Wales at a time when progress is being made on rebuilding music education through the National Music Service Wales.
“We are also concerned about the effect of this closure combined with other issues, such as the cuts at Welsh National Opera and the closure of St David’s Hall, on our members’ work and careers and the broader health of music in Wales. We will continue to support members affected by this consultation and explore alternatives to closure.”
Over 10,000 people have now signed a petition calling for Young RWCMD to be protected, which will now be considered for a debate in the Senedd.
We are calling on RWCMD to extend the timeline for consultation and involve all the representative bodies, including the MU, to ensure the future of the Junior RWCMD department.