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Educational Resources (Contined)

Open Academy

Senior Administrator:
Helen Thorp BA, Hon ARAM

Outreach Support Administrator:
Joanne Gibson BMus

Telephone 020 7873 7461
Email openacademy@ram.ac.uk

(Picture: Photo of Ruth Byrchmore Head of Open Academy, Associate Head of Composition)

Head of Open Academy, Associate Head of Composition:
Ruth Byrchmore MMus, BMus, ARAM

John Barber BMus (Producer, Open Academy)
Timothy Bowers DPhil, BMus, ARAM (Licentiate, LRAM)
Janet Marshall (Careers Officer)


‘I didn’t think I liked classical music but that concert was wonderful’
Open Academy participant’s comment


Open Academy is a major new initiative. It combines a series of educational projects which all challenge preconceptions of what music conservatoires do.

The Academy’s mission has always been to provide musical training at the highest level. Open Academy expands the ‘market’ for this training beyond enrolled Academy students and out into the fullest range of society. Academy students also benefit directly by engaging in innovative education projects.

Music in Community

Professional musicians in the 21st century need the skills to communicate with anyone and everyone — from the youngest child in a practical education workshop to potential and existing audiences for classical concerts. All undergraduates participate in the Academy’s Music in Community projects in their third year, and gain expertise in animateurship and workshop leadership — specialist skills which are in great demand throughout the music profession.

The students, each working on an internship with a partner organisation, devise and execute professional education projects whilst receiving training ‘on the job’. Sessions with leading animateurs, performers and composers cover communication techniques, creative composition, special needs training, new media tools and marketing. Project partners include London Sinfonietta, Wigmore Hall, Spitalfields Festival and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Many children and adults from a great variety of backgrounds enjoy and benefit from working with Academy students in long-term collaborations with toddler groups, schools and community centres throughout London.

Undergraduates can spend more time exploring the diverse skills needed to become a skilled animateur by taking a specialist, hands-on ‘Advanced Music in Community’ option in their fourth year.

Access

The Academy is committed to providing new gateways towards learning. In special Open Days, musicians of various ages and skills can experience the thrill of music making alongside Academy students and teachers and gain a practical, participatory insight into the Academy and the music profession as a whole. The Academy runs an annual vocal summer school for people of any age over 16, whatever their musical backgrounds. In this intensive weekend long workshop, leading professionals work creatively to raise the participants’ ‘hard’ musical skills, and explore and develop their potential.