Summer Season and new Harlem Quartet residency announced
Wednesday 5 April 2017
The Royal College of Music has today announced its summer 2017 season with the launch of a three-year residency by the Grammy Award-winning Harlem Quartet.
The New York-based ensemble, renowned for their genre-crossing approach, will perform in the RCM’s annual Super String Sunday extravaganza on 14 May and host their own concert on 10 May. Their residency is generously supported by Victoria, Lady Robey OBE.
The RCM also welcomes an array of internationally acclaimed musicians to share their vast knowledge and experience in an exciting masterclass series, including violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov (Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin) on 5 July. There will also be the opportunity to hear Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, discuss investment in culture in the UK as part of an engaging programme of talks and seminars.
Veteran Proms conductor Jac van Steen returns this season to lead the RCM Symphony Orchestra in performances of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto on 29 and 30 June. Rafael Payare, Chief Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, will make his first visit to the RCM to conduct Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony on 5 May.
The RCM Festival of Percussion is back with a special guest, international rock, jazz and fusion drummer Benny Greb, and there will be ground-breaking performances with the return of the student-led Great Exhibitionists series on 30 April and 1 May. These multi-genre events are a mixture of contemporary dance, music and surround-sound live experiences which take up the spirit of the 1851 Great Exhibition.
The RCM International Opera School presents a double bill of French comic operas on 28 and 30 June and 3 and 4 July. Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias and Chabrier’s Une éducation manqué, led by acclaimed theatre director Stephen Unwin, will round-off our summer season.
As well as all of this exciting activity at the College’s historic home in South Kensington, RCM musicians will be performing special concerts at Cadogan Hall and the Wigmore Hall.
RCM Friends can now enjoy a week of priority booking before tickets go on general sale on Wednesday 12 April. Find out more about our Friends programme and benefits at www.rcm.ac.uk/friends.
For full event listings, visit the What’s On section of the website or download our Events Guide.
Image: Harlem Quartet © Amy Schroeder
