Celebrating the More Music campaign
In 2022, we were delighted to announce the successful completion of the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign, which raised over £40 million. This included £25 million for our new facilities, over £11 million for our endowment fund to support scholarships, and over £5 million for projects to create a lasting legacy from which our current and future students, staff and members of our community benefit.
The More Music Campaign was set within the context of a history of committed philanthropy since our founding in 1882. The Campaign began in 2012 and was launched publicly in 2015 by the former Prince of Wales, President of the Royal College of Music and Patron of the More Music Campaign, now HM King Charles III, Patron of the College.
The main goals of the Campaign were to raise funds for an ambitious and vital new building development, to augment our endowment fund to support scholarships, and to raise funds for innovative core projects and outreach activities, all to consolidate our status as a world-leading conservatoire for teaching, learning and research.
Thanks to funds raised by the Campaign, the building underwent dramatic change, with several new facilities and spaces being developed. Some of the main highlights of the works included a full renovation of the ground floor Café, development of the brand-new Cotes-Burgan Atrium at the heart of the College, the Performance Hall and Performance Studio. These spaces were fully mobilised in April 2021 to be utilised and enjoyed by staff and students.
The newly renovated Entrance Hall
The new front door to the RCM
Make an Entrance Appeal
A key part of the campaign was the Make an Entrance Appeal, which ran throughout the summer of 2019 to fund the revitalisation of our historic Bloomfield building’s grand entrance.
The Royal College of Music Entrance Hall and Foyer Hall have been in constant use for more than 125 years. Thanks to the generosity of 178 supporters, who collectively donated more than £75,000, we have transformed these spectacular spaces, making them more open and accessible, so that everyone can participate in the rich musical life of the RCM.
The transformation included preservation of our celebrated mosaic floor, new and improved Box Office and Reception desks and new handrails, ensuring better access for all who visit the College.
‘A welcoming space that showcases the College’s proud history and remarkable talent is essential for inspiring the next generation of musicians.’
‘Your generosity provides our students with the opportunities they need for success as world-class musicians. Thank you for your support.’
Breaking ground ceremony
Donors on a tour of the construction site
Students meeting for lunch in the new RCM courtyard
Group harpsichord lesson with Professor Terence Charlston in the Performance Studio
Quartet performing in the Performance Hall
Students using the opera dressing room
The Royal College of Music Museum
Student using the RCM Wolfson Centre in Music & Material Culture for research
New spaces at the RCM
The 138 seat Performance Hall is a space for ensemble performances and orchestral rehearsals. It boasts a retractable stage, a Fazioli grand piano, comprehensive technical infrastructure and variable acoustics, providing versatility for the range of events staged by the College including masterclasses, talks, concerts and screenings. The Performance Studio is both an intimate concert venue, equipped with a harpsichord and chamber organ for historical performance, and home to the world leading Performance Simulator.
Launched in Autumn 2021, the Weston Discovery Centre is a flexible, multi-use space connected to the RCM Museum, with a large selection of instruments made accessible for museum visitors to play and explore freely. Another feature is its interactive composition wall, Make Music with Movement, which enables its users to generate a unique composition by imitating three instruments’ playing movements – guitar, piano and flute – or simply by moving around. The room also has a projector and screen installed, so can also be converted into a learning space for lectures, meetings, musical demonstrations and other events. Every half-term, in collaboration with RCM’s Learning & Participation programme, the space is used to host guided Mini Music Makers sessions, for young children and their families to introduce them to a variety of musical instruments and activities.
The Wolfson Centre in Music & Material Culture occupies the former space of SB07 and SB01a in the South Building and includes a new building extension under the RCM Exchange. It provides dedicated space for accessible storage, research, cataloguing and object-based learning activities based on the Museum’s collection. The space provides easy access to parts of the collections for small class teaching and for undertaking individual research by RCM professors, students, and researchers. The Centre combines intensive storage with an area to deliver lessons to a maximum of 10 individuals.
‘It’s been incredibly exciting to see the new spaces at the RCM come together. Having access to the new development has brought new opportunities for creativity, collaboration and music-making.’
Get in touch
If you would like further information about supporting the RCM or more information on how we put donations to the best use, our Head of Philanthropy will be delighted to talk to you.