Doctor of Music Trial

With a busy events calendar of more than 500 events every year, the RCM offers a vibrant environment for research projects in performance and composition.

Doctoral students are able to participate in the RCM’s performance programme (including access to coaching for chamber music) and to perform in the College’s public programme. Doctoral students may audition for orchestral and ensemble placements in induction week every year.

A proportion of supervision hours may be taken as lessons with a performance professor, where this tuition is integral to your project. This option should be discussed with your lead supervisor during the application process, who will explore the availability of a suitable professor with the relevant Head of Faculty. Involvement in other faculty activities is by permission of the relevant Head of Faculty and can be explored with your lead supervisor during the application process.

Composition at the RCM fosters partnerships with the College's large body of gifted instrumentalists. Doctoral composers will have the opportunity to hear performances of their own works and benefit from a range of collaborations, both within the RCM and externally.

The Royal College of Music is proud to offer its students fantastic practice and performance facilities with resources to support teaching and learning. We continually improve our facilities to ensure RCM students have the best opportunities.

Explore our facilities with a video tour of the RCM

Key facilities at the RCM include:

• The Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall - our primary performance venue for orchestras and large ensembles.
• Our 400-seat Britten Theatre, home to the RCM’s thriving International Opera School.
• A new Performance Hall, offering an alternative space for ensembles, with a retractable stage, Fazioli grand piano and variable acoustics.
• Intimate spaces for solo and chamber performance in our Performance Studio and Parry Rooms.
• Sound-proofed Amadeus Music Pods for private practice.
• A purpose-built percussion suite – you can watch a video tour on YouTube.
• Over 160 pianos, including 60 grand pianos and 20 early keyboards, as well as organ rooms.
• A Blüthner Practice Suite which holds ten Blüthner Model A upright pianos.
• Instrument surgeries including luthier services.
• RCM Studios: a commercial-grade facility, enabling live broadcasts around the world.
• Digital Innovation Lab: advanced recording and mixing suite.
• RCM Library with more than 200,000 scores, books and recordings in its lending collection, as well as access to more than 400 music journals.
• Recently refurbished RCM Museum, holding more than 14,000 instruments, portraits and images, as well as a climate-controlled performance space and the associated Wolfson Centre in Music & Material Culture | Royal College of Music (rcm.ac.uk)