PERFORMANCES, masterclasses, festivals and talks… the stage is set for a spectacular spring/summer season of performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), one of the country’s busiest arts venues.
The new programme, which runs until June, is packed with music, theatre and dance to captivate audiences of all ages.
Many current stars of stage, screen and concert hall delivered their first performances while students at the conservatoire in Glasgow – including actors, James McAvoy, Jack Lowden and Crystal Clarke, and international mezzo-soprano, Karen Cargill.
The new season’s highlights include:
* The inaugural Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Gleneagles Gala Concert featuring arguably Scotland’s foremost composer, Sir James MacMillan CBE, and the young musicians of our Junior Conservatoire of Music. They are supported by an international line-up of superb alumni, including Karen Cargill and Jamie MacDougall.
* The first annual Rosin Chamber Weekend devoted to chamber music repertoire from across the centuries with the first Rosin Visiting Chamber Ensemble, the Nash Ensemble, our partners around Scotland, as well as RCS students and staff.
* West End and Broadway hit musical Chess has a four-night run in Glasgow before transferring to the professional stage at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh – a first for our MA Musical Theatre students. The production also has a fundraising gala performance in Glasgow.
* Wonderful new choreographic works created for our BA Modern Ballet graduation performance by Christopher Hampson, chief executive/artistic director of Scottish Ballet; Scottish Ballet first artist, Sophie Laplane; and RCS lecturer, BA Modern Ballet, Diana Loosmore.
* Gala performances and special events to mark the 170th anniversary of Scotland’s national conservatoire.
* Festivals of new works – Plug which showcases student compositions and Into the New with inspiring and challenging performances from RCS’ BA Contemporary Performance Practice programme.
Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “Creating opportunities for our students to share their work and skills with audiences is an incredibly important element of our role in helping them to develop as future arts professionals.
“We’re also lucky to be able to do that in some of Scotland’s finest venues including the beautiful City Halls, where this year RCS’s Symphony Orchestra performs in our inaugural Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Gleneagles Gala Concert, and our own wonderful traditional proscenium arch theatre, the New Athenaeum.
“By coming along, you are playing an important part in supporting the next generation of outstanding Scottish, UK and international artists and performers and we look forward very much to welcoming you.”
RCS has entered into an exciting new partnership with one of Scotland’s most iconic and prestigious destinations, Gleneagles.
The world-renowned Perthshire hotel shares our passion for nurturing and developing artistic talent in Scotland. The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Gleneagles Gala Concert on March 17 will include a celebration of arguably Scotland’s foremost composer, Sir James MacMillan, an RCS Visiting Professor, who will conduct two of his own works.
The second half of the concert is Britten’s Spring Symphony where artistic director of Conducting, Garry Walker, and the RCS Symphony Orchestra are joined by the RCS Chamber Choir as well as the young musicians of our Junior Conservatoire of Music. They are supported by an international line up of superb alumni, including Karen Cargill and Jamie MacDougall.
The popular Hilary Rosin Coffee Concerts return in February and March with a focus on masterworks of the 20th century.
Music for voice, strings, wind and piano will be performed by some of Scotland’s finest artists in a relaxed setting and audiences are invited to join the performers afterwards.
Hilary Rosin was a piano teacher in Glasgow’s Southside and inspired generations to make music an active and enriching part of their everyday lives.
There’s also the first annual Rosin Chamber Weekend from March 3 to 5 (part of the BBC Radio 3 James MacMillan festival) which is entirely devoted to chamber music and features the first Rosin Visiting Chamber Ensemble, the Nash Ensemble, our partners around Scotland, as well as RCS staff and students.
The West End and Broadway hit musical Chess has a four-night run at RCS’ New Athenaeum Theatre which starts on March 18 before transferring to the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh from March 30 to April 1 – a first for RCS’ MA Musical Theatre students.
From the musical minds of ABBA’s Benny and Björn and the lyrical pen of Sir Tim Rice, Chess is set against the backdrop of the Cold War. On March 24, a special fundraising gala performance of Chess will play a starring role in our 170th birthday celebrations and will include a sparkling pre-show reception hosted by Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, RCS principal.
Handel’s Agrippina, which runs between January 21 and 28, is a tale of political intrigue, double dealing, lies, chaos and power-hungry individuals whose story is as relevant today as it was when it premiered in Venice in 1709.
Die Fledermaus is staged between May 13 and 17 with a gala performance on May 19, part of RCS’ 170th birthday celebrations.
Based on a late 19th century French vaudeville, it’s a joyous romp of popular melodies, dances, wit and farcical twists and turns.
Take a bite out of the hour-long lunchtime concerts, Mondays at One and Fridays at One, which serve a variety of treats for the ears.
Students of the BA Modern Ballet programme will present a diverse range of work from classical ballet and jazz to contemporary dance and traditional repertoire from June 8 to 10.
New works have been created for these performances by Christopher Hampson, chief executive/artistic director of Scottish Ballet; Scottish Ballet first artist, Sophie Laplane; and RCS lecturer, BA Modern Ballet, Diana Loosmore.
Tickets for the new season are available from the RCS Box Office.
Ticket 26 offers tickets for just £5 for ages 26 and under plus a selection of £5 seats in the New Athenaeum Theatre in the Stevenson Hall for RCS productions.
View the full programme and book tickets at rcs.ac.uk/boxoffice or call 0141 332 5057.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Other new season highlights include:
* Into the New, a festival of inspiring and challenging performances from RCS’ BA Contemporary Performance Practice programme which takes place between January 23 and 26.
* Piano + Dance, on February 24, a mesmerising collaboration between our Keyboard students, pianist Anto Pett and the dancers and choreographers from our BA Modern Ballet programme.
* Plug, a festival of new student compositions runs between May 7 and 12 with special guests including Judith Weir, Visiting Professor in Composition and Master of the Queen’s Music, as well as the UK Chinese Ensemble on their first visit to Glasgow. The first late night Plug session on May 9 is a must-hear. Electroacoustic composers, a favourite of last year’s Plug, raise the bar with a multi-media performance that celebrates this year’s winner of the prestigious Craig Armstrong prize, Alex Mackay, writing for two pianos and electronic instruments.
* Film fans should watch out for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown between May 17 and 20, an actor/musician adaptation of Pedro Almodovar’s beloved black comedy.
* The season comes to a close with the Glasgow Trombone Weekend from June 22 to 25. From orchestral concerts with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to competitions and masterclasses, there is something for both the enthusiast and the newcomer.
Press tickets are available on request.
Picture caption: Baritone Jerome Knox, Gleneagles Scholar and student of the Alexander Gibson Opera School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, performs in this season’s production of Die Fledermaus.
Pic credit: KKD/RCS
About the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is ranked sixth in the world for performing arts education and is ranked number one in Scotland for graduate employability, reaffirming its status as a national and international centre of excellence for the performing arts.
In 2017, RCS is celebrating its 170th birthday. During its existence, it has built on its roots as a national academy of music to become one of Europe’s most multi-disciplinary performing arts higher education centres, offering specialised teaching across music, drama, dance, film and production.
RCS is encouraging trans-disciplinary learning throughout its innovative curriculum and throughout 2017, the institution will host a series of performances and special events recognising its rich history and world class reputation for performing arts education.
Around 900 students are currently pursuing degrees at RCS across its specialisms. The conservatoire works in partnership with the national companies, including the National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Opera and BBC Scotland, to provide students with the very best learning experiences the Scottish landscape has to offer.
Based in the heart of Glasgow, RCS is also a busy performing arts venue; it hosts more than 500 public performances each year and issues around 64,000 tickets from its box office annually.
Additionally, RCS teaches over 3,000 part-time learners every year through its Junior Conservatoire and Lifelong Learning Departments.
Our theatre stages and concert halls are where some of the world’s best-known music, cinema and theatre stars learned their craft. RCS alumni include actors David Tennant (Dr Who), Alan Cumming (Tony award winner for Cabaret), James McAvoy (X-Men), composer Sir James MacMillan and Hollywood film composer Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter, Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V and Disney’s Brave), mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill and opera director Sir David McVicar.
As well as having Prince Charles as our Royal Patron, we have theatre impresario, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, as our president, and Scots violinist, Nicola Benedetti, is patron of the Junior Conservatoire.
As Scotland’s national conservatoire we have active creative partnerships with all of the national arts companies – including Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
We also have dynamic national partnerships with a range of organisations including the BBC, the Globe, Gleneagles and Dumfries House as well international academic partnerships with a number of the world’s finest conservatoires including YST in Singapore, the Norwegian Academy of Music and USC Thornton School of Music in California.
In 2017, RCS launches a prestigious new EU-funded partnership with the Rostov State Rachmaninov Conservatory in Glasgow’s twin city Rostov-on-Don.
Find out more at www.rcs.ac.uk
RCS Box Office 100 Renfrew St, Glasgow G2 3DB
0141 332 5057 or rcs.ac.uk/boxoffice
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Phone: 01412708291
Email: L.Robertson@rcs.ac.uk
Website: http://www.rcs.ac.uk
