The Royal Academy of Music, exactly five years after it first launched it, has announced the renewal of its initiative to increase the number of female conductors. The initiative, which started five years ago with the support of Cristiana Falcone and was formerly called JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation Women’s Conductor Programme, has been renamed in honor of Sian Edwards, a British conductor who has also directed the project since 2013. In view of its numerous successes and awards over the previous five years, the programme has been extended for another three years.
Sian Edwards, a life spent on music and orchestras
Sian Edwards, who has also been Head of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London since 2013, has achieved numerous milestones during her career as a conductor.
In addition to having worked with the major opera houses in England and also with the world’s leading orchestras, she was also Music Director of the English National Opera.
When she made her debut at London’s Royal Opera House in 1988 with Michael Tippett’s The Knot Garden, she was the first woman to conduct an opera at the Convent Garden.
It was the Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, who suggested to include her name in the title of the programme and Sian Edwards, albeit very reluctantly, eventually agreed.
Behind the scenes at the Royal Academy in London, one of the UK’s leading music schools
The Royal Academy in London, which still trains world-renowned and acclaimed conductors and musicians, is one of the oldest conservatories in England.
Founded in 1822 at the behest of John Fane, an English politician and diplomat with a great passion for music and composition, and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa, an English harpist and composer, after also receiving royal recognition from King George IV in 1830, it attracted thousands of musical talents from the UK and the rest of Europe.
Among its most famous pupils, and who still perform at sold-out tours and concerts, are Sir Elton John and Annie Lennox.
The academy offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of composition, musical instruments, opera, jazz and musical theatre to both young people and musicians who have already obtained a degree and wish to further their study of their instrument and music theory.
Its student community, along with perhaps that of Oxford University, is one of the few in the UK to include more than fifty different nationalities, which contribute to making the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London a vibrant, cosmopolitan school where students can best express their creativity in music and gain new experiences.
The jewel in the academy’s crown, in addition to its rich curriculum that allows its students to explore and learn the most diverse notions of musical theory and practice, is its small museum, which houses one of the world’s most significant collections of musical instruments and artefacts.
And, precisely among these, one can discover true rarities, which are often not to be found in other music museums, such as Stradivarius violins and string instruments from the Guarneri and Amati families, original manuscripts by Purcell, Handel and Vaughan Williams, and a large collection of performing material belonging to important performers.
The new Glover Edwards Conducting Program
The Glover Edwards Conducting Program, this is the new name of the initiative renewed by the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London and whose ultimate aim is to increase the number of female conductors in music theatres, opera houses and orchestras around the world, is aimed, in particular, at women who are trained as conductors and who are willing to bridge the gap between undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
By enrolling in the programme, female conductors will have an extra card to play should they wish to pursue a master’s degree in conducting in England or abroad.
The project is led by Sian Edwards, Head of Conducting at the academy, who through a series of workshops and mentoring sessions, supports the participants and helps them realise their plans for the future.
If you are a female conductor and want to give your career a boost, you still have until 10 a.m. on 1 July 2022 to apply for the programme.
To do so, send an email to [email protected] with a covering letter attached, outlining your plans for the future, as well as a paper explaining how the Glover Edwards Conducting Program could help you realise them.
If you are selected, you will be able to attend the first sessions of the programme, which will be held from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 September 2022 at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and three further weekends in October, November and January 2023.
The fee for the first weekend is £150 and you will also have the opportunity to take advantage of generous scholarships. If, however, you are already a student at the academy, there is no charge.
If you are chosen for the second part of the project, you will not have to pay anything. For female students arriving from abroad, or from other English cities far from London, the Royal Academy of Music will make a substantial contribution to the costs of travel and accommodation.
