• More than 100 events including orchestral concerts, jazz and
masterclasses, over 70 free
• Royal Academy Opera presents Mozart Le nozze di Figaro
• Academy Song Circle at Wigmore Hall
• Guest conductors Semyon Bychkov and Sir Mark Elder conduct the
Academy Symphony Orchestra
• Lorrenza Borrani directs the Academy Chamber Orchestra, and Trevor
Pinnock conducts the Academy Soloists Ensemble
• Bach in Leipzig continues with Masaaki Suzuki, Peter Whelan, and
Eamonn Dougan
• Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Viotti Professor of Violin at the Academy performs
with Academy students
• Composer in Residence – Hannah Kendall
• Academy Jazz Orchestra with Gwilym Simcock and Josephine Davies
• Side by Sides: London Sinfonietta, Riot Ensemble, Onyx Brass, and Nash
Ensemble
• Academy Jazz Festival with Nathaniel Facey, Jim Hart, Matthew Herd,
Laura Jurd, Jo Lawry, and Will Vinson
• Masterclasses from Emily Beynon, Susan Bullock, James Ehnes, Hartmut
Höll, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Pascal Rogé, and Masaaki Suzuki
The celebration of the Royal Academy of Music’s Bicentenary year continues
into the spring of 2023 with a packed and vibrant collection of concerts, operas,
jazz and masterclasses presented by visiting guests, alumni, Academy teachers
and students.
This January, Wigmore Hall presents the Academy Song Circle in a recital of first
song collections by Schumann, Strauss, and Berg; Semyon Bychkov, the
Academy’s Klemperer Chair of Conducting, gives his annual concert with the
Academy Symphony Orchestra, bringing a performance of Dvořák’s Symphony
No. 7 to Duke’s Hall; and the Bach in Leipzig series continues with concerts
directed by Masaaki Suzuki (29th Jan); Peter Whelan (26th Feb); and Eamonn
Dougan (26th March).
Bach in Leipzig is the continuation of a 10-year programme begun in 2009 in
which all Bach’s Cantatas would be performed by guest artists working
alongside Academy students. Described in the Sunday Times as ‘a model of
vitality, concentration and period authenticity’. As a result of its remarkable
success, the series continues into 2023 focussing on works composed during
Bach’s time in Leipzig.
In addition to the continuation of Bach in Leipzig, February sees Sir Mark Elder,
who holds the Barbirolli Chair of Conducting, conduct Verdi, Wagner, and
Strauss; and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, the Academy’s Viotti Professor of Violin,
perform with Academy students.
In March, Royal Academy Opera presents four performances of Mozart’s Le
nozze di Figaro conducted by Alice Farnham and directed by Stephen Medcalf.
Alice previously conducted productions of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Ravel’s
L’heure espagnole at the Academy, described in Opera Magazine as ‘an evening
of consistent surprise and delight’.
Lorrenza Borrani will direct the Academy Chamber Orchestra in works by
Petrucci and Haydn, while Trevor Pinnock conducts the Academy Soloists
Ensemble in new versions of some of Bach’s partitas reimagined by Thomas
Oehler’s for chamber orchestra. The partitas will be recorded for release by Linn
in 2024.
Also in March, a day devoted to composer in residence, Hannah Kendall and
four ‘Side by Side’ concerts – in which students at the Academy perform on
stage with professional ensembles – including a Harrison Birtwistle tribute with
London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall; a concert in the Duke’s Hall with
the Riot Ensemble featuring premières by Academy composition students; a
30th anniversary celebration of Onyx Brass; and with the Nash Ensemble’s Adrian
Brendel and Alasdair Beatson at Wigmore Hall.
In addition to the ninth Academy Jazz Festival featuring Nathaniel Facey, Jim
Hart, Matthew Herd, Laura Jurd, Jo Lawry, and Will Vinson, the Academy Jazz
Orchestra works for the first time with composer and saxophonist Josephine
Davies, and with Academy alumnus and professor of jazz piano Gwilym
Simcock, in celebration of his 40th birthday.
Last but not least, there are masterclasses from BBC Singers, Emily Beynon,
Susan Bullock, Silvia Careddu, William Coleman, James Ehnes Hartmut Höll,
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jonathan Kelly,Jörgen van Rijen, Pascal Rogé, Masaaki
Suzuki, and Radovan Vlatković.