Music in South Kensington

Enjoy great food, drink and free live music in the Hall’s Verdi – Italian Kitchen the perfect place to wind down, laugh and eat well with friends and family over a bottle of great Italian wine. These concerts take place at lunchtime and dinner - booking in advance is recommended.

RCM professors Maria Ayerza, Ashley Solomon and Julien Feltrin explore chamber music for recorder from the 16th, 18th and 20th centuries.

We continue our celebration of 20th-century master Bela Bartok with the shortest of his totemic string quartets.

The RCM Baroque Orchestra opens with Bach’s first Brandenburg Concerto, the largest and most dramatic of the six, and ends with his bright and joyous Ascension Oratorio, showcasing the baroque trumpets and wind players.

Prince Consort Winds, winner of the RCM Woodwind Ensemble Competition 2019, kicks off our 2020 Chamber Music Festival with Barber’s Summer Music, a languid meditation on the season, and Valerie Coleman’s Tzigane, a vibrant jaunt through Eastern Europe.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see the stars of the future as singers from the RCM perform pieces from the operatic repertoire.

Our bite-sized Bach series continues this spring with a 30-minute programme of masterworks performed on Flentrop Orgelbouw organ.

Singers from the RCM regularly go on to take leading roles in the world’s greatest opera houses so don’t miss the opportunity to spot the stars of the future! Hear works by some of opera's greatest composers in this concert of scenes, conducted by Natalie Murray Beale.

Written during a spell in Italy, Sibelius’s Second Symphony was surely influenced by the composer’s immersion in the romantic legacy, not least in the work’s ultimately triumphant play on a three-note motif. Here the RCM Philharmonic performs it alongside Kaija Saariaho’s Asteroid 4179: Toutatis, inspired by the asteroid that orbits closest to Earth, in a concert that will stir your soul and imagination.

Acclaimed percussion soloist Marta Klimasara joins RCM musicians for a fun-packed evening featuring pieces by RCM composers and traditional works arranged for percussion.

Ages 10–12 Join Katie Teage as she sows the seeds for a lifetime love of singing in this dynamic and fun spring-themed choir-in-a-day.

Ages 6–9 Join Katie Teage as she sows the seeds for a lifetime love of singing in this dynamic and fun morning of springthemed songs, arts and crafts and storytelling.

Pierre Hamon guides us on a musical journey through breath in ancient civilisations: from medieval double flutes, direct descendants of the flutes and sulos of Greek and Roman antiquity, to double and triple flutes of the ancient civilisations of Mexico, and the three-hole pipe and tabor of medieval minstrels.

A musician, composer and instrumentalist, whose repertoire ranges from medieval music to contemporary music, Pierre Hamon is welcomed to the College for this year's Recorder Festival. He takes an afternoon masterclass with RCM woodwind players.

Leighton House Museum is delighted to present British soprano Dame Felicity Lott, who will be performing some of her most-beloved songs accompanied by her pianist, Sebastian Wybrew. This biographical repertoire will include songs by Gilbert and Sullivan, Franz Lehar, Richard Strauss, Jacques Offenbach, Francis Poulenc and Noël Coward.

Isabel Villanueva is regulary invited to give masterclasses at international institutions. She returns to the College to work with talented string players.

RCM alumnus and Chair of the Alkan Society Mark Viner presents an introduction to the music of Charles-Valentin Alkan, focusing on the Grande Sonate op 33 of 1848.

RCM composition professor Michael Oliva presents an evening or works that extend and enrich solo instruments with live electronics. The programme includes Jacob ter Veldhuis' dramatic Grab it! and Kaija Saariaho's Petals which contrasts fragile sections against energetic passages for solo cello.

The Royal Opera’s Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano leads the RCM Symphony Orchestra in a thrilling evening of French music, culminating in Saint-Saens’s Symphony no 3 to showcase the full range of the RCM’s organ.

Featuring music by female composers who studied at the RCM.

RCM musicians curate and perform works by female composers in this afternoon of mini concerts showcasing some of the music featured in the new RCM online resource.

RCM musicians perform a selection of Ravel’s piano works ahead of a concert with Sir Antonio Pappano on Sunday 8 March.

Marisa Robles has worked with such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Yehudi Menuhin. Her amiable stage personality and her warm, clear playing endeared her not only to audiences, both live and television, but also to composers. This Visiting Professor of Harp returns to the College for an afternoon masterclass with RCM harpists.

RCM pianists and singers from the Vocal and Opera Department compete for the Joan Chissell Schumann Prize.

Stephen Hough is one of the most distinctive musicians of his generation, ‘a virtuoso who begins where others leave off’ according to The Washington Post. the RCM is thrilled to welcome Stephen to give unique insight into his method in a masterclass with RCM pianists.

The RCM String Quartet in Residence returns with its unique playing style and 'new attitude to classical music' (Cincinnati Enquirer). Praised by The New York Times for their ‘panache’, the members of Harlem Quartet bring a special energy, joy and inclusivity to all their shows. This thrilling evening of classical and jazz fusion is not to be missed!

Our bite-sized Bach series continues this spring with a 30-minute programme of masterworks performed on our Flentrop Orgelbouw organ.

The event series celebrates the opening of Upopoy, Japan’s first national museum featuring the history and culture of the Ainu. Japan House will host concerts by contemporary Ainu musicians and other events include talks and workshops on Ainu decorative needlework traditions and patterns.

Late Night Jazz celebrates the finest jazz standards in the intimacy of the Elgar Room. Both joyful and sultry, Luna Cohen celebrates the diversity of Brazilian culture, incorporating the colourful grooves and rhythms of Afro-Brazilian influences, Samba and Bossa Nova with a modern approach.

Sir Cliff Richard will return to the Royal Albert Hall in 2020 to conclude a UK tour celebrating his 80th birthday.

Hit-makers Level 42 return to the Royal Albert Hall in 2020, for a special concert closing their From Eternity To Here Tour.

Exploring an ocean of science, music, comedy and wonder, this inspiring and exhilarating new variety show will see the iconic Auditorium transformed into a virtual underwater playground with live performances, special effects, puppetry and lasers!

Music is only part of the story. Evoking the experience of being in a club, the exhibition will transport you through the people, art, design, technology and photography that have been capturing and shaping the electronic music landscape.

Singers from the RCM regularly go on to take leading roles in the world’s greatest opera houses so don’t miss the opportunity to spot the stars of the future!

Juliette Bausor is currently Principal Flute of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, having previously held the same position with both the Royal Northern Sinfonia and London Mozart Players.

For the final concert in our Composer in Residence series, the RCM welcomes Ben Gernon to conduct the RCM Symphony Orchestra in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s orchestral works reflecting on artistic muses.

We continue our 60th birthday celebration of composer Mark-Anthony Turnage with a performance from the RCM’s contemporary music ensemble New Perspectives.

Join us as we celebrate the music of RCM Research Fellow and leading composer Mark-Anthony Turnage in his 60th birthday year. This evening talented RCM pianists perform a selection of his chamber music, including the lyrical Duetti d’amore and the romping Slide Stride.

Renowned British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage works with RCM composers as part of this season's Composer in Residence series. With his flair for vivid titles, and his complete absorption of jazz elements into a contemporary classical style, Turnage produces work with a strong appeal to an enquiring, often young audience.

Andrew Marriner has held the position of principal clarinet in the London Symphony Orchestra since 1986, when he succeeded the late Jack Brymer. During his orchestral career Andrew has maintained a presence on the worldwide solo concert platform, in the field of chamber music, and as a teacher. He works with young clarinettists in this evening masterclass.

American pianist Lindsay Garritson works with RCM musicians on the intriguing keyboard works of composer Carl Vine.

Lindsay Garritson has performed with orchestras across the USA. Enjoy her talents in the intimate setting of our West Parry Room in a programme that includes the UK premiere of Carl Vine's Piano Sonata no 4, written especially for her.

In 2014, Professor Kwok was awarded Medal of Honour from the Hong Kong Government for his contribution to piano education in Hong Kong. He returns to the RCM for a Spring masterclass with talented pianists.