Curtain rises on new season at RCS
Curtain rises on new season at RCS
Published: 10/01/2017
Performances, masterclasses, festivals and talks ”¦ the stage is set for a spectacular spring/summer season of performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), the country’s busiest arts venue. 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 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 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.
Buy Tickets
Tickets for the new season are available from the RCS Box Office. Tickets 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.
