Guitar and Harp Department (Postgraduate)
Learning from a team of distinguished professional performers, you will develop into a well-rounded musician, entering the profession fully-equipped with all the necessary skills to succeed.
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Overview
The Guitar and Harp Department is structured to reflect musical realities in the 21st century. Most successful musicians live varied musical lives. The MMus and MA Programmes will prepare you for the profession, providing opportunities to acquire a broad range of skills to become excellent musicians and interesting, expressive artists.
Regular individual and group tuition, chamber music and orchestral performances are a focal point of the department. The programmes incorporate regular collaborations with composers in creating new repertoire; side-by-side opportunities with all of Scotland’s national orchestras; classes in technique and performance practice, history and repertoire, improvisation, business skills, and teaching; alongside regular masterclasses with visiting international soloists.
The Guitar and Harp department consists of an exciting, forward-looking team of lecturers who are all experienced soloists, chamber musicians, orchestral players and teachers in their own right. They are on hand to give invaluable advice and tuition informed by their own experience of life as professional musicians.
The important details
UK Applicant Deadline:
2 October 2024
International Applicant Deadline:
1 December 2024
Institution Code:
R58
Programme Code:
MMus: 890F/MA: 801F
Audition Fee:
£65
Application Fee:
£28.50
Welcome to the Guitar & Harp Department
Watch our short video for an introduction to the Guitar & Harp department at RCS.
We spoke to some current guitar students about what makes RCS special and how their time here has prepared them to graduate into a career in the industry.
Why Study Guitar & Harp at RCS?
The Guitar & Harp department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland offers unique opportunities to learn, perform, and develop as an artist. Our dedicated approach sets us apart, with benefits including:
Individual Lessons
During your studies, you will receive an unparalleled 40.5 hours of principal study tuition and supporting studies classes each academic year.
Collaboration & Performance
You’ll study in one of the most multi-disciplinary conservatoires in the world, with opportunities to collaborate with performing artists from across RCS. We’re one of the busiest performing arts venues in Scotland, and you’ll have a vast number of performance opportunities each academic session.
Professional Partnerships
We have excellent partnerships and links to industry; including Big Guitar Weekend, Celtic Connections, Classical Guitar Retreat, Ullapool Guitar Festival, European Mandolin and Guitar Youth Orchestra, NECGS Concert Series, Sphere Concert Series, National Youth Guitar Ensemble and International Guitar Festivals (London)
Side-by-Side Schemes
We run side-by-side schemes with national companies, enabling harpists to play alongside the professionals, including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Guitar Masterclasses
Learn from an expert teaching team, recent masterclasses include David Russell, Thomas Viloteau, Sean Shibe and Ian Watt.
Harp Masterclasses
Experience regular and numerous harp masterclasses; recent guests have included Karen Vaughan, Isabelle Perrin, Sioned Williams and Lucy Wakeford
Meet the Staff
Ian Watt
Lecturer, Guitar
Teresa Romao
Lecturer, Harp
Facilities
The Royal Conservatoire owns:
- 3x seven course lutes
- 1 David Rouse Concert guitar
- 1 Ramirez 1E Concert guitar
- 1x Altamira Classical guitar
- 1x Manual Contreras Classical Guitar
- 1x theorbo
- 1x electric bass
- 1x DPA contact microphone
- 1x 19th century guitar
- 2x AER compact 60 acoustic amplifiers
- 4 concerts harps — 2 Salvi, 1 Camac & 1 Horngacher.
- A large collection of sheet music forming a guitar-specific library
All the instruments are kept in either the guitar room or in the AV Store and RCS students are welcome to borrow all of them. Please note students are responsible for care of the instruments when they are using them.
Guitar and Harp students also have access to RCS’s facilities and resources. This includes a library and several computer suites, as well as a purpose-built recording studio with the use of an expert recording producer. Recordings can be made for course assessments or audition purposes as approved by the Head of Department.
Graduate Destinations
Guitar and Harp graduates have gone on to further study in the US and Europe, become heads of university departments, international concert solo artists, orchestral principal harpists, teachers in private practice and festival directors.
Guitar alumni include:
- Sean Shibe – the first guitarist to be admitted to the prestigious BBC New Generation Artists Scheme and the only solo guitarist to have received a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship. In 2009 Sean won first prize in the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award of the Worshipful Company of Musicians and in 2011 he became only the second guitarist ever to win the Royal Over-Seas League first prize and gold medal. Nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award for his recent album Dreams and Fancies, which debuted at No.3 in the Classical Album Chart. In 2018 he received the RPS ‘Young Artists Prize’.
- Laura Husbands – received a full scholarship to complete an Artist Diploma at Lamont University, Colorado 2009. In June 2011 she received an Artist Diploma in classical guitar performance as well as Lamont’s Outstanding Graduate in Performance Award. Laura Husbands was the winner of the Denver Classical Guitar Society 2010 Debut Competition and the 2011 Portland International Guitar Competition.
- Marek Pasieczny – is one of the most popular contemporary polish composers and guitarists of his generation. He completed a Masters in Guitar Performance with distinction as well as in Composition, first studying at Karol Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw under Professor Piotr Zaleski, and then RCS. Established as a successful performer, composer and teacher, his career has taken him all over the world.
Sean Shibe performing at RCS’s Big Guitar Weekend, 2023
Programme Structure
The programme structure for your studies will depend on whether you choose to undertake Guitar and Harp principal study as part of an MMus or an MA in Performance. Further information is available on the MMus/MA Performance page:
How to Apply
More information about how to apply, including entry requirements and tuition fee & funding information, is available on the MMus/MA Performance page. The specific audition requirements for this principal study are detailed below:
Audition Information
In-person auditions are planned to take place at various locations across the world. Should you apply on time, an invitation to book an audition time slot will be sent to you via Acceptd, you must create an Acceptd account regardless of your audition location to be able to select your audition time. An interview will form part of your audition, this is a chance for the panel to find out more about you, as well having an opportunity for you to ask questions about the programme.
The RCS audition panel will consist of a relevant departmental staff member and the Head of Department. Our international auditions will consist of one panel member and will also be recorded for review by the relevant department.
All in-person auditions will be given a twenty-minute warm up slot prior to their audition.
Audition Dates
- The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow: 4 – 8 November 2024 – an RCS accompanist will be provided for you.
- M Cultures Artist Studio, Seoul: 30 November 2024 – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email koreaauditions@rcs.ac.uk
- The Yehudi Menuhin School, Qingdao: 6 – 8 November 2024 – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email chinaauditions@rcs.ac.uk
- Singapore, Jan/Feb 2025 – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email singaporeauditions@rcs.ac.uk
- New York, Jan/Feb 2025 – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email usaauditions@rcs.ac.uk
- Los Angeles, Jan/Feb 2025 – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email usaauditions@rcs.ac.uk
International applicants are welcome to submit a recorded submission via Acceptd if these dates are not suitable. A live online interview, if held, will assess the candidate’s suitability for the programme in terms of knowledge, experience and commitment.
Through audition, applicants will be required to demonstrate:
- A high degree of technical competency on the instrument or voice in the service of specific repertoire
- An ability to demonstrate a considerable degree of understanding of the repertoire performed
- An ability to perform specific repertoire convincingly
- A considerable degree of self-confidence and creativity with respect to the repertoire performed
- A degree of self-sufficiency, initiative and independence in selecting, preparing and performing a particular programme
- A developing musical personality
Audition Repertoire
Guitar:
Any one movement from:
- Bach’s Lute Suites, Violin Sonatas or Partitas, Cello Suites or equivalent works (Scarlatti, Weiss etc)
- and a movement from a major concerto (Rodrigo, Villa Lobos, Ponce, etc)
- or a major performance piece from 20th or 21st Century (Walton – Bagatelles, Ginastera – Sonata, Britten – Nocturnal, Dyens Libre Sonatine)
Harp:
A movement from any substantial concerto and a major work written after 1900 and the following orchestral cadenzas:
- Smetana: Vysehrad from Ma Vlast
- Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
Recording Guidelines
- When setting up for your video recording, your body (typically, from about the waist up) and instrument should be the focal point of the frame. The committee wants to be able to see not just your face but how well you navigate your instrument.
- The video recording should be provided in ONE continuous shot without separate tracks for different musical pieces.
- Please begin the recording by introducing yourself to camera and stating what you will be performing. You can take a little time between pieces so long as your body must remain in the frame.
- For any pieces that were written for your instrument and piano accompaniment, you are encouraged to perform with piano accompaniment (whether live or pre-recorded) if practical for you. Be assured, however, that if this is not possible for you, then you will not be disadvantaged in any way.
For more information on recording a video audition, Guitar Lecturer Matthew McCallister reveals his top tips on recording your music audition online:
More from the Guitar & Harp Department
Big Guitar Weekend
Big Guitar Weekend is our annual festival in celebration of guitar across Classical, Jazz & Folk. Each year we feature performances from world-class guitarists alongside talks and masterclasses, instrument displays, and public competitions involving RCS students & Scottish School Ensembles.
RCS Presents: Guitar & Harp
Watch this live concert performed by students from our Guitar and Harp department in November 2020.
RCS Ambassador for Guitar & Harp: Samrat Majumder
Find out more about RCS Alum and Guitar & Harp ambassador, Samrat Majumder, on his ambassador profile page.
Big Guitar Weekend 2022 Highlights
Watch our highlights video from Big Guitar Weekend 2022!
Why RCS?
We are the only place in Europe where you can study all of the performing arts on the one campus. There is a distinctive creative energy at RCS and you’ll be made to feel part of our inclusive and diverse environment from the very beginning of your studies.
Our graduates are resourceful, highly employable and members of a dynamic community of artists who make a significant impact across the globe.
At RCS, students develop not just their art but their power to use it.
World Top Ten
We were voted one of the world’s Top Ten destinations to study the performing arts (QS Rankings) in 2025, the ninth time we have been placed in the top ten since the ranking was established in 2016.
Perform & Collaborate
Our curriculum is built around performance and collaboration and we hold professional partnerships with all of Scotland’s National Companies. Join forces across artforms and be part of the 500+ performances we give each year.
Outstanding Alumni
Our graduates are employed across the world and we take pride in the impact they have on their art forms. We’ll equip you with the skills to thrive as a professional and join their ranks.
Learn from the Best
More than 1,000 lecturers, tutors, artists, technicians, co-ordinators and support staff work at RCS across all our art forms. Study with some of the finest educators and performing and production artists in the UK.
A Campus Built for You
Our facilities are world-class. From rehearsal rooms and recording studios to our five professional performance venues, we have a campus to showcase and develop emerging artists to the highest standards.