Curtain up on a new season of performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Published: 07/09/2023

Sumptuous symphony and jazz orchestras. Much-loved musical theatre and mesmerising plays.

Lunchtime concerts, an opera double bill, fabulous festive fun and the return of Glasgow’s annual guitar festival. Get ready for an unmissable new season of performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Global guest artists and RCS’s rising stars take to the stage in a packed programme that runs from September to December at Scotland’s national conservatoire, one of the world’s top destinations for performing arts education. Tickets are now on sale, book at the box office.

Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “The curtain rises on a new season of events at RCS and we can’t wait to showcase the breadth of talent across our institution.

“Audiences are so important in helping young artists and creative producers hone their skills and by coming to see their work, they’re playing an essential role in our students’ artistic journeys.”

September to December season includes

Music: Mondays at One and Fridays at One

From 29 September

The perfect start and finish to the week – hour-long lunchtime concerts featuring students, staff, alumni and guest artists. This season’s lineup includes:

• Pianist Ethan David Loch, BBC Young Musician 2022 finalist and Keyboard category winner.
• Ewan Hastie, current BBC Young Jazz Musician.
• Lewis Banks, saxophonist and RCS graduate who is a regular guest with ensembles including The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic.
• Pianist Amy Laurenson, RCS graduate and lecturer and current BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician.

Music: Jazz

From 6 October

Jazz fans can immerse themselves in an exciting series of performances, from the popular Blue Mondays with Konrad Wiszniewski and Mario Caribé to the sublime RCS Jazz Orchestra and Peter Johnstone’s International Organ Quartet.

Music: Big Guitar Weekend: The Sound of Scotland

2 – 5 November

Classical virtuosity to contemporary innovation with an illustrious line-up that includes Samrat Majumder, Ian Watt, Kevin MacKenzie, Duo Ramelli-Savigni and Sasha Savaloni. There’s also a highly anticipated performance from Sean Shibe – RCS graduate and Associate Artist of Guitar – who has been described as ‘one of the foremost guitarists of his generation’.

Drama: Glory on Earth

8-10 November

Linda McLean’s play focuses on eighteen-year-old Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and her battle with the radical cleric and protestant reformer John Knox. Both believe themselves ordained by God. Both believe themselves beloved by their people. Both were exiled and returned home. But only one can make Scotland their own.

Drama: The Wonderful World of Dissocia

8-10 November

Anthony Neilson’s absurdist exploration of the inside of one person’s head. Mixing wild surrealism with stark hyper-realism, it manages to explore mental health in a way that is both funny and compassionate, and at the same time, dark and disturbing.

Opera: double bill of Three Decembers and The Medium

28 + 30 October and 1 + 3 November

The Alexander Gibson Opera School presents two gripping American operas: Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers and Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium.

Three Decembers tells the poignant story of a Broadway star and her two adult children. This chamber opera explores the complexities of family relationships, secrets,

and the power of love and forgiveness in the face of heartbreak and loss.

In The Medium, a fraudulent medium conducts séances, but when she starts experiencing supernatural events, her world unravels. As guilt and paranoia consume her, the lines between reality and illusion blur, leading to a haunting climax.

Opera: MMus Opera Scenes

30 November and 2 December

MMus Opera students explore the opera repertoire in a range of scenes from contrasting periods and musical styles.

Opera: Masterclasses

27 October: Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano | 1 December: Susan Bullock, soprano

Join the world’s finest singers as they coach students in a series of intimate workshops.

Music: RCS Symphony Orchestra plays Rachmaninov

1 December

Conducted by Michael Seal, the concert opens with Mighty River, written by Errollyn Wallen RCS Visiting Professor of Composition, Errollyn Wallen CBE, to mark the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, the first of his compositions after emigrating to the USA, is a typical celebration of rhythm, synonymous with many of his works. In celebration of 150 years since Sergei Rachmaninov’s birth, the orchestra performs his last composition, Symphonic Dances, written two years before his death.

Drama: Second Person Narrative

2-8 December

Jemma Kennedy’s play, with thirty whirlwind scenes, captures fragments of a life, from birth to death. You’re born a girl. You grow up. You grow old. You die. But along the way can you really forge your own identity? Can you actually choose your own destiny? And would you do anything differently if you could do it all over again?

Musical Theatre: Into the Woods

5-8 December

Step into Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, a magical musical theatre mashup of Brothers Grimm fairy tales about wishes, family and the choices we make.

A fed-up Cinderella wants to go to festivals, a sad young Jack wants his cow to give him some milk, and a frustrated couple just want a baby. These disgruntled characters get the action going by wishing hard for something they don’t have. But getting what they want will always mean taking from someone else, which never ends well.

Music: RCS Chamber Orchestra & Choir: Mozart’s Requiem

8 December

RCS Chamber Orchestra and Choir join forces for Mozart’s divine masterpiece, his Requiem, under the baton of conductor David Watkin. Composed in the final months of his life, it remains a timeless and iconic work, never less than deeply moving, capturing the essence of humanity and the eternal mystery of life and death.

Musical Theatre: Christmas at the Conservatoire

13-15 December

Full-on feel-good festive fun in the audience-favourite, annual celebration presented by BA and MA Musical Theatre students. It’s guaranteed to spread sparkling seasonal cheer!