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Latest Engagement, News & Projects

Find out about recent news and projects being worked on in our Research & Knowledge Exchange department.

RCS aims to support students and staff to develop projects, ideas, and professional goals.

Our connections and relationships with the world are rooted locally and extend internationally, with artists and arts organisations, creative companies, local and national government, national and international agencies, businesses, institutions and networks.

These connections help us promote and disseminate important research.

Find out more about our current projects and recent publications on this page.

Publications

Our staff awards scheme is one of our principal tools in growing our distinctive environment for research and knowledge exchange. These awards are named the Athenaeum Awards in recognition of the Conservatoire’s earliest incarnation as the Glasgow Athenaeum in 1847, and reflecting the contemporary relevance of its founding aims, which included the pursuit and sharing of insights in science and art, by the agency of which a nation is enriched and ennobled.

In the past 9 years, the Athenaeum Awards have opened up numerous new directions for innovative work, supported dissemination and partnership building across Scotland and beyond, and assisted our artists in generating and sharing new insights across the full range of their expertise. This short document gives just a brief introduction to what’s going on in The New Athenaeum.

What’s Going On Now? (WGON) is a major examination of music education and youth music-making in Scotland. The research was commissioned by Creative Scotland and conducted by The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, across twelve months from early 2018 to early 2019.

During the research, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland reported to the Music Education Partnership Group, which includes representation across a wide and diverse range of partners, fully outlined in the report. What’s Going On Now? builds on research published in 2003, and explores the formal, informal and non-formal sectors of music education in Scotland.

For all findings and recommendations, read What’s Going On Now?

Pioneering Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduates, from choreographers and costume designers to performance makers and producers, are profiled in this publication in which they share their advice, experience and what it means to carve a unique path in the global arts and creative industries landscape.

The 12 Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduates who are featured in Movers and Shakers Developing Enterprising Artists, Makers and Technicians, tell their stories of ploughing their own path, the challenges and obstacles they have faced, moments of growth and success and, crucially, how they sustain their careers as artists and creative entrepreneurs.

Read Movers and Shakers.


Art-Making in the Anthropocene

Art-Making in the Anthropocene is a series of 8 free online discussions and a concert bringing together Scottish and international artists, activists, and academics from across disciplines to explore what art-making can be in this time of ecological emergency.

The series is funded by a Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Workshop grant, and co-organized by Dr Emily Doolittle, Dr Sarah Hopfinger, and Dr Stuart MacRae at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Read the Programme Booklet

Relive the concert with us which originally premiered on Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 17:00 BST, performed by Katherine Wren and Nordic Viola.

Music for the Anthropocene

  • Ailie Robertson – *sky dance
  • Aileen Sweeney – *siku
  • Antonia Kattou – *it’s a sad child that destroys its own weather
  • Martin Suckling – *Her lullaby
  • Emily Doolittle – Gardenscape
  • Lisa Robertson – Machair
  • Anna Appleby – Hrakningar

* pieces selected from our Scotland-wide call for scores

Performed by Nordic Violia

  • Helen Brew (flute)
  • Anne Bunnemann (violin)
  • David Hubbard (bassoon)
  • Janet Larsson (flute)
  • Emily Nenniger (violin)
  • Ruth Rowlands (cello)
  • Katherine Wren (viola)

Please contact artmaking@rcs.ac.uk if you would like to receive a link to watch past events.


Scotland’s Singing for Health Network

This network, which is led by Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Clinical Fellow, Liesbeth Tip from the University of Edinburgh, will provide a space for a diverse community of singing practitioners and researchers working on singing and health, to come together to share knowledge, ideas and practice and to open up avenues for communication between individuals and organisations. The Research Assistant on the project is Sophie Boyd, who is both an active researcher and a Singing for Health practitioner.

This project will bring together Singing for Health practitioners, researchers, and health professionals from across Scotland to form a network which supports practitioners and facilitates collaboration and knowledge exchange. Singing for Health groups support the management of a range of conditions such as respiratory conditions, dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, and mental health concerns. As of yet, there is no Scotland-wide network that unites practitioners, researchers and health professionals working in these health-related fields.

The first stage of the network is to digitally map the locations of Singing for Health groups, as well as detailing the evidence-based practice in order for health practitioners to be well informed of the local Singing for Health activities and the potential impacts they might have on individuals, patients, service users, and singers. The digital map will be hosted on the network’s open-access website (coming soon) and will provide the first comprehensive list of Singing for Health services in Scotland, which will be useful for individuals with a range of conditions and health professionals such as nurses, GPs and link workers who will be able see if there are Singing for Health groups in their area. The network will also host a range of workshops to support Singing for Health groups allowing them to showcase their work as well as providing a space to consider larger issues including how to engage and work alongside medical professionals. Finally, the network will produce a podcast series that showcases different approaches and issues related to Singing for Health.

These pages will be updated as the project progresses. If you would like to get in touch with us about the project, please email singing-for-health@rcs.ac.uk.

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