Conservatoires

	Paul Archibald outside the Royal College

Paul is trumpet professor at the Royal College of Music. All the students at the RCM are aspiring to perform professionally and so their individual lessons are designed to cover the different skills associated with professional performance

As part of their undergraduate studies students focus on solo performance, orchestral skills, chamber music, masterclasses, workshops and education and outreach projects. The key to all these musical disciplines is a confident and positive approach to public perfomance. The students lessons, therefore, cover five areas: technique, stamina development, transposition, orchestral repertoire and solo repertoire. Most conservatoires have examinations in technical work: based on scales, arpeggios, dominant and diminished sevenths, chromatic and whole tone scales: orchestral repertoire: covering the important excerpts from major works and solo repertoire: a recital, approximately 20 - 40 minutes in length of contrasting works written for the instrument. In addition to their individual lessons students have the opportunity of performing in symphony, chamber, opera and baroque orchestras, contemporary music ensemble, brass ensemble, brass band and big band.

Royal College of Music
Founded in 1882, the Royal College of Music enjoys a worldwide reputation as a conservatoire where performers, conductors and composers are trained to the highest international standards. The College is situated in London's South Kensington, next to Imperial College, directly opposite the Royal Albert Hall, near the Royal College of Art and five minutes walk from the Science, Natural History and Victoria and Albert Museums - the capital's most important artistic, scientific and cultural melting pot.

Since its foundation by the Prince of Wales, later Edward Vll, the College has been linked with the Royal family. Its patron is currently Her Majesty The Queen. For 40 years, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was President; in 1993 HRH The Prince of Wales became President, Her Majesty The Queen Mother becoming President Emerita.

The College's influence on the development of music in the last 100 years is incalculable. Through its doors have passed some of the most distinguished and influential figures in British music history. Former students include composers Sir Arthur Bliss, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Sir Michael Tippett, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber; conductors Leopold Stokowski, Sir Charles Groves, Sir Colin Davis;instrumentalists James Galway, John Lill and Barry Douglas. The College's influence is not merely historical, however: it continues to grow, year by year attracting some of the finest talent of each generation.

The brass faculty of the RCM is a vibrant and energetic force at the college and offers wonderful performance opportunities to all the students. In addition to individual lessons, masterclasses and performance classes the brass students participate in orchestral repertoire classes, brass ensembles, trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba ensembles and authentic instrument groups including cornets and sackbuts. There is also a brass band and a full range of orchestral opportunities including opera, contemporary, film music and symphonic repertoire.

"As a member of the Brass Faculty, you'll enjoy an environment which truly enables you to realise your full potential. You'll receive a challenging but carefully structured programme of study and performance with particular emphasis on the identifying and unlocking of individual potential." Nigel Black, Head of Brass