The Royal Academy of Music & The VOCES8 Foundation launch joint Artist Development Scheme

To celebrate the Academy’s Bicentenary, the two organisations come together for a new scheme to benefit Academy students

Each year, a small number of postgraduate students will be selected by the Academy’s Principal, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, to work with the VOCES8 Studios team on creating new audio-visual material to help with their promotional activities. 

VOCES8 Studios is a state-of-the-art digital production team based at the VOCES8 Centre. It is the creator of the hugely successful LIVE from London digital festivals which last year sold over 150,000 tickets and raised over a £1m for arts organisations. VOCES8 Foundation ensemble recordings have been streamed over 100 million times, and last year reached 183 territories.

This joint collaboration fuels both institutions’ global remits to provide and support excellent, inclusive education, and the VOCES8 Studios team has been commended in the press for ‘setting the bar for online presentation of choral music and broadening the reach of all the groups involved’.

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood said: ‘As part of the skills and materials required to succeed as a musician, audio-visual content is becoming a critical element in an artist’s armoury. Having top-level performances, expertly and imaginatively recorded and shot, can help young musicians to communicate their unique creative personalities and ensure that they have the best possible material to disseminate to potential employers in the industry.’

VOCES8 and The VOCES8 Foundation are the latest in a list of stellar institutions partnered with the Academy to provide an outstanding educational experience to students. Close to home, these include the London Philharmonic Orchestra Mentoring Scheme, the LSO String Experience Scheme, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia Scheme and side-by-sides with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Nash Ensemble.

Internationally, the Academy recently launched the Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme, which enables students from twelve of the top conservatoires in the world to take part in educational exchanges with the Academy. Additionally, the Academy has had a relationship with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra since 2018, with principal players working with students on orchestral repertoire. In the same year the Academy forged a special partnership with the Czech Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor Semyon Bychkov, which includes regular visits from the players for side-by-sides, masterclasses, workshops and concerts. The Academy’s recording partner, Linn Records, produces professional, commercially available recordings for the Academy and works with postgraduate students on the Bicentenary Series, solo recordings from the Academy’s Bicentenary Scholars.