Having successfully raised over £73 million, we are now extending the target to £100 million. This is the largest fundraising goal in the Academy’s 200-year history and the most ambitious campaign for any UK conservatoire.
Thanks to the incredible response to the campaign, the Academy has been able to offer transformative scholarships to exceptional young musicians. Over £5 million is awarded annually in scholarships and bursaries to 83% of students. Through this investment, the Academy can ensure that the most talented students from every walk of life can accept their place and build a career in music.
Enyi Okpara graduated from the Academy in July 2024 and is now the Calleva Assistant Conductor at Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Reflecting on his studies at the Academy and the scholarship support he received he said:
‘I remember the day I got the email saying I had been accepted and was very fortunate to have received a significant scholarship. It opened so many doors. I was a music mad kid from Camden who, with the Academy’s help, eventually followed his dream.’
The Royal Academy of Music’s Future: Enyi Okpara
In an additional commitment to widening access to excellent musical education, these vital funds have allowed the Academy to create and consolidate a range of programmes that provide opportunities for over 750 state-educated schoolchildren. Each year these students have access to exceptional training through Junior Academy courses and Widening Participation schemes.
Alongside ensuring funding for extraordinary musicians, a priority for the Academy has been to attract the most formidable artists to pass on their expertise. Philanthropic support has enabled the creation of six endowed posts, attracting outstanding artists and teachers. The Academy introduced the first fully-endowed chair at a UK conservatoire and one of the largest gifts to establish an endowed chair at any UK HE institution with the Gatsby Chair of Musical Theatre in 2022. This position was made possible by a £6m donation from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, to fund the role of Head of Musical Theatre in perpetuity. Further endowed posts have been secured for historical performance, piano, chamber music and choral conducting. These new chairs at the Academy will give generations of students the most inspiring and ambitious musical training possible, as well as assure the financial stability and continual development of their discipline.
Further philanthropic landmarks include support for new facilities in digital composition, the refurbishment of key teaching and rehearsal rooms, cutting-edge work in the impact of music for people living with dementia, and the expansion and consolidation of the Academy as a hub for international exchange, particularly through the Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme.
Sir Simon Robey, Chair of the Royal Academy of Music said:
‘It is a great pleasure that one of my first tasks as Chair at the Royal Academy of Music is to celebrate the vital role that philanthropy plays here. The Academy is a place where we lead the way with confidence, showing that philanthropy, given generously and deployed effectively, is one of the most powerful sources of hope that music and the arts have today.’
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood CBE, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music said:
‘Where philanthropy used to be the icing on the cake on top of significant public funding, we now know that it is core to our existence and success. I believe we can claim that we are taking the lead in showing how, in this country, our most significant cultural educational organisations can thrive in the here and now and build for the future.’
Find out more about the campaign here.
Images taken at the campaign event to announce the extension of the Academy's fundraising target © Frances Marshall