About Research at the Academy

The Academy has a strongly collaborative culture. By sustaining a dialogue between all members of our community, we aim to re-evaluate and build on our musical heritage and performance traditions.

Much of the Academy’s research activity is practice-based, focusing on the practical aspects of music in the areas of performance and composition. This is a broad field, encompassing the analysis and application of performance materials and research on instruments, as well as the critical and reflective study of practice itself.

The Academy is a community of collaborators. We encourage creative interaction between students and staff, between performers, composers, instrument makers, scholars and practitioners in other art forms, and between the Academy and the wider world. We develop and support projects that strike new ground in musical practices, engage with new audiences, re-evaluate and build on musical traditions, and have an impact in the wider world.

The outcomes of our research take many different forms, including compositions, performance materials, public performances, new instrumental technologies, recordings, broadcasts, websites, and other types of public advocacy for innovative practice, as well as books and scholarly articles.

Our research culture also draws on our globally significant collection of musical artefacts, including fine stringed instruments ranging from Cremonese masterpieces to examples by today’s leading makers, historic keyboard instruments, musical iconography, composers’ manuscripts, and a wide range of performance materials annotated by iconic 19th- and 20th-century performers.