Guitar

Our Artist Development provision is here to prepare you practically, creatively and strategically for a sustainable career in the music profession. We want you to leave here as fully-rounded, creative and adaptable musicians, with the tools and know-how to gain employment in unpredictable times. Practical sessions and intensive electives through the year include working with online content, personal recording techniques, preparing professional documents, auditioning well, how to get funding, and self-employed finances. We also look at your creative and career options, with talks and workshops on effective programming, orchestral life, working with promoters, creative collaboration, and producing and creating your own projects. Alongside our talks and day-long events, there are ongoing one-off sessions throughout the year, focusing in on more specialised areas, such as West-End work, writing for video games, TV and film, and the improvising musician. We also offer one-to-one career guidance sessions with members of the Artist Development team. Our talks and electives are run by combination of Academy staff and invited experts from all fields of music, including established solo artists, fixers, agents and festival directors.

Artist Development forms a part of the broader range of your work and activities, which we assess over the course of your studies via a portfolio. You receive one-to-one supervision to help guide your study choices and to support preparation for this. The portfolio includes professional documents, such as a biographies, an engagement with internet presence, a short collaborative video, a list of all of your musical activities, including external work, and some written reflection on your development. Your supervisor will help you to use the portfolio to take new kinds of responsibility for your musical development, and to manage your transition out of studentship into the profession.