Report on the Royal
Northern College of Music - Gillian Ramm
I
was the recipient of the RNCM prize in the finals of the 2002 ‘Mathy
Awards’ I took up the scholarship in September of 2003.
FUNDING:
One of the initial challenges of being awarded the scholarship
(which covers half of the fees for one year in the post-graduate
course) was finding enough money to cover the rest of the fees, as
well as living expenses for a year. The remainder of the fees was
approximately£5300 pounds, and the college recommends working on a
living budget of approximately £6000 pounds for a year. Given the
exchange rate between UK and Australian dollars, this is probably
the biggest challenge associated with taking up any of the UK prizes
in the Mathy Awards. I was fortunate to receive the Nell Pascall
grant of $5000 as another prize in the singing competition, and I
received a grant of $5000 from the Ian Potter Foundation of
Australia. In addition the Tait Foundation in England sponsored me
£750.00 towards fees. The rest of the money was through my own
savings, a small amount of help from my parents, and selling my
car! Needless to say it is a big financial commitment to make,
which scholars need to think seriously about. During my studies I
also worked part-time to help with my living expenses. My biggest
recommendation for future winners of these scholarships is to start
investigating funding options as soon as possible. In fact, it
would even be good to start researching once you have become a
finalist, if indeed such a scholarship is what you set as a goal to
win through the competition. Some organisations had closed for
entries by the time I started applying, but I still managed to get
there so it can be done!
THE COURSE:
My course content provided me with the following:
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2 x 45 minute singing lessons per week |
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ON average one coaching session per week with either staff
repeteteurs or a visiting guest coach. |
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Lieder classes, Italian repertoire classes, French song classes,
oratorio classes and a class called Communication in
Performance. |
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A weekly movement class, which covered basic dance skills as
well as Pilates and posture work. |
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Three language classes per week: Italian, French and German.
There is an optional Russian class. |
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Private Italian coaching sessions, approximately three per term. |
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A ten-week acting course with an English director called John
Abulafia. |
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Weekly diction classes |
In addition to the core content of the course, I was part of a major
operatic excerpt in the final term, part of a first term opera scene
workshop, and most importantly played the role of Anne Trulove in
The Rake’s Progress, which was the major opera production for
the year at the college. The experience and exposure from this
production was invaluable. Also, the college has an excellent large
theatre with a fully professional crew. This means one is able to
experience as close as possible to a professional operatic
production.
The best things about the course content are:
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It is highly practical, basically all of the classes except for
language are performance based. If you take advantage of these
classes you can run repertoire with a pianist for staff and
colleagues almost every day of the week. |
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Through the Oratorio, lieder, French and Italian song classes
you cover a very broad repertoire base. I enjoyed the fact that
while opera is a big part of the course content, song repertoire
and Oratorio are still covered. |
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There are a lot of performance opportunities. |
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The movement classes are particularly helpful for singing
posture and the way one carries oneself on stage.
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Even if you are not in the main opera production, they also do a
smaller scale production in the theatre in the final term
(usually an early music piece) and a contemporary piece in the
small studio theatre in first term. Every student gets to do an
excerpt so you will still get to sing in the theatre in costume
and with a conductor, piano and basic set and lighting.
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I met some excellent outside coaches from London and also one
who visited from Germany. Unfortunately you do not get to work
with them all the time as they have to travel to Manchester and
this costs the college more, but you still get to make the
contact. |
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES/SUCCESSES THROUGH THE COURSE:
Major companies do come to the college to do auditions. I
auditioned for Glyndebourne, and was actually offered a place in the
chorus for this year. Unfortunately because I don’t have patriality
and was in the UK on a student visa, in the end I couldn’t take up
the engagement, which was very disappointing. Nonetheless, the fact
that the college has links with these companies is invaluable. Any
singers coming over I would highly recommend tracing your family
history carefully to see if you can even qualify for an EU passport,
it will make your life so much easier!
The college has an excellent system of sending students out to
perform in concert and oratorio engagements. This is because the
northern part of England has a big choral tradition, and many
societies contact the college for soloists. I was able to do a lot
of rewarding concert work during the year, adding repertoire to my
CV and also being paid a modest amount for the concerts to help with
living expenses.
Other achievements I am proud of include receiving a distinction and
the highest mark of the vocal students for my end of year Diploma
recital. The recital is the examination one needs to pass in order
to gain their “Post-Graduate Diploma” in Vocal and Opera Studies.
The college also has a special affiliation with a gentleman called
Sir Peter Moores, who has a foundation set up to assist young
singers. He has sponsored me (and other Australian singers) for
full fees and maintenance for a final year of post-graduate studies,
which I am incredibly grateful for.
OVERALL SUMMARY:
The RNCM is going to be making changes to the course content over
the next couple of years, and they are also planning to introduce a
specific opera school (much like the Sydney Con or Royal College of
Music), which is separate from the other Post-graduate courses. I
am certainly most happy to continue to give people feedback about
what is happening with plans for the new and existing courses, as I
think it is important for people to be as well informed as possible
when planning to take up a scholarship. I personally have gained a
great deal from my year at the college. Certainly being in the
opera production played a big factor in how much I got out of the
course. I strongly believe also that you get out of any course what
you are prepared to put in. I would like to thank the Australian
Singing Competition for the opportunity to go and study overseas. I
must also acknowledge again the Ian Potter Cultural Foundation, the
Tait Foundation and the trustees of the Nell Pascall grant. I think
it has strengthened me in many ways, both as a performer and as a
person, and I know that what I have learnt from this year will
enhance my career prospects and development as an artist a great
deal.
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