Relationships with renowned visiting artists, other colleges and external arts organisations provide a further range of expertise and experience to students.
The College has relationships with the Wihan, Vellinger and Smith Quartets, the Schubert Ensemble, and ensembles such as The English Concert, The Sixteen and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Performances are directed by a variety of celebrated conductors including Tony Castro, Paul Daniel, Terry Edwards, James Judd, Jan Latham-Koenig, Diego Masson, Robert Purvis, Peter Stark, Gary Walker and Simon Wright.
The College's Professional Skills Department specialises in creative and collaborative projects that explore contemporary contexts for musical performance. These include interdisciplinary projects with dance, film/TV and the visual arts, sit-specific performance and collaboration between differing musical cultures.
Outreach and audience development programmes include music education projects, work in social inclusion and economic regeneration, intergenerational work and music making with people with disabilities and special needs. The Department also offers student placements with projects led by partner organisations.
The College has an ever-increasing reputation for staged work. In addition to regular semi-staged opera scenes productions, an emphasis on Musical Theatre and Early Music has developed in recent years. Once each year the whole College comes together to perform large-scale works.
