Driving along Londons Marylebone Road one evening, I notice the colourfully illuminated buildings of the Royal Academy of Music (RAM). Following its bicentenary last year, Britain's senior conservatoire boasts a recently added theatre, a new recital and recording facility, and the commissioning of 200 new pieces of music. I am talking with trumpeter, writer and recording producer Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, its principal since 2008 and in his 35th year on the staff.

The portrait behind his desk is of Arthur Sullivan, pictured in his Chapel Royal chorister’s uniform. He was the RAM’s first Mendelssohn Scholar, a recipient of funds from a charitable foundation set up shortly after Mendelssohns death. The Leipzig Conservatoire (which he founded) and the Royal Academy of Music (then the UK’s only conservatoire) are the two awarding bodies. It is the final day of audition week at the RAM and Freeman-Attwood is soon to spend the rest of it listening to prospective opera singers. But first he is keen to show me some of the treasures in his office – Mozarts table, a cabinet containing Sir Henry Wood’s library from the Proms, and a music stand that belonged to Wagner.

Through forward planning and some luck, the bicentenary avoided the worst effects of the pandemic. ‘Over the last decade we worked out what a bicentenary should look like,’ Freeman-Attwood recalls. ‘Thank goodness the Academy was founded in 1822 and not 1820, or we would have had some problems! When the RAM was established, western art music was at the heart of cultural life on the continent. Mendelssohn visited the RAM, Weber conducted our first symphony orchestra… That has been covered in five podcasts which imbue our history with stories that perhaps haven’t been told. But the majority of our work has been to look forward.’

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, principal since 2008: ‘The majority of our work has been to look forward’

Perhaps the most ambitious project was to commission 200 new pieces. ‘The point was to ensure that every single principal-study instrument would have at least one work written for it.’ Contributors include George Benjamin, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Brett Dean, plus younger names often with RAM connections. All 200 pieces were performed between January 2020 and December 2022. The series began with A Postcard from Sanday, a charming unaccompanied violin solo found on the desk of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies after his death, and closed with a new work from Tansy Davies. ‘We wanted to create a legacy. All these pieces are published, and were recorded in our studio here. Commissioning new and challenging repertoire for all the instruments taught here lies at the core of the RAM’s curriculum.’

Of recent additions to the Academy’s resources, three will be of particular benefit to organists. A legacy from the family of the late musicologist Peter le Huray provides for an annual competitive prize for the performance of Baroque music (1st prize £3,000; 2nd prize £1,000) and also an annual organ scholarship worth £10,000. The first winner of this is Charles Maxtone-Smith, a postgraduate student at the RAM and former organ scholar at Westminster Abbey.

The second acquisition is more complex and no less significant. The archive of the late scholar and writer Peter Williams, a contemporary of le Huray, has been bequeathed to the RAM by his family. Prior to cataloguing, the head of organ, Professor David Titterington, has been assessing the materials with fellow organ professor Dr David Ponsford. ‘There are vast amounts of material in 36 boxes,’ says Titterington. ‘It is predominantly a research archive containing material relating to J.S. Bach – every conceivable edition.’ It also contains Williams’s research for The Organ in Western Culture (Cambridge University Press, 1993). ‘There are many books in German, and scores of 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century music. He constantly made notes – on envelopes and scraps of paper – and his books are heavily annotated with pencil marks in the margins, which are a fascinating legacy of cross-referencing.’ The archive will be available by arrangement to scholars from outside the RAM as well. ‘Most of the music will be on the shelves for students’ use; the more valuable material will be available for research.’

It is hard to believe that Freeman-Attwood is not an organist, for his knowledge of repertoire and unwavering support for the organ department, its instruments, professors and students, is tremendous. This year the Academy’s concert organ (see C&O Jan/Feb 2014, p.29ff), by the Swiss firm Orgelbau Kuhn, is ten years old. (It replaced a smaller instrument by Van den Heuvel, now relocated to Glasgow: see this issue, p.18.) Freeman-Attwood recounts the sponsorship which provided it. ‘When I arrived in my first week as principal I rang Sir Elton John (our most famous alumnus), and he asked how he could help us financially.’ After showing no interest in funding improvements to the library and practice rooms, Elton embraced the idea of providing a new organ for the Duke’s Hall. ‘He said that he’d buy us one of those as long as it was expensive and “had plenty of bling”.’ The organ was funded by proceeds from concerts given by Elton and his long-time band member, percussionist Ray Cooper, along with other donations. Including necessary structural engineering to the hall, the Kuhn organ cost in the region of £1.2 million. David Titterington continues to be impressed. ‘It has exceeded our expectations and has been tested in many musical environments, including orchestral works. It has two very effective swell boxes; the egress of sound and the range of dynamics it can produce is astonishing. It is beautifully constructed – it is a jewel box musically and visually, and hugely inspiring – we are thrilled with it.’ The modern and colourful design was chosen because the board agreed that it should look like a concert organ.

The 52-stop Rieger organ of 1987 in St Marylebone Church functions as a principal teaching and practice instrument

A 1763 Neopolitan organ by Carlos and Michelangelo Sanarica, restored in 2004 by Riccardo Lorenzini, is available to students in a nearby church

The 42-stop Kuhn organ of 2013 in the Duke's Hall

Alongside the Kuhn organ, the 1987 Rieger in St Marylebone Church across the road, which functions as a principal teaching and practice instrument, will undergo a full restoration this summer. In St Mark’s Church nearby is a 1763 Neopolitan organ by Carlos and Michelangelo Sanarica, restored in 2004 by Riccardo Lorenzini. The RAM also owns a Flentrop practice organ (formerly the house/teaching organ of Piet Kee), a Peter Collins practice organ in the style of Gottfried Silbermann (the legacy of Kenneth Ryder) and two harmoniums by Mustel, one a rare double-manual harmonium-celesta.

The relationship forged between the RAM and its organ sponsor has fostered a further act of philanthropy: the Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme. Freeman-Attwood explains: ‘The idea was developed in 2021 with a view to countering the catastrophic damage done by Brexit to student exchanges like Erasmus.’ The renowned Erasmus scheme, now in its 36th year, is no longer open to UK students since the country’s exit from the European Union. ‘We selected 12 international conservatoires [with which to exchange students]. One of our strongest links has been with the Juilliard School in New York.’ How does the exchange programme work – is it a student swap between two conservatoires? ‘Precisely. For example: a violinist and pianist from the RAM went to the Glenn Gould School in Toronto and worked with Canadian students in chamber music, an intensive orchestral project, and many other situations. [In return] four Canadian students have just come here to work with Trevor Pinnock on a chamber orchestra project with transcriptions of Bach Partitas. We will also take them to Snape Maltings to make a recording there. We are doing similar things with all 12 conservatoires this year’ The opportunities for organ students to visit instruments abroad are obvious and will soon be explored.

Freeman-Attwood credits David Titterington not only with his strong leadership of the Organ department but also points to his collaboration with colleagues. Other current organ professors are David Ponsford, Bine Bryndorf and Franz Danksagmuller (visiting); Anne Page teaches harmonium, Gerard Brooks specialises in improvisation and James Johnstone tutors organ and harpsichord.

‘I aim to develop the curriculum to keep it in step with how the profession is developing’ explains Titterington. ‘It’s so important that we give students the professional skill sets they will need. A recent addition to the curriculum is the teaching of harpsichord continuo by James Johnstone and David Ponsford. It is an extensive four-year programme which all the organ undergraduates undertake. It covers all aspects of continuo playing and they are also required to learn [solo] harpsichord music. Implementing this class has been expensive and the RAM has supported it wholeheartedly.’

Organ graduates from the RAM include many familiar names: Peter Holder (sub-organist, Westminster Abbey), Matthew Martin (composer, organist and precentor, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge), Colm Carey (HM Chapel Royal, Tower of London), Daniel Cook (organist and master of choristers, Durham Cathedral), Steven Grahl (organist and student, Christ Church, Oxford), James Orford (acting head of organ, Eton College), Karel Chicon OBE (international conductor), Ourania Gassiou (organist-in-residence, Megaron Concert Hall, Athens).

The organ curriculum has many elective options and there is a focus on encouraging organ students to perform with other players. ‘What makes the organ department different to those in other conservatoires is our strong focus on chamber and ensemble music: it places the organ in the wider world of music-making. When Simon Rattle was studying here [1971-74], the students that he collaborated with then are still often found to be playing for him now. When new organists arrive at the Academy I encourage them to start collab orating immediately with instrumentalists across all departments – it broadens their repertoire and builds their musical maturity and experience.’

Entering the Academy’s third century is more about looking forward than back. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood cites a desire to futureproofits activities through its bold fundraising strategy. ‘We have raised money for endowed chairs in chamber music, choral conducting, musical theatre and piano; they will exist in perpetuity so the RAM will always be able to do what it is supposed to do – teach talented young musicians from all over the world.’