In September 1972, 300 Royal Manchester College of Music and 150 Northern School of Music students are admitted to the partially completed Northern College of Music. John Manduell is Principal. The building is completed in June 1973 and the pefix of Royal is granted to the college.
In 1974, Hartley Victoria College on Alexandra Road South is bought as a hall of residence and renamed
Hartley Hall.
John Bauer, the Royal Northern College of Music’s first Recordings Manager in the recordings studio with his ever present pipe, c.1980
From 1978, a decade of incredible performances and achievements includes Wagner’s
Das Rheingold (1978) and Britten’s Billy Budd (1985); the formation of the
RNCM Sinfonia (1980) and RNCM Chorus (1982); a new exchange programme between the College and the
Frankfurt Hochschule der Musik (1980); and the first of many Manchester International Cello Festivals (1988).
In 1989, RNCM Opera’s production of Verdi’s
Don Carlos wins the Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Best Opera. It would be the first of many for the College.
In 1990, the College establishes a
music therapy programme and launches the first course for Brass Bands in UK conservatoire history.
1997 sees the first major extension to the original building, bringing a new library, five rehearsal spaces, 25 soundproof teaching rooms, and dedicated storage for the
RNCM Archives and Collection of Historical Instruments.
The Junior Strings Project wins the 1998
Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. A second prize, this time for
international music festivals, would be awarded four years’ later.
The inaugural RNCM Chamber Music and
Brass Band Festivals take place in 1999.
Sir Charles Groves Hall of Residence opens in 2001, just behind the RNCM building, replacing Hartley Hall as student accommodation
for the college.
In 2007, the Oxford Road Wing opens, housing the
Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). It allows for qualified teacher status while continuing performance-based studies. The College also gains
degree awarding powers for its taught courses.
The college’s original entrance on Booth Street West, c.1975
In 2010, the RNCM founds the
International Benchmarking Group, bringing together some of the world’s leading conservatoires through the sharing of best practice, ensuring that member institutions remain at the forefront of conservatoire education globally.
The RNCM is ranked the UK’s leading music college for research in the 2014
Research Excellence Framework.
In 2015, the College launches its
four-year BMus Honours Degree in Popular Music, the first in the UK, with a a state-of-the-art rehearsal and recording area for popular music students opening shortly after.
After the Silence: Music in the Shadow of War, an off-site project at Imperial War Museum North, wins the 2015 Times Higher Education Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts.
One of our very first performances in our new concert hall, c.1974
Following the global outbreak of Covid-19, the RNCM closes its doors to staff, students and the public on 18 March. All teaching and learning is remote, creating an innovative programme of online
lectures, masterclasses, recitals, open days and fundraising campaigns.
Studio 8, the UK’s first Meyer Constellation system in higher education, is unveiled as the flagship resource of
Ensemble+ in 2021.
The student population for the college now sits at almost 1000.
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