Royal Northern College

The Royal Northern College of Music

Royal Northern College of Music, Booth Street West entrance
Type	Public, Conservatoire
Established	1973 by the merger of the Northern School of Music (established 1920) and the Royal Manchester College of Music (established 1893)
President	Sir Willard White
Principal	Professor Linda Merrick
Administrative staff	320 teaching staff
Students	905 (2015/16)
Undergraduates	610 (2015/16)
Postgraduates	290 (2015/16)
Address	124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD, Manchester, England
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	University of Manchester, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Conservatoires UK
Website	http://www.rncm.ac.uk/

The Royal Northern College of Music is a world leading conservatoire in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education, RNCM is one of the UK’s busiest and most diverse public performance venues.

The RNCM has a rich history, dating back to the late 19th century and the establishment of the Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM). In 1858, Sir Charles Hallé founded the Hallé orchestra in Manchester, and by the early 1890s had raised the idea of a music college in the city. Following an appeal for support, a building on Ducie Street was secured, Hallé was appointed Principal and Queen Victoria conferred the Royal title. The RMCM opened its doors to 80 students in 1893, rising to 117 by the end of the first year. Less than four decades later, in 1920, the Northern School of Music was established (initially as a branch of the Matthay School of Music), and for many years the two institutions peacefully coexisted. It wasn’t until 1955 that NSM Principal, Hilda Collens, in recognising the importance of performance in training students, met with RMCM Principal, Frederic Cox, to raise the question of merging. Discussions continued until September 1967 when a Joint Committee was formed to oversee plans to combine the two colleges. The RNCM was formed in 1972, moving to its purpose-built home on Oxford Road in 1973. 2013 marked the 40th anniversary year of the RNCM.

The college building was built in 1968 to 1973 by architects Bickerdike, Allen, Rich and greatly extended 30 years later.

Currently the college offers both undergraduate (BMus and joint MusB/GRNCM course with the University of Manchester in any of the five specialisations offered) and postgraduate taught programmes (PGDip, MMus) in musical performance and composition. In association with Manchester Metropolitan University the college offers research degrees (MPhil, PhD) in musical performance, composition, musicology and music psychology as part of its Graduate School.