MU publishes open letter in response to proposed closure of Young RWCMD

Florence Lockheart
Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Following the announcement in May that the college proposes to close its junior department, the open letter calls on RWCMD to find explore different funding solutions

The Musicians’ Union (MU) has published an open letter calling on the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) to continue its junior conservatoire, Young RWCMD, following the announcement in May that the college proposes to close its junior department amid ‘significant financial challenges’.

The Union is calling on RWCMD to extend the timeline for consultation on the proposal so that the future of the Junior RWCMD department can be secured. Young RWCMD Music, also referred to as Junior Conservatoire, offers a range of Saturday courses for learners aged 4–18. Its closure would affect over 300 students and 118 job roles.

MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl said: ‘We are devastated by these proposals and are now engaging with RWCMD and supporting members who are affected, after the College took the disappointing and frustrating decision to exclude us from the initial consultation meetings. If this closure goes ahead then RWCMD will be the only conservatoire in Britain without a junior department, with no other equivalent provision in Wales at a time when progress is being made on rebuilding music education through the National Music Service Wales.’

While a petition launched by MU members calling for the protection of Young RWCMD has reached over 10,000 signatories and is set to be considered for a debate in the Senedd, this week’s open letter calls on the RWCMD to find explore different funding solutions and engage in open consultation with staff.

The open letter reads:

 ‘We, the undersigned, are extremely concerned by Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) proposals to close Young RWCMD. 

‘This would bring an end to its weekly Junior Conservatoire and Young Actors Studio sessions from the end of this academic year. It is the only provision of its kind in Wales. Over 300 current students will be affected.

‘Parents have been informed that RWCMD expects the changes to affect the academic year starting in September. This does not leave enough time to search for alternative models and/or funding sources to be found, or meaningful consultation with the 118 staff affected. And what are current and prospective students supposed to do?

‘As signatories to this letter, we believe in:

  • Access to high level music education provision and opportunity for all
  • Celebrating artistic tradition
  • Creating opportunities for and supporting new and diverse voices
  • Bringing Welsh culture to a global stage.

‘We call on RWCMD to: 

  1. Continue Young RWCMD for the next year academic year while alternative models and/or funding sources can be found
  2. Engage in meaningful collective consultation on proposals to close Young RWCMD with staff affected as part of this process and their representative bodies, including the Musicians’ Union.’

Signatories include composer Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, pianists Joanna Clare MacGregor and Murray McLachlan CBE, conductors Mark Wigglesworth and Richard Baker, singers Charlotte Page and Maimuna Enya Memon and cellist Steven Isserlis CBE as well as Welsh omedian Alistair McGowen, journalist Cathy Newman, writer Suhayla El-Bushra