'We have not removed Handel, or any other composer, from the syllabus': Royal Academy of Music responds to decolonisation rumours

Articles published in the Times and the Telegraph over the last few days have suggested that the Royal Academy of Music is taking the opportunity to 'view [its] collection, which has been built up over two centuries, through a decolonisation lens'.

The collection includes pianos made with colonial ivory, and sculptures of a Handel, who we now know invested heavily in the slave trade.

However, the Royal Academy has responded by confirming that there are currently 'no plans' to dispose of instruments from the Academy’s collections.

'The reviews we will be undertaking are concerned solely with the storage of collections on-site and how we interpret items in our collections,' the statement continued.

'We will not be disposing of musical instruments based on their provenance or associations. Additionally, the Telegraph article stated that we hold a "vast collection of manuscripts by the composer Handel" - we do not, in fact, own any original manuscripts by Handel.

'The Academy has always trained its students for the evolving professional environments of being a musician. It is vital that they understand the cultural, political and socio-economic forces that have shaped musical traditions, as well as the issues that are shaping it in the present, such as the pandemic and questions around equality, diversity and inclusion. This training includes giving voice to figures who have previously been silenced or marginalised, as well as understanding the contexts in which iconic figures such as Handel and Mozart worked. We have not removed Handel, or any other composer, from the syllabus.

For us, inclusion means widening the net, not cancelling historical figures and artefacts.'