How to Apply (UK/EU)

Composition and Composition for Screen

You can apply for either Composition (undergraduate and postgraduate levels) - the broad-based study of compositional technique as both art and craft, or Composition for Screen (postgraduate only) - the specific discipline of writing music for film, television and other media.

Portfolio submission

In addition to completing your CUKAS application all composers must submit examples of their compositions directly to the RCM. You must submit a portfolio of at least two, but not more than five, contrasting examples of your compositions.

Please submit your portfolio to ‘Admissions’ at the RCM by 31 October 2012 (or by 5 January 2013 for candidates being interviewed in the USA).

You may submit your work as written scores, recordings or a combination of the two. Please note that we are not necessarily looking for a fully formed compositional voice. However, we are looking for evidence of both a talent for composition and, depending on the level at which you wish to study, the ability to realise effectively, or to start to realise, your ideas in a variety of forms and media.

We encourage you to submit your portfolio and recordings electronically. Manuscripts may be submitted as PDF files. Please do not send Sibelius files unless they are accompanied by PDF files of the same material. Electronic submissions should be sent as attachments to admissions@rcm.ac.uk. If submitting in hard copy, please ensure that your manuscripts are clear and legible and that you include full details, where necessary, of instrumentation, scoring and performance details.

Recordings should be either on CD, DVD or in a file format that can be read in VLC or Windows Media Player. Individual works should be clearly indexed on both the disc and on the accompanying documentation. All recordings should be clearly labeled with your name and the title of the piece on both the container and the disc.

Portfolios are returned to you immediately at the end of the audition interview or can be mailed back to you after the audition period upon request.

Composition for Screen specific requirements

In addition to the normal academic and musical standards expected for entry to the RCM’s Masters Programme, Composition for Screen applicants will be expected to demonstrate:

• a command of musical gesture and expression
• instrumentation and orchestral skills
• proficiency in music technology applications such as sequencing and score processing
• experience in the use of Logic or similar software
• a keen awareness of music’s narrative and dramatic functions within and beyond film, television and multimedia

Prior to interview, postgraduate Composition for Screen applicants may be asked to complete a set of diagnostic tasks – for example, a number of short compositions to a written brief.