Celebrating a century of young talent: the Royal College of Music Junior Department turns 100

Tuesday 15 September 2026

A century of musical training at the Royal College of Music Junior Department (RCMJD) will be celebrated through a programme of special events throughout the 2026/27 academic year. The anniversary celebrations, which launch on 19 September, will showcase the thousands of talented young musicians it has nurtured over the past 100 years. 

Founded by Angela Bull and Sir Percy Buck in 1926, the RCM's Junior Department began with 36 Junior Exhibitioners from local schools. Today the Junior Department has 280 students enrolled each year and offers world-class teaching, with over 1,500 musical activities taking place for JD students at the RCM each Saturday during term time. From masterclasses with distinguished guests such as Lang Lang to performances at esteemed venues including Cadogan Hall, Downing Street and Wigmore Hall, the opportunities for young musicians at the RCMJD are unparalleled. 

The exceptional standard of teaching in the Junior Department is reflected by the illustrious careers of its alumni, including classical guitarist Julian Bream, composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, Grammy-award winning artist Jacob Collier, pianist John Lill, broadcaster Clemency Burton-Hill, horn player Sarah Willis, composer Daniel Kidane and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, to name but a few. Many students have gone on to win major competitions during their time at the RCM; the department has celebrated regular successes at the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, dating back to its inaugural year, where trombonist Michael Hext was awarded first prize, and clarinettist Michael Collins won the woodwind prize. Later JD winners of the competition include cellist Natalie Clein (1994), pianist Lara Melda (2010), cellist Laura van der Heijden (2012), pianist Martin James Bartlett (2014) and percussionist Jordan Ashman (2022). 

Junior Department students travel from across the UK to attend each Saturday. Many choose to continue their studies at the RCM or return at postgraduate level. 

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The Junior Department also works in partnership with multiple projects and organisations to widen access to music education across the UK, such as RCM Sparks, Nucleo, Music Masters, Young Sounds and Future Talent, amongst others. 52% of JD students are from backgrounds currently under-represented in classical music and 37% are supported by some form of bursary, ensuring that no student is prevented from attending the Junior Department for reasons of financial hardship. 

To mark this milestone anniversary, a programme of special events will take place throughout the 2026/27 academic year, highlighting the outstanding talent of today’s students, and reuniting them with acclaimed alumni. The celebrations will burst into life on Saturday 19 September with a series of fanfares written by JD composers performed hourly by JD brass players, followed by a performance of the first movement of Janáček’s Sinfonietta, composed in 1926.  Later this autumn, a chamber music concert celebrates chamber works written in the past 100 years (21 November), and a contemporary concert on 28 November debuts new works by JD composers. On 5 December, the RCMJD Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra are joined by alumni to perform Tippett’s Concerto for Double String Orchestra, before celebrations continue throughout 2027. 

Miranda Francis, Head of Junior Programmes at the Royal College of Music, commented: ‘In marking our centenary here at the Royal College of Music Junior Department, we celebrate the wealth of musical talent nurtured in schools, music hubs, junior conservatoires and in Centres for Advanced Training (CATs) throughout the UK. I am looking forward to a wonderful year of music making here at the RCMJD. Please join us!' 

All are invited to join us, so please book your place at an upcoming event or find out more about the RCM Junior Department. We’d also love to hear from Junior Department alumni, parents/guardians of former students and former JD staff and keep in touch. If you've been involved in the Junior Department during its 100-year history, please complete this form to share your experiences. 

Main image, left to right, top to bottom: 

1: Junior Department Orchestra and Choir, 1935–36; Barbara Boissard, Director of the Junior Department, 1975; Angela Bull and Sir Percy Buck, Founders of the Junior Department, with a friend, 1941; Madeleine Dring, JD alumna 

Middle 0: Michael Collins wins the BBC Young Musician woodwind prize (credit: BBC); Junior Department concert conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy; Patricia Carroll coaches JD students (1994); Lang Lang masterclass with Asagi Nakata, Martin James Bartlett and Lara Melda (2010); Michael Gough Matthews, Director of the Junior Department, 1971; John Lill, JD alumnus; Marguerite Wilkinson with the fourth orchestra; Natalie Clein, JD alumna 

Right 0: Sarah Willis, JD alumna; Daniel Kidane, JD alumnus (credit: Kaupo Kikkas); Martin James Bartlett, JD alumnus; Junior Department students performing; Junior Department student arriving for the day; Jacob Collier, JD alumnus (credit: Antoine Doyen); Mark-Anthony Turnage, JD alumnus; Junior Department students