RCM Insights: Finnissy & Folk

Dates
25 November 2026, 5:15pm

Venue
Performance Hall

Tickets
Pay What You Can

Our Pay What You Can model allows you to choose a ticket price that works for you, from £2 to £15, with a free option to ensure our events are accessible to all audience members. Any donation you are able to make will directly support our talented students and help us to provide a first-class educational experience for this next generation of professional musicians.

Season launch announcement

Booking opens on Wednesday 5 August. RCM Friends and supporters at Core Contributor level and above have priority booking from Wednesday 29 July. 

Become a member and benefit from priority booking.

A black and white photo of Michael Finnissy wearing a black turtleneck and glasses

25 November 2026, 5:15pm

Venue
Performance Hall

Tickets
Pay What You Can

Our Pay What You Can model allows you to choose a ticket price that works for you, from £2 to £15, with a free option to ensure our events are accessible to all audience members. Any donation you are able to make will directly support our talented students and help us to provide a first-class educational experience for this next generation of professional musicians.

Season launch announcement

Booking opens on Wednesday 5 August. RCM Friends and supporters at Core Contributor level and above have priority booking from Wednesday 29 July. 

Become a member and benefit from priority booking.

Composer and RCM alumnus Michael Finnissy discusses how folk music has inspired his work, alongside performances of pieces from his album Folklore, a four‑part cycle of piano works composed between the 1990s and 2005.

By deconstructing and reimagining melodies from a wide range of folk traditions, he explains how they are transformed into complex yet engaging avant‑garde works.

FINNISSY & FELDMAN: Two great recent composers share both musical characteristics and, this year, important anniversaries: the 80th birthday of British composer and RCM alumnus Michael Finnissy, and the centenary of American composer Morton Feldman’s birth.

In celebration of these avant garde, radical musicians – whose work focuses on sound, texture, innovative notation and performance techniques – the RCM presents three concerts showcasing their remarkable chamber repertoire.

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From £52 a year, RCM Friends enjoy priority booking, exclusive events and waived ticket fees.

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Plan your visit

Royal College of Music
Prince Consort Road
London SW7 2BS

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   South Kensington: 0.5 miles
   Gloucester Road: 0.6 miles
   High Street Kensington: 0.8 miles

   Paddington: 1.5 miles
   Victoria: 2 miles

   Santander Cycles docking station and public cycle locking facilities adjacent to RCM

The RCM provides light refreshments throughout the year. There is also a range of restaurants, cafés and other establishments nearby, most adjacent to South Kensington station.

RCM Café

The RCM Café serves barista-style coffees, sandwiches, snacks, salads and hot food. There is also access to outside seating in our new 1851 courtyard.

Opening hours: 

Monday-Friday: 8.30am-4.30pm

Saturday: 8.30am-4.30pm (term time only)

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The main entrance to the RCM has eight steps up from the pavement and two inside the main doors. A lift is available for visitors with limited mobility. The lift is built into the smaller staircase to the left of the main entrance steps. There is an intercom button on the control panel, which can be seen and reached easily from the street. On arrival, press the buzzer to notify a member of RCM staff, who will come out to meet you and operate the lift for you.

All our event venues can be accessed by visitors with limited mobility via the lift at the main entrance.