ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC - Key Persons

Aaron Holloway-Nahum

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music

Andrew Foster-Williams

Job Titles:

Fellow

Andrew Foster-Williams studied at and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, London

Andrew Norman

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Visiting Professor of Composition

Ashil Mistry

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music

Brenda Hurley

Job Titles:

Coach at English National Opera
OPERA / Head of Opera

Brenda Hurley is regarded as one of the leading vocal coaches of her generation Brenda has worked with many of the world's greatest conductors, directors and opera singers at international opera houses, festivals and young-artist training programmes. Born in Dublin, Brenda studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Trinity College Dublin, Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and National Opera Studio. As a répétiteur and vocal coach, she has held full-time positions at Scottish Opera, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Opera North and Dutch National Opera, where she worked for 16 years. She was the director of the International Opera Studio of Opernhaus Zürich from 2012-2020. Brenda is a leading advocate for the development of young singers, coaching at the Royal Opera House Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, Bolshoi Theatre Young Artists Opera Program, Glyndebourne Jerwood Young Artists Programme, National Opera Studio, New National Theatre Tokyo Opera Studio, Dutch National Opera Studio, Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa Opera Academy, Wales International Academy of Voice and Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. She was a founder member of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival and continues to coach for this programme each summer. She is a regular jury member of international singing competitions, such as Le Grand Prix de L'Opera, Les Azuriales, Zinka Milanov Competition, Byulbyul International Vocalists Competition, International Antonina Campi Vocal Competition and Migros-Kulturprozent. Brenda has been a guest coach at English National Opera, Paris Opera and Ruhrtriennale, and has enjoyed a long association with Glyndebourne, where she won the Janni Strasser répétiteur award. At the Salzburg Festival, she has collaborated with Sir Simon Rattle, Ivor Bolton, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Robin Ticciati. Brenda was a regular guest with The Metropolitan Opera, working as an Assistant Conductor to Valery Gergiev and Evelino Pidò. She has performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and Freiburger Barockorchester. In her native Ireland, Brenda has coached for Wexford Festival Opera and conducted The Magic Flute for their Opera Theatre Company. She is a coach and mentor to many generations of young Irish singers and is a member of the vocal staff at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She is vocal consultant for the Irish National Opera Studio.

Brett Dean

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music

Bára Gísladóttir

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music

Catherine Jury

Job Titles:

Registrar and Director of Student Operations

I have senior management responsibility for the student lifecycle, academic governance, regulatory compliance, quality assurance, Human Resources, IT, data protection and cyber security. I am the lead contact with all external Higher Education agencies and I manage the Academy's responses to regulatory changes in the sector.

Christopher Austin

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Professor of Composition

David Sawer

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Professor of Composition

Edmund Finnis

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Professor of Composition

Eleanor Alberga

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Visiting Professor of Composition

Emily Beynon

Job Titles:

Visiting Professor

Felix Mendelssohn Emerita

Job Titles:

Emeritus Professor of Music
Professor of Music

Gareth Moorcraft

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Professor of Composition

Gary Carpenter

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Professor of Composition

Giulia Grisi

Job Titles:

Professor of Performance Mentoring

Hans Abrahamsen

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music

Helen Grime

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Professor of Composition

Henry Cummings

Job Titles:

Distinguished Professor of Singing

James Newton Howard

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Visiting Professor of Composition

John Adams

Job Titles:

Composition & Contemporary Music / Visiting Professor

John Mark Ainsley

Job Titles:

Visiting Professor / Opera / Visiting Professor / View Page

Karen Di Lorenzo - CFO

Job Titles:

Director of Finance

I am a qualified accountant and I have responsibility for Academy financial and investment management and for external financial reporting and compliance with statutory requirements. I manage the Finance and Estates teams.

Kathryn Adamson

Job Titles:

Honorary Research Fellow

Kirsty MacDonald

Job Titles:

Deputy Principal ( Advancement )

I joined the Academy in 2016 and am responsible for fundraising, communications, marketing and alumni relations. I play a key strategic role on the Senior Management Team, identifying new income streams and planning celebrations and the campaign for the Bicentenary.