Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra & Keith Brion
Biography Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra & Keith Brion
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
(Welsh: Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru) is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It includes three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall. Its alumni include Anthony Hopkins, Aneurin Barnard and Rob Brydon.
The college was established in 1949 as Cardiff College of Music at Cardiff Castle, but has since moved to purpose-built accommodation within the castle grounds of Bute Park near Cardiff University. In 1970 it changed its name to the Welsh College of Music & Drama before being awarded its Royal title in The Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, making it the fifth conservatoire to be awarded this title.
From 1973, the college's degrees were awarded by the University of Wales and in 2004 the College became part of the federal university. In 2007, however, it left the university and agreed to a merger (referred to as a "strategic alliance") with the University of Glamorgan.[2][3] The University of Glamorgan merged with the University of Wales, Newport in 2013 to form the University of South Wales, so RWCMD is now part of the University of South Wales Group.[4]
The college provides education and training in the performing arts and technical theatre, with approximately two-thirds of its 550 students studying music-related courses and the rest studying drama and technical theatre related courses. It was the first, and is one of only two All-Steinway conservatoires in the UK, along with Leeds College of Music.
