Collection Partnership
with the Royal Academy of Music
During the academic year of 2023/24, we collaborated on a project with the Royal Academy of Music that resulted in five new pieces of music responding to works in the David and Indrė Roberts Collection.
Young composers at the Royal Academy of Music worked with RIA to select collection works which they used as a departure point for new compositions that were performed live by fellow Academy students on 24 April 2024.
Developed over eight months through workshops, studio visits and conversations with artists, their compositions draw on the themes, moods and ideas of their selected artwork, offering their personal reflections on the work through music.
This partnership was an inspiring opportunity for Masters students from the Academy to respond to and interpret contemporary artworks, while also providing new perspectives on the collection.
The students selected artworks from a diverse set of artists, including Jonathan Baldock, Rachel Kneebone, Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings, Indrė Serpytyte and Anj Smith.
Listen to and learn more about the compositions below:
Eric Davis on Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings, Tifkas, 2015
Ben Hoppe on Indrė Serpytyte, Hat, 2006
Archie John on Jonathan Baldock, Alexandre, 2008
Kate Davies, Director of RIA, said: “We are delighted to work with the Royal Academy of Music on this unique project. At the Roberts Insitute of Art we are interested in collaborations that encourage creative responses to works in the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, and this project does just that. We have been very impressed by the depth of curiosity and engagement as well as the insight the students have shown in response to the works by a diverse group of artists. It is an exciting way to work at the cross-section of music and visual art in bringing new insights from young composers to the collection.”
Philip Cashian, Head of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, said: “We were thrilled last year when RIA approached the composition department with the idea of possibly working together. Collaboration is a key component in the projects and work our composers undertake and being able to engage and work with contemporary art and visual artists at the highest level is hugely inspiring for our students.”
