Royal Conservatory of Music

Royal Conservatory of Music

'I think you're making a big donation to the Royal Conservatory, aren't you?' As conversation-openers go, Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) president Peter Simon's isn't what you might call subtle. But Simon, who has been in the role since 1991, has always made it his - and the conservatory's - mission to be bold and ambitious.

It seems this attitude is paying off too, with more than 500,000 Canadians now participating in the RCM's programs, examinations, and initiatives each year. Simon makes it clear from the offset that, though the institution is Toronto-based, its scope is Canada-wide: 'It's a completely different notion of a conservatory. It's a conservatory that is concerned with all aspects of the arts and with wider society.'

The conservatory's key initiatives to this end are Learning Through the Arts, a nationwide program aimed at educating schoolchildren using various art forms, a Community School that offers a range of programs catering for all musical styles to students of various ages and abilities, and its Young Artists Performance Academy, which trains talented musicians aged between nine and 18.

But it's the conservatory's Glenn Gould School that attracts international attention and acclaim. Named in honor of the influential Toronto-born pianist who died in 1982, it offers performance training and teaching to gifted musicians from Canada and abroad.

'The excellence is there but there's that notion that you're pushing the envelope'

'Yes, it's nice that he was a graduate of the conservatory but it's what he stood for that's more important: he wasn't afraid to explore, he was a brilliant artist, and he tried to combine several art forms,' says Simon. 'The excellence is there but there's that notion that you're pushing the envelope.'

With 130 students the school is small - and young, having been established in 1997. An RCM Professional School existed in the 10 years previous to that, however, and the conservatory was founded in 1886.

Michael Ciufo, a 20-year-old tenor from west of Toronto, is in his third year at the Glenn Gould School. 'This school is world-renowned because of the name associated with it, but also because of the caliber of students and teachers - and this is especially true for the piano program,' he says. But, he adds, 'The school is still in its baby steps in a lot of ways and we're slowly starting to build the other faculties, such as the vocal faculty.'

He believes that standards are improving and that auditions are becoming more competitive: 'I can see that there are more people auditioning nowadays. It's a little bit easier coming from a male singer point of view, just because there are less of us. I know that the competition is very tough in the female voice category though.'

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