Graduation Day 2016

1 July 2016

Congratulations to all our graduating students !

Today the College celebrates the remarkable achievements of its talented students at the ceremony at St David’s Hall in the centre of Cardiff.

At graduation the College also takes the opportunity to honour inspirational figures in national and international creative life.

Our Honorary Fellows have each made significant individual contributions to the College and within the arts and cultural industries in the UK or internationally.

“All of us who are members of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama set great store by our deep sense of community,” says Principal Hilary Boulding in her speech at the graduation ceremony today.

“We’re a community drawn together from 30 different countries, but what unites us is our shared and fundamental belief in the value of the arts and artists.

Today, our staff take a particular pride in greeting these graduates as our newest colleagues in the profession and we wish you well.

We look forward to hearing your news and learning from your own professional experience – in whatever careers you pursue.”

This year the College honours two alumni, screenwriter Moira Buffini, and designer Tom Scutt, as well as opera coach and pianist Michael Pollock. A Fellowship is being awarded in absentia to Edwina Hart.

The College will also present President’s Medals to Antonia Collins and Chris Marfleet who left RWCMD this academic year, in recognition of the significant contribution they have each made to the College.

Honorary Fellows 2016

 

A former acting student at the College Moira Buffini is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her many works include the National Theatre’s Welcome to Thebes, and wonder.land, a musical  adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic with Damon Albarn. Her most recent works for the screen include Tamara Drewe and an adaption of Jane Eyre.

She is the founder of the Monsterists movement, promoting new writing of large scale works within British theatre.

Tom Scutt, who only graduated six years ago is one of the youngest designers working on the some of the UK and Broadways’ biggest stages in theatre and opera. Tom was one of the 2007 Linbury Prize winners while he was at RWCMD and was also awarded the Jocelyn Herbert Award for Stage Design for his work with Headlong Theatre.

He has provided the UK and Broadway premiere designs for notable new plays such as the Olivier Award-winning King Charles III, for which he received a 2016 Tony nomination, Evening Standard Award-winning Constellations and Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

For the second year Tom was production designer on MTV Video music awards at New York’s Madison Square Gardens. He has just joined the Donmar Warehouse as an associate artists to play a leading role in developing emerging talent there.

Michael Pollock

A professional opera coach, who regularly works with Royal Welsh College opera students, Michael is also  Consultant Coach for the Harewood Artists at English National Opera as well as coaching for the Royal Opera House and Scottish Opera. He is the Official Accompanist for the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and has accompanied such luminaries as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Anne Evans, and Sir Willard White.

Michael is on also on the teaching staffs of the Royal Academy of Music (where he has been awarded an Honorary Associateship), the Royal College of Music, and the National Opera Studio, as well as occasionally coaching for the Royal Opera House and Scottish Opera.