Scotland's leading talent school has opened a new chapter in its history by appointing a group of international artists to teach its students and raise its profile across the world.
The International Fellows scheme, announced at a glittering event in the Palace of Westminster last night, will see a series of leading artists teach at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.
At the event hosted by Michael Martin, Speaker of the House of Commons, the first international fellows were announced as cellist Johannes Goritzki, the Brodsky Quartet, voice coach Nadine George and the Lecoq Family of the International Theatre School of Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
Among those attending the launch were Lord and Lady Macfarlane of Bearsden, the actors Bill Paterson and Hannah Gordon, as well as Scottish MPs and leading members of the arts world. Students from the academy performed a series of works for the exclusive audience.
"We are now trying to take the world by storm," said Professor John Wallace, RSAMD principal. "Nadine George will help us to get the individual voices of our pupils out, and the Lecoq Family will really help us look at physical theatre and mime, something we have not got enough of in Scotland.
"The Brodsky Quartet is a very well known group of musicians, but of a very high quality at the same time. It will all add to the richness of the students' experience here, add a real international quality to the academy and a marvellous lift to the people taking classes here already."
During the coming academic year, the artists will work with the music and drama students and teaching staff at the academy, and students will have the opportunity of attending workshops, masterclasses and one-to-one lessons from the fellows.
The RSAMD, whose past students include actor James McAvoy, composers James MacMillan and Craig Armstrong and Doctor Who actor David Tennant, hope the fellows will become "inspirational role models" for its students.
Alumni such as Tennant and McAvoy, as well as talents such as Tom Conti, Alan Cumming, Robert Carlyle and Billy Boyd are already involved in teaching students.
Mr Wallace OBE, who performed at the marriage of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana, said: "With this announcement of our international fellows we are raising our game to become a leader among European conservatoires and raising the bar to transcend present notions of excellence.
"We are passionate about fulfilling the potential of each and every one of our students and the innovations we are announcing in the learning, teaching and research of drama and music performance will help our students to find out who they are wherever they are from."
It is expected that each of the fellows will visit the academy around five times per academic year.
The Brodsky Quartet is perhaps the best known of the new fellows. In addition to performing classical music, and in particular the classic string-quartet repertoire of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Bartok and Shostakovich, it has notably collaborated with such figures as Bjork, Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney.
The quartet is noted for the fact that its members perform standing up.
The Lecoq Family are leaders in the arts of mime and gesture in acting, led by Fay Lecoq, wife of the late Jacques Lecoq, who taught physical theatre at his school in Paris.
Nadine George is one of the leading voice coaches, known for her classes which bring together international actors and actresses, voice teachers and directors, and she teaches at several notable schools including the Odense Theatre School in Denmark.
Johannes Goritzki is a cellist and conductor who has performed at leading music halls around the world. He is principal conductor of the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein.
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