World-leading song and chamber pianist and Academy alumnus James Baillieu has been appointed as Senior Professor in Ensemble Piano at the Royal Academy of Music, starting September 2023. Baillieu will direct a curricular revision of the postgraduate programme for Ensemble Piano, drawing on his experience working with the finest artists internationally to ensure Academy graduates are at the forefront of their discipline.
Baillieu said, “The Academy has been my musical home since I arrived as a student in 2005, so I am absolutely thrilled to have been appointed to this new role. It will be an honour to build on the Academy’s great tradition of training for ensemble pianists. This is an enormously exciting opportunity to refine, update and create a new curriculum for ensemble pianists that will focus on providing the skills and tools needed in the profession today. I look forward to collaborating closely with Joanna and the whole faculty at the Academy, to modernise the ensemble piano offering into something relevant, exciting and attractive for the next generation.”
A professor and vocal coach at the Academy since 2011, James is also a coach for the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, a course leader for the Samling Foundation, and is head of the Song Program at the Atelier Lyrique of the Verbier Festival Academy. He is a trustee of the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
Photo credit: David Ruano
