'Creating opportunities for students to network and gain hands-on experience is at the heart of everything we do. We work closely with our industry partners to equip graduates with a transferable bundle of skills and current practice experience to ensure they are 100% employment ready.'
Karen Pimbley, Head of Arts Management
Our arts management training equips students with the skills and experience needed for a career in the creative sector. This unique programme develops resilient, work-ready and sought-after graduates that can succeed in a fast-paced and ever-changing industry.
Why study arts management at RWCMD?
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Industry facing: our course reflects current practice as it is delivered by a team of professionals who all still work in the industry, as well as guest specialists who visit throughout the year.
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Employability: we are very proud to have maintained a 100% employment record since 2013, with students continuing to secure related jobs within three months of graduating.
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Focus on industry experience: you’ll have opportunities to gain that all-important work experience as it is a key course focus. We have a comprehensive work placement programme and arrange placements for all arts management students, both in our multi-venue arts centre + within one of our 30+ external partner organisations.
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Conservatoire-based training: you’ll learn within a music and drama conservatoire and world-class arts centre which provides unique opportunities for arts management students to collaborate on projects across the college and work with visiting artists/companies.
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Choice of three specialist pathways: choose from creative producing, orchestral management or general arts management as your area of specialism, depending on your interest and career aspirations.
Who the course is for
As well as being suitable for recent graduates, the course is also a great choice for mid-career professionals wishing to upskill or move into leadership roles. Applicants who already have professional experience working in the arts may be able to use their experience as APEL credit (Accreditation for Prior Experience) to shorten their learning journey and save on overall course costs.
Whilst most students complete the course full-time over a year, we also offer flexible study options, so if you need to balance work/life alongside your studies, consider our part-time attendance opportunities - usually over two years, but can be anything up to five years.
Led by arts management professional Karen Pimbley
Beginning her career as an arts marketer in regional repertory theatre, Karen became the first Head of Events at Cardiff International Arena before moving into music promotion, touring with internationally renowned artists such as Take That, Tom Jones and the Classical Spectacular. As a senior arts leader, Karen was instrumental in establishing National Dance Company Wales and also worked as a Director of UK Theatre between 2017 and 2021. Karen is currently a trustee of National Youth Arts Wales; her recent consultancy work includes projects with Arts Council Wales and the Wales Cultural Alliance as well as research with the National Library of Wales.
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Find out more about RWCMD
- Our thriving, multicultural institution welcomes 800 students from more than 40 countries. You’ll train side-by-side with other instrumentalists, actors, singers, composers and performance designers and will work with them on projects throughout the year.
- Collaboration forms a huge part of what we do, allowing you to immerse yourself in new experiences with a broad range of disciplines and skills from across the college. Our unique student-led company REPCo, encourages students to work together to be bold, imaginative and entrepreneurial.
- Our industry partnerships provide real-world, enhanced learning experiences with leading arts organisations and professional musicians, also offering you opportunities to build your future professional networks.
- RWCMD is a vibrant arts centre staging 500 performances a year (many of which are free) which are a combination of world-leading artists and student work, often side by side. Regular major events at RWCMD include BBC Young Musician of the Year, and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and standalone events such as the World Harp Congress in July 2022.
- The College is the first UK conservatoire to achieve a gold standard level of quality assurance across Music, Drama and Under 18s in the recent international MusiQuE, Music Quality Enhancement review. Reviewers were particularly impressed with the College's approach to the individual student experience, multidisciplinary collaboration, and overall ambition, citing RWCMD as a shining example of best practice across European conservatoires, and reflecting the College's exceptional people and unique community.
- As the world’s only Steinway-exclusive conservatoire the College now has a world-leading fleet of pianos, and every acoustic piano at the College is a Steinway.
- We fundamentally believe in the power of music to transform and enrich society, developing skills in teaching, coaching and co-creating projects to create musicians of the future who will make an impact as performers, teachers and enablers within the broader community. Fundamental questions - ‘How can we shape the industry of the future’, ‘How can we use art to make a difference’ - help us to produce musicians who are truly relevant to a 21st Century world.
- You’ll practice, study and perform in a beautiful, inspiring setting, bordering Bute Park, one of the largest green spaces in the city. We have a chamber music hall with extraordinary acoustics, a glass-lined foyer and performance space, the Richard Burton Theatre, as well as state-of-the-art studios and rehearsal spaces.
- Our campus is right in the centre of Cardiff, the UK’s first Music City, and the thriving, compact capital of Wales, which is only two hours by train to central London.
- Cardiff was named as the most cost-effective city in the UK for students, according to the NatWest Student Living Index 2022.
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