His Majesty King Charles III is Patron of the Royal College of Music.
The Royal College of Music is established under a Royal Charter. The HÂþ» Council is its governing body, chaired by Lord Black of Brentwood. Management of the HÂþ» is led by the Directorate, headed by Director, James Williams. Committees support Council, including the Senate, which is the senior academic committee of the HÂþ».
The HÂþ»'s governing framework sets short and long-term objectives, ensuring the College remains among the leading music conservatoires in the world.
Royal Charter
The HÂþ» is established under a Royal Charter that dates from 1883. The Charter was revised in 1994, when a Supplemental Charter was granted. The Royal Charter and Statutes were extensively revised by the College in 2009, when The late Queen was pleased to allow the amendments at a meeting of the Privy Council held on 9 July 2009. The late Queen was pleased to approve an Order amending the Royal Charter of the Royal College of Music further at a meeting of the Privy Council held on 24 April 2018 at Windsor Castle. The amendments to the Statutes were also approved by the Privy Council.
Patron
His Majesty King Charles III
Vice-Presidents
The Most Revd and Rt Hon the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury
The Most Revd and Rt Hon the Lord Archbishop of York
The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of London
Jane Barker CBE FHÂþ» (appointed 2022)
Sir Anthony Cleaver FHÂþ» (appointed 2007)
Mr Humphrey Norrington OBE FHÂþ» (appointed 2003)
Dame Janet Ritterman DBE HonDMus (appointed 2005)
Professor Lord Winston FHÂþ» (appointed 2017)
Professor Colin Lawson CBE, FHÂþ» (appointed 2024)
Council
The Council is the governing body of the HÂþ» and is supported in this role by a number of committees, principal among these being the Finance & General Purposes Committee.
The current Council Chairman is Lord Black of Brentwood.
Responsibilities & members
Directorate
The HÂþ» Directorate, led by James Williams, takes responsibility for every aspect of the day-to-day running of the College. This includes teaching and research, artistic programming, financial management, administration, fundraising and communications.
Director of the HÂþ», James Williams
James Williams has been Director of the Royal College of Music since September 2024. Prior to this, James spent eight years as Managing Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) during which time he appointed Vasily Petrenko as Music Director, secured Associate Orchestra status for the RPO at the Royal Albert Hall and developed the RPO’s international profile that included major tours to the USA, Europe and Asia.
In May 2023, James was invited by His Majesty King Charles III to oversee the music for the Coronation Service of Their Majesties The King and Queen held at Westminster Abbey. James has also worked for the Philharmonia Orchestra building long-standing partnerships with artists such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lorin Maazel, Lang Lang and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Music education and developing the careers of young musicians has always played a central role in James’ career which has included positions at the Royal Northern College of Music, Yehudi Menuhin's Live Music Now scheme and as a Trustee of the Mayfield Valley Arts Trust.
Deputy Director, Kevin Porter
Kevin Porter is Deputy Director of the Royal College of Music, where he has worked since 1994, leading the administration of the College, with a particular focus on international initiatives, governance and strategy.
His early career was in quality assurance, first at the University of East London and then for the Council for National Academic Awards. He then moved to London Guildhall University where he worked in governance and academic policy, as well as Quality Assurance. Kevin was a Specialist Assessor for the Association of University Administrators, Chairman of the Conservatoires UK Academic Administration Committee and he also chaired the CUK initiative to develop a new admissions service, UCAS Conservatoires.
He is currently a member of the Royal Albert Hall Council and he chaired the Board of KCG internal audit consortium until 2022, among an involvement in a range of HE sector organisations. His article ‘Management in the Conservatoire of the Future: administering or leading?’ was published in journal Studies in Higher Education in 1998 and, with Jeffrey Weeks OBE, he co-edited the oral history ‘Between the acts : lives of homosexual men, 1885-1967’.
Director of Estates, Aida Berhamovic
Aida joined the Royal College of Music in January 2017 and brings a wealth of experience advising high-profile complex organisations on business-focused strategic estate planning and delivery of high-quality customer-focused facilities and services.
As a leader in corporate real estate, she has worked within established consultancy practices and client-side organisations, managing estates, operations and design of a diverse range of complex projects in the UK and overseas.
Aida is a former British Airports Authority (BAA) portfolio leader. As a part of a four billion pound capital transformation programme she led the BAA Capital transformation team, setting strategic vision and delivering a range of capital projects and services for Heathrow‘s Western and Eastern Campus. Her other achievements include successful implementation of innovative evidence-based strategies that improved space utilisation, increased retail revenue and enhanced customer experience for the BAA departure lounges of Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton.
In her early career, Aida held positions with Miller, Gensler and Fitzroy Robinson, where she was responsible for a number of high-profile projects, leveraging construction and design to help her clients achieve their strategic goals. She successfully led multidisciplinary teams of architects, engineers and branding specialists to foster design excellence and advise a range of clients including Canary Wharf Group, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Clifford Chance and Polo Ralph Lauren. Aida’s in-depth understanding of design and its role within the building development process, combined with her collaborative team approach, made her highly sought after by colleagues and clients.
Aida is a Chartered Architect and holds a Master of Arts from Central Saint Martins - University of the Arts London.
Director of Development & Alumni Engagement, Lily Harriss
Lily Harriss has an impressive track record in fund raising and high performance team development.
The wealth of experience and history of accomplishments that Lily brings to the role include the establishment and leadership of the Development and Communications Team for Picture our Future: The Campaign for Dulwich Picture Gallery. During the campaign, which had a total goal of £20 million, Lily personally managed the completion of over £18.5 million in gifts and pledges.
Her other achievements at Dulwich Picture Gallery include the overseeing of multi-million pound gift agreements (including a pacesetting £13 million family contribution and a £6 million corporate bank strategy), leading strategic planning exercises, writing business cases, and aligning funding practices with strategic goals. Lily has also trained staff in a variety of fundraising and management practices with a focus on good business practice.
Lily’s most recent roles have included Director of Development at English Heritage (Interim), Director of University Fundraising at King’s College London and King’s Health Partners, and Strategic Counsel for LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre).
Originally from Canada, Lily was previously Director of Development, Corporations and Foundations at Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario), accountable for more than $11 million in receipted gifts in one year. She managed the restructuring and building of her Development team and is credited with establishing a corporate and foundation partnership programme with the various units across campus. She also worked on two major campaigns at Queen’s University and was the author of a comprehensive End of Campaign Report. During her tenure, Queen’s endowment grew to become one of the largest post-secondary funds in Canada.
In her early career, Lily worked as a fundraising and communications professional at various organisations including the Downtown Toronto Jazz Festival, the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, the Edmonton Symphony, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. She began her career in volunteer management.
Director of Communications, Talia Hull
Talia Hull has joined the HÂþ» as Director of Communications and brings a wealth of experience advising high-profile, complex organisations, specialising in strategic communications, issues management and brand repositioning. She has led successful external campaigns for the BBC, Warner Music and National Magazines (now Hearst).
She was previously Communications Director for littledesk pr advising a range of clients including the Incorporated Society of Musicians, The Space (a digital arts platform from Arts Council England in partnership with the BBC) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Talia is a former Head of Communications for BBC Radio 3 & Classical Music TV and spent a number of years managing the public profile of Warner Classics’ four international record labels – Erato, Teldec, Nonesuch and Finlandia.
Director of Finance, Rachel Harris
Rachel Harris joined the HÂþ» as Director of Finance in November 2019 after seven years in the Higher Education sector at the University of Surrey, most recently as Director of Research & Strategic Finance. She also brings a wealth of experience from the commercial sector, having worked at the international telecommunications company O2 for twelve years in a broad variety of Senior Finance roles including Commercial Controller, Group Head of Analysis, Group Chief Accountant and Group Financial Controller. In her early career she worked in the audit and business advisory practice at Arthur Andersen, then at Universal Music and Thorn EMI.
Rachel read Mathematics and Management Studies at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Director of Programmes, Diana Salazar
Diana Salazar joined the HÂþ» in 2019 from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. At the College she oversees programme delivery and development at junior, undergraduate and postgraduate taught levels.
Diana began her teaching career in higher education at the University of Manchester before holding Lectureships in Music at Kingston University, then City University London. In 2015 she moved to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where, as Head of BMus, she was responsible for academic leadership, curriculum development and programme quality assurance.
Diana has extensive experience as an external examiner in music and music technology and as an external adviser and consultant for exam boards and higher education providers including ABRSM, Edexcel, WJEC, Bath Spa University, the University of Derby, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and The Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Diana is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
A Conservatoire graduate herself, Diana originally trained as a flautist at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before specialising in composition for Masters studies, followed by AHRC-funded doctoral studies at the University of Manchester. As a composer and sound artist her works have been performed and broadcast internationally, with many of her works recognised in leading international competitions including Bourges, Música Viva, the International Computer Music Association Awards, Musica Nova and Prix Destellos.
Senate
The senior academic committee of the HÂþ» is the Senate. The functions of the Senate are described in the Charter as to 'advise the Council on all academic matters affecting the educational policy of the College and related matters'. In practice this means that the Senate is responsible for matters of academic policy and regulations, quality assurance and academic standards, the design of the curriculum and arrangements for assessment and for research policy. It has a committee structure to support it in this wide task.