We, alumni of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and other leading artists, are writing to express our concerns about the funding situation currently faced by the academy.
We understand this is a historical problem. However, we also recognise that unless the Scottish Government takes immediate action it could have serious repercussions. These would affect not only the RSAMD's ability to deliver the world-class training
that its reputation is built upon, but at the start of Scotland's new renaissance would also severely damage Scotland's reputation on the international cultural stage.
The RSAMD is Scotland's only national conservatoire, attracting students from across the world. However, since 1992 its drama tuition has not been funded to conservatoire level, meaning drama courses in Glasgow receive around half of the funding given to comparable institutions such as Rada in England. We congratulate the RSAMD's One Academy policy, whereby the music school has cross-subsidised the drama school for more than 16 years. It bears huge testament to the academy's financial management and the goodwill of its teaching staff that it has managed to deliver conservatoire-level music and drama for so long without adequate funding.
However, it is clear that this situation is not one that could have been managed forever. Long after most education and arts organisations would have buckled, the unique education the academy provides is at risk of being watered down through measures made necessary by chronic underfunding. That is why we are appealing to the Scottish Government to take action to address the immediate £600,000 gap and to work with the Scottish Funding Council to assess the long-term needs of the RSAMD. Without this money, we fear that the RSAMD will lose the core of a world-class staff and ruin a teaching environment unique among conservatoires globally. In addition to the damage that will be done to the music school, in the longer term, the RSAMD could have no choice but to water down the drama school or close it altogether.
JAMES McAVOY, BILLY BOYD, BILL PATERSON, DAVID TENNANT, LOUISE DELAMERE, BRIAN COX, GREG WISE, ALAN CUMMING, TAMZIN OUTHWAITE, EILEEN McCALLUM, PATRICK MULVEY, TOM ELLIS, SAM HEWIN, EMUN ELLIOTT, CIARÁN McMENAMIN, RYAN FLETCHER, KAREN CARGILL, MALCOLM MARTINEAU, CHRISTIAN CURNYN, DAVID McVICAR, LEE BLAKELY, JOANNE BETTS, LYDIA POOLE, NEIL MCNULTY, FRASER JOHNSTONE, ANDREW SCOTT RAMSEY, DAVID WALSHE, KATHLEEN CRAWFORD, LEE HUTCHEON, BRYONY HARDING, GUS GOWLAND, BECK CASEMENT, CAROLYN DOBBIN, DAVUR MAGNUSSEN, TOM POSTER, TOM BERRY, MARTIN FIELD, JONATHAN DURRANT, PAUL KLEIN, JANET LAIRD, ROBERT FAIRLEY, PETER DYKES, RUSSELL TYLE, BRYONY MIDDLETON, ELAINE CLOSE, JENNY HUTCHINSON, JOHN POUTER, TOM HUNTER, LAURA GHIRO, BERNADETTE ANGUIGE, JOHN HALL, HELEN McVEY, EWEN MacKAY, PAUL RISSMAN, ELISABETH DOONER, BARRY DEACON, LAWRENCE GILL, GENNA SPINKS, AMY CARDIGAN, ALISON McGILLIVRAY, RUDI DE GROOTE
The full article contains 465 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
