RNCM Takes Teaching, Performance and Admissions to South Korea

The Royal Northern College of Music has taken a week of performance, teaching, and admissions to South Korea’s capital, Seoul, where an international competition attracted more than 50 pianists and 10 students auditioned for places at the RNCM.

Professors from the School of Keyboard Studies travelled to Seoul in partnership with British International Education Korea (BIEK) to take part in BIEK Global Arts Week 2026, which included masterclasses, concerts, admissions auditions, and the inaugural RNCM Seoul International Piano Competition.

Head of School, Professor Graham Scott, joined RNCM Professor of Piano Simon Callaghan, who is also Founding Director of Music at BIEK, to teach, adjudicate and perform throughout the week – which included a public faculty concert, From Shadow to Celebration, bringing together British and Korean artists to perform Poulenc, Schubert, Debussy, Beethoven, Schumann, and Milhaud, and was rounded off by an Award Winners’ Gala Concert.

The programme – delivered in close partnership with BIEK’s team in Seoul, including Partnership Director Henry Aronsson and Korea Director Byeongdo Choi, in collaboration with About Classic Group – offered talented young musicians in South Korea the opportunity to audition for the RNCM without needing to travel overseas.

The RNCM looks forward to building on the collaboration with BIEK into 2027 and beyond as part of its wider commitment to recruitment and exchange in South Korea and internationally.

Professor Simon Callaghan said: ‘Ten students auditioned for the RNCM in Seoul without having to get on a plane, and I doubt all of them would otherwise have had the opportunity. Across the masterclasses, the competition, and the auditions, what struck me was not only the standard of the playing, which was consistently high, but that we were asking a different set of questions from the ones these students were used to, and that exchange runs in both directions. 

‘None of it would have been possible without a partner already embedded in Korean music education: BIEK’s team, and their standing with schools, teachers, and families, is what allowed us to teach, adjudicate, perform and audition all within a single week. I am looking forward to seeing where the partnership takes us.‘

Students interested in the audition requirements of the School of Keyboard Studies can find out more here.