Heather Roberts
RNCM Archive and Museum Manager
MA(Hons), PGDip
Email: [email protected]
- Managing the services and collections of the RNCM Archives and Museum which includes:
- Developing the collections
- Promoting the collections internally and externally
- Answering enquiries and assisting users
- Supporting the RNCM by providing heritage material for promotion and research
- Research Ethics Committee member
- Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee member
- Manager of volunteers and placement students in both archive and museum
Heather’s role includes the management of the College’s fascinating and beautiful collections as well as the management, delivery and development of its services.
She is the project designer and manager of various heritage initiatives such as Throwing Open the Concert Doors (digitisation and interpretation project for RNCM performance archive).
Heather is one of the founders of and administrator for the Connecting Manchester’s Music Archives network, a collaboration between RNCM, the Hallé, the Henry Watson Music Library and Manchester Digital Music Archive.
She represents the RNCM Museum on the Hidden Network of Manchester’s small independent museums.
As a member of the RNCM Research Ethics Committee she supports the assessment of research proposals, and she plays an active role in the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee and is Secretary for the RNCM Archive and Museum Management Committee.
Her professional interests include knitting together the large disparate narratives of Manchester’s music heritage, presenting fascinating features of the archive and museum collections to the public, continuing to accession material into the collections to best represent the RNCM’s heritage and legacy, and working with departments to hone the heritage services for best practice use.
Current and Future Research
As a specialist music archivist Heather Roberts is an active member of the RNCM’s Knowledge Exchange programme, supporting the creation and development of archives and heritage services across the North, e.g. Leeds Conservatoire and Club Cheoil.
Professional Activity
Currently
Volunteer for the Manchester Digital Music Archive https://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/
Co-ordinator of the Greater Manchester Archivists Group
Project Archivist for the Hallé Orchestra
Freelance archivist
Previously
Chair of the Co-operative Heritage Trust
Co-Chair of the Archive and Records Association’s North West Region
Archivist for the People’s History Museum, The Co-operative Heritage Trust and more.