We are thrilled to announce the inauguration of the Robert Anderson Junior Fellowship in Conducting. The fellow will undertake an Artist Diploma, an advanced one-year programme designed for experienced conductors, at the Royal College of Music. It will give them the opportunity to refine their craft and professional confidence through intensive projects based at the RCM and time spent with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr Anderson rehearsing Elgar’s The Kingdom in Westminster Cathedral, 1975.

The first fellow will begin their diploma in September 2027, and the Trust has pledged to support the initiative for three years to begin with. Each fellow will be offered accommodation at Dr Anderson’s former home on Hornton Street in Kensington, very close to the RCM, as the Trust’s Resident Musician for the year. As Robert was a conductor himself, and as music and supporting young people were such important parts of his life’s work, we could not imagine a better way to honour his memory.

Further information about the fellowship is available on the College’s website, here.

Conducting Bach’s Mass in B minor at the Albert Hall, December 1981.