We’re proud to announce the Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme, a new scheme developed by the Academy and endorsed by @EltonOfficial enabling students from 12 of the top conservatoires worldwide to take part in educational exchanges with the Academy https://t.co/4bap5jcjW2 pic.twitter.com/AnK1awOcnf

— Royal Academy of Music (@RoyalAcadMusic) December 10, 2021

The scheme goes live in September 2022 and will promote global mobility and international collaboration between deserving and talented young musicians. Studies could vary from one week of intensive project-based work to, in exceptional cases, a full year of study. 12 other conservatories around the world have confirmed their involvement with the Royal Academy of Music so far:

• The Juilliard School, New York
• Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris
• Shanghai Conservatory of Music
• Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki
• MDW – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
• Hanns Eisler Academy, Berlin
• The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
• Sydney Conservatorium of Music
• University of Music and Performing Arts, Munich
• Reina Sofía School of Music, Madrid
• The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto
• Tokyo University of the Arts Faculty of Music and Graduate School of Music

The Academy’s principal, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood CBE, said: “In a rapidly changing global landscape, conservatoires must evolve to meet future needs and create fresh opportunities for young artists. Central to this is the free exchange of ideas without regard for international boundaries”, he adds, “Elton John, himself an Academy alumnus, has provided remarkable assistance to our international student body over the years, and is deeply committed to ensuring that young musicians are able to collaborate, innovate and develop as artists in the broadest environment. We are hugely grateful to him for lending his name to this project and offering support.”

 Elton John’s generosity has exceeded any other, in recognition of this he has been awarded the title of ‘member of the Regents’ Court of Benefactors’. He explains in a statement, “My passion is to help nurture the next generation of global artists. Music can and should transcend borders, and I am delighted to be supporting a scheme which offers high-level, tangible opportunities to talented young musicians coming together from many different countries.”

While all of this takes place, John has continued his unending string of chart successes with his most recent outing with Ed Sheeran, the simply titled “Merry Christmas”. At the moment, he and Sheeran are well in the running for this year’s Christmas number 1. Watch the music video below.

The app has now been adapted to include the functionality to work in combination with the government’s NHS Covid-19 app which is used to notify members of the public of their results after taking a coronavirus test, as well as informing them when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive. What this means for concert goers and venue owners is that they may now have a system by which ticket buyers can verify their identity, proof of purchase, and show evidence of a negative covid-19 test taken within the last 48 hours and be granted access to a show which, as a result of this, should only contain people who have proved themselves to be free of the virus.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The 100 Club (@100clublondon)

The news of these trials brings a great deal of hope to music fans across the country who saw 2020 quickly become a barren, live music free wasteland due to the coronavirus outbreak. While large events like Glastonbury have sadly now been cancelled and arena tours may look to be going the same way, this app may bring some hope for smaller venues who can use the system to ensure a small, safe covid-free gathering can occur and live music can safely begin to return. 100-200 capacity venues exist all across the UK and if these trials show that they can safely be reopened, this could mean a huge boost for the UK live music industry which has suffered so greatly throughout this pandemic.

It would be a relief too, if this news were to benefit especially these smaller venues who may not have the financial reserves of big arena owners like O2 to be able to safely keep their doors closed without running completely out of money. It is unclear yet what this will mean for the UK artists who planned to tour in 2021 but may have started to rethink their plans. Dua Lipa for example, whose tour will require large arena’s to house all of her loyal fans, may need to wait until a later date when the vaccine program has been completely rolled out and coronavirus effectively eradicated from the UK before her concerts become completely safe. Smaller artists, however, might find that they are able to begin performing shows again a little sooner than they thought.