Category: RCS

Get Into: Performing and Production Arts

Posted on by Ellen McNeill

 Get Into: 

 Performing and Production Arts 

Performance, Production, Singing and Arts with Community

For Young People 16+

Young person smiling trying on costume

Starting Autumn 2025

Would you like to Get Into: Performing and Production Arts but not sure where to begin? Our free Get Into courses could be the perfect answer. 

We’re running four separate programmes starting this Autumn:

  • Performance (acting, devising and movement)
  • Production for Stage and Screen (sound, lighting and production arts)
  • Singing Together (singing chorally in many styles and vocal leadership)
  • Arts with Community (exploring multi-artform community projects)

These free weekly part-time sessions will be a great opportunity for you to:

  • Build your confidence
  • Develop your skills in your chosen field
  • Meet others who love the same thing as you

Text: Apply Now

Please note: Fair Access will prioritise places for young people aged 16 – 19. To be eligible, you must meet one or more of the following criteria: 

  • live in an SIMD1 Postcode 
  • are care experienced or estranged from, and receive no support from, family or carers
  • live in an SIMD1 Postcode or SIMD2 Postcode and belong to one of the following groups:
    – living rurally with poor transport links
    – Black, Indigenous or People of Colour 
    – D/deaf or Hard of Hearing

Depending on available places, we will also consider college students up to the age of 25 years.

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 Get In Touch 

If you have any questions or queries, email: fairaccess@rcs.ac.uk

Performance Trip: War Horse

Posted on by Ellen McNeill

 Performance Trip 

Join us for the second in our series WACI performance trips to see the award winning, National Theatre tour of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘War Horse’.

A life size puppet horse and a man holding it's face

War Horse is an unforgettable theatrical experience which takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France. Based on the beloved novel by Michael Morpurgo, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama, filled with stirring music and songs, is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-sized horses by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage.

This performance trip is the perfect opportunity to see award winning theatre that combines puppetry, movement, emotive story telling and innovative sound and lighting design. It is open to those aged 16+ with an interest in drama, performance, sound and lighting technology. 

Please note that signing up does not automatically mean you will receive a place on the trip. After the signup date we will prioritise applications who meet our eligibility and contact you to let you know if you have been successful.

DISCLAIMER: This show uses strobe lighting. It also deals with themes that some people may find upsetting including war, and depictions of violence and death. This trip will be supervised by Livi from the WACI Team, who will be in attendance. Please make any reasonable adjustments/accessibility requirements known

When: 31 March
Time: 7.30pm
Where: Theatre Royal, Glasgow

Book Now button

Spaces are limited. Completing the booking form doesn’t automatically guarantee your place.
We will notify successful candidates.

Booking Deadline: Monday 24 March

Please note: WACI prioritise those facing barriers in accessing the arts such as those who are:

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 How to Contact Us 

If you have an queries or questions about this activity, you can contact the team at: 📧waci@rcs.ac.uk

Creative Conversations in the Classroom

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Careers Talks Across Scotland 

With Accompanying Teacher Resources

Are you, or the young people you teach, interested in applying to study in the performing and production arts? Are you not sure where to start or what careers there may be? Fair Access have produced a suite of films and resources that can help making those decisions.

What is ‘Creative Conversations in the Classroom’?

Creative Conversations is a series of short films and accompanying teachers’ resources. The aim is to give young people an insight into what it’s really like to work in the creative industries.

​Each film features three professionals who work in a specific area of the performing or production arts in conversation with each other, and with an audience of secondary school pupils. At the end of each film, young people from the audience describe the impact this conversation has had on them. The Teachers’ Resources provide questions to get your own conversations in the classroom started after watching the film. ​

The Creative Conversations series includes artists working in:

All the films can be viewed at home, on your mobile devices or as a group in your classrooms or community spaces. You can also access them via our Toolkits page.

Contact Us

We’d love to hear about how you use these resources in your classroom or if you’re a young person that has found them useful in learning more about career options. You can say hello on our social media or if you have any questions about these resources, please get in touch at: fairaccess@rcs.ac.uk

Creative Conversations Live at RCS

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Creative Conversations 

Live and in person at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Fair Access here at RCS are excited to be running a new series of Creative Conversations focused on Community Arts in Scotland. Sessions are open to all and will take place in the Renfrew Street Building in Glasgow. Come along to one, or to the whole series to find out more about Community Arts in Scotland:

Working in Prisons

Bigg Taj and Isla Callister will be joining us to speak about their work in prisons

Date: Wednesday 15 January
Time: 5pm – 6pm

Book your space on our booking form
. . .
Play Therapy

Featuring Izzy Joss. Whether you have no knowledge on the subject or are well-versed, this conversation promises to be engaging, informative, and creatively enriching

Date: Thursday 30 January
Time: 5pm – 6pm

Book your space on our booking form
. . .
Documentary Filmmaking

Filmmaker Bircan Birol will be talking about finding your own way, style, and voice in the world of non-fiction filmmaking and the importance of self-representation and working ethically with diverse communities

Date: Tuesday 4 February
Time: 5pm – 6pm

Book your space on our booking form
. . .
Community as Abundance

In this session, Tawona Sithole will explore how a positive approach in seeing the value in people allows for an abundance in creativity, sharing and positive community spirit.

Date: Wednesday 12 February
Time: 5pm – 6pm

Book your space on our booking form
. . .
The School of Plural Thought

Led by Emmie McLuskey who is a Glasgow based artist who will be speaking about a project she leads called The School of Plural Futures

Date: Thursday 6 March
Time: 5pm – 6pm

Book your space on our booking form

New Course at RCS for 2025

Did you know we will be launching a brand new degree course to help you become a community arts practitioner. Come and study BA Arts with Communities with us in September 2025.
Find out more on the RCS website. 

Who We Work With

Fair Access is funded to support young people who face barriers in accessing the arts, such as those who are:

Get in touch if you have any questions or need us to check a postcode for you.

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions about these activities please get in touch with us at: fairaccess@rcs.ac.uk

Taster Mornings

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Taster Mornings 

For Music Teaching, Production or Acting

Are your pupils interested in studying Music Teaching, Production or Acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland? Teachers can sign up now for you and up to three of your pupils to attend our taster morning.

These sessions will focus on providing information about the degree programmes here at RCS. They will be a great opportunity to:

  • Find out about the programmes from those who teach it
  • Get involved with interactive workshops
  • See inside RCS and get a feel for what it could be like to study here
  • Meet the Fair Access Team and learn what support we can offer you and your pupils

All sessions are taking place at RCS in the Renfrew Street building taking place from 9:30am until 12:30pm. Choose below from the sessions you’d like to attend:

 

 Who Can Take Part 

WACI is funded to support young people who face barriers in accessing the arts. You are welcome to book up to 3 pupils on this session who meet the following criteria:

Get in touch if you have any issues with filling out any of the forms.

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions about these activities please get in touch with us at: waci@rcs.ac.uk

Masterclass: Live Sound for Artists

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Masterclass: Live Sound for Artists 

For those interested in studying
sound production, music or live performance

Sound artist in a venue working on a sound desk

Join us for an evening masterclass with Sound Engineer Carla Feuerstein to de-mystify the skills behind live sound engineering.

This will be particularly useful for any student interested in sound production, music or live performances. We invite students with any interest in being on stage or behind the sound desk.

When: Friday 25 October
Times: 7pm – 9pm
Where: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Book Now button
Spaces are limited.
Completing the booking form doesn’t automatically guarantee your place.
We will notify successful candidates.

 About Carla 

Carla Feuerstein is a live sound and recording engineer based in Glasgow who has extensively toured the UK and Europe over the last 10 years. While she has worked with artists from a variety of backgrounds, her main focus lies with the Folk and Traditional Music Scene of Scotland, where she has the pleasure of working with outstanding artists such as Breabach, HEISK, The Paul McKenna Band, Seàn Gray and the crossover-theatre production Hebridean Treasure – Lost and Found. Her contribution to these artists’ sound has earned her two nominations as Sound Engineer of the Year at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards.

In 2021, Carla joined the team at GloWorm Recording Studios in the heart of Glasgow, where she works under producer-owners Iain Hutchison and Andrea Gobbi.

Having joined the Royal Conservatoire’s School of Music part-time teaching staff Carla is now regularly leading tutorials, helping students hone their recording skills.

 Who Can Take Part 

WACI prioritise those facing barriers in accessing the arts such as those who are:

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions about these activities please get in touch with us at: waci@rcs.ac.uk

Audition and Interview Prep

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Audition and Interview Prep 

For those applying to study the performing or production arts

WACI are delighted to be offering a suite of Audition and Interview Prep sessions. These sessions will help you prepare for your interviews and auditions, help build confidence and offer tips and advice specific to your discipline.

These workshops are for those who are thinking about applying to study at a college, university or conservatoire in one of the following areas:

Acting or Musical Theatre
(Monologue Prep, 1:1 Sessions)
When: Dates between 29 October – 14 November
Times: 6pm or 7:15pm
Where: Online

Deadline to apply: Tuesday 22 October

Music Teaching
(BEd, Bachelor of Education in Music)
When: 5 & 7 November, 6:30pm – 8pm
Where: Online

Deadline to apply: 4 November

Filmmaking & TV
When: 12 & 14 November, 5pm – 7pm
Where: Online

Deadline to apply: 11 November

Production Arts or Technology
When: 19 & 21 November, 5pm – 7pm
Where: Online

Deadline to apply: 18 November

 Who Can Take Part 

WACI prioritise those facing barriers in accessing the arts such as those who are:

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions about these activities please get in touch with us at: waci@rcs.ac.uk

WACI X RCS Production in Argyll

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 WACI x RCS Production 

Community Collaborations:

Tiree and Oban Sounds Design Workshops

Woman standing outside a school

WACI and sound lecturer, Clare Hibbard, from the RCS Production Technology and Management (PTM) department have been out and about in Argyll delivering an introduction to sound design workshops for students in Oban and Tiree High Schools. It was a great opportunity to get out and meet teachers and students in the West Coast communities to talk about WACI, RCS and all things sound production. Clare delivered a fascinating workshop on how industry professionals approach designing sound for theatre and film and certainly got the students thinking about pathways and careers in production.

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions or queries or would like to know how to get involved with WACI, please email: waci@rcs.ac.uk

WACI X RCS Summer School Scholarships

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 SUMMER SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS 

Now Open for Application

WACI are delighted to announce that our scholarship programme for RCS Summer Schools is now open for applications. The RCS Summer Schools have something for everyone. Whether you’re a beginner or more experienced, you can apply now to take part.

Young people playing strings in an orchestra

Summer School Availability

There are a whole variety of summer schools to choose from in Dance, Drama, Music, Film and Production. Visit the RCS Summer Schools website here to see the selection of courses you can choose from. Some of the courses are very popular and spaces fill up quickly. The scholarships are selected at random and based on the availability of places on each course. A WACI scholarship will cover the full cost of your chosen course.

Alongside the Summer School Scholarships, WACI can offer some financial support to assist with travel and accommodation costs for those with a WACI Summer School Scholarship who live in rural areas of Scotland.

How to apply

Fill out the application form to let us know:

  • a little bit about you
  • why you would like to do the course you have chosen

If it would be easier, you can provide a voice recording or video statement in support of your application.

* Applications now closed *

Deadline: Wednesday 1 May, 12 noon

Please Note

WACI will prioritise those facing barriers to accessing the arts such as those:

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions about this activity, please email: waci@rcs.ac.uk

Music Technology for the Faint Hearted

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Music Technology for the Faint Hearted 

CLPL for Music Teachers

A row of music teachers sitting at DAW stations

Alan Fraser from the BEd programme led a Career Long Professional Development Learning session on music technology, aimed at music teachers wanting to brush up their skills. Fourteen teachers joined us from Glasgow, North and South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, East Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and Dumfries and Galloway.

The session explored practical, hands-on shortcuts in the use of GarageBand, with one participant saying afterwards:

‘I can see how I would use this material in Broad General Education to ‘spark’ creativity in initial exposure to composition. It was a great course. Well presented, really interesting, supportive and inspiring – Thank you!!!’ 

Heather McMillan, Head of the Bachelor of Education (Music) course, joined us, as did Clare Hibberd, lecturer in Sound from our Production degree programme. Fair Access shouted out about our BEd Bridging programme! 

 Find Out More About Music Teaching Opportunities 

If you would like to study to become a music teacher or are a music teacher and interested in future CLPL opportunities, sign up for our mailing list to be kept up to date. You can also email and speak with the team on: fairaccesshello@rcs.ac.uk