Exchange Talks and Events
Exchange Talks programme
Welcome to our 2023-24 season of Exchange Talks! This year we will host a mix of in-person and online Exchange Talks reflecting the different disciplines at RCS, including: music, drama, dance, production, film, education, and research.
The Exchange Talks are our weekly series of public events at RCS in which members of our staff, students, and invited speakers from academia and the professions share their research insights on art and broader issues that affect everyone in society. Exchange Talks are free and open to anyone who has an interest in the performing arts and wants to hear new ideas.
RCS Staff and Students can access an archive of Exchange Talks on the Portal Page.
Please note, the programme is subject to change.
- For in-person talks, please contact the RCS Box Office for tickets
- For online talks, please see the weblinks to register for each talk.
Previous talks:
Monday 09 October 2023, 6pm-7pm: Opera’s Search for a Witness: a composer-librettist’s perspective. Jacquelyn Hazle (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). In-person, Fyfe Lecture Theatre.
PhD student Jacquelyn Hazle not only wrote the music but the plot and libretto text for an opera ‘The Witnesses’. Jackie will discuss her process of writing the opera and her methods, inspirations, and technical devices for writing and setting text.
Monday 16 October 2023, 6-7 pm: “What do you do with your legacy, and how do you best put it to use?” (August Wilson). Various speakers. Zoom webinar.
Read more about the event here: https://awaacc.org/event/royal-conservatoire-of-scotland/
Celebrating Black History Month. Building on Pittsburgh and Glasgow’s sister city relationship, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC) and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland explore the works and life of playwright August Wilson, and discuss how each city is exploring its legacy of slavery and how institutions can be ‘agents for change’. In association with Glasgow Life and AWAACC.
Tuesday 24 October 2023, 6-7pm: Lecture recital: Exploring Émile Sauret’s 24 Études Caprices, op.64 through the making of a first recording. Dr Nazrin Rashidova (Royal Academy of Music). In-person, Stevenson Hall.
Acclaimed virtuoso violin soloist Dr Nazrin Rashidova will discuss some of the artistic and critical discoveries and challenges encountered, tackled and documented during the preparation and delivery of a world premiere recording series of Émile Sauret’s 24 Études Caprices, op.64, issued by Naxos between 2017 and 2020, and the publication of a new edition by Edition Peters.
Monday 30 October 2023, 6-7 pm: The state of the arts: the challenge for the arts in Primary education in Scotland. Dr Angela Jaap (University of Glasgow), Dr Lio Moscardini (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Dr Anna Robb (University of Dundee), and Eilidh Slattery (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Zoom webinar.
This symposium explores the current ‘state of the arts’ in the Primary school in Scotland. It will present findings from three interlinked research projects (Art, Dance and Music) which each explored two specific aims: primary teachers’ knowledge and confidence relating to teaching the arts in their classrooms; and, the content of arts education in primary-focused Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.
Monday 20 November 2023, 6-7pm: shadows that in darkness dwell and Micrographia: Recent work with Ensemble 1604. Dr Tim Cooper (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). In-person, Fyfe Lecture Theatre.
In this presentation, RCS Athenaeum Award winner Dr Tim Cooper will discuss recent compositions he has made with Ensemble 1604, and the future work they will undertake together.
Monday 27 November 2023, 6-7pm: Mapping the arts in palliative care across Scotland. Dr Rachel Drury (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Rachel House Children’s Hospice) and Dr Giorgos Tsiris (St Columba’s Hospice Care and Queen Margaret University). Zoom webinar.
Athenaeum Award winners Dr Rachel Drury and Dr Giorgos Tsiris discuss their study that takes the first steps towards creating a national mapping of the arts services in hospices across Scotland. It offers an initial exploration of the scope and stability of the arts and the art therapies, and the diverse profiles of practitioners working in such settings.
Monday 04 December 2023, 6-7pm: A Working Class Hero is Something to be… Stanley Baker and British Cinema’s Class Ceiling. Dr Andy Dougan (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). In-person, Fyfe Lecture Theatre.
British movie stars from the Thirties and beyond are very representative of the middle and upper classes. Even in the films of the British New Wave, actors such as Albert Finney, Alan Bates, and Richard Harris may have played working class characters but they were themselves resolutely middle class. So where were the authentic working class movie stars?
In this research, Andy argues the case for the man he considers to be Britain’s first working class hero – Stanley Baker. Baker captured a new style of masculinity and touched a chord with audiences who were struggling to deal with modern times in post-War Britain. This research will argue for a reconsideration of Baker as more than just a tough guy, but as a man who wore the politics of his class on his sleeve.
Monday 22 January 2024, 6-7pm: Dance for multiple sclerosis: understanding the value of dance to health. Emily Davis (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). In-person, Fyfe Lecture Theatre.
In this Exchange Talk, Emily Davis discusses her research which used a multiple case study approach to consider the impact and value of dance to dancers with MS taking part in Scottish Ballet’s Elevate® programme across Glasgow, Perth, and Orkney. Here, a range of methods bespoke to the participants and context were utilised, including a novel movement-based interview approach aimed at understanding the value of dance, using dance as the data. Join Emily as she explores the therapeutic and methodological potential of dance for MS.
Monday 29 January 2024, 6-7pm: From Magic Lantern to Microphone: the Scottish Music Publishers and Pedagogues inspiring Hearts and Minds through Song. Dr Karen McAulay (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Zoom webinar.
There is much to be gained from considering late Victorian and early twentieth century Scottish music publishers, in the light of contemporary technological and pedagogical innovation. Dr McAulay will explain how new audio and visual technologies, not to mention pedagogical developments, offered new opportunities and helped shape the music being published by Scottish publishers for schools and amateur music making.
Monday 5 February 2024, 6-7pm: We need to talk about art! An invitation to reflexive cultural production. Dr Lito Tsitsou (University of Glasgow). Zoom webinar.
Using the Bourdieusian lens of the field of cultural production, Dr Tsitsou extends an invitation to a reflexive inquiry on the conditions of art making and performing. She will raise some questions regarding institutional power, the dominant forces of cultural production, cultural imperialisms and the colonial legacies in art making. Dr. Tsitsou will question the nature of creative practices and how the historical conditions of the capitalist system shaped these whilst drawing attention to the consequences of an uneven world on art making and artists alike.
Monday 19 February 2024, 6-7pm: The Middle-D-Mirror – reflections in movement and music. Graeme McNaught (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). In-person, Ledger Recital Room.
The piano keyboard has butterfly-like symmetry, one half a reflection of the other. From mirror box therapy to palindromes, “contrary” motion to upside-down Schubert, Lecturer in Keyboard Studies, Graeme McNaught, invites us through the musical looking glass.
Monday 26 February 2024, 6-7pm: Arts for Change: international perspectives. Dr Jill Morgan (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Zoom webinar.
The arts have the ability to educate, please, motivate and inspire, but what role can they play in tackling Climate Change? This talk will explore the impact of international artistic collaborations in raising awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations, specifically Climate Change, and their potential to facilitate transformational change amongst global partners.
Monday 4 March 2024, 6-7pm: Sustainable Theatre Practice. Megumi Hari (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Zoom webinar.
In the past few years, we have been hearing and engaging with hot buzzwords such as Ecological, Sustainable, and Theatre Green Book, but what does it mean in practice? Join RCS Tutor in Scenic Art, Megumi Hari, for an Exchange Talk on her discoveries from the World Stage Design Conference 2022. During the 11-day conference, Megumi attended performances, talks, workshops and took part in in-depth conversations with experts from around the world on Sustainable Theatre Practice. What Megumi thought she knew about holistic approach to theatre design was challenged and she now has a new perspective and fresh ideas that she is eager to share with you.
Monday 11 March 2024, 6-7pm: The Co-composing Multiplicity of the Event—Neurodiverse Performance, Creation, and Relational Emergence. Dr Sheena Bernett (Acadia University). Zoom webinar.
Discover Dr. Bernett’s research-creation and their exploration of neurodiverse modes of encounter through transdisciplinary performing and creative arts practices in this engaging and insightful talk.
If you are interested in sharing your work in an Exchange Talk, please email Research Development Officer.