The UK’s Royal College of Music Appoints New String Faculty 

Six new faculty members of the string department have been announced, including alumni of the school

Among the new appointments is Rodrigo Moro Martín, who will serve as the new double bass professor of the Royal College of Music (RCM). An alumnus of RCM, he is a leading orchestral musician who holds principal positions in the Orquesta Nacional de España and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Martín will join recently appointed RCM viola professors, Isabel Villanueva and Bryony Gibson-Cornish. Villanueva was the 2019 winner of the Culture Award of the Community of Madrid, and Gibson-Cornish was a prizewinner at the Banff and Bordeaux International String Quartet Competitions as a member of the Marmen Quartet. She has also taught chamber music at RCM since 2017.

RCM alumnus Emily Sun, joined RCM as a professor of violin in October 2022. She is an associate artist of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and was a prizewinner at Australia’s 2018 ABC Young Performers Award, the UK’s 2016 Royal Overseas League Music Competition, and the Brahms, Yampolsky, and Lipizer International Violin Competitions. 

Other recent appointments include English National Opera principal cellist Timothy Walden and Gemma Rosefield, who were announced as RCM’s cello professors in September 2022. Walden is also a guest cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Rosefield was the 2007 winner of the Pierre Fournier Award and plays in the acclaimed Leonore Piano Trio and Ensemble 360.

“I am thrilled to be able to add to the Royal College of Music’s wonderful String Faculty with these appointments,” said RCM Head of Strings, Mark Messenger. “It is a privilege to invite renowned pedagogues and international artists to join the RCM, but also exciting to give opportunities to the new generation of great teachers.”