About us

Rachmaninoff Music Academy (RMA, formerly known as the London Russian Music Academy) grew out of the Belsize Music Academy which was founded in 2012 to provide first class music education to children in the UK, regardless of their financial circumstances.

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“Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.” Pablo Casals

Next Event

3

March 2024

Music at Midday
12 pm Sunday 3 March
UCS Grand Hall

Music Departments

Lower Juniors

Lower Juniors

Our youngest pupils are three years old, although occasionally we accept even younger children if they show clear interest in music; the oldest children in this group are 5...

Upper Juniors

Upper Juniors

Children joining this group usually already play an instrument, do solfeggio and attend Junior Choir 2. The youngest children in this group are 4 and the oldest 9 years old...

Lower Seniors

Lower Seniors

Pupils in this group play one or two instruments, do solfeggio and attend Senior Choir. The youngest children in this group are 8 and the oldest 12 years old...

Upper Seniors

Upper Seniors

This is the most advanced group of pupils aged 11 - 18, many of whom are Grade 8+ standard and some go on to do Diploma exams...

Rachmaninoff Music Academy

RMA students have access to professional music education from their early years. When they join us they become part of a music family where music is a way of existence rather than merely another subject to study.

Movie about the RMA

video

Choose your instrument

"Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed."
William Christopher Handy

Piano

"The piano as a medium for expression is a whole world by itself. No other instrument can fill or replace its own say in the world of emotion, sentiment, poetry, imagery and fancy."
Leopold Godowsky

Organ

"Organ playing is the manifestation of a will filled with the vision of eternity."
Charles Marie Widor

Voice

"The only thing better than singing is more singing."
Ella Fitzgerald

Harp

“Glorious is the Voice of Man, and sweet is the music of the harp.”
Richard Llewellyn

Viola

“I just love the viola. I find its sound very touching, because it’s very close to the sound and the range of the human speaking voice. It can sing, or be dramatic, and it has a lot of emotion in it.”
Lawrence Power

Violin

"I believe that the violin is a replica of the soul."
Itzhak Perlman

Cello

"The Cello is like a beautiful woman who has not grown older, but younger with time, more slender, more supple, more graceful."
Pablo Casals

Double Bass

"No matter what kind of music you’re playing, the bass enhances the sound and makes it more beautiful and full."
Charlie Haden

Guitar

"The violin is my mistress, but the guitar is my master."
Niccolo Paganini

Clarinet

“The clarinet, though appropriate to the expression of the most poetic ideas and sentiments, is really an epic instrument – the voice of heroic love.”
Berlioz

Oboe

“For forty years I have played the oboe, and still I never know what is coming out. It is a perpetual anxiety. But maybe this is good. I have never the time to get myself bored.”
Marcel Tabuteau

Flute

"It is not solid wood that can become a flute, but the empty reed."
Hazrat Inayat Khan

Trumpet

“My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn.”
Louis Armstrong

Saxophone

"If you like an instrument that sings, play the saxophone. At its best it's like the human voice."
Stan Getz

Accordion

“As soon as I strap on the accordion, I feel like a different, younger man. It’s on stage I feel most alive. That’s what I live for.”
André Verchuren

Percussion

“The thing about playing percussion is that you can create all these emotions that can be sometimes beautiful, sometimes really ugly, or sometimes sweet, sometimes as big as King Kong and so on. And so there can be a real riot out there, or it can be so refined.”
Evelyn Glennie

Andrea Buraschi

A place that respects and nurtures the young artist that is in each of our children. Choosing it for our son to learn music was one of the best decisions of our life!

Andrea Buraschi, Chair of Finance, Imperial College London
Louise Flores

Rachmaninoff Music Academy is very different from other UK music schools - you feel that they really care about your children, they really care about their progress, they really care about their attitude to music. That is big difference.

Zoya Charles
Katya Gorbatiouk

This music school represents an extended family for us, no less.

Katia Gorbatiouk, Head of Investment Funds, London Stock Exchange
Sally Wei

This is a wonderful place for children and parents alike; the teachers are all very enthusiastic and the children get along great with each other. There is a really lovely atmosphere here.

Sally Wei, pianist
Jonathan Charles

Our son Max has been going to the RMA since he was six years old and has always loved it. He is now 14 and enjoys spending his Sundays with children of his own age who also love music. The standard of teaching is immensely high. All the teachers really care about their pupils and it feels like a family.

Jonathan Charles, presenter of the Vinyl Countdown musical Radio Show and Podcast
Carla Cordivar

We have been travelling abroad playing music in France, in Italy, as well as London. We have been very happy at this school.

Carla Cordivari, Consultant neurologist
Diana Jones

Proud to be part of the amazing, encouraging community of the RMA which perfectly nurtures love to music and young talent and encourages hard work in our budding musicians.

Aida Sahutoglu, English teacher
Nina Machi

This is a very special and beautiful music school, where children are happy and inspired to learn.

Nina Maschi, Bus King Theatre Director
Maria Bashieva

I am so grateful for your completely selfless dedication and all the opportunities, small and large, you create for the children.Your incredibly hard work and profound belief in each and every child have created a very special atmosphere in a truly unique place. I thank the lucky stars that my children had a chance to study here.

Maria Bashieva, NHS worker
  • Arun Treehouse
  • Sophia Amadeus
  • Leonora and Talia