London's Royal College of Music (RCM) has announced that conductors Vasily Petrenko and Speranza Scappucci will serve as the institution's new International Visiting Artists.

Petrenko joins the RCM on a four-year term, during which he will visit three times a year to teach conducting students, with a further annual trip to conduct the RCM Symphony Orchestra.

Scappucci will also conduct at least one program with the orchestra during her three-year term, and she will visit the academy twice per year to work with its conducting students. 

Petrenko has been Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021, and following a fifteen-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra he is now its Conductor Laureate. He has appeared at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, among others. 

The first Italian woman to conduct at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Scappucci was Music Director at Royal Opéra de Wallonie in Liège between 2017 and 2022. She is currently Principal Conductor at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and has recorded for the Warner Classics, Opus Arte, and Deutsche Grammophon labels.

Martyn Brabbins has been appointed to a conducting professorship at the RCM following a successful five-year term as Prince Consort Professor. He will work with conducting students several times each term and lead at least one performance project each year.  

"Working with young musicians and emerging conductors has always been a central part of my life," Petrenko said. "From youth orchestras to masterclasses, I’ve seen how access to real-world experience at the right moment can be transformative."

"I’m delighted to join the Royal College of Music as an International Visiting Artist and to work closely with students as they develop not only their craft, but their confidence, judgement and leadership as future conductors."

"It is an honor for me to accept this position and I’m excited to be working with young talent and the next generation of conductors," Scapucci said. It is important to pass on our knowledge and be able to advise the young generation."