Conservatoire staff perspectives on the role of alumni in higher music education: who benefits?

The forging and maintenance of alumni relations is critical to the sustainability of Higher Music Education Institutions worldwide. In contrast to university-based career mentoring programmes, research about the role of alumni in conservatoire students’ professional development is scarce. Alumni profiles are often used to support conservatoires’ marketing campaigns, featuring graduates perceived as having the most ‘successful’ careers. Yet, alumni can contribute significantly to conservatoire education by being honest about their lived experiences as graduates and breaking down perceived barriers relating to what constitutes success in music. This research addresses a significant gap in the literature by involving conservatoire staff as participants. Firstly, perspectives on alumni involvement in a UK conservatoire’s day-to-day activity were gathered from 64 staff via an online questionnaire. Subsequently, researcher observations of a series of career seminars led by ten alumni provided context for semi-structured interviews with two academic staff who organised the series. The findings, which are developed into a model for ‘alumni in conservatoire education’, show that whilst conservatoire staff were committed to supporting students’ professional development through alumni activities, the benefits of alumni contributions for the professional development of staff could be more widely recognised, to further develop institutional approaches to supporting student-professional transition.