Celebration of Excellence FAQs

You may select ONE piece (or ONE movement of a longer work) from the current RCM Syllabus to perform. Please ask your teacher for guidance with your repertoire selection.

The selection need not be one of the pieces you performed for your practical examination, but it must be chosen from a level within the next two levels for which you received the award.

The selection must be listed in the current RCM Syllabus for your instrument. IMPORTANT: Student's Choice or Teacher's Choice pieces will NOT be accepted for this Celebration of Excellence recital.

For those disciplines where examination memorization marks are offered (e.g. for piano, voice, guitar, strings, etc.), recital selections must be played from memory. For all other disciplines, recital selections should ideally be played from memory.

An accompanist is required for any selection that requires an accompanist. This includes all levels. Recordings are not permitted. Please review the current RCM Syllabus for your instrument.

The RCM does not provide accompanists. If you are travelling far for your event and do not have an accompanist a local teacher may be available to play with you.

Time limits must be strictly respected as follows:

• Performances at Preparatory Level - Level 4 may not exceed three minutes
• Performances at Levels 5 - 8 may not exceed five minutes
• Performances at Levels 9 - 10 may not exceed seven minutes

A Teacher’s Choice piece may be performed in the recital ONLY if it was performed in the exam for which you received your gold medal.

Your piece must be chosen from a level within the next two levels for which you received the award.

Due to the number of students participating in the in-person recitals, you can only perform one piece however you will be recognized for both accomplishments at the recital. We invite you to submit a video for your second discipline to be included in the virtual recital that will be release this spring. 

Due to the number of students participating in the in-person recitals, you can only perform one piece however you will be recognized for all accomplishments at the recital. We invite you to submit a video for your additional awards to be included in the virtual recital that will be release this spring. 

No, the recitals are built to balance instruments, levels, and pieces. If one collaborative pianist is accompanying several performers we will try our best to have all those performances in a single recital. 

Unfortunately no. These recitals take considerable planning and we have allowed for the maximum time possible for students to respond.

If you are a national gold medal winner you may choose to perform at either your regional OR national event. The national event is a great honour, we invite you to perform at that recital if possible.

The number of guest tickets available differs for each event. Allotted ticket amounts will be indicated in the registration process. If more tickets are released, a communication will be sent to students, and they will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

All performers must keep their MyRCM profile contact details current, and ensure they are subscribed to RCM emails to receive all awards details.

To resubscribe to the RCM mailing list, please fill out this form. Please allow up to three business days for your resubscription request to be processed.

No, tickets are not required for Celebration of Excellence recitals with the exception of the US National Celebration of Excellence. 

If you have RSVP’d to the US National recital, you will receive an email two weeks prior to the event with explicit instructions on where and when to collect the tickets you have reserved.

We ask that you respect the privacy of others, you may photograph and video YOUR CHILD / PERFORMER only. There is one exception to this, photography and videos of any kind are not permitted at US Nationals at Carnegie Hall.

Yes, detailed programs will be available for the audience members at each recital.

Recital lengths vary on based on the number of performers and the level of their pieces. Most last between 1.5 – 2 hours.