"This year ABRSM celebrates its 125th anniversary. Since 1889, we have supported musical progression, participation and learning. We now deliver over 650,000 exams and assessments every year in 93 countries - something that would have been unimaginable when the first 1,141 candidates sat their graded exams in 1890! To mark the journey we have undertaken since Sir Alexander Mackenzie first proposed to Sir George Grove that the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music combined forces to create an impartial and authoritative examining body that would 'genuinely provide a stimulus and and an objective for a high standard of achievement', we have created a short video that tells the ABRSM story from the very beginning to the present day. ABRSM Chief Examiner John Holmes, teachers, candidates and staff reflect on how they have benefited from our work and how we have evolved and grown against a changing musical education landscape in the 125 years of our existence.

Soundtrack: Short Ride in a Fast Machine (John Adams)"