Sir Keith Falkner (1900–1994) studied singing at the RCM between 1920 and 1926, and developed a career as a distinguished oratorio soloist. After the Second World War, he became the British Council’s music officer for Italy, before moving to America to work as a singing professor at Cornell University in 1950. He returned to London in 1960 to take up the job of Director of the Royal College of Music, a post that he held until 1974.