Between April and July Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music will be hosting everything from classical, big band and vocal to a fantastic collaboration with Manchester Jazz Festival.
Embarking on the final leg of their year-long French Connections journey, the season continues to explore the music and musicians of France and their connections far and wide.
Forthcoming highlights include Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé at The Bridgewater Hall with conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier (29 Jun), the baritone Roderick Williams singing a Franco-British programme (24 Apr), the French organist-composer-improviser Thierry Escaich providing the soundtrack to the 1927 American silent film Sunrise (08 Jun), and two stunning choral works – Fauré’s Requiem (05 Jun) and the Paris-based Italian composer Rossini’s dramatic Petite messe solennelle (15 Jun).
Their in Focus series also continues this season, celebrating the music of Anthony Gilbert and Adam Gorb (20 – 21 Jun).
Anthony and Adam are the only two Heads of Composition to serve at the RNCM, producing not only brilliant students but also creating and shaping one of the most varied and vibrant Composition departments in Europe.
The two-day festival includes concerts and talks as well as the première of Adam’s new opera, The Path to Heaven. Performed by musicians from Psappha and the RNCM, this powerful work dramatically exposes the disintegration of the loves, lives and hopes of an extended family struggling to survive amidst the horrors of The Holocaust.
There’s also the annual Wind, Brass and Percussion Festival(22 Apr) and Piano Day (16 Jun) to look forward to, both featuring free and ticketed events with guest artists, and the RNCM Gold Medal Competition, showcasing the College’s star performers and composers (23 Jun).
RNCM Young Company, a musical theatre group for young people aged 13 – 18, returns to the stage alongside performers from The Circus House for a spellbinding new work of music, dance and acrobatics (25 – 26 May). And the RNCM Young Explorers series continues with a sea-inspired programme as the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra brings to life John Williams’ Suite from Jaws and Hans Zimmer’s music from Pirates of the Caribbean in a relaxed, family-friendly concert for ages 4 and above (24 Jun). The ever-popular RNCM Session Orchestra also makes a welcome return this Summer (09 Jun), as does the RNCM Big Band, which takes to the stage alongside trombonist Bart van Lier (28 Jun).
Finally, the RNCM’s collaboration with Manchester Jazz Festival continues with a concert by Norma Winstone (vocals), Klaus Gesing (bass clarinet, saxophones) and Glauco Venier (piano), with special guest (and RNCM alum) Abel Selaocoe (cello) (27 Jul).
Full details of the season, which also features Eddi Reader (01 May), Eric Bibb (05 May), An Evening with Akala (15 May), Gretchen Peters (27 May), Nouvelle Vague (10 Jun), Sona Jobarteh (10 Jun),The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah (23 Jun) and An Evening with Marc Cohn (16 Jul) can be found here.
