Resonate: December 2023
Welcome to your December 2023 edition of Resonate.
This winter, we’ve launched the RNCM Endangered Instruments Appeal to help protect instruments at risk of disappearing and safeguard the music we all know and love. Read more below on how you can help us tackle this issue and ensure these instruments are not lost forever.
We’ve got exciting news on five of our students and alumni who have been selected for a new fellowship with Manchester Camerata; a special award for Olympias Music Foundation, founded by alumna Jo Yee Cheung; alumni reuniting on stage with Opera Holland Park; and our December performance programme.
Finally, congratulations to our Principal, Professor Linda Merrick, who recently received her CBE from His Majesty The King in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Linda, who is also Chair of Conservatoires UK, was awarded the title for her dedicated services to music in higher education.
Help us protect instruments at risk
RNCM Endangered Instruments Appeal
Try to imagine the iconic Jaws theme without that terrifying tuba solo, Harold in Italy without a viola, the Rite of Spring without its haunting bassoon opening, or Mozart’s Horn Concerto without, well… a horn!
Cuts to music education in state schools means fewer young people are learning these instruments and progressing to conservatoire training. Without intervention, these instruments, plus the double bass, oboe, bass trombone and more are at risk of disappearing forever.
These instruments are absolutely integral to the music we all know and love and without them, our orchestras, brass bands, favourite film soundtracks, theatre scores and more face an uncertain future, and the composers of tomorrow will not be able to write new music featuring their rich sounds.
That is why we have launched the RNCM Endangered Instruments Appeal this winter, to help safeguard these instruments and protect the future of music for everyone to enjoy.
Funds raised will support our targeted solutions to tackle this crisis at all levels: through our award-winning work with under 18s, by offering tailored financial support to those in need, and by providing world-class training and tuition.
We know times continue to be tough for many. Anything you can donate will be hugely appreciated.
Find out more about this urgent issue and how we’re tackling it here.
Camerata 360° Ruth Sutton Fellowship
RNCM Students and Alumni Receive Inaugural Fellowship
Manchester Camerata has announced the first five recipients of their inaugural Camerata 360° Ruth Sutton Fellowship.
We are delighted to see that all five Fellows are familiar names, with alumni Georgina MacDonell Finlayson (violin), Marcus Vinícius de Oliveira (double bass), and James Weatherley-Buss (composer and multi-instrumentalist) receiving the Fellowship alongside RNCM Junior Fellow in Viola, Ben Norris, and final-year Masters violinist Sean Morrison.
These five Fellows will each receive a paid, year-long bespoke training programme in which they will gain vital experience in all aspects of a musical career, Manchester Camerata’s work and the impact it makes.
Olympias Music Foundation
King’s Award for Voluntary Service
Congratulations to the Olympias Music Foundation (OMF) on receiving The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.
The OMF is the only organisation in Manchester offering free, sustained music lessons to diverse young people from low-income backgrounds and 100% of their work is directly targeted at hard-to-reach groups experiencing social and economic exclusion.
Alumna Jo Yee Cheung, who founded the OMF in 2015, said: ‘We are thrilled that our work at Olympias Music Foundation has been recognised through this prestigious award. None of what we do would be possible without the hard work and commitment of our brilliant volunteers, who include students, professional musicians, accountants, photographers, 7-year-old ‘washing-up monitors’ all the way through to 70-year-old grandparent cooks.’
In recognition of her services to music education in Manchester, Jo Yee was made an Associate of the RNCM in 2022 and was named as one of our 50Faces in a special campaign celebrating our 50th anniversary.
Elgan Llŷr Thomas and Heather Lowe
Alumni to Share the Stage Once Again
Opera Holland Park recently announced their 2023 season and we are excited to see tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas and mezzo-soprano Heather Lowe, both alumni, cast in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
Playing Count Almaviva and Rosina, the pair perform together again for the first time since they shared the stage in our 2011 production of Britten’s comic opera Albert Herring, when they were both students at the RNCM.
The Barber of Seville runs 4-21 June 2024.
RNCM Chamber Orchestra: Haydn and Saint-Saëns
Thu 7 Dec // 6pm
Join us for an early evening, hour-long concert as our Chamber Orchestra perform Farrenc’s gripping Overture No 1 alongside Haydn’s celebrated ‘London’ symphony.
RNCM Concerto Competition winner and violinist Dylan Latham joins the orchestra to unleash Saint-Saëns’ highly virtuosic Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.
Catch our free, student-led RNCM Spotlight after this performance: Sexuality, Love & Friendship.
The Snow Maiden: Rimsky-Korsakov
Sun 10 & Sat 16 Dec // 3pm
Tue 12 & Wed 13 Dec // 7pm
Sung in an English translation, this well-known folklore tale tells of the mythical Snow Maiden and her desire to leave the icy grip of her parents to live amongst mortals in an isolated village.
A master of orchestration and operatic writing, you’ll be swept away in Rimsky-Korsakov’s delicate moments of intimacy, soaring romantic melodies and rousing choruses as our students breathe life into this rarely performed operatic work.
RNCM Big Band with Dennis Rollins
Fri 15 Dec // 7.30pm
Celebrated trombonist Dennis Rollins MBE takes to the stage with our Big Band to deliver a toe-tapping evening of standout tunes, sizzling rhythms, and soulful improvisations from his album The 11th Gate.
Why not join us for our free, student-led RNCM Spotlight: Tolstoy in Music – Janáček’s First Quartet before this concert?
RNCM Christmas Family Day: Shaun the Sheep
Sun 17 Dec // 10am & 2.15pm
Grab your Christmas jumper and join us for a day of festive family fun!
Enjoy creative activities, interactive workshops, and musical treats ahead of a film screening of Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas with a live score for brass band.
Archives: Tips, Tricks and Parlour Games
Mon 18 Dec // 2pm
Join our Archive and Museum Manager, Heather, as she leads you through these games to become an archivist. Have fun with “Ready, Steady, Archive!”, “Kiss, Marry, Kill: Archive Appraisal” and “Dungeons and Dragons: Archive Preservation”. Aimed at anyone interested in getting practical knowledge of the puzzles archivists have to solve.
This session includes teas, coffees and musical Christmas games!Free admission. Sign up here.
Enjoy a midday musical interlude at one of our ever-popular Monday Lunchtimes (4 & 11 Dec) and Thursday Lunchtimes (7 Dec).
Visit our What’s On page for full listings.
Give the gift of music!
Gift an RNCM Membership to the music lover in your life this festive season.
For just £35, your special someone can access half-price and free tickets to RNCM performances, discounts in the bar and café, invitations to exclusive members events and more for a whole year!
Call our ticketing partner Quay Tickets on 0330 303 4212 to purchase a membership today.
Terms and conditions apply.
Photo credits: Elgan Llŷr Thomas by Tom Gradwell / Heather Lowe by Victoria Cadisch / Dennis Rollins by Darren Cowley
3 December 2023
