Resonate: October 2021

Welcome to our October edition of Resonate.

We’re so happy that the RNCM is alive with the buzz of students and music-making again as we start the new academic year, reunited with familiar faces and welcoming our new intake of wonderful musicians from around the world to the College.

This term feels extra-special, as we’re thrilled to be reopening our doors to the public for the first time in 18 months! There’s more information on what we’ve got planned below. We can’t wait to welcome you back to enjoy our special Autumn programme.

It was fantastic to kick off the year with a visit from RNCM Honorary Professor Nile Rodgers. The Grammy-winning composer and producer took a tour of the building, including our new Studio 8, and heard our Popular Music students perform. Read more here.

This month we’re sharing news and music from right across our community, including performances from RNCM alumni, new appointments, competition news, and our recent appearance on University Challenge.

RNCM Autumn Programme
View the programme here

We are delighted to welcome back audiences into the building this Autumn for a busy term of live performances and events.

Our first few weeks of performances (11 Oct – 4 Nov) can now be found in our What’s On section on our website, including the return of our popular Monday and Thursday Lunchtimes, and evening concerts from the RNCM Chamber Orchestra (22 Oct) and the RNCM Session Orchestra (30 Oct). Alongside our own promotions we also have several externally promoted shows (many of which have been rescheduled from 2020). You can view the programme our website, here.

While our restaurant, Brodsky, remains closed, our Bar and Café will be open serving food and drink alongside each performance. Like most places, we’ve gone cashless, so please order and pay at our till points using card, Apple Pay or Google Pay only. Further details on our Bar and Café opening hours can be found here.

Stay tuned for announcements about the rest of our Autumn season, which will be on sale soon.

If you’re planning to attend a live performance in one of our venues, there are a few things that you need to know to help us keep our community as safe as possible. Full details on our COVID 19 Audience Protocol can be found here.

Manchester Camerata
Janáček’s Mládí at the Stoller Hall

Mancheter Camerata recently shared this captivating performance of Leos Janáček’s Mládí for wind sextet, recorded in Manchester’s wonderful Stoller Hall:

A brilliant showcase of the individual virtuosity of some of Manchester Camerata’s players, we’re incredibly proud that all six performers – Amina Hussain (flute), Rachael Clegg (oboe), Mandy Burvill (clarinet), Daniel Bayley (bass clarinet), Ben Hudson (bassoon) and Naomi Atherton (horn) – are RNCM alumni or tutors.

For more about Manchester Camerata’s upcoming performances, click here.

Amy Webber: No Previous Experience
Thu 7 Oct (Manchester), Sat 9 Oct (Glossop)
Find out more

RNCM alumna Amy Webber is vocalist, songwriter and musical comedian, and winner of the ‘Audiences’ Favourite’ award at the Musical Comedy Awards 2020.

As heard on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Manchester, Amy is a versatile musical comedian stitching together irony, sarcasm, and song writing with her ‘phenomenal’ voice. You can find out more on Amy’s website, here.

Amy’s first solo show, No Previous Experience, debuts on Thu 7 Oct at Manchester’s Women in Comedy Festival, followed by a performance at Glossop Comedy Festival on Sat 9 Oct. For more information and tickets, click here.


The Sunday Boys
National Lottery Project of The Year Award Finalist
Vote now

Founded by composer, conductor and RNCM alumnus Michael Betteridge, The Sunday Boys was formed in 2016 to give Manchester an inclusive LGBTQ+ choir for low voice singers in the city to learn to sing great music, perform and make friends.

Members continued to come together throughout the pandemic, either online or socially distanced in an overground car park when restrictions allowed!

In recognition of their incredible work The Sunday Boys have been shortlisted as finalists in this year’s National Lottery Project of the Year and stand a chance of winning a £3,000 cash prize and an iconic National Lottery Awards trophy.

Voting closes on Monday 4 October, so click here to place your vote this weekend.

Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser
San Francisco Symphony Appointment

Find out more

A huge congratulations to conductor and RNCM alumnus Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, who recently joined San Francisco Symphony as its new Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education.

Daniel currently holds two other conducting posts: Principal Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia. He is also host of Canadian Broadcasting Company’s (CBC) nationally broadcast weekly radio show Centre Stage and is the subject of a multi award-winning CBC documentary Disruptor Conductor.

Watch Daniel conducting the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Maxime Goulet’s velvety smooth Caramel Chocolate:

University Challenge
RNCM Students take on the University of Dundee
Watch here

Monday evening saw RNCM students Keelan Carew, Dominic Wills, Lila Chrisp and Alex Robarts poised against students from the University of Dundee in the first round of BBC Two’s University Challenge.

Excitement filled the RNCM on Monday night as our student body watched together live from the College, cheering on their fellow students.

In case you missed the nail-biting episode, you can still catch it on BBC iPlayer by clicking here.

Leo Geyer
RNCM Alumnus Joins the BBC Open Music Programme
Find out more about Leo

Composer, conductor and RNCM alumnus Leo Geyer has joined the BBC Open Music Programme on the pathway to become a presenter for Radio 3 and the BBC Proms. Over the next year, Leo will receive training and mentorship from BBC producers and presenters to develop his skills in broadcasting, culminating in a prom in 2022 with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The programme, which received more than 1,000 applicants for 30 places, is aimed at bringing new creatives and musicians of all genres, styles, and backgrounds from across the UK to the BBC, in the hope of developing new collaborations, exciting ideas, and reflecting today’s audiences in live orchestral music.

Leo is the Founder and Artistic Director of Constella OperaBallet, Music Director for the Devon Philharmonic Orchestra the Senior Music Scholar at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford. Here is Constella OperaBallet performing Water Hymn, composed by Leo:

Did You Know…

On the corner of Oxford Road and Sidney Street, where the new Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport is being built, there once was a building that housed the Northern School of Music (NSM). And here it is:

With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust

The NSM trained hundreds of children and young people in music and music teaching practices from 1920-1972, before the school merged with the Royal Manchester College of Music to form the Royal Northern College of Music. If you studied at the NSM, be sure to read below.

Northern School of Music Centenary Celebration
Sun 31 Oct, 12 – 5pm

Just one month to go before we welcome back former NSM students and guests for a momentous centenary celebration.

We’ll be marking the occasion with a day of reminiscing and nostalgia, reuniting old friends, and sharing memories and stories over lunch, and a very special concert featuring well-known and much-loved alumni and guests, including John Wilson, Michael Hancock, John Turner, Laurence Perkins, Christopher Underwood, and the Victoria String Quartet.

If you studied at the NSM but haven’t received an invitation, please contact [email protected] or 0161 907 5377 for further information or to reserve your place.

For full details of the day and the concert click here.

If you’re an alumni, student, or staff member, either current or former, and you’ve got an exciting event, story, or piece of news that we could share in the blog, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to get in touch.

1 October 2021