Paris-Manchester Project and Debussy Centenary
The Paris-Manchester project formed the centrepiece to the RNCM’s year-long French Connections festival in 2018, focusing on the music of France and its impact throughout the world.
The project was a collaboration with the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris and brought together live performances, research and publications centred on musical life in Paris and Manchester during the First World War.
The two conservatoires came together to form a student orchestra to perform repertoire from concert programmes of the Colonne Lamoureux and Concerts du conservatoire in Paris and the Hallé orchestra in Manchester from 1918.
Events
- 1 March 2018 orchestral concert, RNCM Concert Hall
- 2 March 2018 Orchestral Concert, Cadogan Hall, London
- 8 March 2018 Théâtre du Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, Paris
Further details and programmes for these concerts can be found here.
In addition, there were vocal recitals at the Opéra-Comique, Paris and RNCM Concert Hall and an international conference, Les Institutions musicales à Paris et à Manchester durant la Première Guerre mondiale at the Opéra-Comique and Paris Conservatoire on 5 and 6 March 2018. The programme of the conference is available here and the papers presented by Barbara Kelly and Geoff Thomason may be found here.
Musical Institutions in Paris and Manchester During the First World War, at the Opéra Comique
The project has left a lasting legacy in its online exhibition, which brought together archival materials from Manchester and Paris. Paris-Manchester 1918: Conservatoires in time of war’ is an online collaborative exhibition between the RNCM and the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (Paris Conservatoire), giving us the opportunity to find out about the lives of the musicians behind the concert programmes.
Debussy in 2018: A Centenary Celebration
The conference welcomed delegates from at least 12 countries and several continents to the RNCM and the University of Glasgow for the biggest scholarly and musical centenary commemorations worldwide of Claude Debussy’s death.
The conference aimed to do two things: to reassess the state of research on Debussy 100 years after his death, including research from emerging as well as established scholars, and secondly, to focus on Debussy’s late style and legacy.
The conference aimed to do two things: to reassess the state of research on Debussy 100 years after his death, including research from emerging as well as established scholars, and secondly, to focus on Debussy’s late style and legacy.
Project Leaders
Reviews
Conference Review: Claude Debussy in 2018: A Centenary Celebration
A book, Debussy Studies 2, by David Code and Barbara L. Kelly, is forthcoming, published by Cambridge University Press.
