Manchester Collective: Places We Know

Oliver Leith is a London based composer making acoustic music, electronic music and video.
His “curiously addictive” music (The Guardian) has been performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Trio Catch, members of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Ives Ensemble, Apartment House and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Commissions have been given by groups such as London Sinfonietta, Festival Aix-en-Provence, the London Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Festival, Heidelberg festival, Musicon, Homo Novus/Valmiera theatre and St John Smith’s Square.

Collaborators and performers have included Apartment House, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ives Ensemble, Exaudi, 12 Ensemble, Plus Minus, Mimitabu, Philharmonia Orchestra, An Assembly, Trio Catch, GBSR Duo, Loré Lixenberg, Explore Ensemble, Matthew Herbert and John Harle.

Performances have taken place at the Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, Royal Opera House, Aldeburgh, Huddersfield (HCMF), LSO St Luke’s, St Martin-in-the-fields, Horniman Museum, The Forge, CNSDMP (Paris), RCM, GSMD, Milton Court, Howard Assembly Room, The Place, Handel House, Mexican Embassy (UK and Tokyo), Liszt academy (Budapest), Maison du Canada (Paris), Howard Assembly and Leeds Lieder. Visual art collaborations are exhibited at The Museum of Western Australia and recorded music is played on BBC Radio 3 and NTS radio.

Oliver was the recipient of an Ivor Novello award in 2020, British Composer Award in 2016 and of a Royal Philharmonic Composition prize in 2014.

Rakhi Singh is a violinist, music director, curator and composer based between Manchester and London, England. In 2016 she co- founded Manchester Collective whose 21/22 season featured residencies at the Southbank, St George’s Bristol, The White Hotel, Salford as well as their debut Proms performance, performing works by the likes of Julius Eastman, Dobrinka Tabakova and Edmund Finnis.

Alongside her work leading the Collective, Singh has firmly established herself as a violinist and leader of high repute, working for and alongside the likes of Steve Reich, Hiromi, Phillip Glass, Oliver Coates, Clark and Björk, Olivia Chaney, and Abel Selaocoe and guest leading ensembles like London Contemporary Orchestra, RLPO, CBSO, Hebrides Ensemble, Sinfonia Cymru.

She is a recording artist for Bedroom Community, with whom she has released two albums as curator/director of Manchester Collective and now with her debut composition EP Quarry.

As a composer she has written two large-scale pieces with long-time collaborator, electronic producer Vessel, the first of which Written in Fire was premiered at Aldeburgh Festival and the second Paradise Lost commissioned by Manchester Collective. Most recently she produced a film ‘FFAALL’ for the Royal Opera House 8bit digital commissions, working closely with Director Joe Morgan, movement artist Blackhaine and opera singer Mimi Doulton.

Born to an English mother and Indian father in rural Wales, Rakhi’s upbringing was influenced by many different cultures and traditions.

Known for their experimental programming and daring collaborations, the work of Manchester Collective has expanded at breakneck speed since their formation in 2016. They now play in concert halls, gig venues and factory spaces across Europe and the UK, performing a combination of cutting edge contemporary music, classical masterpieces, and staged work to a hungry, new audience.

New music is of vital importance to the Collective – in recent years, they have commissioned major works by artists including Edmund Finnis, Hannah Peel, Lyra Pramuk, and Laurence Osborn. Highlights include their Royal Albert Hall debut as part of the 2021 BBC Proms Festival; the creation of Dark Days, Luminous Nights, a daring audio-visual installation made under lockdown with Blackhaine and Simon Buckley; and Sirocco, the international sensation featuring South African cellist Abel Selaocoe.

Manchester Collective record for the Icelandic label Bedroom Community. Their second album Shades was released in March 2022.