16/01/2025 New Music and Movement In Focus

Our Spring In Focus takes a deep dive into works by composers who are redefining the relationship between music and movement. Over the course of the day, staff and students will examine how sound influences the physicality of musicians, while their movements, in turn, reshape the performance, resulting in a dynamic blend of auditory and visual expression.

Thursday Lunchtimes - 1.15pm

Programme

Cathy Berberian Stripsody
Maeve Herd soprano

Selection of Fluxus works:
Bob Lens/Emily Dunbar #257
Helena Zyskowska String Player
Gloria Xia Concert
Abigail Yang For a calligrapher
Alison Knowles #1 Shuffle
Ben Vautier Bathtub
Peter Bailey*, Lucian Crosby, Emily Dunbar, Rob Hughes*, Kamea Nemeth*, Rosemary Tickle, Kuba Williams*, Gloria Xia, Abigail Yang, Helena Zyskowska performers

Katherine Lee Depremembrance 抑・憶 (UK première)
Katherine Lee
 guzheng

Mark Applebaum Darmstadt Kindergarten
Elena Orsi, Orla McGarrity violins
Rhiannon Collins viola
Robert Wheatley cello

Meriel Price Your Rope
Ted Ford, Charlie Fretwell, Maisy Shaw, Lucy Irving performers

*on screen only

About

Part of our New Music and Movement In Focus, this kinetic lunchtime performance features pieces which sit at the intersection of music and full-bodied performance art. Cathy Berberian’s Stripsody explores the onomatopoeic sounds of comic strips for solo vocalist, Mark Applebaum’s Darmstadt Kindergarten for string quartet showcases how music can be powerfully expressed even in the absence of sound, and Meriel Price’s Your Rope ends the concert with a surprisingly physical workout for four skipping performers.

Discussion - 6pm

Programme

Matthew Shlomowitz Letter Piece #1: Arsenal, Bahrain, Chihuahua, Darjeeling and Eisenhower
Kuba Williams performer
Anthony Arias
 clarinet

Ro Shapes Tickle house/meat/sky
Scott Manson piano

About

Staff and students engage in an in-depth discussion of how musicians’ physicality and their movements reshape performances and how this can translate into the use of non-musical elements in new compositions.

Performances include Matthew Shlomowitz’s Letter Piece #1: Arsenal, Bahrain, Chihuahua, Darjeeling and Eisenhower that combines physical action, spoken text, and sound.

RNCM Brand New Orchestra - 7.30pm

Programme

Kuba Williams 03/09/24, 18:19 #
Amit Manna Scared of Heights ^
Gloria Xia Air lifts the butterfly, grain holds its flight ^
Emily Dunbar Still, Then Falling *
Helena Zyskowska Nacre ~
Matthew Shlomowitz Five Monuments for Our Time ~

Performers

Andre Chan *, Rosina Flueckiger #, Benjamin Huth ~, Connor Lyster conductors

RNCM Brand New Orchestra:

first violins
Ben Holland, Edward Owen, Tako Tkabladze, Lily Whitehurst, Siying Tan, Sally Lee, Zoe Hennessy, Nyra Jain, Elanor Leydecker

second violins
Lisa Obert, David Harris, Sophie Wu,  Elanor Leydecker, Emma Copp, Esther Clay, Joel Hill

violas
Alex Mitchell, Emily O’Dell, Alexandra Harrison, Sophie Combes, Eadaoin Drumgoole, Abi Hammett 

cellos
Amy Jolly, Abigail Webb, Isabella Farleigh, Lola Garcia Marquez, Cillian Hennessy

double basses
James Manson, Thomas Judge, Yijie Guan 

flutes
Bohan Zheng, Hiu Tung Cathy Chan (piccolo), Adele Bracegirdle (alto)

oboes
Shihan Liu, Yishuang Li, Anna Turner (cor anglais)

clarinets
Yuting Cao, Yuxuan Wang (Eb), Miles Santner (bass)

saxophone
Aaron Lo (alto and tenor) 

bassoons
Leonardo Bizzotto, Rob Kearley, Zhicheng Cao
(contra)

horns
Esme MacBride-Stewart, Ziying Chen, Jason Cheung, Cecily O’Brien

trumpets
Edmund Tyler, Jingrong Hua, Blake Humphrey

trombones
Toby Marshall, Ben Moss, Richard Stevens

tuba
Jiaming Yang

timpani/percussion
Daniel Vincent
Sam Milton
Ranco Liu
Zhongyu Shi

harp
Ivy Askew

piano/celeste
Xi Ouyang

sampler
Lucian Crosby

About

Our innovative Brand New Orchestra lights up the stage to conclude our In Focus events. The programme showcases new orchestral works by RNCM students and features Matthew Schlomowitz’s Five Monuments for Our Time, a captivating piece where the conductor performs a series of entertaining choreographed gestures.