RNCM x Manchester Collective Studio: Hidden Realms / Thurs 23 Apr
What secrets lie in the forest? This programme, curated by Rakhi Singh and performed by RNCM students with Manchester Collective, follows a breadcrumb trail into the woods.
Tread lightly! Something mysterious lurks in the shadows of Panufnik’s music, whilst danger is never too far away in Ligeti’s dynamic Métamorphoses Nocturnes. It’s not all gloom, though. Mischievous sprites come out to play in the free-spirited, folk-inflected Huntering, Gathering, and Wallom Green. And at the heart of our journey together is the fairy tale romance of Mendelsohn’s String Quartet No 2; full of passion and drama, it was penned by the composer as a lovestruck teen. There’s anxiety and tragedy, humour and reconciliation.
Hidden Realms is a showcase for the RNCM x Manchester Collective Studio in 2025/26. Led by co-artistic director and violinist Rakhi Singh, the Studio gives five outstanding postgraduate string players first-hand experience of radical music-making and provides real-world experience of the alternative pathways available to musicians outside of traditional orchestral roles.
Programme
John Playford arr Rakhi Singh Wollam Green from The English Dancing Master
Kevin Volans First Expedition from Quartet No 2
Felix Mendelssohn Adagio from String Quartet No 2
Andrzej Panufnik Allegretto from Suite Polska
Felix Mendelssohn Intermezzo from String Quartet No 2
Andrzej Panufnik Adagio sostenuto from Quartet No 3
Felix Mendelssohn Adagio non lento from String Quartet No 2
György Ligeti Excerpt from Quartet No 1
Andrzej Panufnik Andante from Suite Polska
Andrzej Panufnik Prestissimo possible from Quartet No 3
Felix Mendelssohn Presto from String Quartet No 2
Emily Hall So Far
Performers
first violins
Rakhi Singh director
Georgina Bloomfield *
Joe Steel
Joel Hill
Siying Tang
Sally Lee
Edward Owen
Sophie Wu
second violins
Donald Grant ^
Kaylee Bontrager *
Esther Clay
Nyra Jain
David Harris
Annie Meaden
Zoe Hennessy
violas
Ruth Gibson ^
Mari-Carmen Morris *
Emily O’Dell
Eadaoin Drumgoole
Alexandra Harrison
Sophie Combes
Susie He
cellos
Peggy Nolan ^
Gabriela Peres *
Kamogelo Maraba *
Abigail Webb
Lola Garcia Marquez
Chloe Chen
Isabella Farleigh
double basses
Saulo Da Silva Martins
Duarte Colaco
flute
Jess Foxwell
* RNCM Students on the Manchester Collective Studio programme
^ Guest Principals from Manchester Collective
Manchester Collective Studio
The 2025-26 Manchester Collective Studio is the first year of a bespoke programme unique to the RNCM. It is designed to give up to five outstanding postgraduate string players first-hand experience of life and work inside Manchester Collective.
Inside the organisation, the Collective is committed to radically rethinking what a classical music organisation can look and feel like. Through workshops, talks, rehearsals and performance, this new pathway teaches students how to develop their creative practice, to devise and produce collaborative projects.
Students have worked closely with violinist and Manchester Collective Co-Artistic Director Rakhi Singh, and this evening is a culmination of that collaborative process. All the music in the programme is curated by Rakhi Singh and performed by RNCM students Georgina Bloomfield, Kaylee Bontrager, Mari-Carmen Morris, Gabriela Peres and Kamogelo Maraba with musicians from Manchester Collective.
