RNCM Live Autumn 2011 by RNCM

Welcome to the Autumn season at the RNCM Using instruments honed from the ancient glaciers of Norway, Terje Isungset (7 November) creates intimate music on a grand scale, an aural adventure for curious ears. And, should we need to thaw out after such music, what better way than in the company of two of Africa’s music superstars, Toumani Diabaté (9 November) and Abdullah Ibrahim (16 November). Along with a sextet of her closest collaborators, Jacqui Dankworth (26 November) bathes in the lush, warm sounds of the RNCM String Ensemble, celebrating the last songs she developed with her father John. A solo show from Penguin Café’s Arthur Jeffes (14 October) promises to be a much more intimate affair, as will be the pristine, Scandinavian sound world of the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble (25 October) and a classic piano trio from John Taylor (3 December). John Harle and Julian Argüelles headline the RNCM Saxophone Day (13 November), while the RNCM Big Band works with trumpeter Steve Waterman (19 November) and the incomparable Colin Towns (14 December), who re-thinks both Cole Porter and John Lennon for his latest RNCM gig. The legendary pianist András Schiff (12 October) gives the most wonderful masterclasses and, besides the RNCM’s pianists, our singers, guitarists and violinists will be put through their paces by Thomas Hampson (1 November), Paul Galbraith (7 November) and Julian Rachlin (16 November). Marc-André Hamelin (22 November) and Lars Vogt (12 December) open this season’s piano series, whilst chamber music features strongly with the Fauré Quartett (20 October) bringing the music by their eponymous composer, the London Handel Players (17 November) unearthing the slightly shady practices of some of the most famous baroque composers, and the Elias Quartet (24 November) making a welcome return. Dido and Aeneas gets a makeover from Respectable Groove (27 October) in a collaboration with the French baroque dancer Gilles Poirier, and Joglaresa (13 December) bring the latest of their Christmas celebrations, On Yoolis Night, focusing on the seasonal music of medieval Britain. We are delighted to welcome Classic FM to the RNCM as our media partner for the Manchester International Violin Competition (26 November – 3 December), with competitors coming to the city from all over the world to celebrate the violin in competition, in masterclasses, in performance, and in the art of making the instrument itself.

The 1929 classic film Salomé (29 October) gets a beguiling, decadent new soundtrack by composer Charlie Barber, while we journey quite literally to the ends of the earth in Polar (23 October), a HD film featuring everything from polar bears to the Northern Lights, with a live orchestral soundtrack. This polar expedition sits at the heart of our Nørth season (see opposite), other highlights including the RNCM Chamber Orchestra with Sasha Mäkilä (3 November) performing Sibelius and the RNCM Symphony Orchestra with Garry Walker (16 December) playing Elgar. A sparkling new RNCM opera production of Albert Herring (11, 13, 15 and 17 December) also features, arriving just in time for Christmas, as does Only the Sound Remains (8 – 9 November), an exploration of the music of Howard Skempton, and Uiscedwr (7 December), who celebrate 10 years of touring by returning to their RNCM roots for what promises to be a memorable final fling. There are over 20 free lunchtime concerts this Autumn, featuring everything from solo performers to full symphony orchestras, and we’ve drawn these together in a separate listing on pages 30 – 32. And look out too for our free Spotlights (marked with ), a chance to see just a little of the music that we make here at the College every day of the year. We look forward to seeing you at the RNCM this Autumn.

Toby Smith Director of Performance and Programming

From rolling English N hills to windswept Scottish isles, the fjords and lakes of Scandinavia and the frozen landscapes of the Arctic, Nørth explores music from the northern frontiers of Europe. From the traditional music of the British Isles and the best in Nordic jazz to the symphonic music of Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Grieg and Nielsen, and everything in between, this is music for a cold climate that warms us all.

NORTH

This Autumn you canNcatch an Orkney wedding complete with bagpipes, the Cornish castles of Tintagel, the small town world of turn-of-the-century Suffolk, the energising sweep of Elgar’s first symphony, and the seasonal music of medieval Britain.

NORTH

And from across the sea there are the Norwegian legends of Peer Gynt, the dark swan of Tuonela, folk tales from Karelia, plus a Danish sunrise and Sibelius’ first symphony. You can explore the polar regions on film with live orchestra, listen to the music of instruments carved from ice, and catch performances by artists such as Christian Wallumrød, Terje Isungset and Uiscedwr. The RNCM String Orchestra opens the Nørth season on 30 September with a programme that spans the North Sea, from Vaughan Williams’ Tallis Fantasia to works by Aulis Sallinen and Arvo Pärt. And Nørth continues after Christmas, thawing us with the warmth of music in a cold winter.

RNCM Historic Instrument Collection Open 12 – 1pm before every lunchtime concert (see p30 – 32 for dates) and 6- 7.15pm where this symbol appears 3

Sunday 6 August

7.30pm RNCM Studio Theatre

Elite Talent Theatre School Mike Heath music Sally Lawton lyrics Produced and directed by Sally Lawton and Freya Marshall TWELVE is a brand new musical and is a Cinderella story set around a high school prom. Tickets £8 Concessions available Promoted by Elite Talent Theatre School

Tuesday 30 August Saturday 3 September 7.30pm Saturday 3 September 2.30pm RNCM Studio Theatre

First Stage Theatre Company Simon Murray musical director Broadway Nights 2 West End Days features First Stage Theatre Company’s unique style of cabaret, including in-theatre bar and table seating. From Hercules, Priscilla and Single Ladies to the jazzy Jersey Boys, this evening features songs old and new performed by some of the North West’s finest musical theatre artists. Tickets £12 Concessions available Promoted by First Stage Theatre Company

Saturday 3 September

Sunday 18 September

Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus

Dance at the Smithy

Jeff Borradaile conductor

Dance at the Smithy students present The Magic of Dance, a compilation of some favourite musical numbers from Broadway and the West End.

7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Beyond the Rainbow is a celebration of 10 years of this award-winning Chorus who have won hearts and medals both at home and abroad with a mix of a capella harmony and style. This evening they will be performing old favourites and new numbers, all with their customary passion and panache. Concessions available Promoted by Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus

Friday 9 and Saturday 10 September

Clague and Green Students from the Clague and Green present Lights, Camera, Action!, an entertaining evening of dance which includes something for all ages. Tickets £12 No concessions Promoted by Clague and Green

August | September

Deirdre Middleton director

Tickets £12 Concessions available Promoted by Dance at the Smithy

Tickets £15

7pm RNCM Theatre

4pm and 7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Saturday 24 September 7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Barbara Sharples International Choreographic Award This brand new award for young teachers and choreographers, supported by the International Dance Teachers Association, is aimed at encouraging, promoting and inspiring young choreographers into the creative world of dance. Tonight’s finals showcase some of the best emerging talent in all dance genres. Tickets £10 No concessions Supported and promoted by the International Dance Teachers Association

Saturday 24 September

Sunday 25 September

Manchester Camerata

Manchester Camerata Unwrapped

6.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Talking Point Gábor Takács-Nagy introduces the orchestra’s 2011/12 season. Admission free to ticket holders

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Portrait of an Hungarian: Part 1 Joseph Haydn Piano Concerto No 11 in D major Béla Bartók Divertimento Franz Liszt Angelus! Prière aux anges gardiens Joseph Haydn Symphony No 49 in F minor ‘La Passione’

3pm RNCM Concert Hall

Piotr IIyich Tchaikovsky Serenade for strings Gábor Takács-Nagy sheds light on the conductor’s role in performance and interpretation as he leads a small group of Camerata String players through some core repertoire. This interactive session demonstrates interpretative ideas with opportunity for discussion and questions, and will be followed, after a short break, by a complete performance of the work. Tea, coffee and cakes will be served in the RNCM Café Bar from 2pm. Tickets £19 (including pre-concert refreshments) Concessions available Promoted by

Gábor Takács-Nagy conductor Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano Folk music is at the core of this concert, the first of two Hungarian programmes in Gábor Takács-Nagy’s inaugural season as Music Director. After the concert, stay on and enjoy free music in the RNCM Café Bar performed by Manchester Camerata musicians, in association with Manchester Jazz Festival. Tickets £25 £18.50 £10 Concessions available

september

Gábor takács-nagy

Promoted by

Monday 26 September

Friday 30 September

Saturday 8 October

Monday 10 October

Manchester Chamber Concerts Society

Spotlight

St Ann’s Hospice Festival Choir and Friends

Manchester Chamber Concerts Society

Pre-concert talk

A collaborative project created over a week in the summer, combining spoken word, electronics and live instruments.

Sing Messiah

Henning Kraggerud and Christian Ihle Hadland

6.30pm RNCM Lecture Theatre

Rachael Clegg, principal oboe of Manchester Camerata, discusses tonight’s concert with François Leleux and Emmanuel Strosser.

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

The Circus

Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall 7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

François Leleux, Jean-François Duquesnoy and Emmanuel Strosser

september | october

Camille Saint-Saëns Sonata in D major Op 166 for oboe and piano Camille Saint-Saëns Sonata in G major Op 168 for bassoon and piano Ludwig van Beethoven Trio in B flat major Op 11 for oboe, bassoon and piano Henri Dutilleux Sonata for oboe and piano André Jolivet Sonatine for oboe and bassoon Francis Poulenc Trio Op 43 for oboe, bassoon and piano

François Leleux is recognised worldwide as one of the finest oboists of his generation. He is joined by bassoonist Jean-François Duquesnoy and pianist Emmanuel Strosser for an evening of alluring French classics. Also included is Beethoven’s youthful Opus 11, a work known as the Popular Song Trio because of its irrepressibly inventive finale, a set of variations on a popular tune of the day. Tickets £22 (platform seats £11) Concessions available www.chamberconcerts.org Promoted by MCCS

RNCM String Orchestra NORTH N

Arvo Pärt Cantus in Memorium Benjamin NORTH Britten Aulis Sallinen String Quartet No 3 ‘Some Aspects of Peltoniemi Hintrik’s Funeral March’ Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis Benjamin Britten Prelude and Fugue for 18 strings Op 29 Arvo Pärt Tabula Rasa Malcolm Layfield conductor The music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt bookends tonight’s concert by the RNCM String Orchestra and launches our Nørth season. Written in 1976, the composer’s short but powerful homage to the recently deceased Benjamin Britten has an amazingly pared-down simplicity and a slow, descending minor scale. Also written in the late 70s, with its hypnotic series of repetitions, Tabula Rasa is another potent and beautiful example of Pärt’s unique species of highly charged minimalism. Also featured are Vaughan Williams’ best known work and Aulis Sallinen’s striking, highly original string quartet, performed tonight in the composer’s arrangement for string orchestra. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available

RNCM

George Frideric Handel Messiah Manchester Sinfonia John Pomphrey conductor Joanne Holton soprano Hanna-Liisa Kirchin mezzo-soprano Thomas Morss tenor Louis Hurst bass In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of St Ann’s Hospice, and to mark Voices for Hospices Day, over 200 singers from around the country join forces with Manchester Sinfonia and RNCM soloists for this performance of the Messiah. Tickets £12.50 No concessions Promoted by St Ann’s Hospice

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Bohuslav Martinu° Violin Sonata No 3 Karol Szymanowski Myths Op 30 Christian Sinding Abendstimmung Op 120a Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata No 1 in G major Op 78 An artist of exquisite musicianship and flawless technique, violinist Henning Kraggerud teams up with fellow Norwegian and pianist Christian Ihle Hadland for this enticing concert which combines the Slavic beauty of Martinu° and Szymanowski, Sinding’s charming Abendstimmung and the autumnal glow of Brahms’ serene G major violin sonata. Tickets £22 (platform seats £11) Concessions available www.chamberconcerts.org Promoted by MCCS

Wednesday 12 October

Thursday 13 October

Friday 14 October

Masterclass with András Schiff

RNCM Brand New Orchestra

Spotlight

Christopher Rowland International Masterclass One of the world’s most distinguished pianists and foremost interpreters of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, András Schiff works with RNCM pianists in this evening’s masterclass. Tickets £11 Concessions available Supported by Christopher Rowland International Masterclass Fund

Arthur jeffes

RNCM

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Carlos del Cueto, Jon Malaxetxebarria, Alex Pringle conductors An opportunity to hear new works for symphony orchestra by RNCM composition students in this workshop performance. Free admission, no ticket required RNCM

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Mercury with Strings Contemporary jazz quartet Mercury performs new compositions with a string ensemble, blending the sound worlds of ECM jazz, funk, dubstep, hip-hop, haunting melody and otherworldly electronics. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Penguin Café presents

Arthur Jeffes: Sundog Beyond directing Penguin Café’s revival, Arthur Jeffes has recently been exploring the solo piano as an outlet for his sometimes more romanticist-minimalist ideas beyond the framework of the Penguin Café’s older and more established sensibility. The final track on the new Penguin Café album, Coriolis, was the first time Jeffes had recorded something in this vein. Taking Philip Glass, Wim Mertens and Simon Jeffes’ work into account, Arthur has been working since on an idea of transparent and generous music that can be both intellectually satisfying and at the same time deeply touching. It allows a direct and emotional intensity that needn’t be based in musical narrative but rather can apply to any aspect of our lives. The often mathematically intricate and precise rhythms thrown against warm and seductively emotive melodies are the point - this is music which, because of its origin, can work happily under any number of names, be it classical, minimalism, chamber, electronica or film music. Tickets £15 Concessions available www.penguincafe.com www.serious.org.uk/arthurjeffes RNCM in association with

october

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Saturday 15 October

Sunday 16 October

Tuesday 18 October

Manchester Camerata

Stalder Academy of Dance

Bass Day UK

This kaleidoscope of song and dance, performed by the students of Stalder Academy of Dance and the Performing Arts, offers something for all the family.

This all-day event provides a broad selection of musical styles, bass playing techniques and advice, creating perfect enrichment opportunities for students, beginners and professional musicians alike.

BBC Big Band plays Stan Kenton

6.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Learning and Participation Performance Students perform their new composition which is inspired by tonight’s concert theme. Admission free to ticket holders

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Portrait of Music and Words Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Alma Grande e Nobil Core; Vado, ma dove? O dei; Nehmt meinen Dank Michael Symmons Roberts New Poem Benjamin Britten Les Illuminations Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No 40 in G minor Gábor Takács-Nagy conductor Rebecca Bottone soprano A celebration of music and words, this programme brings together Mozart and Britten, two composers deeply influenced by the drama of written and spoken word. As part of the Manchester Literature Festival, poet Michael Symmons Roberts will narrate a new work, inspired by this evening’s programme of music, which also includes some of Mozart’s most popular concert arias. After the concert, stay on and enjoy free music in the RNCM Café Bar performed by Manchester Camerata musicians, in association with Manchester Jazz Festival.

october

Tickets £25 £18.50 £10

Concessions available Sponsored by The Midland Hotel In association with Manchester Literature Festival Promoted by

2.30pm and 7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Tickets £10 Concessions available Promoted by Stalder Productions

from 12 noon Various venues

Tickets £18 from www.bassday.co.uk or £20 on the door Concessions available Promoted by Bass Day UK

7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Jiggs Whigham conductor Julian Joseph presenter This year marks the centenary of the birth of Stan Kenton, whose orchestra, during the late 1940s and early 1950s was the biggest jazz attraction in the world. In this tribute, the BBC Big Band performs his Grammy award-winning West Side Story (arrangements by Johnny Richards) and other Kenton classics. This concert will be recorded for BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Line-Up. Tickets £17.50 £15 £12.50 Concessions available Promoted by BBC Radio 3

Tuesday 18 - Saturday 22 October 7.30pm Saturday 22 October 2.30pm RNCM Studio Theatre

Once Bitten Richard Townhill book and music Joanna Marshall and Ross Keeping lyrics from an original show by Joanna Marshall and Richard Townhill Ross Keeping director Richard Townhill musical director Lisa Bradshaw choreographer In this world première of an original British musical comedy, Zac, young, awkward and a loner, is deeply in love with his childhood friend Bella. Unexpectedly attacked and bitten by a vampire, Zac is transformed into one of the undead himself. Pop-fuelled scores, a monstrous chorus and a happy ending all feature in this amateur production, set around Halloween. Tickets £11 Concessions available (2.30pm performance only) Promoted by South Manchester AOS

Thursday 20 October

Friday 21 October

Spotlight

Fauré Quartett

Chetham’s School of Music

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

The Soldier’s Tale Stravinsky’s dramatic and theatrical piece The Soldier’s Tale in the composer’s lesser known arrangement for clarinet, violin and piano. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Gustav Mahler Piano Quartet in A minor Johannes Brahms Piano Quartet No 3 in C minor Op 60 Gabriel Fauré Piano Quartet No 1 in C minor Op 15 Dirk Mommertz piano Erika Geldsetzer violin Sascha Frömbling viola Konstantin Heidrich cello This award-winning German piano quartet chose its name as a tribute to Fauré’s two piano quartets, the first of which closes tonight’s concert. One of the composer’s most celebrated works, Fauré’s composition has an underlying melancholy that is offset by sparkling scherzolike movements. The programme also features a quartet by Brahms, plus the only chamber piece known to be written by Mahler, then a mere 16-year-old boy, a work whose melancholic finale anticipated the sadness that was to follow in the composer’s life. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available www.faurequartett.de

6.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Pre-concert performance Admission free to ticket holders

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra Hector Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture Op 9 Edvard Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Op 16* Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Op 14 Paul McCreesh, Stephen Threlfall* conductors Dominic Degavino piano Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra returns to the RNCM with Paul McCreesh with an inspiring programme of works that includes Berlioz’s magical Roman Carnival Overture and dramatic Symphonie Fantastique alongside Edvard Grieg’s virtuosic Piano Concerto. Tickets £14 £8 Concessions available Promoted by Chetham’s School of Music

october

Fauré quartett

RNCM

Saturday 22 October

Sunday 23 October

Julian Evans Piano Recital

Polar

Liszt Bicentenary celebration

An HD journey to the magical frozen oceans at the ends of our earthNORTH

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Franz Liszt Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses); Vallée d’Obermann (Années de pèlerinage Book 1 ‘Suisse’); Fantasie and Fugue on the theme BACH; Sonata in B minor Franz Liszt was born on this day two hundred years ago. Julian Evans, an RNCM alumnus and celebrated Liszt exponent, performs some of his most glorious and monumental works in this concert, which is also dedicated to the memory of the illustrious pianist John Ogdon, himself a great Liszt champion. Tickets £15 £13 Concessions available Promoted by La Vergne Classics

3pm and 7pm RNCM Theatre

Music to include extracts from: NORTH Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Trepak Igor Stravinsky Circus Polka; Scenes de Ballet/Apotheose; Berceuse from The Firebird William Walton Touch her soft lips and part Jean Sibelius Symphony No 5 and other works by Mendelssohn, Pachelbel, Purcell, Raatavaara and John Harle Manchester Camerata John Harle conductor Polar is a cinematic portrait of our polar kingdoms with a unique live orchestral soundtrack. Experience white blizzards and dazzling blue oceans, the mighty polar bear, haunting beluga whales and beautiful humpback whales on the biggest screen we can fit in the RNCM, in the company of Manchester Camerata performing a specially-arranged score. Come with us to experience the great ice fields of the Arctic and Antarctic in this stunning production of music and film.

This event is part of Manchester Science Festival, a programme of over 150 events, shows, debates, installations and more across Greater Manchester from 22 - 30 October 2011. Tickets £30 £25 £20 £10 (restricted view)

october

No concessions www.polarconcert.com

Promoted by

RNCM

and

in association with

Photo by: Sue Flood (c) Tartan Dragon

‘... the footage of the Aurora Borealis and the Phil shimmering beneath … was nothing less than hypnotic…’ (Liverpool Echo, on première of Polar in January 2011)

Tuesday 25 October 6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Spotlight The Flatpack Trio This dynamic new trio explores the juxtaposition of lyricism, freedom and freneticism in the Scandinavian jazz scene. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Christian Wallumrød Ensemble Fabula Suite Lugano

NORTH N

NORTH

The work of Norwegian pianist and composer Christian Wallumrød and his Ensemble continues to surprise and develop in strong, playful and intriguing directions, embracing the space between classical, folk and jazz. The ensemble’s critically acclaimed album Fabula Suite Lugano was nominated for the Nordisk Musicpris 2010, with Downbeat magazine concluding: ‘ with this latest salvo, Wallumrød’s creations have never sounded more bewitching and elusive… the luminescent sound of the group is practically enough to dazzle the ears for hours.’ Tonight’s show will feature material from this album and other other pieces from Christian’s back catalogue. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available www.christianwallumrod.com

RNCM

october

christian wallumrød ensemble

Christian Wallumrød piano, harmonium, toy piano Eivind Lønning trumpet Espen Reinertsen saxophone Gjermund Larsen violin, hardanger fiddle, viola Tove Törngren cello Per Oddvar Johansen drums, vibraphone

Thursday 27 October

Spotlight

Respectable Groove with Gilles Poirier

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Apollo and Daphne At a time when opera in Rome was under a papal ban, Handel devised his dramatic cantata Apollo and Daphne, a work full of passion, drama and some of his most virtuosic writing for the voice. Free admission, no ticket required

Saturday 29 October

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

That Sweet Enemy

7.30pm RNCM Theatre N

NORTH N

NORTH

Evelyn Nallen recorder David Gordon harpsichord Oli Hayhurst double bass Tom Hooper drums Gilles Poirier dancer, choreographer

october

While Louis XIV’s politicians sought power and influence abroad, his formidable array of court musicians and artists were waging a scarcely less visible campaign of cultural imperialism against France’s neighbours. While Lully’s music was being used to lure Charles II into the arms of Louis’ preferred choice of mistress, waves of French musicians lapped eagerly at British shores. Yet for all that, the English theatre produced its very own brand of operaballet, which owed as much to the Jacobean masque as to the French model. And through the music of Henry Purcell and others, a hybrid style emerged that combined the most compelling features of Italian and French music with the illustrious English traditions.

This inimical friendship is re-enacted today through the work of Respectable Groove and Gilles Poirier, using Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas as the principal arena. The Company has put together a critically-acclaimed re-working of Purcell’s musical drama which recaptures the quintessence of baroque adventure. Poirier has adapted the work of the great French choreographers of the period to further reinterpret the music. The resulting dramatic transformation reveals further layers of comedy and tragedy, entirely new characterisation, and offers the audience a uniquely enriched view of late 17th century art. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available www.respectablegroove.co.uk

RNCM

Live Nation Presents

An Evening with Rob Brydon Rob Brydon is a multi-award winning actor, writer, comedian and presenter. Known for his warmth, humour and inspired impressions, recent credits include the much loved Uncle Bryn in the hit show Gavin and Stacey and his own BAFTA nominated The Rob Brydon Show. In this unique book tour of Small Man in a book, Rob delves into his past, exploring how, from his childhood spent in South Wales, his hearty burr soon resounded across the airwaves, followed by his subsequent rise to stardom. Tickets £14 No concessions Promoted by Live Nation

Gilles poirier

Thursday 27 October

Saturday 29 October 6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Spotlight Aurora Percussion Duo This Spotlight explores the synergy and virtuosity of a percussion duo through a series of high-energy pieces showing off many instruments, styles and colours. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Salomé with a new music score by Charlie Barber We’re delighted to present this innovative production featuring a screening of the controversial 1923 silent film Salomé complete with a live score by Charlie Barber. An adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salomé is an early arthouse classic which, like the play, has always been surrounded by controversy. With its erotic sub-text and highly stylised performances, the film proved too much for conservative 1920s audiences and it flopped, almost bankrupting the leading lady in the process.

salomé

(NB Whilst there is no nudity or violence, this film is charged with a sensual atmosphere which makes it unsuitable for young children) Tickets £16 Concessions available www.myspace.com/charliebarber www.soundaffairs.co.uk

RNCM

october

Charlie Barber’s score is inspired by the sounds of traditional Arabian ensembles. Four musicians play a huge array of percussion instruments over a dramatic, pre-recorded backdrop of vocal settings of psalms sung in Latin and Hebrew. The ‘orchestra’ of percussion offers a rich mix of the familiar (bass drum, cymbals etc) and the more exotic, including the Sistra, the Djembe and Tibetan singing bowls.

Tuesday 1 November

Thursday 3 November

Spotlight

RNCM Chamber Orchestra NORTH with Sasha Mäkilä

7pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Songs of Different Faiths and Lands Soprano Kathryn West sings song cycles by Ravel alongside the première of Nocturne, a setting of a William Wordsworth text by RNCM composer Aaron Parker. Free admission, no ticket required

8pm RNCM Concert Hall

Masterclass with Thomas Hampson The American baritone Thomas Hampson is internationally renowned as an opera singer and recitalist, having established himself as one of the most respected, innovative and soughtafter soloists performing today. Tonight he works with singers from the RNCM School of Vocal Studies. Tickets £11 (please note 8pm start time) Concessions available www.thomashampson.com

RNCM

Saturday 5 November

Sunday 6 November

Junior RNCM Formal Concert

Oldham Choral Society

NORTH Edvard Grieg Peer Gynt Suite No 1 Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme Op 33 Jean Sibelius Symphony No 1 in E minor Op 39

A varied and exciting programme featuring students of the Junior RNCM.

Music to include: Antonin Dvorˇák Stabat Mater

Free admission, no ticket required

Sasha Mäkilä conductor Gergely Madaras assistant conductor Mikhail Nemtsov cello

Saturday 5 November

East Lancashire Sinfonia Nigel P Wilkinson conductor Linda Richardson soprano Kathleen Wilkinson mezzo-soprano Sipho Fubesi tenor Darren Jeffrey bass

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

12.30pm RNCM Concert Hall N

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Tonight’s RNCM Chamber Orchestra concert continues our journey Nørth, opening with Grieg’s first Peer Gynt Suite, one of two concert suites which evolved from the composer’s original incidental music score for Ibsen’s play. Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations takes its inspiration from the 18th century and the genius in the work is the manner in which the composer transforms the original theme into numerous and different personalities, each logical and effective. The evening draws to a close with Sibelius’ First Symphony, whose assuredly individualistic orchestral textures and themes hint at the highly original writing approach that the composer was to develop. Join us for a gourmet wine-tasting before this concert, in association with hangingditch wine merchants - for details see page 35

Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available

RNCM

november

Swinging Suites

NORTH N

NORTH Let the RNCM Jazz Collective round off your evening with a reworking of Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Free admission, no ticket required

A Musical Tribute to James Eastham César Franck Symphonic Variations Phillip Lawrence Per chance to dream, as if from a-far (world première) Edward Elgar The Music Makers The Philharmonic Ensemble Matthew Hamilton conductor Margaret McDonald alto Roderick Barrand piano This musical tribute to James Eastham, conductor of Salford Choral Society for almost 30 years, features a piece by British Academy Composer of the Year nominee Phillip Lawrence, composed especially for this concert, and which is a reflection of his mentor James Eastham’s musical life. Also included is Elgar’s deeply moving work The Music Makers, with choral writing as fine as any Elgar achieved, and a particular audience favourite. Tickets £17

9.30pm RNCM Studio Theatre

Spotlight

Salford Choral Society

Concessions available Promoted by Salford Choral Society

7pm RNCM Concert Hall

The 130 voices of the Oldham Choral Society return to the RNCM to perform one of the great Romantic choral masterpieces, Dvorˇák’s glorious setting of the Stabat Mater, with a top class line-up of RNCM alumni as soloists. Tickets £14 Concessions available Promoted by Oldham Choral Society

Monday 7 November

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Terje Isungset

7.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room N

NORTH

Ice Music and Tribute to Nature Terje Isungset ice instruments Lena Nymark vocals Phil Slocombe film

NORTH

Following a sell-out run at London’s Somerset House last winter, Norwegian composer and instrumentalist Terje Isungset brings his unique ice instruments to Manchester, sharing the sights and sounds of creations such as the iceophone and ice percussion, instruments that he has honed from the ice of Norway’s mountains. This performance features a solo set of Terje’s Tribute to Nature with his birch and granite percussion, followed by a set with ice instruments and Norewegian singer Lena Nymark, performed against the evocative backdrop of The Idea Of North, a film created by Lumen’s Phil Slocombe.

Masterclass with Paul Galbraith RNCM alumnus Paul Galbraith is one of the world’s foremost innovators of the classical guitar and has devoted his career to expanding the technical limits of his instrument. Tonight, he gives a short recital before working with RNCM guitarists on a variety of repertoire. Tickets £9 Concessions available www.paul-galbraith.com

RNCM

The Guardian’s four star review of the Somerset House shows described: ‘an abrasive primeval sound that’s far from ice-clear, but magnificent in its madness.’ Tickets £18 £15 Concessions available www.myspace.com/terjeisungset

november

terje isungset

RNCM

Tuesday 8 – Wednesday 9 November

Tuesday 8 November

Wednesday 9 November

ONLY THE SOUND NORTH REMAINS: THE MUSICNORTH OF HOWARD SKEMPTON

Lunchtime Concert

Howard Skempton Five Preludes for solo guitar David Futers New work for solo guitar (world première) Howard Skempton Tendrils

Howard Skempton Horizons Sophie Ryder New work for solo harp (world première) Howard Skempton Random Girl Jonathan Taylor New work for solo vibraphone (world première) Howard Skempton Clarinet Quintet

The RNCM is delighted to welcome Chester native Howard Skempton back to the North West for a major festival of his music. A composer of exquisite miniatures, Skempton’s music combines an almost childlike innocence with moments of reflection, beauty and humanity. Clark Rundell artistic director RNCM in assocation with

1.15pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Skempton’s outstanding string quartet Tendrils, features long, gently twisting lines which always seem to arrive at a slightly unexpected destination.

Free admission, no ticket required

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

5.15pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Open Forum

Afternoon Concert

Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

RNCM New Ensemble Howard Skempton Piazza Michael Perrett New work (world première) Cornelius Cardew Autumn ’60 Howard Skempton Chamber Concerto Howard Skempton Only the Sound Remains Mark Heron, Yibin Seow, Aljosa Skorja conductors

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A concert of quirky miniatures culminating in the somewhat deeper clarinet quintet.

Free admission, no ticket required

Howard Skempton in conversation with the festival’s Artistic Director, Clark Rundell.

1.15pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Skempton founded the influential and iconic Scratch Orchestra together with his great friend Cornelius Cardew, whose Autumn ’60 remains a classic work of the sixties avant garde movement. One of Skempton’s most substantial works, Only the Sound Remains proves that this consummate miniaturist can still expertly control large statements. Free admission, by ticket only

Miniatures for piano Skempton’s delightful piano miniatures remain concert favourites for pianists around the globe. This concert features several of the most popular, including the legendary Well, Well Cornelius. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm BBC Philharmonic Studio, MediaCityUK, Salford

BBC Philharmonic Programme to include: Howard Skempton Lento Howard Skempton The Moon is Flashing Clark Rundell conductor Skempton’s beautiful, haunting Lento will sound glorious in the superb surroundings of the BBC Philharmonic’s new studio at MediaCity. Free admission, by ticket only, to reserve your ticket call RNCM Box Office (limited availability) www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/philharmonic

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Spotlight

7.30pm

The Music of Khadija Zeynalova

2.30pm RNCM Theatre

A rare opportunity to hear new works for cello solo and duo by this Azerbaijani composer. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté kora Fodé Kouyaté drums Fanta Mady Kouyaté guitar Mohamed Koita bass Following his storming show here in 2008, we’re delighted to welcome Toumani Diabaté back to the RNCM. A master of the kora, Toumani has brought the traditional music of his native Mali to the attention of an international audience with a series of wellreceived solo albums and some cutting-edge collaborations with the likes of Damon Albarn and Björk. While being strongly rooted in the Malian tradition, his style of playing is also open to a wide range of other influences such as jazz, flamenco and Indian classical music, ensuring two Grammy wins, the most recent earlier this year for his collaboration with Ali Farka Touré. Tickets £19 £16 Concessions available www.myspace.com/toumanidiabate

RNCM

Toumani diabaté

Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 November

9.30pm Café Bar

Spotlight Kora Melody Kora king Mbye and his band Kora Melody bring you a selection of beautiful, energising West African songs. Free admission, no ticket required

Thursday 10 November

English Youth Ballet Giselle Music by Adolphe Adam Janet Lewis director Professional principal dancers lead a dramatic production of this beautiful classic ballet. With 100 talented young local dancers as the corps, this production of Giselle, here performed to a recorded soundtrack, is one portrayed with warmth, colour and drama. Tickets £20 £18 £16 Concessions available Promoted by Janet Lewis Enterprises

Saturday 12 November 7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Steve Hackett Steve Hackett guitar, vocals Roger King keyboards Nick Beggs bass guitar, Chapman stick, bass pedals, vocals Rob Townsend saxophone, flute, vocals Gary O’Toole drums, vocals Amanda Lehmann guitar, vocals Steve Hackett is renowed as an immensely talented and innovative rock musician. As lead guitarist with 1970s Genesis he made an indelible impression on the fabric of classic rock, demonstrating an unparalleled emotional and technical range. Parting company with Genesis in 1977, Steve embarked on a solo career that has since spawned dozens of albums, with September 2011 seeing the release of his latest, Beyond The Blue Horizon. Tickets £22.50 No concessions Promoted by ARC/www.thegigcartel.com

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Wednesday 9 November

Sunday 13 November

11.30am Various venues

7.30pm RNCM Theatre

RNCM SAXOPHONE DAY

Workshop Sessions I

RNCM Wind Orchestra

Welcome to the 11th RNCM Saxophone Day. This year we have another action packed day of concerts, masterclasses and workshops for saxophonists of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, covering a wide variety of saxophonic styles and genres. Our special guests this year are all UK artists, celebrating the rich tradition of world class saxophone playing that we have in this country: John Harle joins us as featured classical guest, and Julian Argüelles makes his first appearance at the event as our featured jazz artist, in a duo with award-winning pianist Kit Downes.

Workshops with the RNCM’s internationally renowned team of tutors on a wide range of subjects, from jazz and improvisation to contemporary techniques, ensemble and solo performance.

with John Harle and Rob Buckland

As ever, there will be a comprehensive trade exhibition featuring the world’s leading instrument manufacturers, retailers and publishers, plus a series of creative workshops especially for young beginners. For more information about these workshops, contact Bryony Taylor at bryony.taylor@rncm.ac.uk Rob Buckland, Andy Scott artistic directors

2pm RNCM Concert Hall

Lunchtime Concert John Harle and Steve Lodder Performances of new works for saxophone, including James Rae’s Tyne Sonata and Dominic Muldowney’s new Sonatina for straight alto saxophone and piano. Tickets £7 Concessions available

3pm and 4.30pm Various venues

Workshop Sessions II & III

Sponsored by

9.30am RNCM Concert Hall

Massed Saxophone Orchestra

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All participants join together in this now traditional start to the Sax Day – truly a sound that has to be heard to be believed!

Clark Rundell, Mark Heron conductors Rob Buckland, John Harle saxophones Dutch composer Jacob TV is widely regarded as one of today’s most innovative composers of music for the saxophone, and this new version of his Tallahatchie Concerto, with Rob Buckland as soloist, receives its UK première. To conclude the set, John Harle joins Rob for a performance of Andy Scott’s concerto for two saxophones, Dark Rain. This dramatic piece, inspired by the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, takes us through a vast array of musical styles, from jazz to contemporary, culminating in a haunting and emotive chorale. Tickets £9 Concessions available

4.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

8.45pm RNCM Theatre

Masterclass with Julian Argüelles

Julian Argüelles and Kit Downes

The Art of Improvisation

with the RNCM Saxophone Ensemble

Tickets £7

Julian Argüelles saxophone Kit Downes piano

Concessions available

11.30am RNCM Concert Hall

6.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

An Audience with John Harle

Sam Andreae

John Harle talks about the history of the saxophone and his influences from players of the past. The floor will be opened up for questions about any aspect of playing technical, musical or historical.

Each year we feature a short performance from some of our recent saxophone graduates at the start of their performing careers. This year, it’s the turn of Sam Andreae, who performs with Trio Riot, a group formed in Helsinki in 2009.

Tickets £7

Concessions available

Jacob Ter Veldhuis Tallahatchie Concerto (UK première of Wind Orchestra version) Andy Scott Dark Rain

Concessions available

This concert marks the début performance of this exciting new duo. Drawing on a number of influences including the jazz tradition, European jazz, classical and folk music, these two remarkable musicians share a desire to explore the emotional depth of music as their focal point. As a finale, the RNCM Saxophone Orchestra joins the duo on stage to perform specially arranged versions of compositions from Julian’s hugely successful Scapes CD. Tickets £9 Concessions available

Full Day Ticket £34 Evening Ticket £15 (7.30pm and 8.45pm) Tickets for individual events as listed Admission to workshops with Day Ticket only

Monday 14 November

Tuesday 15 November

Wednesday 16 November

Manchester Chamber Concerts Society

Sir John Barbirolli Cello Prize

Spotlight

6.30pm RNCM Lecture Theatre

Pre-concert talk David Aspin, principal viola of Opera North and tutor at the RNCM, talks to members of the Leipzig Quartet about tonight’s programme.

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Cello students from the RNCM compete for this prestigious prize. Tickets £10 Concessions available

RNCM

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

The Domo Duo The Domo Duo premières an exciting collection of innovative and contemporary music for cello duo by Manchester based composers. Free admission, no ticket required

Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Theatre 7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Leipzig Quartet Robert Schumann String Quartet in A major Op 41 No 3 Tan Dun Eight Colors Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet in B flat major Op 130 Stefan Arzberger, Tilman Büning violin Ivo Bauer viola Matthias Moosdorf cello The Leipzig Quartet has been praised for its extraordinary range of colour and expressive effect, something that is sure to come to the fore in Beethoven’s Op 130, a work central to the quartet’s repertoire. Tan Dun’s Eight Colors is a captivating series of musical pictures while Schumann’s A major Quartet is one of his most poignant and lyrical creations.

Abdullah Ibrahim Don’t miss this chance to catch legendary South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim’s hypnotic solo performance in the intimacy of the RNCM Theatre. Ibrahim’s music has long tracked the turbulence of his homeland’s history, matching its past struggles and current optimism through music of great hope and deeply reflective soulfulness. He’s also a pianist whose vast musical reserves can channel the spirits of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, creating what The Guardian describes as ‘music of rare eloquence.’ Tickets £23 £18 Concessions available www.abdullahibrahim.com RNCM in association with

Tickets £22 (platform seats £11)

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abdullah ibrahim

Concessions available www.chamberconcerts.org Promoted by MCCS

Wednesday 16 November

Thursday 17 November

Friday 18 November

Saturday 19 November

Masterclass with Julian Rachlin

Spotlight

Manchester Camerata

Spotlight

Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen

Talking Point

As violinist and viola player, Julian Rachlin is one of the most charismatic performers of his generation and a formidable recording artist. In tonight’s masterclass, he works with a selection of RNCM string students.

Soprano Joanne Holton performs Bach’s famous Cantata No 51.

An introduction to the captivating Giovanni Sollima who appears in this evening’s concert as both performer and composer.

New Music for Percussion, Amplified Tuba and Cello

Tickets £9 Concessions available www.julianrachlin.com

RNCM

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Free admission, no ticket required

Admission free to ticket holders

London Handel Players

Portrait of an Italian

Music to include: Georg Philipp Telemann Quartet in G major; Paris Quartet No 3 in A major; Concerto a 4 in A minor J S Bach Trio Sonata in G major BWV 1038 George Frideric Handel What tho’ I trace from Solomon; Myself I shall adore from Semele Antonio Vivaldi arr Chedéville Recorder Sonata in G minor Op 13 No 5

Ottorino Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No 3 Luigi Boccherini Cello Concerto No 7 in G major Giovanni Sollima Violoncelles, Vibrez! Luigi Boccherini La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid Giovanni Sollima LB Files

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Baroque composers were often quite unscrupulous. As a nod to this fact, in tonight’s performance, ‘Beg’ is represented by Leclair, whose prefaces were particularly grovelling; ‘Borrow’ by Bach and Handel, who re-arranged their own music; and ‘Steal’ by Chedéville, whose music was published using another composer’s name. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available www.handel.cswebsites.org

RNCM

A relaxed, informal Spotlight showcasing fresh, vibrant new music for eclectic ensembles by RNCM composers.

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Beg, Borrow or Steal

Since making their début at Handel’s parish church, St George’s Hanover Square, the London Handel Players have toured extensively across Europe and North America, collaborating regularly with singers such as Emma Kirkby.

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Adrian Butterfield, Oliver Webber violin Rachel Brown flute Katherine Sharman cello James Johnstone harpsichord

6.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Giovanni Sollima cello, director Hannah Roberts cello Giovanni Sollima could be described as a cellist and a composer, yet neither fully reflects this extraordinary artist who leaves audiences ecstatic and clamouring for more. After the concert, stay on and enjoy free music in the RNCM Café Bar performed by Manchester Camerata musicians, in association with Manchester Jazz Festival. Tickets £25 £18.50 £10 Concessions available Promoted by

7.30pm RNCM Theatre

RNCM Big Band with Steve Waterman Mike Hall director Steve Waterman trumpet For the first of two Autumn shows, the RNCM Big Band is joined by one of Britain’s top jazz trumpet players, Steve Waterman. Steve began his career while studying at Trinity College of Music and since then has worked with an incredible range of musicians, including John Surman, Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard and Colin Towns (who incidentally plays with our Big Band on 14 December). Tonight Steve will celebrate the history of jazz through the compositions of trumpet greats such as Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke and Miles Davis. He will also play some original pieces which he wrote as a commission for The Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra. Influenced by Steve’s travels, these original works conjure up tango, Cuban and calypso styles. Tickets £18 £16 £14 Concessions available www.stevewaterman.co.uk

RNCM

julian rachlin

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Saturday 19 November

Monday 21 November

Tuesday 22 November

Altrincham Choral Society

Josh T. Pearson

Spotlight

and special guests

RNCM Wind Ensemble A performance of William Alwyn’s Concertino for flute and winds featuring Holly Melia alongside Adam Gorb’s Symphony No 1 in C major.

This version of the UK Millennium Commission, The Armed Man, is arranged for concert band by Martin Ellerby. Frigyes Hidas’ Requiem for symphonic band and chorus was premièred by Altrincham Choral Society and the Yorkshire Wind Orchestra at the RNCM in 1999.

Following the dissolution of Lift to Experience, Josh T. Pearson’s first solo release Last of the Country Gentlemen is a collection of seven songs drawn from the lessons of what he describes as ‘a rough year’. Pearson might never have recorded the songs had it not been for the emotional response received from audiences whenever he played them live. This evening promises to feature a personal, powerful performance based around starkly honest autobiographical songwriting.

Tickets £12.50

Concessions available Promoted by Altrincham Choral Society

No concessions www.joshtpearson.com Promoted by DHP Concerts

Joseph Haydn Sonata in E minor Hob XVI:34 Robert Schumann Carnaval Op 9 Stefan Wolpe Passacaglia (from Four Studies on Basic Rows) Op 23 Gabriel Fauré Nocturne Op 63 No 6 Franz Liszt Réminiscences de Norma S 394

Karl Jenkins The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace Frigyes Hidas Requiem Yorkshire Wind Orchestra Steven Roberts conductor

Sunday 20 November and Sunday 4 December 10.30am RNCM Concert Hall

Manchester Amateur Choral Competition 2011

marc-andré hamelin

Jon Atkin director Performed in front of a distinguished panel of judges, this competition brings together amateur choirs who compete for the prestigious winner’s title and trophy. Day one features youth and school choirs and is run in conjunction with RNCM Outreach, whilst day two focuses on amateur choirs from across the country. Tickets £10 per day Concessions available www.themacc.org.uk Promoted by Manchester Amateur Choral Competition in association with RNCM

8pm RNCM Concert Hall

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Marc-André Hamelin Piano Recital

Marc-André Hamelin’s unique blend of musicianship and virtuosity produces interpretations remarkable for their freedom, originality and mastery of the piano’s resources. Over the last season alone, this Grammynominated pianist has made orchestral appearances with the Seattle Symphony, the Toronto Symphony and the Philharmonia Orchestra and has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. Tonight’s programme includes Schumann’s spontaneous and highly inventive Carnaval, one of Fauré’s intensely personal Nocturnes and Liszt’s dazzling, colourful reworking of music from Bellini’s opera. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available www.marcandrehamelin.com

RNCM

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7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Thursday 24 November

Spotlight

Elias String Quartet

Voila Viola

The complete short works for viola by Rebecca Clarke

with Tim Horton

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

An exciting new concept puts the viola in the spotlight and will feature a world première by an RNCM composer. Free admission, no ticket required

6.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Seven beautiful short viola works so rarely heard, let alone in one evening. Free admission, no ticket required

Saturday 26 November

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

7.30pm RNCM Theatre N

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NORTH Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet in C major K 465 ‘Dissonance’ Sally Beamish String Quartet No 3 ‘Reed Stanzas’ Edward Elgar Piano Quintet

Sara Bitlloch, Donald Grant violin Martin Saving viola Marie Bitlloch cello Tim Horton piano RNCM alumni, the Elias String Quartet make a welcome return with a performance of Sally Beamish’s Reed Stanzas, a piece premièred by the quartet as part of this year’s BBC Proms Chamber Music Series. Beamish drew on second violinist Donald Grant’s Gaelic roots and skills as a traditional Scottish fiddle player for her inspiration, introducing the form of variations on a Celtic-inspired theme. The programme also features one of the best known of Mozart’s ‘Haydn’ Quartets. K 465 earned its subtitle ‘Dissonance’ after Mozart’s death. It is an astonishingly complex piece of music, in which the composer employs musical language that would not really become generally acceptable until the following century. And to round the evening off, Elgar’s Quintet creates a pervasive atmosphere of ghostliness, a mood supposedly inspired by a group of dead trees near to his Sussex home. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available www.eliasstringquartet.com

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RNCM

Jacqui Dankworth with the RNCM String Ensemble It Happens Quietly Jacqui Dankworth vocals Tim Garland tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet Ben Davis cello Chris Allard electric and acoustic guitar Malcolm Edmonstone piano, keyboards Alec Dankworth double bass Steve Brown drums RNCM String Ensemble Marco Bellasi conductor Given her musical pedigree, it’s no surprise that Jacqui Dankworth is considered to be ‘one of the classiest acts in British jazz singing’ (The Guardian). On her latest album, Jacqui presents a selection of lush, atmospheric orchestral arrangements in collaboration with, and lovingly dedicated to, her father, the late Johnny Dankworth, on what would be his last performance on record. In addition to standards such as A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and Blame It On My Youth, the album contains some wonderful original material such as the hauntingly beautiful title track, It Happens Quietly, with music by John and lyrics by Buddy Kaye. For this Manchester date, Jacqui and her stellar sextet will be joined by RNCM string players for a unique and moving evening. Tickets £18 £16 £14 Concessions available www.jacquidankworth.com

RNCM

jacqui dankworth

Wednesday 23 November

RNCM MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION Media Partner

We are delighted to introduce the second RNCM Manchester International Violin Competition. The aim of the competition is to find not only an outstanding violinist but also a fine musician who can truly express the spirit of our great instrument and its wonderful repertoire. Competitors will enhance their own learning experiences through opportunities to perform on the concert platform as well as taking part in masterclasses given by the international jury comprising some of the most distinguished soloists of the violin world. The event culminates in a concerto final and it gives us great pleasure to announce that the final will be accompanied by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the Polish conductor Michal Dvorzynski. The winner will also receive a wonderful prize package, including substantial prize money, performance opportunities, and a gold-mounted bow from the outstanding maker Noel Burke. This important event really will be a celebration of the violin for participants and audiences alike, with performances from the young artists of tomorrow and masterclasses from some of the most outstanding artists of today. Malcolm Layfield, Wen Zhou Li artistic directors RNCM in association with

Supported by the Thomas Jellis Bequest Admission to all events is free unless otherwise stated For further information about the Competition, please contact Andrew Macauley, RNCM Festivals Administrator, at mivc@rncm.ac.uk or visit the Competition website, www.rncm.ac.uk/mivc

Applications

The competition is open to violinists of any nationality between the ages of 20 and 30

Friday 2 December

Competition Masterclasses

The Jury

Pierre Amoyal (France) Yair Kless (Israel) Malcolm Layfield (UK) Chai Liang (China) Maciej Rakowski (UK/Poland) Kazuki Sawa (Japan) Dong-Suk Kang (Korea) Almita Vamos (US) Wen Zhou Li (UK/China)

Saturday 3 December 7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Concerto Final with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

During the competition four of the country’s finest violin makers (William Castle, Helen Michetschläger, Kai-Thomas Roth, Marc Soubeyran) will make a copy of the RNCM’s ‘Brodsky’ Guadagnini violin. The finished violin will be played during the final weekend of the competition in a special event featuring the violin makers. 1pm – 2pm Wednesday 30 November, Thursday 1, Friday 2 December

Michal Dvorzynski conductor

from 10am Carole Nash Recital Room

The final of the Competition will feature each of the three finalists performing a concerto from a shortlist by Barber, Beethoven, Bruch, Lalo, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Bartók, Brahms, Dvorˇák, Mendelssohn, Sibelius and Walton.

Round 1

Tickets £17 £14

Saturday 26 November – Sunday 27 November

Violin Making Marathon

Concessions available

Monday 28 – Tuesday 29 November from 10am RNCM Concert Hall

Round 2 Wednesday 30 November

Competition Masterclasses Thursday 1 December from 10am RNCM Concert Hall

Semi-final The semi-finalists will perform Schubert’s Rondo brilliante D 895, one of the major sonatas for violin and piano, a virtuoso work and a special competition commission for solo violin by Edward Gregson.

november | December

Saturday 26 November – Saturday 3 December

Saturday 3 December

Monday 5 December

Spotlight

Manchester Chamber Concerts Society

Sparse Sounds An exciting mix of new chamber music from the RNCM composition department past and present: Michael Cutting and Daniel Kidane. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Trio John Taylor John Taylor piano Palle Danielsson bass Martin France drums Manchester-born pianist John Taylor first came to the attention of jazz audiences in the early 70s, working with such important bands as Azimuth, the Peter Erskine Trio and the Ronnie Scott Quintet and collaborating with the likes of Jan Garbarek, Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler and others. John played a storming show with the RNCM Big Band and Italian vocalist Diana Torto last November, but for the last 10 years or so he has worked intensively on a couple of smaller-scale projects, one of which is the trio that graces our stage tonight, featuring Palle Danielsson and Martin France. The Guardian said of the Trio’s playing on Taylor’s most recent release: ‘Taylor’s music creates its own atmosphere, a kind of stillness that draws you in... and the empathy with his long-standing partners is little short of miraculous.’ Tickets £18 £16 £14

december

Concessions available www.johntaylorjazz.com

RNCM

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Quatuor Ebène with Nicolas Alstaedt Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet (Divertimento) in D major K 136 Alexander Borodin String Quartet No 2 in D major Franz Schubert String Quintet in C major D 956 Pierre Colombet, Gabriel Le Magadure violin Mathieu Herzog viola Raphaël Merlin, Nicolas Altstaedt cello Quatuor Ebène is regarded as one of the world’s most sought-after ensembles. Tonight’s concert opens with the abundant vitality of Mozart’s D major Divertimento followed by the Russian charms of Borodin’s Second Quartet. Cellist Nicolas Altstaedt joins the Ebène for Schubert’s wondrous quintet, a rich banquet of glorious melodies and striking dramatic contrasts. Tickets £22 (platform seats £11) Concessions available www.chamberconcerts.org Promoted by MCCS

9.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room

Spotlight Borromini Quartet Featuring RNCM alumni and current students, the Borromini Quartet presents a hand-picked selection of Boccherini quartets from their recently launched CD. Free admission, no ticket required

john taylor

6.30pm RNCM Studio Theatre

Wednesday 7 December

Friday 9 December

Uiscedwr

ROOF St Petersburg Annual Charity Concert

7.30pm RNCM Studio Theatre

The Final Fling

NORTH N

NORTH Anna Esslemont fiddle, vocals Cormac Byrne bodhran, percussion Nick Waldock guitar, six-string bass

After eight years of storming stages across the globe, phenomenal folk trio Uiscedwr are embarking on their final year of touring in the UK. Join founder members Anna Esslemont on fiddle and vocals and Cormac Byrne (of Seth Lakeman band fame) on bodhran and percussion for a night of the most thrilling modern folk music you’re ever likely to hear. Completing the line-up for this tour is guitar and six-string bass wizard Nick Waldock, a firm favourite amongst Uiscedwr fans. The trio’s eclectic repertoire draws on traditions from all over the British Isles and Ireland, tempered by influences as diverse as jazz, Latin, blues and klezmer. With awards from the BBC and the PRS Foundation and three highly acclaimed albums under their belt, Uiscedwr’s music is fatter, funkier and folkier than ever before.

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Laura Mayo conductor Brian Hulme director Sam Brierley-Rimmer balalaika For over 20 years this annual concert has been important in raising funds for the ROOF St Petersburg Charity, which provides vital aid for homeless children in Manchester’s twin city. This evening’s concert includes pieces by Russian composers or based on Russian traditional melodies and features Manchester’s unique Kalinka Balalaika Orchestra. Tickets £5 Concessions available Promoted by ROOF St Petersburg

Tickets £12 Concessions available www.uiscedwr.com

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uiscedwr

RNCM

Sunday 11 December 3pm Tuesday 13*♦, Thursday 15, Saturday 17* December 7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Albert Herring Benjamin Britten

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NORTH Clark Rundell conductor Gergely Madaras♦ assistant conductor Stefan Janski director Lara Booth stage set and costume designer Ace McCarron lighting designer Robin Humphreys senior music coach RNCM Opera Orchestra

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Jennifer Rust, Andrea Tweedale* Lady Billows Heather Lowe, Helen Gregory* Florence Pike Sarah Parkin, Eleanor Garside* Miss Wordsworth Adam Player, Jonathan Alley* Mr Gedge Sean Boyes, Richard Hansen* Mr Upfold Matthew Kellett, Colin Brockie* Superintendent Budd Daniel Shelvey, Joshua Cadman* Sid Elgan Thomas, Thomas Morss* Albert Herring Sarah Richmond, Sophie Goldrick* Nancy Heather Ireson, Hanna-Liisa Kirchin* Mrs Herring Jenny Carson, Ruth Betteridge* Emmie Victoria Barton, Joanne Holton* Cis Thomas Medley, George Herbert* Harry

The town of Loxford is looking for a May Queen, yet something appears to unite its girls: Disrepute… And so all eyes focus on Albert, known to all as the town greengrocer, pure and innocent as they come, and a seemedly perfect candidate to be Loxford’s very first May King. Yet crowned with a hat of orange blossom, and rewarded with twenty-five pounds for his trouble, Albert is slipped a rum-spiked glass of lemonade, and everything starts to go very wrong…

This comedy is one of Britten’s most perfect gems, witty, knowing, and not afraid to poke fun at all-things-rural – village fête, vicar, policeman, schoolmarm and a preposterous Lady of the Manor. The music sparkles, as effervescent as the lemonade that intoxicates Albert, powering this most English of comedies - one with a rich dark side just as delicious as the fresh, juicy peaches that Albert sells in his shop… Tickets £32 £26 £19 (weekdays) £34 £28 £21 (weekends) Concessions available Sponsored by (13 December)

RNCM

Saturday 10 December

Monday 12 December

Junior RNCM Performance Day

Lars Vogt

from 10.15am Various venues

Performance Day profiles the work of the full range of Junior RNCM ensembles, from the Chamber Orchestra and Vocal Ensemble to the Foundation Section. For full details contact Junior RNCM on 0161 907 5264. Free admission, no ticket required

Saturday 10 December 6.30pm RNCM Studio Theatre

Spotlight The Mermaid of Zennor A brand new chamber opera written by MMU poet Martin Kratz and RNCM composer Leo Geyer, based on a modern re-telling of the Cornish legend. Free admission, no ticket required

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

Piano Recital Franz Schubert Sonata No 18 in G major D 894 Arnold Schoenberg Six Little Piano Pieces Op 19 Johannes Brahms Intermezzi Op 117 Johannes Brahms Variations on a theme of Paganini Op 35 No 1 (Book 1) Lars Vogt first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition and went on to become the Berlin Philharmonic’s first ever Pianist in Residence. He has since given major concerto and recital performances across the globe, regularly playing with the likes of the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw. This evening opens with Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces, a composition that obeys no logic other than Schoenberg’s intuitive sense of what works. Schubert’s Sonata No 18, a work of shifting moods, and a Brahms double-bill complete the programme. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available www.larsvogt.com

december

Lars vogt

RNCM

Tuesday 13 December

Wednesday 14 December

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Joglaresa On Yoolis Night

NORTH For Christmas 2011 Joglaresa will be ‘strictly medieval’, calling on a plethora of instruments NORTH including harps, vielles, voices and bells. From instrumental dances to Middle English lullabies, Joglaresa presents a programme of Christmas music from the 12th to the 15th century. N

Directed by Belinda Sykes, this London-based British/Israeli/Irish/Arabic ensemble has been performing since 1992. Now well-established, they imaginatively push, and often transcend, the limits of what is often thought of as early music. Their work focuses on connecting ancient and traditional music but, rather than create a ‘fusion’ or a surreal mix of these styles, they aim to use their combined experiences (upbringings drenched in traditional Irish, English, Maghrebi, Balkan and Middle Eastern music) to create a homogenous sound. Tickets £18 £15 Concessions available www.joglaresa.com

RNCM

RNCM Big Band with Colin Towns Mike Hall director Colin Towns guest director

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For its second outing this season, the RNCM Big Band is joined by one of Britain’s most prolific film and television composers and front man for two of the most innovative and exciting big band projects in Europe, the Hamburg-based NDR Big Band and the Colin Towns Mask Orchestra. Colin’s hand-picked selection of music for tonight’s concert forms two contrasting sets. The first features songs from his recent, highly acclaimed album John Lennon – In My Own Write, on which he re-works 21 classic Lennon tunes, covering material from Nowhere Man right through to the 1980 solo album Double Fantasy. The second set, Don’t Fence Me In, spotlights Towns’ radical interpretation of Cole Porter songs, reinventing them as you’ve never heard them before! Tickets £18 £16 £14 Concessions available www.colintowns.com

colin towns

december

RNCM

Friday 16 December

Saturday 17 December

7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

RNCM Symphony Orchestra NORTH with Garry Walker NORTH N

Emily Howard Solar Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major Op 35 Edward Elgar Symphony No 1 in A flat major Op 55 Garry Walker conductor Carlos del Cueto assistant conductor Bing Xiang violin

Salford Choral Society Messiah The Philharmonic Ensemble Matthew Hamilton conductor Join Salford Choral Society in their joyful interpretation of Handel’s wonderful oratorio. Tickets £17 Concessions available Promoted by Salford Choral Society

‘Gentlemen, now let us rehearse the greatest symphony of modern times, written by the greatest modern composer, and not only in this country.’ Thus the conductor Hans Richter greeted the London Symphony Orchestra when preparing Elgar’s grand, optimistic and distinctly Germanic composition for its London première. The piece was actually first performed, to great acclaim, in Manchester in December 1908, once again conducted by its dedicatee Richter. A cornerstone concerto of the repertoire balances this symphony, Tchaikovsky’s uninhibited duet for soloist and orchestra, featuring soloist Bing Xiang. Tickets £17 £14 Concessions available

RNCM

9.30pm Café Bar

Spotlight The RNCM Gospel Choir provides a light finish to the evening and to the term with this seasonal programme. Free admission, no ticket required

december

garry walker

Gospel Grooves

Lunchtime Concerts There are 22 free lunchtime concerts this Autumn, with solo and duo recitals most Mondays, orchestras and ensembles most Thursdays, and chamber music on three Fridays towards the end of term. We’ve grouped the series together here, for ease of reference, and you can extend you visit with lunch or afternoon tea in Brodsky or the Café Bar, or by taking in a tour of the RNCM’s Historical Instrument Collection.

Monday 3 October 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Monday Recital Series Igor Stravinsky Suite Italienne Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Six Romances Op 6* Tatiana Chernyshova cello Elena Nemtsova piano Elizabeth Karani* soprano Daniel Browell* piano

october

Written in 1933 the Suite Italienne was influenced by the ballet Pulcinella by the same composer. This is followed by Elizabeth Karani singing six songs from one of Tchaikovsky’s beautiful song cycles for high voice, composed in 1869.

Thursday 6 October 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Thursday 13 October

Thursday 20 October

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra

RNCM Concert Orchestra

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

RNCM Concert Orchestra Carl Nielsen Helios Overture Op 17 NORTH Peter Maxwell Davies An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise NORTH Clark Rundell, Marco Bellasi conductors Steven Blake bagpipes N

Nielsen’s tone poem Helios, a short evocation of sunrise, opens today’s proceedings, before Peter Maxwell Davies’ celebration of nature and of humanity’s place in it – one of the few pieces in the classical repertoire to feature a bagpipe solo!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No 19 in F major K 459 Stephen Threlfall conductor Iyad Alsughair piano Sometimes referred to as Mozart’s second ‘Coronation’ concerto, the composer chose to perform it in 1790 at a concert marking the coronation festivities of the Emperor Leopold II. This exceptionally fine concerto showed great advances in the use of winds, and pointed the way towards even greater achievements to come from the composer.

Monday 10 October 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Monday Recital Series

Monday 17 October

Roger Sessions Piano Sonata No 2 Eric Ewazen An Elizabethan Songbook*

Monday Recital Series

Leanne Cody piano Alistair Campbell* trumpet Beth Calderbank* trombone Elizabeth Martland* piano

Eugène Ysaÿe Solo Sonata No 4 Niccolò Paganini Caprice No 7 Georges Bizet Guitare* Maurice Ravel Chanson espagnole* Jules Massenet Nuit d’Espagne* Georges Bizet Ouvre ton coeur* Léo Delibes Les filles de Cadix*

This concert opens with one of Roger Sessions’ more frequently recorded works. Considered a composer of ‘difficult’ music, Sessions was certainly a challenging and thought-provoking figure of the American musical scene. The next piece is a duet in four movements originally intended for soprano and baritone. It was re-written by request for Chris Gecker and Stuart Dempster and features Ewazen’s clear styles of writing containing that classic American sound.

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Ignatius Kim violin Saffron Jones* soprano Maya Irgalina* piano Ignatius Kim shows the prowess of the violin composed by two masters, one from Belgium the other from Italy. We are then transported to a Spanish plaza with this interesting collection of Spanish-themed songs under the penmanship of French composers.

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Arnold Bax Tintagel Jean Sibelius Karelia Suite Op 11

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Carlos del Cueto, Gergely Madaras NORTH conductors Arnold Bax’s Celtic-flavoured symphonic poem was inspired by a visit to Tintagel Castle with his lover and according to the composer, the music is meant to depict a castle perched high on the rocks, battered on a sunny summer day by the Atlantic Ocean. This is followed by Sibelius’ rousing Karelia Suite. Originally written to accompany a student production of scenes based upon the history of Karelia (the heartland of Finnish culture), the music evolved into a separate concert work.

Monday 24 October 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Monday Recital Series Edison Denisov Sonata for saxophone and cello Vadim Karasikov Casus in Terminus for saxophone, cello and piano Max Reger Chorale Fantasia on ‘Alle Menschen müssen sterben’* William Upton saxophone Ragnhild Wesenberg cello Marta Finkelstein piano Joshua Stephens* organ Two greats of Russian contemporary music feature here with pieces for the unusual combination of cello and saxophone. This is followed by Reger’s Chorale Fantasia, arguably the greatest example of the German Romantic chorale prelude, paying tribute to Bach.

Thursday 3 November

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

RNCM Brass Band N

Jean Sibelius The Swan of Tuonela Jean Sibelius The Oceanides Op 73NORTH N

NORTH Nicholas Childs, Aljosa Skorja conductors

Gustav Holst’s A Moorside Suite was written as a competition piece in 1927 and is the composer’s only piece for brass band. Also featured is a composition by Holst’s daughter Imogen.

NORTH Matthew Wood, Jon Malaxetxebarria conductors

This Sibelius double-bill opens with The Swan of Tuonela, the most famous part of the composer’s Lemminkainen Suite, and is completed by his evocative tone poem The Oceanides, a piece inspired by nature, another of the composer’s major influences.

Monday 31 October 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Monday Recital Series Ludwig van Beethoven Duet for viola and cello with two obbligato eyeglasses Ralph Vaughan Williams The Vagabond* Frederick Keel Trade Winds, Mother Carey* Gerald Finzi Fear no more the heat of the sun* Stephen Adams Nirvana* Alex Mitchell viola Jonathan Pether cello Thomas Isherwood* baritone James Hendry* piano Although more renowned for his larger works, we see a different side to Beethoven through this duet for viola and cello. We then have a small selection from a large repertoire of English songs written by some of this country’s great composers.

Monday 14 November

RNCM Chamber Choir and Brass Ensemble

Monday Recital Series

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

RNCM Concert Orchestra

Gustav Holst A Moorside Suite NORTH Imogen Holst The Unfortunate Traveller

Thursday 10 November

Monday 7 November 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Monday Recital Series Johannes Brahms Intermezzi Op 117 Heitor Villa-Lobos Ciranda das Sete Notas* Eduards Grieznis piano Richard Ion* bassoon Harvey Davies* piano The three Intermezzi Op 117 composed in 1892 are among the most cherished and praised of Brahms’ autumnal late piano compositions. Richard Ion will then explore the compass and sonorities of the bassoon with Villa-Lobos’ Ciranda das Sete Notas, which sees this primarily orchestral instrument come to the fore in this Latin American concerto.

Field of Battle (arr Simon Wright): Stephen Storace Ballo della Battaglia William Byrd The burying of the dead Andrea Gabrieli Alla Battaglia Anonymous Agincourt Song Sven-David Sandström Hear my prayer Henry Purcell Funeral Music for Queen Mary John Miller, James Burton conductors The RNCM Brass Ensemble opens today’s proceedings with four visions of the battlefield. The RNCM Chamber Choir then performs Sven-David Sandström’s Hear my prayer. This composition begins with Purcell’s setting, but Sandström unfolds the piece incredibly slowly, making its harmonies unravel in a way that is both unsettling and quite effective. We end with the combined might of the Ensemble and Choir who tackle Purcell’s incredibly poignant Funeral Music for Queen Mary, written by the composer when he was organist at Westminster Abbey.

Friday 11 November 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

RNCM Chamber Ensemble with Peter Cropper Johannes Brahms String Sextet in G major Op 36 For the first of three Friday lunchtime concerts featuring RNCM Chamber Ensembles, we present Brahms’ second string sextet, displaying the composer at his most engagingly melancholic. Composed in absolute privacy, the sextet was almost certainly written in response to the breakdown of a friendship with one of Brahms’ lady friends, a certain Agathe von Siebold.

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Gioachino Rossini Duetto for cello and double bass in D major Alexander Scriabin Sonata No 2 in G sharp minor ‘Sonata-Fantasy’* Huseyin Gundogdu cello Menjiao Zhang double bass Egle Sarmaviciute* piano A duet for cello and double bass brings to light the essence of Rossini. This is followed by a work from Scriabin that took five years to write and is composed in a fairly conventional, late Romantic manner, similar to that of his other sonatas.

Thursday 17 November 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

RNCM Concert Orchestra Benjamin Britten Movements from Matinées NORTH musicales Op 24 Thomas Adès Dances from Powder her face NORTH Tim Redmond, Alex Pringle conductors N

Britten’s Rossini-based Matinées musicales was composed as a companion piece to the immensely popular Soirées musicales at the request of the American Ballet Company and the resulting ballet, Divertimento, was premièred in Rio de Janeiro in 1941. This dance-influenced programme is completed by Thomas Adès’ louche, sexy suite from his chamber opera Powder her face.

october | November

Thursday 27 October

Monday 21 November

Friday 25 November

Thursday 8 December

Monday 12 December

Monday Recital Series

RNCM Chamber Ensemble

RNCM Wind Ensemble

Monday Recital Series

Anna Meredith Octet Tim Garland ExtrApollination (world première of an RNCM commission)

Maurice Ravel Gaspard de la nuit Amilcare Ponchielli Il Convegno: Divertimento for two clarinets*

Mark Heron, Yibin Seow, Duncan Ward conductors

Lan Hu piano Sergio Sanchez* clarinet Rocio Bolanos* clarinet Angel Perez Cantero* piano

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Reinhold Glière Suite for viola and double bass Hugo Wolf Der Tambour; Verborgenheit; An die Geliebte; Abschied from Mörike-Lieder* Maurice Ravel Kaddish; L’énigme eternelle from Deux mélodies hébraïques* Wei Wan viola Yiming Fan double bass Jonathan Alley* baritone Ewan Gilford* piano A suite by the Soviet composer Reinhold Glière starts off the concert with a twist of Russian style. We then move over to Germany with the Mörike-Lieder which is considered a cornerstone of Hugo Wolf’s works. We then finally move to France for Ravel’s Deux mélodies hébraïques, a couple of songs set to Aramaic text taken from the Jewish prayer book.

Thursday 24 November 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

november | december

RNCM Session Orchestra

Music to include: Rose Royce Car Wash Stevie Wonder Sir Duke Michael Jackson Don’t Stop till You Get Enough Paul McCartney and Wings Live and Let Die Earth Wind and Fire Got to Get You Into My Life Vanessa Carlton A Thousand Miles Andy Stott director We’re delighted to present the first performance by the RNCM Session Orchestra. Today’s set includes some 70s funk classics, Wings’ iconic Bond theme and Vanessa Carlton’s 2002 massive hit A Thousand Miles.

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

with Petr Prause Johannes Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op 115 Our second Friday lunchtime chamber concert features Brahms’ autumnal clarinet quintet. Composed in the calming atmosphere of the alpine resort of Bad Ishcl in 1891, the piece seems to show that its morose and difficult creator had found peace in his final years.

Monday 5 December 1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Monday Recital Series Clara Schumann Liebst du um Schönheit; Warum willst du and’re fragen? Robert Schumann Volksliedchen; Mein schöner Stern! Gustav Mahler Liebst du um Schönheit from Rückert Lieder Ben Watte New work* Stewart Wilson New work* Sammy Cahn I fall in love too easily* Heather Ireson mezzo-soprano David Jones piano Ben Watte* saxophone Stewart Wilson* double bass The first selection of songs is based solely around Lieder settings of poetry by the famous German poet, Friedrich Rückert. These are followed by an unusual instrumental duo who will perform new, jazz inspired works as well as one of the great jazz standards.

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Composer in the House with Sinfoina ViVA, Anna Meredith is a composer/performer of electronic and acoustic music whose Octet was written in response to Stravinsky’s own Octet. Also featured today is a world première by Tim Garland, a re-working of the piece Tim wrote for our recent Victoria Baths project, in which a solo clarinet’s opening material ‘pollinates’ the surrounding ensemble with its ideas and energy.

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

This lunchtime concert features Ravel’s largest and most complex work for the piano and one that is recognized as being a cornerstone of the virtuoso repertoire. This is preceded by Ponchielli’s 19th century Italian Divertimento for two clarinets, one of his only works still regularly performed which boasts all the qualities of the instruments.

Friday 9 December

Thursday 15 December

Torelli Quartet

RNCM String and Wind Collectives

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Johannes Brahms String Quartet in A minor Op 51 No 2 Our third and final Friday lunchtime chamber concert features Brahms’ A minor quartet, which the composer dedicated to his friend the Viennese surgeon and amateur string player Theodor Billroth. Brahms often seems to have composed works of the same genre in deliberately contrasting pairs, and the A minor quartet is warmer, more affirmative and relaxed than its companion piece, the tragic C minor. There are no extremes here, though the work’s moods are hardly uncomplicated, and its compositional craft is still highly intricate.

1.15pm RNCM Concert Hall

Jean Sibelius Rakastava Aulis Sallinen A Palace Rhapsody

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Mark Heron, Chris Hoyle conductors Sibelius’ music became a revered symbol of Finnish Nationalistic music and once again, through nature, he found the poetic inspiration for Rakastava. In A Palace Rhapsody, Aulis Sallinen uses key episodes from his own opera, The Palace, seamlessly stitching them together in the manner of a single movement suite and, subsequently, the piece exudes exuberant theatricality.

Friday 13 – Sunday 15 January 2012

RNCM Chamber Music Festival L’Esprit de Paris: chamber music from the cultural heart of France Paris is the focus of our 2012 Chamber Music Festival, with music from composers who studied, lived, worked and took their inspiration from this vibrant cultural city. We are delighted to welcome the Ysaÿe Quartet, a group internationally renowned for its performances and recordings of both Romantic and contemporary French repertoire. The Endellion Quartet, Talich and Finzi Quartets also perform alongside the RNCM’s outstanding student chamber groups, together exploring repertoire by Ravel Debussy, Franck, Ibert, Messiaen and Saint-Saëns, to name but a few.

Friday 27 – Sunday 29 January 2012

RNCM Festival of Brass At this year’s Festival of Brass, we celebrate the anniversary of the British composer John Golland, who would have been 70 in 2012, with performances of a number of his major works for brass band. The 60th birthday of Judith Bingham is also marked by performances of her significant contributions to the brass band repertoire. The line-up features bands at the top of the world rankings, with performances from Black Dyke, Foden’s, Cory, Tredegar, Fairey and Band Burgermusik Luzern bands. On sale November 2011

THURSDAY 22, SUNDAY 25*, TUESDAY 27, THURSDAY 29 and SATURDAY 31 MARCH 2012 3pm*, 7pm RNCM Theatre

Xerxes George Frideric Handel Roger Hamilton conductor Carlos del Cueto assistant conductor Stefan Janski director Emma Chapman lighting designer Kevin Thraves chorus master Antonio Tilli Italian language coach RNCM Opera Orchestra Ancient Persia: a land of magnificent palaces and scented gardens, offering shade from the heat of the sun and respite from the both the pleasures and pains of true love… Atalanta has fallen for Arsamene, yet he has feelings for Romilda - as does his brother, King Xerxes, when he is not declaring his love to a plane tree… Handel’s comedydrama muses on love and kingship, as Xerxes wrestles with the conflict between his duty and his heart in a typically Handellian plot of misunderstandings, double bluff and cross-dressing. Featuring a number of famous arias, including the renowned ‘Ombra mai fu’, this sparking new RNCM Opera production, sung in Italian with English surtitles, is sure to delight. Cast and full production details will be announced in the RNCM Spring Events Guide published in December 2011 Tickets £32 £26 £19 (weekdays) £34 £28 £21 (weekends) Concessions available

RNCM

Now on sale

Join the RNCM Friends

Be inspired, enriched and enchanted. ‘ It is always an inspiration to visit the RNCM and have the privilege of enjoying the results of the very hard work of the students and staff.’

Guest events and opportunities to see behind the scenes of the RNCM are open exclusively to members of the RNCM Friends. Friends membership subscriptions and donations help with everything we do, especially in supporting our students with bursaries, travel grants and prizes. Booking is now open for this season’s events. Pick up a joining form in the College or contact us (see below). The new membership scheme has something for everyone. There are four levels of Friends membership and two Benefactor levels for those who would like to make a more personal donation. Membership also makes an ideal gift for a music-loving friend or family member and, as we launch the new scheme this season, now is the perfect time to join. Membership starts from as little as £2.50 per month. We need your help now more than ever to support the music stars of the future. By joining the Friends, you will have access to exceptional events which will allow us to show you more of this unique place. For more information, contact the Friends Administrator on 0161 907 5338 or friends@rncm.ac.uk or visit our website at www.rncm.ac.uk/Friends

THURSDAY 6 OCTOBER 12 noon

Friends Day with RNCM Head of Conducting, Clark Rundell Clark Rundell conducts the RNCM Concert Orchestra for what is set to be a capacity audience at this lunchtime concert. Book now for this exclusive package and a chance to meet Clark and some of the students afterwards. Places are limited and include: • Two-course waiter-served lunch in Brodsky • Reserved seating in the Concert Hall for the lunchtime concert • Tea, coffee and cakes on the Carole Nash Mezzanine Tickets £15

Gala Dinner RNCM

THURSDAY 3 NOVEMBER 5.30pm Carole Nash Recital Room 7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall

A Taste of Fine Wine and Music In association with www.hangingditch.com Blend your two favourite occupations by sampling a selection of gourmet wines under expert tuition from hangingditch wine merchants before taking your seat for the RNCM Chamber Orchestra concert conducted by Sasha Mäkilä in a programme including Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme Op 33. Full concert details are listed on page 14. You do not have to be a member of the RNCM Friends to attend this event. All profits will be donated to support students at the College. Tickets £35 to include wine tasting, light buffet and concert ticket

FRIDAY 9 and SATURDAY 10 DECEMBER 7.30pm RNCM Theatre

Opera Preview Evening RNCM Opera is proud to present Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece Albert Herring. This comedy is one of Britten’s most perfect gems, witty, knowing and not afraid to poke fun at the English rural village. The music sparkles, as effervescent as the lemonade that intoxicates Albert, powering this most English of comedies. Because we are double casting this opera, Friends and Benefactors exclusively are invited to join RNCM staff and students at one of the two dress rehearsals on either Friday 9 or Saturday 10 December. Tickets £12.50

All tickets available from the RNCM Box Office 0161 907 5555 www.rncm.ac.uk

Supporting the RNCM A legacy for the future

Name a seat

If you would like to make a lasting difference, then please consider remembering us in your Will. Your solicitor will be able to advise you on how to leave a bequest to the RNCM and, because we are a registered charity, you may also find this to be a very tax-effective way of giving something back to music which has given you so much pleasure.

Are you a regular visitor to the RNCM? Do you have a favourite place in the Theatre or Concert Hall? Stuck for a gift for the music-lover who has everything? You can name a seat for yourself, for a friend or perhaps in memory of a loved one. For more information, contact the Development Office on 0161 907 5392 or development@rncm.ac.uk or visit www.rncm.ac.uk/support us

Gala Dinner RNCM

RNCM Gala Dinner Thursday 8 December 2011 Join us for an exclusive opportunity to dine on the set of Britten’s witty comic opera Albert Herring and be entertained by some of our brightest young stars. All proceeds from this event will go towards supporting the RNCM’s most talented students in financial need. Last year’s Gala Dinner on the set of Carmen was a sell-out success: ‘ It was truly magnificent. The stage setting was awe inspiring. The food and wine were excellent and the performers were absolutely brilliant. Everything was just breathtaking.’ Coutts Client ‘ What a wonderful event last night was. My guests all had a fantastic time. It was the best fundraising dinner I have ever been to – food and entertainment were brilliant.’ Finnair Table Host To book your place or to find out more, please visit www.rncm.ac.uk/galadinner Alternatively, contact the Development Team on development@rncm.ac.uk or 0161 907 5392

RNCM Connecting with the Community RNCM in the City

Looking for musicians?

Didsbury Coffee Concerts

Are you seeking live musicians for a forthcoming event or concert?

Emmanuel Church in Didsbury is the setting for a series of Saturday morning recitals, which regularly features RNCM performers. Starting at 11am, Autumn dates are:

Saturday 10 September Saturday 8 October Saturday 5 November Saturday 26 November

Saturday 24 September Saturday 22 October Saturday 19 November Saturday 10 December

St Ann’s Recitals Take a break from the office or the shops by enjoying first class music from senior RNCM students in the peaceful surroundings of St Ann’s Church in Manchester city centre. Choose from chamber concerts on Wednesday lunchtimes at 1pm or piano recitals on Saturday afternoons at 3pm:

Wednesday 12 October Saturday 22 October Wednesday 9 November Saturday 12 November Wednesday 30 November Saturday 3 December

RNCM Outreach RNCM Outreach engages with the community on a wide range of exciting projects and events. We devise bespoke projects for all types of community groups and also work with schools and colleges across the region. To find out how you can become involved with RNCM Outreach, please contact Heidi Johnson or Fiona Stuart on communityoutreach@rncm.ac.uk or 0161 907 5281 or visit our website www.rncm.ac.uk/communityoutreach.

RNCM musicians who have reached an exceptional level of performance regularly undertake professional engagements throughout the UK. The Professional Engagements team co-ordinates a large number of engagements for music clubs and societies as well as for individuals, companies and event organisers, matching performers to engagements and negotiating fees in line with current industry rates. We offer a wide range of ensembles and soloists, from string quartets for weddings to concert pianists for concertos, as well as a number of groups covering jazz repertoire. To find out more, contact Kate Pattison on kate.pattison@rncm.ac.uk or 0161 907 5358.

Looking for a venue? The RNCM is home to one of the largest theatres in Manchester, a stylish concert hall, a versatile studio theatre, the Carole Nash Recital Room, a lecture theatre, plus a variety of smaller spaces – and all are available for hire. As one of the North West’s leading performance venues, the RNCM is the perfect place to host your event. Anything’s possible, so whether you are organising a multi-day convention, a live broadcast, a one night concert or a small meeting, or even if you’d just like to have a look around, get in touch with Clare Preston-Pollitt on clare.preston-pollitt@rncm.ac.uk or 0161 907 5289 to find out more.

Eating and Drinking at the RNCM BRODSKY Brodsky is the restaurant, bar and grill at the RNCM serving morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea, all-day snacks, pre-concert dining and much more.

PRE-CONCERT DINING For pre-concert dining, we are now offering an extended Brodsky menu and a daily specials board. From 5pm we also offer a full service operation with our waiting staff taking drinks and food orders at your table. You can now book a table any day of the week (Monday to Saturday) for the Brodsky menu. Call us on 0161 907 5353 / 5252 to reserve your table.

CAFÉ Open from 8am until the interval during evening performances, our Café serves freshly ground coffee, tea and soft drinks alongside a selection of hand-made sandwiches, soups, jacket potatoes and cakes. We also offer an extensive salad bar and a hot dish of the day selection from 12 noon – 2pm and 5pm 7pm. (NB Opening times vary during weekends and vacations)

AFTERNOON TEA Priced at £9.95 per person, this is the perfect way to relax following a lunchtime concert. Booking is required in advance so please call 0161 907 5353 / 5252 to reserve your table.

CONCERT BAR The Concert Bar is open from Monday to Saturday from 6pm, during and after concerts. Interval drinks can be pre-ordered from the Concert Bar to beat the queues. (NB Opening times vary on Sundays and during vacations)

Wherever possible, the RNCM uses Fairtrade products

All food items and menus are subject to availability

Booking Information How to Book Post/In Person Box Office, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD Telephone 0161 907 5555 Fax 0161 907 5330 Email box.office@rncm.ac.uk Online www.rncm.ac.uk (except for Group Bookings and Flexible Series) Advance bookings can be made in person, online, by phone or fax including the day of performance up until 6pm. Tickets must be paid for within 4 working days of the booking. Reservations made within 4 days of the performance must be paid for at least 30 minutes before the start of the concert.

Box Office Opening Times

Monday - Saturday 11am - 6pm or until 8.30pm on performance nights, and Sunday one hour before performances, between September and June. Online booking is available 24 hours a day. During July and August only, opening hours are Monday - Friday 11am - 3pm and one hour before performances.

Payment

We accept VISA, MasterCard and Maestro credit/debit cards. If you are paying by credit/ debit card, don’t forget to include the expiry date or issue number where applicable and a daytime telephone number so we can contact you with any queries. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Royal Northern College of Music’. A 50p per ticket administration charge will be added to bookings made by telephone and online bookings are subject to a 85p ticket booking fee which is charged to the RNCM by the supplier of this service. 38

Gift Vouchers

RNCM Gift Vouchers are available from the Box Office.

Ticket Exchange & Refunds

The RNCM does not operate a refund policy. Please check your tickets as soon as you receive them, as refunds are only made in the case of a cancelled performance. We can credit your account with the cost of the tickets if you are unable to attend. Tickets must be returned to the Box Office 24 hours in advance of the concert. Your credit minus a £1 administration fee per ticket can be used to purchase tickets for any other RNCM promoted events within the next 12 months. This facility is not available for non-RNCM promoted events.

Concessions

For events marked with the RNCM logo, under 18s in full-time education, students and senior citizens can obtain 10% off each ticket on production of the appropriate identification. Claimants (in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance) can purchase single tickets for just £6 on production of the appropriate identification. Disabled patrons are entitled to 50% off full price tickets for themselves and where disabled patrons are also eligible for other concessions, the greater concession will apply. We also offer 50% off full price tickets for an essential companion accompanying a disabled patron. For all other events please contact the Box Office for precise details of concessions as they do vary according to the event promoter. Please note all concessions are subject to availability and it is advisable to book well in advance to ensure the seats you require are available.

Sonic Card is a free scheme for students run by the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, The Bridgewater Hall and the RNCM. It gives students the opportunity to buy tickets to a diverse range of concerts for just £3. Students can sign up at the Sonic Card desk before any featured concert or at www.soniccard.co.uk

Group Discounts

Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more (including school groups) for all events marked with the RNCM logo. For more details (and to book) call our Groups Co-ordinator, Jeni Hawkswell on 0161 907 5441 (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 11am – 3pm)

flexible series Discounts

Put together your own Flexible Series and save at least 15% on the cost of your tickets. Simply choose the concerts you’d like to attend (marked with the next to each event) and create your own tailor-made package.

Email & Mailing List

Keep in touch with events at the RNCM by joining our free mailing list or join our email list for regular monthly updates. Contact the Box Office or visit www.rncm.ac.uk Artists and programmes are correct at the time of going to press and we reserve the right to change artists and/ or programmes without notice if necessary. We aim to deliver a quality events programme with efficient and courteous service at all times. If you have any comments please contact Liz Grindrod, Head of Marketing & Communications, RNCM, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD.

Access The RNCM offers a range of facilities to disabled patrons: P Please call Reception on 0161 907 5300 to reserve a disabled parking space.

Wheelchair access is available, via lifts, to all performing venues and public spaces. Low-level counters available at Box Office and Bar. Disabled toilet facilities on all levels.

Guide dogs are admitted. Please advise the Box Office when booking your ticket if you are bringing a guide dog.

The RNCM Concert Hall and RNCM Theatre are fitted with Sennheiser infra-red hearing assistance systems and receivers. These are available from Front of House staff on request. Receivers can be used in conjunction with a normal hearing aid (which should be switched to the ‘T’ position) or an earpiece available at the venue. The RNCM Studio Theatre, Carole Nash Recital Room and RNCM Lecture Theatre are fitted with induction loops (hearing aids should be switched to the ‘T’ position).

N Large print and audio versions of this brochure are available from the Box Office (also by email)

Please call the Box Office on 0161 907 5555 for all other detailed information for disabled visitors.

About the venue RNCM THEATRE STAGE 5

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SIDE LEFT

CENTRE

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SIDE RIGHT

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R EA

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CENTRE

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ROWS H > L

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CENTRE

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ROWS A > F

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ROWS D > G

CONCERT PLATFORM

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FRONT WING RIGHT

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RNCM CONCERT HALL

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FRONT WING LEFT ROWS A > C 1 1 1

2 The University of Manchester Booth Street car park situated off Booth Street West. Closes at midnight.

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29 29

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1 RNCM secure car park, located next to the College in the basement of the Sir Charles Groves Hall of Residence, off Rosamund Street West. Open from 5pm weekday evenings, and anytime over weekends and bank holidays costing £3. Closes at midnight.

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34 35

Parking

The RNCM is located 1 mile south of Manchester City Centre, in the heart of the Education Quarter, on the corner of Oxford Road and Booth Street West. Oxford Road connects the RNCM by bus to the City Centre, and all of Oxford Road, Piccadilly and Victoria train stations. Oxford Road Station is an easy 8 minute walk away.

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How to find us

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