The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester is set to host a series of captivating events that promise to enchant music lovers from all walks of life. From the intimate acoustic performances of renowned British pop star Will Young to the dynamic fusion of dance and music at the RNCM ArkEnsemble with Company Chameleon, the college offers a rich tapestry of artistic expression. These events showcase a wide spectrum of genres and styles, providing audiences with a unique cultural experience that's both inspiring and entertaining.

Royal Northern College of Music: A Cultural Hub of Diverse Musical Experiences

Our annual Christmas Family Day is one of our most popular events, welcoming families and children of all ages to enjoy creative activities, interactive workshops, and musical treats ahead of a film screening with live accompaniment. This year, we’re delighted to present Magic Light Pictures’ Stick Man with a live orchestral accompaniment as our feature film.

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RNCM Christmas Family Day: Stick Man

RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music)

Step into the eccentric and quirky world of Emmanuel Chabrier’s L’étoile, an opéra bouffe bursting with wit, satire, and fantastical music.  First performed in 1877, this opera unfolds in a fictional kingdom where King Ouf I, notorious for celebrating his birthday with a public execution, meets his match in the spirited peddler Lazuli.

Chabrier: L’étoile

In more recent years, her jazz/blues repertoire has seen Madeline play the world over, fronting the likes of the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and the BBC Big Band. In 2023, she celebrated her 80th birthday at her sold-out show at London’s Cadogan Hall with the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Jones.

RNCM Big Band with Madeline Bell (vocals)

Duo Bassalto welcomes pianist Lucian Amette Crosby for a concert with movement-inspired music written by Glière, Brazilian artist Luis Fonseca, and a world première by Sina Salour.

RNCM Spotlight: Sama

These forums offer a unique opportunity to engage with groundbreaking work, ask questions, and gain a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape of music research at the RNCM. Talks usually last about an hour, including a Q&A session. Join us in person or watch this session livestreamed.

RNCM Research Forum – Laura Ritchie

In disguise, whilst searching for his next victim, King Ouf encounters Lazuli who is heartbroken over a lost love.  After a heated exchange, the king sentences Lazuli to death only to be thwarted by the royal astrologer Siroco, whose predictions reveal Lazuli’s fate is closely linked to the king’s own mortality.  Consequently, Lazuli is spared and lavished with luxuries, but remains closely watched as he plots to win the heart of Laoula, the woman he loves.

An evening of music from the students at Xaverian College Manchester. Xaverian has the largest sixth form music department in the England.

Xaverian College

Experience a dynamic fusion of Eastern and Western musical heritage as Kuk Jin Kim’s Korean folk-inspired pieces meet Chopin’s Polish brilliance in this captivating recital.

RNCM Spotlight: Dance and National Identity

Join the adventurous ArkEnsemble and dancers from the internationally renowned Company Chameleon as they create a unique fusion of dance-theatre and evocative musical soundscapes. Transforming the stage into a vibrant, living canvas of artistic expression, they’ll explore the intricate connection between music and dance to unveil the profound emotions and stories that lie within each note and movement.

RNCM ArkEnsemble with Company Chameleon

Drop in during your lunch break and discover a wide range of performances for free with our Monday and Thursday Lunchtimes.

Thursday Lunchtimes: RNCM String Quartets

RNCM Research Forum – Matthew Barnard

Hear excerpts from David Bruce’s Gumboots and John Adams’ Alleged Dances, and experience a collaboration between the RNCM and the Northern Ballet School.

RNCM Spotlight: The Emerz Quartet

Sō Percussion is a leading percussion quartet and nonprofit organization that fosters, creates, and presents adventurous new work with a unique focus on collaboration. Fuelled by a belief in the unifying power of music, Sō Percussion brings the joy, curiosity, and inherent connectivity of percussion in all its forms to an ever-broader audience.

Sō Percussion and Caroline Shaw

Channelling the nostalgia of 80s pop with a modern, soulful touch, ‘Falling Deep’ sits somewhere between The Police and The Weeknd. The song is written and produced by renowned pop hitmakers PhD (who have worked with Kylie), with GRAMMY-winning songwriter David Brook (OneRepublic & Galantis) and Fraser Churchill (Charlie Puth). ‘Falling Deep’ speaks to the sweet surrender of giving into a new experience, however dangerous or out of control it makes you feel. It is the perfect introduction to Will’s first album of originals in five years.

Will Young – Plus special guests

In 1824, Schubert composed his six German Dances for his student and infatuation, Countess Caroline Esterházy. The music remained hidden in a private collection for nearly 70 years until it resurfaced decades after his death. Upon rediscovery, Universal Edition commissioned Anton Webern to arrange the work for chamber orchestra, resulting in a transformation praised as a ‘miracle of precision, tonal differentiation, and glowingly shaded colours’.

RNCM Chamber Orchestra: Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony

InSlideOut bring their newest programme, with works inspired by the sounds of Argentina, Japan, and the world of brass band. There’ll be something for everyone, so join us for a night of music that you’re bound to love! You’ve never heard a trombone quartet quite like this.

RNCM Spotlight: Trombone Treasures

Thursday Lunchtimes: RNCM Chamber Music Prize-winners

Hailed as one of the most intense and vibrant quartets of their generation, Elias formed at the RNCM in 1998 and have retained a strong association with the College ever since. We’re delighted to welcome them back to perform music they’ve formed deep connections with over the years.

Elias String Quartet

Donald’s newly commissioned work Thuit an Oidhche Oirnn (The Night Overtook Us) is inspired by the hardship, wild beauty and community spirit of an island winter. Joined by esteemed musical friends from Scotland, the concert will be woven together by traditional and contemporary Scottish tunes and Gaelic Songs arranged by Donald. This is a sumptuous orchestral feast celebrating folk roots, with a twist.

The Night Overtook Us

Royal Northern College of Music

Feeling isolated, preparing for your next audition? Join us as we examine every part of a professional orchestral audition. Watch and listen to the experts in this field sharing their knowledge with you. Take part, or come and observe, the choice is yours.

A Professional Development Day for Cellists: Tackling Orchestral Auditions

Since the mid-late 1990s, Kenny Anderson’s DIY pop alter-ego King Creosote has released over 100 records (at a relatively conservative guess), and his songs have been covered and performed by artists including Simple Minds and Patti Smith.

Many of his LPs, EPs and CDRs were self-released via Anderson’s homegrown Fife imprint, Fence-amid major label dalliances (2005’s KC Rules OK and 2007’s Bombshell on Warners), and a long-standing kinship with Domino Records, whose KC dispatches include Kenny and Beth’s Musakal Boat Rides (2003), the Mercury Prize-shortlisted Jon Hopkins union Diamond Mine (2011), and 2014’s From Scotland With Love, which soundtracked the award-winning film of the same name.

King Creosote plus Special Guests

Celebrated as an ‘eloquent trumpet soloist’ by The Times, Matilda Lloyd enthrals audiences with her exceptional artistry and communication. Her début album, Casta Diva, earned BBC Music Magazine’s Recording of the Month in June 2023, praised for its ‘intense expression and immense warmth’. She will be a European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) Rising Star for the 2024/25 season, performing on some of Europe’s most prestigious stages, and we’re delighted to welcome her to join forces with our Wind Orchestra.

RNCM Wind Orchestra: Dancing Galaxies

Thursday Lunchtimes: Ravel’s Piano Trio

Enjoy an extraordinary evening of talent that celebrates solo cello at its best. Past winners of this distinguished prize include Abel Selaocoe, Waynne Kwon, and Mikhail Nemtsov.

The John Barbirolli Memorial Prize for Cello

Experience a unique blend of seasoned artistry and fresh talent as Kathryn Stott joins student pianists for a captivating side-by-side performance of orchestral masterpieces for two pianos.

The Planets: Kathryn Stott (piano) and RNCM Pianists

Two piano students explore the timeless keyboard concertos of J S Bach, alternating between the solo part on a modern piano and the continuo line on harpsichord, and backed by a chamber string ensemble.

RNCM Spotlight: Bach Keyboard Concertos

2024 British Horn Festival

Using the unusual combination of euphonium and percussion, musicians explore themes of movement and physicality, including a world première of their new work.

RNCM Spotlight: Can You See the Sound?

Beautifully haunting and brimming with a spectrum of emotion, Górecki’s symphony embodies loss and grief, comfort and hope. Each of its three movements features a Polish lament that guides you on a captivating and cathartic adventure that offers solace, warmth and a sense of hope despite its underlying themes of grief.

Paraorchestra: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

Our Chamber Choir presents a programme inspired by folk melodies, song, and dance. From the haunting beauty of Seinn O to the vibrant rhythms of Sakkijarven Polkka, this is an afternoon of exquisite choral artistry that will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired.

Thursday Lunchtimes: RNCM Chamber Choir

Monday Lunchtimes

Join Manchester Musical Youth for their 10th anniversary celebration concert. This year marks a total of 10 years, 32 full scale productions and countless hours of work with Manchester’s most talented young musical theatre performers.

Manchester Musical Youth 10th Anniversary Concert

Described as the Messiah of its day, Elijah was premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival in front of a 2,000-strong audience. It has remained popular ever since, with performers and audiences alike enjoying its drama and beauty.

Salford Choral Society Presents Mendelssohn’s Elijah

After sixty years around the sun, Ron Sexsmith the, three time Juno award winning and internationally acclaimed songwriter, is set to perform a very special retrospective Sexsmith At Sixty concert at Manchester RNCM Theatre on 8 November 2024 and The London Palladium on 10 November 2024.

Ron Sexsmith – ‘Sexsmith at Sixty’

Legendary Scottish pop band Hue and Cry will be embarking on a special 40th Anniversary Tour in 2024tocommemorate their outstanding four-decade legacy. Brothers Patrick and Gregory Kane are set to take fans on a nostalgic journey through their illustrious career, delivering unforgettable performances with their full band.

Hue and Cry 40th Anniversary Full Band Tour 2024

Finalist of the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2020 and winner of the Rising Star category in the 2019 British Jazz Awards, Alex Clarke showcases her talent alongside renowned jazz pianist Dave Newton before we welcome southern Spain’s most celebrated flamenco-jazz artist, Antonio Lizana and his quintet, for the first time in Manchester.

Antonio Lizana Quintet

Part of RNCM Saxophone Day, our student saxophonists come together for a vibrant and rhythmic afternoon of music, featuring soloists Carl Raven and Gillian Blair. Highlighting the instrument’s remarkable versatility, this performance features intricate solos and bold ensemble passages, showcasing the richly textured soundscape that only a saxophone orchestra can deliver.

RNCM Saxophone Orchestra

We’re also thrilled to announce an incredible line-up of guest artists. Finalist of the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2020 and winner of the Rising Star category in the 2019 British Jazz Awards, Alex Clarke showcases her talent alongside renowned jazz pianist Dave Newton, before a stellar performance from the Antonio Lizana Quintet. From Andalusia to New York and beyond, Antonio Lizana is one of the most celebrated representatives of new Flamenco Jazz to come out of southern Spain.

RNCM Saxophone Day: Full Day Ticket

Dance and music are deeply intertwined, but this symphonic programme takes a bold departure from classics like Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Nowhere is this more evident than in Ravel’s La valse. Spinning through the shadowy corners of Viennese waltzes, the piece unfolds into a dark commentary on the chaos of post-World War I Europe and the remnants of a 19th century imperial society once obsessed with the waltz dance. Don’t be deceived by its elegant opening though; this journey was always destined to end in a tumultuous crash.

RNCM Symphony Orchestra: La valse

We’re delighted to feature our Junior Fellows in Chamber Music, Paddington Trio. Having first started their journey together at Paddington Station during the pandemic in 2020, the trio have quickly emerged as a unique and versatile ensemble. They are committed to building engaging concert programmes curated for changing times and audiences.

Thursday Lunchtimes: Paddington Trio

Join us for the Festival’s grand finale, featuring the powerful voices of the Pankisi Ensemble and Rokia Koné. Experience the ephemeral Sufi chants from the heart of Chechnya, paired with the deep, bluesy tones of the Malian griot tradition. This unforgettable and intimate performance will conclude our music and festival programme.

Salaam Festival Double Bill: Rokia Koné + Pankisi Ensemble

Feel the pulse of the dance floor as the RNCM Session Orchestra transforms electrifying dance anthems into powerful orchestral creations. From Madonna and CeCe Peniston to Becky Hill and Beyoncé, club tracks through the decades take on a new dimension, skilfully rearranged to showcase the full sound of an orchestra.

RNCM Session Orchestra: Dance Divas

Join Accent Brass for a programme of dances, including favourites by Bernstein and a world premiere by Joe Bloom.

RNCM Spotlight: Brass Meets Dance

Chausson and Fauré, along with Saint-Saëns, Henri Duparc, and Emmanuel Chabrier, were founding members of the Société Nationale de Musique. Their goal was to promote new works that embraced a true French style, moving away from German influences, especially in chamber music.

Thursday Lunchtimes: Les bonnes chansons

In Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant, a young man’s journey to America is marked by mistaken accusations of theft and an unexpected romance, delivering classic romcom charm with Chaplin’s signature wit. Meanwhile, Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. features the star as a lovesick cinema projectionist who, dreaming of heroism, finds himself embroiled in a humorous detective escapade.

Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin Double-Bill

Onyx Ensemble make their debut with a vibrant and diverse programme including chamber music by Franz Schubert and Danny Elfman.

RNCM Spotlight: The ONYX Ensemble

A pastoral pastiche, a fantastical farce. Bogus incantations and naive jealousy abound in this weird and wonderful opera by Mozart.

RNCM Spotlight: Bastien und Bastienne

As dusk drapes the world in velvet shadows, sleep whispers its invitation. It is here, in the quiet hours between night and dawn, where this music lives, embarking on a quest to discover what happens when we close our eyes. Journey through improvised soundscapes, poetry, and choral music by composers including Eric Whitacre, Laura Mvula, Vaughan Williams, and a new commission by Kristina Arakelyan to unveil the hidden landscapes of our dreams and the mysteries of the subconscious mind.

Kantos Chamber Choir: In Your Dreams

Multi-award-winning British pop star and actor Will Young is back with a new single, ‘Falling Deep’. The euphoric track is the first single taken from Will’s forthcoming ninth studio album, Light It Up, which is out on 9 August.

To celebrate the new album, Will is embarking on his most intimate tour yet – taking shape as an up close and personal evening of acoustic performances, stories and conversation. The 50-date UK tour will kick off in September through to November. About the tour, Young says: ‘I’m very excited to be going to a lot of places I haven’t been. I wanted to go to smaller venues so I could properly get around the country rather than just playing the big cities.’

Will Young

The multi award winning KNDS Fairey Band present a unique concert celebrating the 50 years (and counting!) of dedicated service by  former principal cornetist, Brian Taylor.

KNDS Fairey Band

New Dawn Fades: A Play About Joy Division and Manchester is the story of four ordinary lads who, inspired by the punk revolution of 1970s Manchester, came together to form one of the most influential bands of all time, Joy Division. Following the untimely death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band went on to huge world-wide success as New Order.

New Dawn Fades

Bestselling global sensation, Rebecca F. Kuang is the author of the ‘Hard to put down, harder to forget’ (Stephen King) satirical phenomenon Yellowface, inventive fantastical novel Babel and TikTok favourite The Poppy War trilogy. Both Yellowface and Babel were awarded Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and received critical acclaim. Rebecca’s ingenious novels explore Chinese history, the impact of the British Empire and racism in the publishing industry through fantasy and satire. She joins us to discuss her remarkable career, navigating genres, creating characters and literary influences.

An Audience with Rebecca F. Kuang

Our innovative Brand New Orchestra lights up the stage to conclude our In Focus events. Join us for an evening featuring new orchestral works by our students, along with a performance of Laurence Crane’s West Sussex Folk Material, which explores the interplay of expansive music through deliberately limited and static elements.

RNCM Brand New Orchestra: Laurence Crane In Focus

Meet Laurence as he joins performers on stage for an in-depth conversation. In between, our students will perform a selection of his solo works alongside a new work by one of our composition students.

In Conversation: Laurence Crane In Focus

Laurence Crane’s music stands out for its unique ability to sound simultaneously familiar and fresh. He reimagines basic musical elements like common chords, arpeggios, drones, and cadences, and places them within inventive frameworks. The result is a sound world that feels both comforting and novel, where traditional rhetoric finds new expression in contemporary spaces and the innateness of each element is put on centre display.

Thursday Lunchtimes: Laurence Crane In Focus

Following their London Coliseum debut earlier this year, The Van Morrison Alumni Band are set to bring their unique concert to theatres this Autumn, bringing to the stage the music and words of one of the most notable musicians of the 20th century, Sir Van Morrison.

With a run of shows throughout October and November, expect to hear hits from Van Morrison’s extensive archive of 44 studio albums, including ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, ‘Moondance’, ‘Days Like This’ and ‘Into the Mystic’.

The Van Morrison Alumni Band

Renowned author and animator James Mayhew brings his illustrations to life right before your eyes, while our talented students perform beloved orchestral favourites. Wrangle with the magic broom in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice or soar to new heights in Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, all inspired by James’ critically acclaimed children’s book Once Upon A Tune and the eagerly anticipated A Symphony of Stories.

RNCM Young Explorers: A Symphony of Stories

No Rolls Barred is one of the UK’s top tabletop channels on YouTube, a bunch of friends and comedians playing board games to show you just how fun board gaming can be.

No Rolls Barred

But it’s not over yet… With a tour aptly named ‘A Long Long Goodbye’, Oysterband will be bowing-out in style with a year of unmissable shows planned at some of their favourite haunts, where they will be performing a career-spanning set, including highlights of their collaborations with June Tabor.

Oysterband and June Tabor

After 10 seasons starring on Bravo’s biggest show, Below Deck, Captain Lee Rosbach sailed his way into viewers’ hearts, becoming a beloved fan favourite and household name with over a million social media followers. While the ‘stud of the sea‘ never even saw the ocean until he moved to Turks & Caicos at the age of 35, the Saginaw Michigan native has spent the past three decades circling the globe as a mega yacht captain known for his witty one-liners and no-nonsense attitude.

AEG Presents Nightcap: An Evening with Captain Lee

After 45 years on the road, the legendary Canterbury-formed collective will be hanging up their touring boots and bringing their unique partnership with the English folk songstress to a worthy conclusion.

But it’s not over yet… With a tour aptly named ‘A Long Long Goodbye’, Oysterband will be bowing-out in style with a year of unmissable shows planned at some of their favourite haunts, where they will be performing a career-spanning set, including highlights of their collaborations with June Tabor.

Ardentia Trio presents a programme exploring physical and musical colour, as well as the influence of Welsh and Inuit dance traditions.

RNCM Spotlight: Ardentia Trio

Tchaikovsky said his Serenade for Strings was ‘a piece from the heart’. Beloved by the composer and audiences alike, it’s a technicolour, opulent romance. Here, it’s given a Collective twist, blurring into music that lives closer to the present day.

Manchester Collective: Fever Dreams

Thursday Lunchtimes: RNCM Brass Band

Laurence Osborn reflects on the image of the keyboard in his works involving piano, harpsichord, and electronic sampler. According to Laurence, ‘The image of the keyboard stands for various tensions and issues in music practice that interest me as a composer, and that I have tried to explore in the pieces surveyed here. Two pieces for harpsichord and ensemble, Automaton (2019) and Coin Op Automata (2021), depict the harpsichord as a site of elision between human and mechanism. Absorber (2019) is written for both piano and sampler played simultaneously and repurposes relics of late-twentieth-century ‘keyboardism’. TOMB!(2022) draws on the uncanny image of Nancarrow’s piano in its exploration of deadness andre-animation. My forthcoming piano concerto, Schiller’s Piano (2024), is about the forced construction of a hollow replica of Schiller’s piano at Buchenwald concentration camp in1943. Here, the soloist alternates between piano and sampler, aurally ‘building’ the piano using recordings taken from piano construction‘.

RNCM Research Forum – Laurence Osborn

Three decades ago, two young men embarked on their comedy careers, forming a bond like brothers and rising to become prominent figures in UK comedy, excelling in stand-up and film, while influencing a new generation of comedians entering the industry. As they mark their 30-year milestone, we honour Richard Blackwood & Danny Gray Slim, joined by a talented group of up-and-coming comedians to watch out for.

30 years of Richard & Slim

Tom’s 9th studio album is an album of duets with some of his favourite French artists. McRae decided to collaborate on these 11 new songs with various artists as a way of acknowledging his deep love of French music, and deepen his relationship with mainland Europe, following Britain’s disastrous decision to leave the EU.

Tom McRae

Jasdeep is redefining the musical landscape for his peers and future generations with his extraordinary skill for blending Western and Indian classical music traditions. He remains true to his roots through the gayaki ang style of sitar, which mimics the human voice, while always seeking to push beyond the boundaries.

Jasdeep Singh Degun (sitar)

Inhabiting their own style that blends Mediterranean folk song, chamber music, improvisation, and acoustic jazz, this renowned trio shares stories and soundscapes collected from their travels.

Alice Zawadzki | Fred Thomas | Misha Mullov-Abbado

Following a revered debut at The Roundhouse’s In The Round Festival in April, ‘The Songs of Joni Mitchell’ will be performed in Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow in September 2024.

The Songs of Joni Mitchell

Featuring the incredible voice of Rob Lamberti, this show has wowed audiences around the country and Europe and lifted them to their feet, in a dynamic show that tactfully and appropriately celebrates the career of one of the most gifted performers of a generation.

Rob Lamberti Presents Perfectly George

Hundreds of young brass musicians and percussionists have graduated from the Wigan Music Service brass department and the flagship Wigan Youth Brass Band. This concert showcases the work of the current brass and percussion departments throughout 2024.

Wigan Music Service Presents: Brass and Percussion in Concert

Wigan Youth Orchestra is delighted to welcome former students and ensemble members, Owen Parr (piano) and Joshua Hales (organ) to perform in this concert.  Josh Hales is also a former Music Service student who was organ scholar at Oxford University before becoming organist at Sheffield Cathedral.

Wigan Youth Orchestra in Concert

Altrincham and Sale Choral societies join forces in celebration of Steven Roberts 30 years as Conductor of ACS in what is widely regarded as Elgar’s finest choral work The Dream of Gerontius.

Dream of Gerontius

Little Belters and Absolute Belters celebrate another year of signing together. They return to the RNCM for their annual end of season showcase concert!

Little Belters End of Year Concert

Wigan Music Service present a varied programme of string repertoire ranging from popular arrangements to classical favourites, performed by Wigan Junior, Intermediate and Youth String Orchestras.

Wigan Music Service Strings In Concert

Join Trafford Music Service for their annual end of year showcase, celebrating the milestones and achievements of their students.

Trafford Music Service is committed to continuing to provide high-quality music-making opportunities for all children and young people in Trafford. As part of Trafford Council, they are proud to be working in partnership with all Trafford Primary schools and an increasing number of secondary schools.

Trafford Music Service Summer Concert 1

Trafford Music Service is committed to continuing to provide high-quality music-making opportunities for all children and young people in Trafford. As part of Trafford Council, they are proud to be working in partnership with all Trafford Primary schools and an increasing number of secondary schools.

Trafford Music Service Summer Concert 7

Trafford Music Service Summer Concert 6

Trafford Music Service is committed to continuing to provide high-quality music-making opportunities for all children and young people in Trafford. As part of Trafford Council, they are proud to be working in partnership with all Trafford Primary schools and an increasing number of secondary schools.

As well as high-quality music-making opportunities in schools, they offer out-of-hours opportunities and progression routes through their Music Centres and Youth Orchestras and target support to enable access to music-making for vulnerable families.

Trafford Music Service Summer Concert 5

Trafford Music Service Summer Concert 3

Trafford Music Service Summer Concert 4

Trafford Music Service Summer Concert 2

For one night only, musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music will transform Manchester Museum into an immersive experience where the allure of music meets the awe of nature.

Nature’s Music

Manchester Museum

We’re thrilled to announce our very first Community Opera production. Working with the eminent composer and conductor Kate Pearson and celebrated director Jonathan Ainscough, our Community Chorus have written a brand-new opera to perform alongside our students. We’ll also be joined by local community organisations, including The Circus House, Sing it! Youth Choir, Chorus of Others, Holy Name Primary School and St Philip’s Primary School.

RNCM Community Opera: Silverwood

A unique artistic partnership, BBC Radio 3 musician Delia Stevens and three-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year nominee Will Pound are known for innovatively blending classical and folk traditions – much like Holst did himself. Now, alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the next generation of musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music, they come together to breathe new life into four movements of The Planets – melding orchestral elements with everything from reggae to bossa nova and bluegrass.

The Silent Planet

Spring Snow weaves the tales of Yasuna, a distinguished Kabuki play from 1818, and Schubert’s timeless Winterreise, from 1827, into a rich tapestry of profound emotion. As grief shatters the souls of both Schubert’s Wanderer and Yasuna, they descend into the depths of self-discovery, and it is here, where this performance unfurls like a delicate bloom.

A Kabuki Winterreise: Spring Snow

Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii has been hailed as ‘one of the most unique classical pianists performing today’ (Classical Voice) and ‘the definition of virtuosity’ (The Observer). He has been blind from birth, and since winning the joint Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, he has gone on to earn an international reputation for the passion and excitement he brings to his live performances.

Nobuyuki Tsujii (piano)

If chamber performances originally took place in homes, then the perfect setting for The Big House would be a derelict mansion. Oliver Leith’s piece is uncanny yet alluring – like the beckoning pull of the dark basement door. Quiet, spectral strings will haunt you long after the end.

Manchester Collective: Hidden Mechanisms

Fairport Convention have been entertaining music lovers for over half a century, having formed in 1967. During that time the band that launched British folk-rock has seen many changes, but one thing has remained the same – Fairport’s passion for performance.

Fairport Convention

Now two decades into her career, Pallot’s rich and varied back catalogue suggests an artist determined on carving her own path, and as a live performer she has built a reputation as a peerless musician who is as compelling solo as she is with a full band. After a sell-out show at the London Palladium in 2024, where she played the entirety of Fires, she is taking the same show to other UK cities. Featuring a full band and string section, it promises to be a magical night encompassing her most loved album and songs from across her career, including those from her latest album A Psalm For Emily Salvi. Born from an unexpected connection, the record is both a love letter to those who have supported her over the years and a tribute to the power of music in the face of adversity.

Live Nation presents Nerina Pallot

Bill Laurance & Michael League

Ever felt overstimulated by your phone screen? Ben Nobuto’s SERENITY 2.0 is a glitched-out collage of frenzied strings, percussion and samples. It cycles restlessly through Japanese pop, news anchors, and vocal-fried YouTubers – but the calm after the doomscrolling is worth the ride.

Manchester Collective: SERENITY 2.0

Manchester Camerata, with its Music Director Gábor Takács-Nagy, Principal Cellist, Hannah Roberts, and students from the RNCM breathe life into an evening of extraordinary works.

Manchester Camerata and RNCM present: Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

Manchester Camerata, with its Music Director Gábor Takács-Nagy, Principal Cellist, Hannah Roberts, and students from the RNCM breathe life into an evening of extraordinary works.

Dvořák wrote his Cello Concerto in 1894 during his final academic year in the US. It became one of his most personal, contemplative pieces filled with monumental expression.

Jonathan Biss is celebrated for his profoundly insightful interpretations of classical masterpieces and his ambition to bridge the gap between these timeless works and today’s audiences. He plays with such joy and artistry that BBC Music Magazine wrote ‘it’s hard to think of another pianist who communicates such a sense of sheer delight’. In this programme, Biss pairs two of Schubert’s three last sonatas with a piece by Tyshawn Sorey.

Jonathan Biss (piano)

Prepare be taken back through the history of country music featuring songs from Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Garth Brooks right through to Taylor Swift and Luke Combs.

Country Hits Live

Performed by a cast of multi award-winning musicians and singers, Country Hits Live will celebrate the atmosphere and energy of an evening in the home of country music.

Prepare be taken back through the history of country music featuring songs from Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Garth Brooks right through to Taylor Swift and Luke Combs.

Mary Coughlan is often described as the greatest female vocalist that Ireland has ever produced, standing alongside some of the world’s most iconic jazz singers. She is unique in blending whisky-blurred, smoke-seared, husky notes with the laconic wit of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee. She draws the line of deep, down and dirty blues singers back to Bessie Smith with the sardonic, bitter-sweet defiance and despair of Edith Piaf. Yet Mary Coughlan delivers it all in a delicious and unapologetic Irish drawl: sceptical, rueful, mournful and melting and ardent for love.

Mary Coughlan

Bringing performers and audience into the very heart of the music, the Ensemble is set free to create a striking visual representation of the patterns, intricacies, and passion of these iconic works. This is music that encompasses the entire human emotional spectrum. From the darkest, most desolate despair, the kind that burrows into the corners of your psyche, to utter euphoria, the kind that sets you free. This is the human condition painted in high intensity colours.

Scottish Ensemble: Impulse – Music in Motion

With over 100 million views and more than 6 million followers on social media, Tony has introduced younger generations to neoclassical music through his ‘#playthatword‘ series. In partnership with Decca Records France (Universal Music Group), he released a trilogy of EPs—Emotionally Blue, Orange, and Red—exploring diverse human emotions.

Royal Northern College of Music

Jan 17, 2025

A Kabuki Winterreise: Spring Snow

Feb 3, 2025

Nobuyuki Tsujii (piano)

Feb 7, 2025

Manchester Collective: Hidden Mechanisms

Feb 13, 2025

Fairport Convention

Feb 15, 2025

Live Nation presents Nerina Pallot

Dec 15, 2024

RNCM Christmas Family Day: Stick Man

Dec 14, 2024

Chabrier: L’étoile

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Royal Northern College of Music