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Principal's Notice: International Chairs - David Hill and Kristian Steenstrup

P/18/23

International Chair Appointments

I am delighted to announce the appointments of David Hill and Kristian Steenstrup as International Chairs in Choral Conducting and Wind and Brass Pedagogy, respectively.

British conductor and organist David Hill is Musical Director of the Bach Choir, Principal Conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum, Musical Director of Leeds Philharmonic Society and Associate Guest Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He was Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007 to September 2017 and is a former Music Director of Southern Sinfonia. He has also appeared as Guest Conductor with orchestras and choirs in the UK and internationally, including the BBC, Copenhagen and London Philharmonics, Hallé, Sydney Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra, as well as the Netherlands Radio Choir and RIAS Chamber Choir in Berlin.

His broad-ranging discography of over 80 recordings, spans repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day and includes many award-winning titles. A champion of new music, he has premiered works from leading composers including Judith Bingham, Bob Chilcott, Gabriel Jackson, James Macmillan, Philip Moore, Sir John Tavener and Jonathan Dove.

In March this year, Mr Hill was presented with the Royal College of Organists Medal, in recognition of his distinguished achievements in choral conducting and organ playing. He took up his role as International Chair in September.

Danish trumpeter Kristian Steenstrup graduated from the Northwestern University of Chicago in 1990 and the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus in 1992. He joined the teaching staff as Associate Professor of Trumpet 10 years later and has held the position of Professor of Trumpet since 2013.

An expert in breathing technique for brass and woodwind players, Mr Steenstrup has presented masterclasses throughout the world and has written two books, Teaching Brass (2007) and Blow Your Mind (2017).

Mr Steenstrup is currently on a research grant from the Danish Ministry of Culture to explore the efficiency of mental practice, particularly motor and auditory visualization in trumpet players. He takes up his role as International Chair at the RNCM in January 2019.

Professor Linda Merrick
RNCM Principal

Conferences - October 12 and 19

Please note that on Friday 12 and Friday 19 October the RNCM’s concourse areas will be busier than usual due to large conferences taking place at the College.

Friday 12 October, 9am – 5pm: Young Voices
Friday 19October, 9am – 6.30pm: NUX7

We are also hosting the Care Leaver Awards from 5.30pm on Thursday 18 October, which includes a buffet on the concourse.

Thank you for your patience and understanding at these particularly busy times. All monies generated from our conference activity are fed back into the College to support the student experience.

BBC Music Introducing Live 18!

Tobacco Dock, London on 8 - 10 November 2018

The UK’s music industry comes together for a fantastic three days of inspiring masterclasses, interactive sessions and workshops, culminating in some very special live performances, broadcast on the BBC.

BBC Radio will also be broadcasting live from the heart of the event throughout the three days on Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, 5Live, 6 Music and Asian Network.

The event will include a range of over 400 speakers from artists such as Example, Tom Grennan and The Amazons, through to huge industry players such as Glastonbury’s head-honcho Emily Eavis, producer Frazer T Smith and Adele’s manager, Jonathan Dickins from September Management. Plenty of BBC DJs will be there including Annie Mac, Lauren Laverne, Huw Stephens, Danny Howard, DJ Target, Steve Lamacq, Phil Taggart, Tom Robinson and many more.

There are masterclasses on how to get a job in the music business and getting funding for your music career through to how to get a job in music PR. If you are a musician there are sessions on how to build a social media following, a DIY guide on how to get your music out there, panels on how to get festival bookings and song writing workshops – plus hundreds more. Visitors will be able to have their music heard in the A&R Feedback Centre, visit endless music brands and manufacturers, gain practical advice from world class recording engineers from Abbey Road Studios, the BBC and more, through to a UK Music Careers Fair, Independent Label Market, live music, opportunities to perform and plenty of bars to relax and network along the way!

For more information, please visit www.introducinglive.co.uk

Tickets are priced at £10 a day or £25 for the full weekend. If students are interested in attending, please purchase your ticket from here and sign up to the newsletter to receive exclusive pre-sale codes and special offers.

Adam Croucher: Deputy Head of Registry

I am pleased to announce that Adam Croucher has been appointed to the new post of Deputy Head of Registry, commencing on Monday 8October. Adam has worked at the College since 2005. His early role was based within Student Finance, and for a number of years he worked as Assistant Head of Registry (Student Finance and Wellbeing). This new post, which encompasses his current role, will enable him to work on initiatives to develop, formalise and oversee a number of processes that are handled across the different teams within Registry. He will work alongside me in developing and achieving the goals of the department, and will deputise as appropriate. This will in turn assist me in concentrating on strategic initiatives and planning, working alongside the new Director of Finance and Strategic Planning, Michèle Holden. Team and line management across Registry will remain unchanged.

I hope you will join me in congratulating and welcoming Adam in to his new role.

Stuart Sephton
Head of Registry

Join the RNCM Student Programming Team!

The RNCM Student Programming Team is a new group made up of students from across all years and courses, who:

- spend the year learning about artistic programming in a combined venue/conservatoire

- represent the student body and input the student voice into programme planning

- actively take part in programming projects

We are looking for students who:

- are interested in artistic programming and more generally the ‘behind-the-scenes’ activity of the College

- are open-minded, enjoy attending concerts, and have a broad enthusiasm for music of different genres

- may wish to pursue programming/arts administration/events management as a future career path

We are actively seeking between 4 and 6 students from different courses (pop/classical) and across undergraduate/postgraduate.

We will organise sessions/meetings around the team’s availability, and will generally have a flexible and organic approach as to how the activity of the team develops over the course of the year. We expect this will amount to approximately 30 hours in total.

Being a member of the team is entirely extra-curricular and does not count for any credits towards your degree, but we would expect students to commit to being a member of the team for the entirety of the academic year.

Here are a few final incentives in case you’re still not sure…

- a limited number of free tickets to concerts

- the opportunity to make a difference to programming at the RNCM

- a boost to your CV and the potential to request references into the future

- learn from and be part of a welcoming, friendly, experienced team

If you are interested in being a member of the RNCM Student Programming Team, please e-mail Matt Whitham matt.whitham@rncm.ac.uk by Monday 1 October at 12pm with:

- your name

- your year

- your course and principal study (instrument/voice/composer)

- and no more than 300 words about why you would like to put yourself forward to be a member of the team

Depending on the number of applications we receive, we will hold interviews in early October.

Richard Collins

Head of Programming

17.9.18

Professor Martin Harlow

P/18/22

Professor Martin Harlow

Following a lengthy and distinguished career, Professor Martin Harlow has announced his intention to leave the RNCM in April 2019 to pursue other avenues. Whilst there will be many opportunities over the coming months for us to thank Martin personally for all he has achieved on behalf of the RNCM, I am sure you would all wish to join me at this juncture in wishing him every success and happiness in the future.

On leaving the College, I am delighted that Martin will assume the title Emeritus Professor of the RNCM.

Professor Linda Merrick
Principal

TfGM: Share your views

Transport for Greater Manchester is currently running a conversation alongside Manchester and Salford City Councils to find out what people think of transport and public spaces in the city centre and what they’d like to see improved in the future.

Sharing your views couldn’t be easier as they’ve created an online survey which you can complete by visiting the ‘Your city centre is changing’ webpage.

The conversation is open until 17 October.

Head of the Graduate School - Dr David Horne

P/18/21

Head of the Graduate School – Dr David Horne

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dr David Horne to the post of Head of the Graduate School with immediate effect.

David has worked at the RNCM since 2001, initially as a composition tutor, from 2008 as a lecturer and more recently as Deputy Head of the Graduate School. He is a distinguished composer whose work has been commissioned and performed by major organisations across the world. His music is published by Boosey and Hawkes and has been recorded on labels including BMG and NMC. David is also an active pianist and is much in demand as an educator and mentor. He is director of the College’s newly established research centre HARP (Hub for Artistic Research in Performance).

David will lead the College through the next phase of developments to its taught postgraduate programmes and will surely bring the vitality and commitment that he has shown to the RNCM over an already distinguished career to his new role.

Professor Linda Merrick
Principal

Tweets by @RNCMvoice

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What's On

Mozart’s Unfinished Business

Wednesday 17 October 2018 4.15pm

Mozart’s Unfinished Business

Wednesday 17 October 2018 4.15pm
Forman Lecture Theatre

Professor Tim Jones (Royal Academy of Music)

In the last 10 years of Mozart’s life the ratio of unfinished works in progress to completed pieces is almost 1:1. Timothy Jones talks about how close reading of the fragments can contribute to an understanding of the stylistic development of Mozart’s music during his Vienna years, and discusses his project to produce performing editions and multiple completions of selected late fragments. As Paul Badura-Skoda commented ‘Before I read your commentary I couldn’t tell where Mozart ended and Jones began’.

Free admission, no ticket required

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RNCM Brass Band

Thursday 18 October 2018 1.15pm

RNCM Brass Band

Thursday 18 October 2018 1.15pm
RNCM Concert Hall

Judith Bingham Four Minute Mile Liz Lane Silver Rose Herbert Howells Pageantry

David Thornton, Peter Woffenden conductors

Free admission, no ticket required

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Henning Kraggerud with RNCM String Ensemble

Thursday 18 October 2018 7.30pm

Henning Kraggerud with RNCM String Ensemble

Thursday 18 October 2018 7.30pm
RNCM Concert Hall

Ludwig van Beethoven (arr Kraggerud) String Quartet in F minor Op 95 ‘Serioso’ Henning Kraggerud Suite from Equinox Edvard Grieg (arr Tognetti) String Quartet in G minor Op 27

Henning Kraggerud director, violin

Henning Kraggerud’s reputation precedes him. He takes well-known classical pieces and using his own, completely original approach, breaks traditional musical norms and revitalises the music with his enthusiastic interpretations.

We’ve already seen how he connects with our students during performances, working with them – as equals – and encouraging them to express themselves and to be free of convention. His concerts are a very different experience for players and audiences alike, a more collaborative event, as he teases out originality through his performance style and wider ideas. However, while the energy in the Concert Hall means that everybody is part of the creative process, he remains respectful of musical traditions.

As part of this approach, Henning will talk about the pieces being performed during the concert and if you would like to dig even deeper, you can hear him share more of his ideas in the pre-concert discussion.

Tickets £15 Students/Under 18s £5

+ 6.30pm // RNCM Concert Hall Q&A: 15 Minutes with Henning Kraggerud Free admission, no ticket required

Photo credit: Kaupo Kikkas

Book Now Thursday 18 October 7.30pm - Tickets £15
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Swiss Ambassador’s Award Concert: Orion String Trio

Friday 19 October 2018 7.30pm

Swiss Ambassador’s Award Concert: Orion String Trio

Friday 19 October 2018 7.30pm
RNCM Concert Hall

Ludwig van Beethoven String Trio in G major Op 9 No 1 Alfred Schnittke Trio for violin, viola and cello Thomas Demenga Palindromanie Ernst von Dohnányi Serenade in C major Op 10

Soyoung Yoon violin Veit Hertenstein viola Benjamin Gregor-Smith cello

Tickets £12 (includes complimentary programme and glass of sparkling Swiss wine)

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CMA Songwriters Series

Saturday 20 October 2018 7.00pm

CMA Songwriters Series

Saturday 20 October 2018 7.00pm
RNCM Theatre

Building on the annual sell-out success of the CMA Songwriters Series show in London during C2C Festival and following the first UK tour last autumn during the inaugural Country Music Week, the Country Music Association’s critically acclaimed CMA Songwriters Series returns to the UK 16 – 22 Oct. Hosted by Chris DeStefano, the lineup also features Kassi Ashton, Ashley Campbell, and Tenille Townes.

CMA Songwriters Series has a track record of launching new artists through its intimate storytelling format, which allows audiences to get to know the artists, their journey and the stories behind their songs. The two-hour seated show features the artists together on stage, taking turns sharing a story before performing their song acoustically. Each CMA Songwriters Series is unique—uplifting, amusing and often emotional, leaving audiences feeling closer to the artists and the music.

‘Presenting this very Nashville experience in an international setting not only makes for a magical evening, but it truly forges a deeper connection to the music for new audiences. The artists on this tour represent a true cross section of Country Music and we’re honoured to be part of their journey as they build their international base.’ Milly Olykan, CMA Vice President.

Tickets £17.50 advance No concessions

Promoted by C2C and SJM Concerts

Book Now Saturday 20 October 7.00pm - Tickets £17.50
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Karine Polwart

Saturday 20 October 2018 7.30pm

Karine Polwart

Saturday 20 October 2018 7.30pm
RNCM Concert Hall

Karine Polwart is a multi-award-winning songwriter and musician, a theatre maker, storyteller, spoken-word performer, essayist, and published writer.

Karine will be touring in 2018 with her trio – long-term collaborators brother Steven Polwart (guitars) & Inge Thomson (accordion, percussion) – and releasing a new studio album Laws of Motion in Autumn 2018.

Book Now Saturday 20 October 7.30pm - Tickets £20
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Monday Recital Series

Monday 22 October 2018 1.15pm

Monday Recital Series

Monday 22 October 2018 1.15pm
RNCM Concert Hall

Maurice Ravel La valse

Nadya Kiseleva, Kanako Mizuno piano

Felix Mendelssohn Beati mortui Op 115 No 1 Brian Schmidt O Magnum Mysterium Traditional (arr Erb) Shenandoah The Crew Cuts (arr Gravenhorst) Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)

Thomas Ashdown, Harri Graham, Samuel Knock tenor Emyr Jones baritone Samuel Snowden bass-baritone Wilcox Leung bass

Free admission, no ticket required

FREE
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Liza Ferschtman and Martin Roscoe

Monday 22 October 2018 7.30pm

Liza Ferschtman and Martin Roscoe

Monday 22 October 2018 7.30pm
RNCM Concert Hall

Single Tickets on sale from Saturday 01 September at 11am

Benjamin Britten Suite for violin and piano Op 6 Edward Elgar Sonata in E minor Op 82 Eugène Ysaÿe Sonata for solo violin in A minor Op 27 No 2 César Franck Sonata in A major

Photo credit: Marco Borggreve (Ferschtman) Photo credit: Eric Richmond (Roscoe)

Book Now Monday 22 October 7.30pm - Tickets £25
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Benedict Allen

Monday 22 October 2018 7.30pm

Benedict Allen

Monday 22 October 2018 7.30pm
RNCM Theatre

Benedict is recognised as one of the last ‘Great Explorers’ and for being the first to record his arduous and treacherous exploits without a TV crew: he has been making documentaries for the BBC since the 1980s, has 10 published books and his countless tales of his adventures form the basis of his motivational and captivating talks.

Recently, Benedict has attracted global media attention after his latest solo expedition to the heart of Papua New Guinea encountered a string of devastating obstacles. Benedict’s aim had been to reach the remote Yaifo community, who befriended him when he made first ‘outside contact’ with them as a very young man 30 years ago. Having tackled the notorious Central Range, Benedict then found himself trapped in an area of forest where local communities were at war. Already suffering from both malaria and dengue fever, he then faced a series of freak storms. A multi-national search-and-rescue mission was launched – and Benedict at last extracted by helicopter. These days a family man with three young children, Benedict himself believed to the end that he would, as ever, somehow find a way out. See Benedict’s first interview about his venture here.

Benedict’s footage is also being made into a television documentary which we expect to broadcast on our screens next year before the tour.

Book Now Monday 22 October 7.30pm - Tickets £17.50
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The Music of the Primes

Tuesday 23 October 2018 7.30pm

The Music of the Primes

Tuesday 23 October 2018 7.30pm
RNCM Concert Hall

For mathematicians, prime numbers are the most beautiful yet enigmatic numbers on the mathematical books. Could music help us to hear these numbers in a new way? In a new collaboration from PRISM, we explore the link between music and maths. But don’t worry, you don’t have to be a maths whiz to learn something new…

Professor Marcus du Sautoy presents the mathematical story of The Music of the Primes. Hear RNCM students respond in their own individual way to the twists and turns of this unfinished mathematical saga, in four new short commissions for instrumental quartets.

Afterwards, du Sautoy will explore how Messiaen’s famous piece The Quartet for the End of Time exploits fascinating mathematical ideas including an extraordinary example of prime numbers to create a sense of never-ending time.

Read more about PRiSM at www.rncm.ac.uk/prism

This event is part of Manchester Science Festival

This will be a truly illuminating event, from which you will gain an insight into the fascinating and often surprising links between music and maths. And don’t fear if it’s been a while since you’ve practised your equations – you don’t need to be Pythagoras to take something interesting away from the evening! Read full article at Creative Tourist

Book Now Tuesday 23 October 7.30pm - Tickets £6
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