For one night only: RNCM takes over the Manchester Museum for Nature’s Music, live ensembles amongst the museum’s collections

Nature’s Music – RNCM at the Manchester Museum (Photo: ©RNCM)

On Saturday 6 July 2024, the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) will take over the galleries of the Manchester Museum and present Nature’s Music, an immersive show that puts live ensembles amongst the Museum’s collections. RNCM students and guest artists will play well-loved and modern compositions inspired by the natural world, including a rare arrangement of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending for violin and chamber choir.

Visitors will take a nocturnal journey through Living Worlds and Nature’s Library, the Fossils and Dinosaurs and South Asia galleries, and more, experiencing musical interpretations of birdsong, wind and water, land and sky, and compositions that conjure up England, Egypt, China, and beyond. Performers will include guest artists Trees.R.Good and the RNCM’s new Community Chorus will be performing too.

Tickets for Nature’s Music are available from the RNCM website.

Nature’s Music is part of the RNCM’s The Future is Green, a campaign to use music as a catalyst to spark discussion about the climate emergency as the college actively seeks to reduce its carbon footprint. The Future is Green reflects concerns of the college’s current students and the conservatoire’s long-standing interest in supporting Greater Manchester’s net zero targets.

Other events as part of The Future is Green include Ancient and Natural Worlds (14 June), a free concert of music by Britten and Julia Usher exploring the wonders of the world; The Silent Planet (3 July 2024), a reimagining of Holst’s The Planets from Delia Stevens and BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year, Will Pound, with RNCM musicians, players from Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and youth-led climate activists Force of Nature, and featuring an original new movement called ‘Earth’. Silverwood (4-5 July 2024), RNCM Community Opera with the college’s new Community Chorus telling the story of a local green space under threat from developers, written by the Chorus and current students alongside composer and conductor Kate Pearson and director Jonathan Ainscough.

Further information from the RNCM website.