About us

Oh hey there

In a nutshell

Founded in 2015 to get more new music commissioned and performed at the University of Manchester, we’ve had several sell-out performances around Manchester, debuted Anthony Burgess’ work and performed at Kendal Calling festival. Made up of professional musicians from the University of Manchester and RNCM, we commission composers to collaborate with other art forms, write to interesting themes, and celebrate new music in Manchester.

Projects

Artists commissioned

Contemporary pieces performed

Our Players

Our players benefit from an exceptional degree of autonomy within the ensemble. Although most pieces are conducted, players get a big say in interpretation and are proactive and engaged in the rehearsal process. They comment on how to best achieve the composer’s intentions musically and technically, which creates a shared sense of ownership over the performance. We offer them performance opportunities within our projects and make time to workshop any pieces they have been working on.

Our Composers

We greatly value the composers that work with us and aim to provide long-term support by re-commissioning some of our most successful collaborators. We often offer workshops during the composition period to let composers hear their sketches and learn what is working. We also welcome their input at rehearsals to make sure they are happy with how their piece is coming together, and provide high quality footage of our performances, helping them apply to other schemes in the future and develop their career.

Our Audience

Working with our audience has easily been the biggest journey, and one which we feel really sets us apart. As members of the ‘young’ demographic ourselves, we have an inherent understanding of how the younger generation are engaging with classical music. We communicate with our audience authentically on social media, create concert themes that don’t require pre-existing knowledge of the pieces, and collaborate with other art forms to create a way into contemporary classical music like our words+music projects.