About us

Oh hey there

No Dice Collective group photo

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.

Sophie Sully studies a score during a CD recording

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.

No Dice Players

Joe Chesterman-March smiling in rehearsal with No Dice

Joe Chesterman-March

Conductor/Founder

Georgia Affonso performs her piece about the Christmas apocalypse

Georgia Affonso

Manager

Mabon Jones smiling outside the International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Mabon Jones

Violin 1

Joscelyn Hilder playing violin in MUMS Orchestra

Joscelyn Hilder

Violin 2

Dominic Skingle playing his viola

Dominic Skingle

Viola

Anna Galloway playing cello for MUMS Orchestra

Anna Galloway

Cello

Jeremy Salter performing in the IABF

Jeremy Salter

Flute

Katherine Blumer in performance with No Dice Collective at IABF

Katherine Blumer

Clarinet

Dan Nolan, Jeremy Salter and Josh Beachell group photo

Dan Nolan

Percussion

Dominic Skingle, Jasmin Allpress and Libby Sherwood group photo

Jasmin Allpress

Piano

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