RNCM PRiSM

On the left is a picture of the RNCM building in the snow and under a clear blue sky. On the right is text announcement reading: Full Research Degree Awarding Powers: The RNCM has been authorised by the Office for Students to grant Research awards, with Full Degree Awarding Powers up to and including Level 8. Read more: rncm.ac.uk/news

On the left is a picture of Professor Wiebke Thormählen, RNCM's Director of Research. On the right is Wiebke's comments following the announcement of this exciting news: "RNCM's vibrant research culture is central to the institution's ethos and learning environment. The authorisation of Full Degree Awarding Powers is a key piece in upholding and continually enhancing the music industry training that we provide for students across all levels of study".

Our Spring Term has just begun and we're kicking off 2026 with some exciting news!

The RNCM has been authorised by the Office for Students (OfS) to grant Research awards, giving us Full Degree Awarding Powers up to and including Level 8.

Read the full announcement:
🔗 www.rncm.ac.uk/news/rncm-se...

Huge congratulations to our colleagues at the RNCM Library for winning #THEAwards (aka 'the Oscars of higher education') Outstanding Library Team 2025! 🎉🍾🌟

@rncmlive.bsky.social
@rncmresearch.bsky.social
@wiebket.bsky.social
@timeshighered.bsky.social

www.rncm.ac.uk/news/rncm-wi...

Huge congratulations to Buff who has done it again - this time with his Tearjerker album, nominated for a 2026 Grammy! Fingers crossed! @rncmlive.bsky.social @rncmprism.bsky.social @rncmresearch.bsky.social

On Mon 24 Nov at King's College London, Prof Emily Howard (Director PRiSM & Head of Artistic Research) will join speakers from mathematical, engineering, performance & composition backgrounds to explore how creativity connects music & maths in new & inspiring ways:

🎟️ marc.kcl.ac.uk/2025/11/seei...

Event poster with a collage of panelists' headshots in the background (Prof Marcus du Sautoy - top left, Prof Emily Howard - top right, Dr Lauren Redhead - bottom left, Elaine Chew - bottom right). On the foreground is event title and subtitle - Seeing the Unseeable: Exploring the creative process in music and maths.

Seeing the Unseeable | Public discussion w/Rachel Bearon, Emily Howard, Elaine Chew, Marcus du Sautoy & Lauren Redhead

📆 Mon 24 Nov 2025
🕖 7-8:30pm
📍Edmond J. Safra Lecture Theatre KCL
🔗 marc.kcl.ac.uk/2025/11/seei...

@kingsnmes.bsky.social
@marcusdusautoy.bsky.social
@laurenredhead.bsky.social

📣 Fully-funded PhD studentships at the RNCM #AHRCCraftingCareDFC

📆 Expressions of Interest due 1 December 2025 ⏱️

Details:
🔗 www.rncm.ac.uk/news/rncm-an...

Echoing @michelle-phillips.bsky.social - wonderful talk from Prof Ian Cross & Dr David Duncan (Uni of Cambridge) at the RNCM Research Forum yesterday, sharing important findings on the interplay of music notation & sightreading accuracy as part of their ongoing Score Design for Music Reading project

RNCM Research Forum: Professor Ian Cross, Dr David Duncan and Katya Ness - Royal Northern College of Music The RNCM is a leading international conservatoire and live music venue in the heart of Manchester

At 4.15pm today, Professor Ian Cross, Dr David Duncan, and Katya Ness will share their Leverhulme-funded Score Design for Music Reading project with us at the RNCM (@rncmlive.bsky.social) in our Research Forum. You can join us for this too – details in the link below.
www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/...

Research - Royal Northern College of Music A unique environment for music research, the RNCM offers Postgraduate Research Degrees and a diverse range of research events.

Hello! @rncmresearch.bsky.social might be new to Bluesky, but we've been researching #music in the heart of Manchester @oxrdmcr.bsky.social for over fifty years. We look forward to being part of the Bluesky community. You can find out more about us here: www.rncm.ac.uk/research/

Statistical Alchemy: Vicky Clarke’s Journey into AI and Sonic Materiality Artist Vicky Clarke explores AI, sound and Manchester’s industrial heritage in Latent Spaces, her immersive new installation.

🔊 “Statistical Alchemy”. Artist Vicky Clarke (@sonamb.bsky.social) takes us inside AI, sonic materiality and Manchester’s spectral aura.

@futureeverything.bsky.social | @rncmprism.bsky.social

Check out the @ox.ac.uk news piece to find out more about our world premiere of Dangerous Matter @rncmlive.bsky.social last week!
🔗https://www.immunology.ox.ac.uk/news/world-premiere-of-dangerous-matter-opera-inspired-by-vaccine-science-and-history-as-part-of-thanks-for-the-memories-project

The opera is the result of a 3 year collaboration between Zakiya Leeming at @rncmprism.bsky.social and Prof. Paul Klenerman @ox.ac.uk supported by @wellcometrust.bsky.social - with a huge range of support and participation from scientists and musicians across Oxford and @manchester.ac.uk 🥳

What a night! A HUGE congratulations to everyone involved in bringing Dangerous Matter to life @rncmlive.bsky.social last night - we're still buzzing from the brilliant performance!

Today's the day! Here's a sneak peek of the world premiere of Dangerous Matter, showing tonight at the RNCM at 7pm - grab your ticket now! www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/...

Poster showing "Dangerous Matter - A New Opera | World Premiere, 7pm 24 June | Royal Northern College of Music | Book: www.rncm.ac.uk" against an abstract background image depicting a network of viruses floating in the universe.

🎤 OPERA PREMIERE | 7pm, 24 June, RNCM Theatre ⏱️

Dangerous Matter - a powerful reflection on the role of memory in medicine & human progress, after Lady Mary Montagu Wortley.

Zakiya Leeming (composer / libretto)
@sredway.bsky.social (director / libretto)

🎟️ www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/...

🎵Coming up tomorrow 🎼

"Sound Sculptures: A Concert Merging Installation and Live Performance" feat. music by Simon Knighton, Gemma Bass, Emmy Lambert, Sidney Patrick, and Gloria Xia.

📍 @anthonyburgess.bsky.social, M1 5BY, Manchester
⏱️ 8pm, 11 June 2025

🔗 www.ticketsource.co.uk/simonknighton

"I wanted to make a piece which said “I am really confused. ... I am trying to do what I can but not to prove something, simply because *doing* feels better/more useful to me than talking. I want to collect and connect. I’m terrified but I want a happy home and wow, isn’t the world beautiful.”

Pianist-composer Sarah Nicolls making holes for tree planting in her local wood in Stroud.

📢 New PRiSM Blog | 'Climate Music'

Innovative pianist-composer Sarah Nicolls discusses how her musical activist works responding to climate change has connected deeply with her being an artist, a parent, and recently becoming a farmer in rural Gloucestershire 👇

🔗 www.rncm.ac.uk/research/res...

A Possibility | Germaine Kruip | Manchester International Festival 2025 Germaine Kruip transforms the theatre space into a world of wonder – merging illusion, sound and performance to create infinite possibilities

Germaine Kruip: A Possibility | New artwork for the theatre by Dutch artist Germaine Kruip, feat. new compositions by composers Emily Howard and Hahn Rowe | Part of Manchester International Festival 2025 | RNCM, 17-20 July

🔗 factoryinternational.org/whats-on/ger...

Dangerous Matter: A New Opera on Medicine, Memory and Innovation - Royal Northern College of Music Dangerous Matter is a new opera on a medicine, memory and innovation

'Dangerous Matter': an opera by Zakiya Leeming & libretto by @sredway.bsky.social & Leeming, inspired by the science of immunology and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who advocated for the Turkish practice of inoculation in C18th England | RNCM Theatre | 7pm, 24 June

🔗 www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/...

Event poster of Sound Sculptures: A Dynamic Fusion of Installation and Live Performance | The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester | Wednesday 11th June 2025 | Background picture: a window cleaner working outside a skyscraper

Simon Knighton & the House of Bedlam present: "Sound Sculptures: A Concert Merging Installation and Live Performance” | The International Anthony Burgess Foundation | Manchester | 8pm, 11 June 2025

🔗 www.anthonyburgess.org/event/concer...

RNCM PRiSM | Upcoming Events in Summer 2025 - Royal Northern College of Music Upcoming events and performances in Summer 2025, featuring new works by PRiSM researchers.

PRiSM Summer 2025 News & Upcoming Events 👇

▶️ Sound Sculptures with Simon Knighton & the House of Bedlam | 11 June
▶️ Dangerous Matter: New Opera by ZakiyaLeeming | 24 June
▶️ 'A Possibility' at #MIF25 feat. new music by Emily Howard | 17-20 July

Details 🔗
www.rncm.ac.uk/research/res...

Awesome week at #AEConservatoires #EPARM2025 in Tallinn, sharing #ComingUpForAirInLocation - a new art-research initiative led by Kathryn Williams & myself on critical effects & impact of indoor air quality, and raising public awareness through music #IAQ #ArtisticResearch @rncmprism.bsky.social

RNCM PRiSM | February News 2025 - Royal Northern College of Music Recent RNCM honorary appointments in association with PRiSM, award nominations, and upcoming international conference featuring PRiSM researchers.

👋 Hello BlueSky! 👋

Our February 2025 News is here 👇

▶️ RNCM appoints two Honorary Researchers in Association with PRiSM
▶️ 'The Anvil' nominated for 2025 BBC Music Magazine Awards | Public voting is open
▶️ PRiSM Researchers at EPARM | April 2025 | Tallinn, Estonia

🔗 www.rncm.ac.uk/research/res...