TO MARK the centenary of WWI, The Royal Northern College of Music is joining forces with the Imperial War Museum North from Thursday 3 July to Saturday 5 July.
"IWM North is a wonderful building and I am sure that audiences will be rapt by the transformation of this magnificent space into an audio-visual spectacle"
The three-day project, titled After The Silence: Music In The Shadow Of The War, will see over 200 RNCM students create a living installation designed to evoke every emotion.
RNCM students playing in the three pools at Victoria Baths last year
The RNCM has had much success in the past with off-site projects including performances within Manchester's Victoria Baths, Sound Histories at the British Museum last year and Shattered Sounds at the IWM North back in 2007.
After The Silence is part of IWM North's many events and exhibitions within the Reactions '14 project to mark the centenary occasion. The event by RNCM will feature not only major works but lesser known compositions too, including the debut of a piece written by Martin Ellerby specifically for the college.
After The SilenceStravinsky's A Soldier's Tale, Elgar's Nimrod and Sospiri will be heard alongside Paul Max Edin's Fifth Trumpet and Aaron Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man. Adding to the drama of the music, will be film projections spanning the walls of the museum and narration by Ugandan speaker Arthur Kisenyi.
Even the museum café will be involved with a soundtrack of ragtime and post-WWI jazz music. Music from the Charleston era through to the twenties and then onto Glenn Miller and the big bands which followed, will all play.
"The whole world is commemorating the First World War and I'm delighted that we are collaborating with IWM North," said Michelle Castelletti, artistic director at RNCM. "The impressive off-site projects form such an important part of the RNCM's calendar , and this year is no exception.
"IWM North is a wonderful building and I am sure that audiences will be rapt by the transformation of this magnificent space into an audio-visual spectacle; and by the effects of the music resounding off its high walls. There is certainly something for everyone."
After The Silence: Music In The Shadow Of The War will run from Thursday 3 July to Saturday 5 July at the IWM North. Doors will open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.
Tickets cost £10 and concessions are available.
For more information, visit the RNCM website here.
Follow Niamh Spence on Twitter at @missnspence
