Having produced musical luminaries ranging from arena-tour session bassist Olivia Thompson to BBC Introducing star Lucy Deakin and beyond, the RNCM’s Popular Music department returns to its home theatre with the latest cohort of future sensations, backed by a live orchestra.
The showcase features creamy yet pepped-up neo-soul, Eastern-Asian-inflected R&B, strobingsynthpop dreamscapes and more from some of the department’s brightest prospects.
Accompanied by the college session orchestra – itself brimming with world-class instrumentalists – American vocalist Nyah Grace channels mid-century icons like Etta James atop Erykah Badu-esque lyricism, before West Country teenager Ruby Joyce provides a blend of R&B and indie inspired by her travels through China.
Nadeem Shakir, the renowned RNCM singer/pianist who opened the Halle Orchestra’s ‘Best of Bond’ event, performs original work wherein classical ballads punctuate anthemic pop nostalgia, while Student group OMA supply the bulk of the theatre electricity bill, studding their hazy pop melodies with staccato drum beats and vocals pitched in every direction.
Sat 18 Jun, 7pm, RNCM Theatre, 124 Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9RD, Tel: 0161 907 5200, £15
www.rncm.ac.uk
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Mon 30 May 2022
