Free things to do this week ft. Virtually Reality, Manchester Histories Festival + more

Virtually Reality at RNCM (pictured)
This Monday, the Royal Northern College of Music will be hosting a free evening of new music from international composing talent. The event is part of the college’s New Music North West festival, and as its name Virtually Reality implies, it focuses on technology and digitally-manipulated sound. A new composition from Polish composer Jagoda Szmytka entitled ‘sky-me, type-me’, which uses conversation snippets routed through four megaphones to create its eerie sound will be presented in full at the show. There will also be world premiere of a new composition by local experimental composer MICHAELBRAILEY (his caps) and the first live performance of Sam Kidel’s call-centre bothering track Disruptive Muzak.
Mon 13 Nov, RNCM, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD. Tel: 0161 907 5200, 7pm – 8pm, www.facebook.com

Beats & Pieces Big Band at Band on the Wall
The Bits & Pieces Big Band are coming to Band on the Wall this Wednesday for a young people’s masterclass in arrangement. The fourteen-piece band, led by composer and conductor Ben Cottrell – whose musical direction work can be heard in the last series of Peaky Blinders – met as students at Manchester University and have played together for around a decade, amassing a wealth of experience. This masterclass opens with a discussion of their approach to arrangement, followed by group workshops where young conductors will get the chance to arrange their own piece. Parents are welcome to watch, but participation in this event is locked down to 13-18 year olds.
Wed 15 Nov, Band on the Wall, 25 Swan Street, The Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 5JZ. Tel: 0161 834 1786, 5pm – 9pm, www.eventbrite.co.uk

Manchester Histories Festival Announcement
The biannual Manchester Histories Festival doesn’t return until June 2018, but you can catch a little sneak preview of the lineup on Thursday at this announcement event hosted by Manchester Art Gallery. The theme for next year’s festival is protest, free speech and democracy, and this event will take you through the highlights of what you can expect to see there. The event will also feature a guest appearance from poet and Manchester University chancellor Lemn Sissay.
Thu 16 Nov, Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3JL. Tel: 0161 235 8888, 6pm – 8pm, www.eventbrite.co.uk

Censorship and the working class reader at WCML
The Working Class Movement Library commemorates an important but largely forgotten moment in British legal history this week. This year marks the two-hundredth year since the trial of satirist William Hone, who successfully defended himself against charges of blasphemy and libel, opening up the possibilities of British literature in an age of heavy censorship. Edinburgh University’s Dr. Katherine Inglis will be giving this free talk, looking at another less fortunate case – the case of Henry Vizetelly, imprisoned in the 19th century for translating books – and how censorship laws have historically been used to target working class readers.
Thu 16 Nov, Working Class Movement Library, 51 Crescent, Salford, M5 4WX. 6.30pm – 8pm, www.eventbrite.co.uk