Known for its boundary-pushing and pioneering events, the RNCM unveils a new opera that merges music and medicine by Artist and Producer in Residence at RNCM’s Centre for Practice & Research in Science & Music (PRiSM), Zakiya Leeming.

Dangerous Matter: A New Opera on Medicine, Memory, and Innovation is inspired by Lady Mary Wortley, an 18th-century writer who defied medical convention by championing inoculation, a practice she had witnessed in Turkey.

Despite facing significant resistance from the Royal Society, Lady Mary Wortley’s work would crucially pave the way for evidence-based medicine, laying the groundwork for Edward Jenner, who would refine these ideas 40 years later in developing the first-ever vaccine.

In Dangerous Matter, composer Zakiya Leeming uses the story of Lady Mary Wortley to explore memory in its many forms, questioning who we remember for shaping the world, how memory defines identity and legacy, and how the body itself remembers, protecting us through generations. It also spotlights how many of our greatest medical breakthroughs have been directly linked to women’s traditional medicine, and how these contributions are so often overlooked.

Don’t miss this powerful, fully staged production brought to life by RNCM students, featuring live orchestra and electronics. Dangerous Matter comes to RNCM on Tue 24 Jun. For more information or to book tickets, click the button below.

A Manchester Wire Partnership post
Tue 24 Jun, RNCM,
124 Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9RD
Words:
Bradley Lengden
Published on:
Wed 18 Jun 2025