Manchester Collective: Bag of Bones

Manchester Collective join RNCM‘s 50th anniversary celebrations as one of our new Artists-in-Residence. From side-by-side initiatives and fantastic performances, they’ll work closely with students, giving them unprecedented insight into one of the UK’s most innovative chamber orchestras.

No one can outrun the past.

Take a pinch of a romantic song cycle, stir in some studio theatre and a touch of jazz, then filter the whole thing through a hessian sack of deep, dark Central European folklore… and you might be somewhere in the region of ‘Bag of Bones’, Alice Zawadzki’s bewitching new project for Manchester Collective.

Leading a cross-breed ensemble comprising keys, accordion, percussion and strings, Zawadzki has created a deeply personal piece of music theatre that grapples with the cultural history and inherited stories that run back through her life to her Polish roots.

There are no sweet jazz songs in this landscape, but somehow, lightness always finds a way through the dark. Brand new music sits alongside a set curated by Alice and the Collective – a set that is still evolving as the work finds its final form.

The ink is not yet dry on this one. This is new music at its most thrilling, dangerous and cathartic.

Alice Zawadzki’s new work is supported by PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund for Organisations.

Programme to include:
Alice Zawadzki Bag of Bones
Additional music by Cassandra Miller, Maurice Ravel and more

Alice Zawadzki voice
Rakhi Singh music director 
Charles Kieny accordion
Fred Thomas keyboard
Manchester Collective String Quartet