Orchestral playing opportunities
If you play any orchestral instrument to a standard of grade 7 or above, there are a wealth of concerts for members to play in throughout the year.
To auditioned or not auditioned?
Auditioned
If you audition at the beginning of the year or again in January, this gives you the potential to play in one of MUMS' chamber or symphony orchestras. These orchestras rehearse on Monday evenings, and Wednesday afternoons and an occasional weekend afternoon four weeks prior to a concert. They play a huge variety of repertoire from Baroque to 21st century premieres. They are conducted by a mixture of trained student conductors and our professional conductor Mark Heron.
Symphony Orchestra is the Music Society's flagship orchestra. In the Symphuni University Orchestra competition in 2008 it battled to the final and in 2009 toured Bulgaria performing Dvorak's Ninth Symphony "From the New World" in Bulgaria Hall and Plovdiv Amphitheatre. A mixture of other orchestras gives MUMS the flexibility to perform such pieces as Janacek's Sinfonietta when 14 trumpets are available, meaning that it's members are always kept busy.
Unauditioned
If auditions are not for you though, but you'd still like some committed and interesting playing there are two options:
For string players there are a number of string orchestra pieces programmed into concerts throughout the year. This gives the potential for mass string epics - 16 desks of violins in Mahler's Adagio - or exquisite chamber pieces. For wind, brass and percussion, there is the award-winning ensemble - MUWO - the music society's wind orchestra - more info
Two ensembles closely linked to, but not Music Society are Vaganza and Baroque Orchestra:
Baroque Orchestra
We are extremely lucky in the Music department at Manchester to have a complete set of reproduction Baroque instruments, including 6 violins, 2 violas, 2 'cellos, 2 oboes and 2 flutes, together with the department's harpsichord and chamber organ. Members of Manchester University Baroque Orchestra can borrow the instruments long-term while they play with the group, which gives them a fantastic opportunity to get to know what it was really like to play these period instruments and how they differ from their modern equivalents.
Our repertory includes a wide variety of music from within the Baroque period, ranging from well-known favourites like the Bach Brandenburg concertos and concerti grossi by Handel and Corelli, to rarer gems, including concerti by the English composer William Boyce, music by popular Italian composers such as Geminiani, Locatelli and Albinoni, and French music specially composed for wind instruments by Loeillet. We are particularly proud of the joint concerts we put on with the chamber choir, Ad Solem, which allow us to give complete period performances of major Baroque masterpieces, including Handel's Dixit Dominus and the new reconconstruction of Purcell's Come ye Sons of Art, which received its premiere in Manchester in March 2006.
The orchestra is overseen by Dr Rebecca Herissone, a Baroque-music specialist, and is directed by Amanda Babington, an experienced Baroque violinist and postgraduate student in the department. Membership is open to all our undergraduate and postgraduate students, and is usually via auditions held at the beginning of the academic year.
For more information contact Dr Rebecca Herissone
Vaganza
Vaganza is a platform for performers and composers to showcase new works by composers within the university alongside a wide and eclectic range of “classics” by the leading composers of our times. Every year we present an ambitious mix of composers’ concerts and larger New Music Days, consisting of performances, workshops and discussions dedicated to central themes relating to the music of our times. Highlights over recent years have included performances of Stockhausen’s Kreuzspiel, Philip Grange’s As it was, Birtwistle’s Silbury Air and Gérard Grisey’s Partiels, Per Nørgård’s Night-Symphonies, Day Breaks and John Casken’s Vaganza.
Vaganza's name is a homage and pays tribute to composer and Emeritus Professor of Composition John Casken.
All undergraduates and postgraduates are invited to submit compositions to one of our calls for scores, in which pieces are selected to be performed in our concerts. Calls for scores take place in September, January and March/April.
For more information visit Vaganza's website or contact Dr. Richard Whalley
To auditioned or not auditioned?
Auditioned
If you audition at the beginning of the year or again in January, this gives you the potential to play in one of MUMS' chamber or symphony orchestras. These orchestras rehearse on Monday evenings, and Wednesday afternoons and an occasional weekend afternoon four weeks prior to a concert. They play a huge variety of repertoire from Baroque to 21st century premieres. They are conducted by a mixture of trained student conductors and our professional conductor Mark Heron.
Symphony Orchestra is the Music Society's flagship orchestra. In the Symphuni University Orchestra competition in 2008 it battled to the final and in 2009 toured Bulgaria performing Dvorak's Ninth Symphony "From the New World" in Bulgaria Hall and Plovdiv Amphitheatre. A mixture of other orchestras gives MUMS the flexibility to perform such pieces as Janacek's Sinfonietta when 14 trumpets are available, meaning that it's members are always kept busy.
Unauditioned
If auditions are not for you though, but you'd still like some committed and interesting playing there are two options:
For string players there are a number of string orchestra pieces programmed into concerts throughout the year. This gives the potential for mass string epics - 16 desks of violins in Mahler's Adagio - or exquisite chamber pieces. For wind, brass and percussion, there is the award-winning ensemble - MUWO - the music society's wind orchestra - more info
Two ensembles closely linked to, but not Music Society are Vaganza and Baroque Orchestra:
Baroque Orchestra
We are extremely lucky in the Music department at Manchester to have a complete set of reproduction Baroque instruments, including 6 violins, 2 violas, 2 'cellos, 2 oboes and 2 flutes, together with the department's harpsichord and chamber organ. Members of Manchester University Baroque Orchestra can borrow the instruments long-term while they play with the group, which gives them a fantastic opportunity to get to know what it was really like to play these period instruments and how they differ from their modern equivalents.
Our repertory includes a wide variety of music from within the Baroque period, ranging from well-known favourites like the Bach Brandenburg concertos and concerti grossi by Handel and Corelli, to rarer gems, including concerti by the English composer William Boyce, music by popular Italian composers such as Geminiani, Locatelli and Albinoni, and French music specially composed for wind instruments by Loeillet. We are particularly proud of the joint concerts we put on with the chamber choir, Ad Solem, which allow us to give complete period performances of major Baroque masterpieces, including Handel's Dixit Dominus and the new reconconstruction of Purcell's Come ye Sons of Art, which received its premiere in Manchester in March 2006.
The orchestra is overseen by Dr Rebecca Herissone, a Baroque-music specialist, and is directed by Amanda Babington, an experienced Baroque violinist and postgraduate student in the department. Membership is open to all our undergraduate and postgraduate students, and is usually via auditions held at the beginning of the academic year.
For more information contact Dr Rebecca Herissone
Vaganza
Vaganza is a platform for performers and composers to showcase new works by composers within the university alongside a wide and eclectic range of “classics” by the leading composers of our times. Every year we present an ambitious mix of composers’ concerts and larger New Music Days, consisting of performances, workshops and discussions dedicated to central themes relating to the music of our times. Highlights over recent years have included performances of Stockhausen’s Kreuzspiel, Philip Grange’s As it was, Birtwistle’s Silbury Air and Gérard Grisey’s Partiels, Per Nørgård’s Night-Symphonies, Day Breaks and John Casken’s Vaganza.
Vaganza's name is a homage and pays tribute to composer and Emeritus Professor of Composition John Casken.
All undergraduates and postgraduates are invited to submit compositions to one of our calls for scores, in which pieces are selected to be performed in our concerts. Calls for scores take place in September, January and March/April.
For more information visit Vaganza's website or contact Dr. Richard Whalley