Major musical event at Piccadilly Station, Manchester
The hope of arrival and regret of departure
Hosted by: Royal Northern College of Music
The event will start on: 04 Jul 09 21:00
And will end on: 04 Jul 09 23:00
Piccadilly Station , Manchester
Posted by: Paul
The sound of stuttering timetable announcements and out-of-town revellers will be drowned out by something all together more harmonious on Saturday 4 July at Piccadilly Station. Over 200 musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music will stage a major musical installation there at 9pm.
Network Rail’s station manager, said: “Throughout the day, musicians will come and go, recreating the vibrancy of the station, until later in the evening when they all come together to perform a major work, after which they will fade into the distance, much as trains do.”
The RNCM will present The End of the Line (A Brief Encounter). Composer Peter Wiegold was commissioned to create and direct this unique musical installation to fill the public spaces of the station at the end of the day.
Toby Smith, RNCM director of performance and programme, said, “The very first time I pulled into Manchester’s Piccadilly, at the time of the Commonwealth Games, I was excited by the space – the shapes, the lines, the mix of old and new, and above all the sound of life. In recent years the RNCM has produced new work in some extraordinary public spaces, and Manchester Piccadilly is perfect in architecture and atmosphere as the stimulus for this new music commission.”
Full of the hope of arrival and the regret of departure, railway stations are where journeys begin and end. The RNCM students will come together to explore these themes through music, working in advance with Wiegold to shape the piece which will be heard in its entirety for the first time on 4 July.
Duncan Law, Network Rail’s station manager, said: “So far as I am aware, this is the first time in this country that anything on this scale has been staged in a working railway station. Throughout the day, musicians will come and go, recreating the vibrancy of the station, until later in the evening when they all come together to perform a major work, after which they will fade into the distance, much as trains do.”
Even if you're not planning to travel through Piccadilly Station on Saturday (4 July) we recommend you make a diversion to see this. It's a true one-off.