Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music hosts first live showcase In collaboration with Sony Music UK’s Social Justice Fund

14 March 2024 - Press release

 

Last night, the Royal Northern College of Music held its first ever Live Music Showcase in London, in partnership with Sony Music UK’s Social Justice Fund. The evening of musical performances took place at Sony’s headquarters and saw talented artists including 2023 ‘CASIO Sessions’ winner May Payne, soul and jazz singer-songwriter Daisy Cameron, and three-piece alt-pop band Sister Grace with string quartet take centre stage. 

To kick off the evening, Andy Stott, Head of Popular Music, welcomed guests to the showcase by introducing them to the Royal Northern College of Music and the amazing work it does to encourage emerging talent. He said, “The RNCM is unique in the conservatoire sector in that we have the UK’s only four-year Bachelor of Music degree in popular music. I think what's really special about our institution is that our popular music programme coexists side by side with our amazing classical music programme.” 

Andy went on to say, “Over the years that we've been doing this, we've seen some amazing collaborations happen. The music that comes out of our institution is just totally inspiring, really high quality and super creative, and you're going to see some amazing examples of that here this evening.” 

Professionals from the music industry then watched a variety of performances from students across two flagship programmes: the Young Artists project that nurtures talent from ages 11-18, and the Popular Music undergraduate course. Both programmes are continually reinvented to respond to the ever-changing, dynamic music industry – training and nurturing all students to be modern musicians equipped for sustainable careers. 

One of the memorable music sets from neo-soul band Social Contract started with an inspirational message from lead singer Eden Haya, “I was originally on the Young Artists programme last year as a student, I recently graduated and I'm now a student mentor. So, this is a really important programme for me because it showed me that little black girls like me can be in a place like this and it just proves that I am somebody worth listening to. I'm sure a lot of the other people and students in this programme feel the same way, and I really hope that you enjoy what we have for you tonight.” 

As the showcase drew to an end, Professor Linda Merrick, Principle of the Royal Northern College of Music, shared her thanks to those who came down to watch, “Thank you also Sony for hosting this showcase tonight. It's a real privilege for those of us up north to have the chance to come to London to bring our students here, and to bring a little bit of Manchester's amazing music scene down to you.” 

The 2024 showcase was held in partnership with Sony Music UK’s Social Justice Fund, which has been the inaugural sponsor of the award-winning Young Artists project at the Royal Northern College of Music, helping to fund young people’s participation. Created in June 2020 as a commitment to supporting communities, broadening opportunities for individuals in under-served communities, and improving education, skills, and life chances, the Social Justice Fund helps to address structural inequality for lasting change. The Sony-funded Young Artists places are 50 percent Black British, and participants champion a range of genres including pop, neo soul, jazz and RnB.