The Song of Manchester – Carolyn O’Brien and the power of music

Audiences were brought together in Manchester on Thursday to experience an incredible evening of music, history and literature in celebration of Carolyn’s O’Brien’s debut novel, The Song of Peterloo, which raised £480 Nordoff Robbins from attendee and book sale donations.

The Song of Peterloo; A Performance, took place in Manchester Central Library and was a collaborative event between author Carolyn, composer and arranger Shane Cullinan and soprano Claire O’Brien, and featured both music from the time of the massacre and readings from the novel.

The performers were joined by Nordoff Robbins’ own music therapist, Brigitte Schwarting, who accompanied the event with a piano performance, as well as operatic performances composed using text from the novel.

Carolyn has been closely connected to the charity and explained; “Nordoff-Robbins has been a cause close to my heart for some time and, in fact, two of the characters in the novel are drawn to the therapeutic power of music in much the same way as the charity has benefited many thousands of people over the 60 years since its foundation.”.

Carolyn has high hopes for the performance to make another appearance later this year in Autumn!