Jane Manning & Anthony Payne: a celebration Tickets and Dates

Jane Manning (1938-2021) and her husband, the composer Anthony Payne (1936-2021), dedicated their careers to contemporary music. As a soprano of phenomenal ability, Jane premiered more than 350 new works by composers including John Cage, Judith Weir, Harrison Birtwistle and Oliver Knussen (memorably creating the role of Max in his operatic version of Where the Wild Things Are). Her repertoire also included many 20th century classics by the likes of György Ligeti, Milton Babbitt, Pierre Boulez and Arnold Schoenberg. Anthony Payne was a highly-respected composer of music that uniquely combined aspects of tradition with modernism. He reached widest attention through his elaboration of unfinished works by Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams – especially his work on the unfinished sketches for Elgar’s Symphony No. 3. Both Jane and Tony founded the new music ensemble, Jane’s Minstrels in 1988, going on to support the careers of several generations of composers.

This event marks the acquisition of archival material relating to Jane Manning and Anthony Payne by the British Library, as well as being a chance to celebrate their lives and achievements. Composer Steph Power will introduce the lives of the two much-loved musicians, and music associated with both will be performed by soprano Patricia Auchterlonie, together with Roger Montgomery, Dorothea Vogel and Robert Manasse. There will also be a chance to find out more about the archive acquired by the British Library in 2022.