CoMA Manchester @ CoMA Festival 2026 | WANDERING SEQUENCES

CoMA Manchester’s Wandering Sequences is a collective contemplation on attentive listening and deep musical connections. This mesmerising programme celebrates the ways in which we persistently create meaningful responses to spaces, echoes, positions, and voices: how we insist on finding ways to communicate with each other.

The event features music created by award-winning composers from across the globe: each of the three Guided Sequences (2021) by James Saunders presents a series of 50 pitches that are navigated by the players under guidance from different artificial voices; in Jordan Nobles’ Pneuma (2022) and Arteries (2021), players are invited to wander - both musically and physically - around what resembles a living system of connection, divergence, and flow, while searching for a slow, breathing harmony that keeps changing its shape and texture; Naomi McGillivray’s Sounds of the Day is a vibrant graphic score that inspires vivid soundscapes through poetry and image; Natalie Summers’ solo set brings together Aaron Cassidy’s visceral What then renders these forces visible is a strange smile (or, First Study for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion) with her own recent composition, it is happening again.

The event will culminate in a brand new iteration of Verbaaaaatim Renga, which was created and initiated by the Scottish all-abilities music organisation Sonic Bothy to explore all creative possibilities driven by musical improvisation, live creative captioning, and responsive score-making.

Read more about CoMA’s Verbaaaaatim Renga series on the main CoMA Festival 2026 page.

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Full Programme (no interval):

James Saunders (2021) Guided Sequences #1 (5’)

Jordan Nobles (2022) Pneuma (15’)

Aaron Cassidy (2008) What then renders these forces visible is a strange smile (or, First Study for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion) (5’)*

James Saunders (2021) Guided Sequences #3 (5’)

Natalie Summers (2025) it is happening again (7’)*

Jordan Nobles (2021) Arteries (9’)

James Saunders (2021) Guided Sequences #4 (5’)

Naomi McGillivray (2023) Sounds of the Day (7’)

Sonic Bothy (2021- ) Verbaaaaatim Renga (8’)^

Performed by CoMA Manchester ensemble + featured soloist Natalie Summers (*) + guest creative captioner Eluned Charnley (^)

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About CoMA Festival 2026

The CoMA Festival 2026 is for music lovers of all experiences and backgrounds – whether you play an instrument, sing, would like to have a go or just listen, we invite you to join us.

With dozens of concerts and workshops occurring throughout the UK and beyond, our biennial festival offers concert premieres, unique artistic events and welcoming community, bringing together grassroots musicians and professional performers in a joyful celebration of contemporary music.

Explore the full programme and discover how you can…

…Experience the highs and lows of a marathon
…Let your inner bird fly free
…Join a brand new pop-up ensemble
…Improvise music inspired by lace
…Be part of a new music adventure!

The CoMA Festival 2026 takes place from Friday 6 to Sunday 29 March. For further information please visit: https://www.coma.org/whats-on/events/coma-festival-2026/

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