The Royal Northern College of Music is a conservatoire in the city of Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education, the RNCM also holds concerts and other musical events. Its current principal is the composer Professor Jonty Stockdale.

The College traces its roots to the Royal Manchester College of Music on Ducie Street, established in 1893 by the conductor Sir Charles Hallé and Northern School of Music, a music teacher training school founded in 1920. During the 1950's, the possibility of a merger was proposed by RMCM principal Frederic Cox. In 1973, both colleges were merged to form the new institution.

The college building was built in 1968 to 1973 by architects Bickerdike, Allen, Rich and greatly extended 30 years later. The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is housed in the new extension.

The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music. Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger institution) or conservatory.

Music instruction can be provided within the compulsory general education system, or within specialized children's music schools such as the Purcell School. Elementary school children can access music instruction also in after-school institutions such as music academies or music schools. In Venezuela El Sistema of youth orchestras provides free after-school instrumental instruction through music schools called núcleos. The term “music school” can be also applied to institutions of higher education under names such as school of music, such as the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University, music academy, like the Sibelius Academy, music faculty as the Don Wright Faculty of Music of the University of Western Ontario, college of music, characterized by the Royal College of Music and the Berklee College of Music, music department, like the Department of Music at the University of California, Berkeley or the term conservatory, exemplified by the Conservatoire de Paris and the term higher school of music or university of music such as the Cologne University of Music known as Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln in German. Instruction includes training in the performance of musical instruments, singing, musical composition, conducting, musicianship, as well as academic and research fields such as musicology, music history and music theory.

Heather Peace (born 16 June 1975, Bradford, Yorkshire) is an English actress and musician.

Heather was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Peace decided to be an actress at an early age and credits her parents for the encouragement they gave her to achieve that goal. She studied acting at Manchester Polytechnic where she obtained a BA (Hons).

Peace's break into television came when she she joined the cast of the long running TV series Emmerdale playing the character Anne Cullen from 1996 to 1997.

Her first professional stage role was in the 1997 Harrogate Theatre production of My Fair Lady where Heather played Eliza Doolittle. Subsequent theatre performances included Miranda in Shakespeare's The Tempest and the same character in the actor musician spoof of the same play titled Return to the Forbidden Planet.

After leaving Emmerdale, Peace went to have minor roles in The Bill as Joise Clarke and in Dangerfield as the girl in the pub before being cast as the only female fire fighter, Sally 'Gracie' Fields, in the TV series London's Burning from 1998 to 2002. London's Burning was a major TV series attracting some 16 -17 million viewers per episode, helping make Peace a household name. During this time, Peace made a TV movie called Thunder Road, in which she played Sonia.

Deaf Havana are an English alternative rock band from Hunstanton in King's Lynn, Norfolk in the UK. The band was formed in 2005 at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia. The band's early releases along with constant touring developed a strong fan base in the UK music scene.

Deaf Havana was formed when the original members met at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia. The band's roots can, however, be traced back much further with Ryan Mellor, James Veck-Gilodi and Lee Wilson all attending Smithdon High School and playing together in various local scene bands. At college, these members were joined by Tom Ogden and Sebastian Spitz. This early lineup saw James singing and Ryan taking guitar and vocal duties. The name "Deaf Havana" came from former guitarist Sebastian Spitz, however the name itself has no literal meaning.

The band quickly got down to writing songs and an early demo, White Lines But No Camera, recorded in August 2006 at The Lodge, Northampton. The band toured this lineup until Pennells' replacing Spitz. Pennells was formerly a member of the band "Something About Dave". Around the same time, Mellor handed over guitar parts to Veck-Gilodi, and took on the lead role.

Andy McKee (born April 4, 1979, in Topeka, Kansas) is an American fingerstyle guitar player, currently signed to the American record label Razor & Tie.

His style of playing and his compositions have earned him a considerable international fanbase. In late 2006, a live performance of his signature song "Drifting" became a Featured Video on YouTube and MySpace, achieving over 48 million views on the former to date and remaining one of its highest-rated music clips. A handful of McKee's other songs have experienced notable success on YouTube, such as "Rylynn" with over 22 million views. Similarly, McKee's cover of "Africa" reached over 9 million views before suddenly being removed by Candyrat Records.

McKee played his first guitar, an Aria nylon string bought by his father, at age 13. Initially underwhelmed by his guitar lessons, McKee's electric guitar-playing cousin inspired him to continue learning, taking him out for his 16th birthday to see a guitarist named Preston Reed perform live at a clinic. McKee later bought an instructional videotape from Reed and began to learn more complex guitar techniques from it, also earning his GED that year in order to quit attending high school. He began to draw influence from guitarists such as Michael Hedges, Billy McLaughlin, Pat Kirtley, and from Passion Session by Don Ross, as he continued studying the instrument on his own.