NEWS: The Manchester Collective announce an exciting and international new season of concerts.

MANCHESTER COLLECTIVE

2019/20 Season Announcement

·        7 TOURS ACROSS THE SEASON

·        50 SHOWS IN 18 CITIES

·        BRAND NEW COMMISSIONED WORKS

·        ARTIST DEVELOPMENT IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & WALES

Manchester Collective are back for their largest and most ambitious touring season to date, performing all over the UK, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. This diverse and eclectic programme aims to highlight the joy of music making and inclusivity in an era of protectionism and division. The season features performances in abandoned buildings, nightclubs, concert halls and more weird and wonderful spaces than ever.

Alongside their main stage performances, Manchester Collective will be working together with three of the finest conservatoires in the UK to develop and inspire the next generation of performing musicians. The scheme (titled Future Music), will see the Collective produce residencies, orchestral labs, string quartet mentoring sessions, and a professional development curriculum for the Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland & The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

This new touring season also features:

-          an international revival tour of our 2018 show, Sirocco, feat. Abel Selaocoe and his band Chesaba (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, + Switzerland

-          a brand new commission for Opera North and Leeds Light Night feat. new work by Erland Cooper and Messiaen’s epic Catalogue D’Oiseaux for solo piano 

-          a national tour of Edmund Finnis’ PRSF funded orchestral work The Centre is Everywhere (fresh off a premiere at the Southbank Centre in London). This programme also sees Music Director Rakhi Singh perform an unholy mashup of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Ligeti’s Metamorphosen Nocturnes

-          a brand new show in collaboration with the Danish pipe and drum virtuoso Poul Høxbro – Ecstatic Dances alongside this Clod Ensemble’s Paul Clark premieres a newly commissioned piece, fresh off the back of a hugely successful collaboration with Renee Fleming and Ben Whishaw at The Shed in New York.

-          a Kings Place London performance of our Voice of the Whale show for their gorgeous Nature Unwrapped Festival, plus new music by young British composer Alex Groves

Manchester Collective will play concert debuts in Berlin, Cardiff, Glasgow, York, and Oxford, alongside their regular contingent of touring cities.

Quote from Chief Executive Adam Szabo

“We’re thrilled to be launching our largest and most ambitious season yet. Our 2019/20 programme takes us to Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and all over the UK, with a season of thrilling new work featuring commissions from Edmund Finnis, Erland Cooper, Paul Clark, and Alex Groves; a concerto debut from Music Director Rakhi Singh; a revival tour of our sellout 2018 production featuring South African cellist Abel Selaocoe, and much, much more besides. This year, we’re pushing ourselves in every conceivable way, delivering our trademark radical human experiences to new audiences all over the country.”

The Season

Sirocco: 19 Sep - 19 October 2019 UK & Switzerland

South African cellist, Abel Selaocoe, kicks off the season with the “once in a lifetime experience” of Sirocco, a celebration of African and European folk and classical. This is music for the people, by the people; music that will raise the hairs on your arms and bring a great big smile to your face.

The Birds by Erland Cooper and Manchester Collective: 11 & 12 October Leeds

The Birds is an Opera North commission for Leeds Light Night. Sound, colour, light, and music intertwine in this collaboration with composer Erland Cooper and pianist Kerry Yong.

The Centre is Everywhere 21 - 29 November 2020 UK Various Venues

Following a world premiere at the Southbank Centre, we tour The Centre is Everywhere by Edmund Finnis. This performance also features Manchester Collective’s own Rakhi Singh performing Vivaldi’s iconic Four Seasons

Ecstatic Dances: 16 - 25 January 2020

Poul Høxbro, Danish percussion and flute virtuoso and the so-called “great man of small instruments” brings this project to life. He’s an endlessly fascinating and inspiring musician - a Danish master of ancient flutes and bells, of bones and drums. Also making his Manchester Collective debut is Clod Ensemble’s Paul Clark, fresh off the back of a hugely successful collaboration with Renee Fleming and Ben Whishaw at The Shed in New York.

Cries and Whispers: 5 - 14 March 2020 UK & Europe

Our string quartet concert, Cries & Whispers, will be one of the most personal shows that we build. Terrifyingly intimate, the direct connection between each of the four players will make every listener in the room feel part of the performance. The performance features the expressive and sacred music of Carlo Gesualdo and Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet, a biographical scream written by a man desperate to create, haunted by fear and political oppression.

Voice of the Whale: 23 April - 2 May 2020

Following on from the hugely successful tour of Black Angels, we present George Crumb’s Vox Balanae, or, Voice of the Whale, at Kings Place in London. It’s a perfect Manchester Collective piece, performed under blue light by anonymous, masked musicians, on instruments that are amplified and modified.

Enescu Octet: 18 - 27 June 2020

We will end the season with a performance that, quite simply, puts a bunch of our favourite music into one show. This show takes us from focused and intense works for just one instrument (Bach’s G Major Cello Suite), to the huge combined string sound of Enescu’s String Octet.