MANCHESTER CAMERATA KICKS OFF 2025 AT KINGS PLACE, LONDON, PERFORMING WITH VIRTUOSO VIOLINIST DANIEL PIORO WITH LIVE NARRATION BY STEPHEN FRY
Manchester Camerata performing at Haçienda Classical ©Craige Barker
Forthcoming concerts also include:
· Collaboration with pianist Ethan David Loch in programme of his own music alongside Glass and Bartók at the Royal Northern College of Music
· An exploration of music inspired by the cosmos with Kantos Chamber Choir, accompanied by images of the universe
· Mozart, Made in Manchester returns with virtuoso Martin Owens performing Mozart’s horn concertos
Manchester Camerata continues its 2024/25 season, starting with a weekend of concerts with Artistic Partner, Daniel Pioro, in London and Manchester.
The virtuoso violinist and Manchester Camerata Artistic Partner, Daniel Pioro,has commissioned poetry from Sir Michael Morpurgo inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which will be narrated at concerts in London [18 Jan] and Manchester [19 Jan]. Pioro will lead the Camerata in a family matinee followed by an evening concert, both including a performance of Caroline Shaw’s Evergreen. The London concerts will be at Kings Place with Stephen Fry narrating the evening performance. The Manchester concerts will be performed in-the-round. A new recording of Pioro’s version of The Four Seasons with Manchester Camerata will be issued by Platoon on 17 January.
Later this month, the Camerata join forces with pianist and BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist Ethan David Loch for the second time, following his performance with the orchestra in 2024 [31 Jan]. The Camerata will be joined on stage by students from the Royal Northern College of Music for a programme comprising music by Philip Glass, Ethan David Loch and BélaBartók, combining musical voices diverse in their eras and cultures.
Manchester Camerata’s string section and Artistic Partner, Kantos Chamber Choir, present music inspired by space in concerts conducted by Ellie Slorach at The Monastery, Gorton, in which audience members can gaze at the cosmos [9 Feb]. Images of the universe, including from the world’s most powerful telescope, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, will be projected onto the interior walls of the Monastery. This will create an immersive concert experience like no other, connecting people anew.
Manchester Camerata celebrates the proud identity of its Hungarian Music Director, Gábor Takács-Nagy, with a programme of Kodály’s Dances of Galanta and Bartók’s Hungarian Sketches performed with musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music[21 Mar]. This comes alongside Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with soloist and Camerata section principal, Hannah Roberts.
The highly acclaimed concert and recording series – Mozart, Made in Manchester – which previously comprised performances and recordings of all Mozart’s piano concertos, evolves as the Camerata performs two concerts of Mozart’s horn concertos with leading horn player, Martin Owen [2 Apr, 23 May]. The concerts will take place at The Stoller Hall led by Gábor Takács-Nagy. The first features an overture by classical-era composer Marianna Martines as well as Haydn’s 94th symphony, and the second features Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
Lastly, Manchester Camerata presents a pair of concerts celebrating its identity, roots, heritage and history, and what it means to be an orchestra in the 21st century [11 May, 6 June]. Where We’re From explores the Camerata’s namesake, the Florentine Camerata – a society of musicians, intellectuals, poets and humanists in Renaissance Florence [11 May]. Where We Are, conversely, represents Manchester Camerata today, and features music by Mozart as well as contemporary composers with whom the orchestra has collaborated over the last decade [6 Jun].
As ever, Manchester Camerata remains firmly embedded in its local community, determined to be accessible for as many people as possible. As such, it continues to offer discounted concert tickets to under 30s, students and Gorton residents – the latter of these costing only £3.
Manchester Camerata’s work hosting the UK’s first National Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia continues, providing free music cafés for people living with dementia and their carers across all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester. To find out more about the Camerata’s ‘Music in Mind’ programme, visit musicinmind.org.