Top Manchester musicians team up with Michelin-starred restaurant Where The Light Gets In

If you thought you can only listen to classical music in concert halls, think again.

Manchester Collective are known for their combination of experimental programming and daring collaborations. They perform cutting-edge contemporary music, classical masterpieces, and staged work in concert halls, club spaces and warehouses in cities across Europe and the UK.

And they like to forge innovative relationships with creatives from a wide variety of backgrounds.

So their programme for the coming months shouldn’t come as a surprise. They will be taking their boundary-pushing shows to some unusual venues across Greater Manchester, including a converted church, former MOT garage turned underground music and arts space The White Hotel, and former coffee warehouse turned restaurant, Where The Light Gets In.

Their new partnership with chef Sam Buckley, owner of the acclaimed green-Michelin starred Stockport restaurant, starts with a listening party on Sunday 19th September and continues with an intimate set of performances of the Collective’s Voice of the Whale (26th September) and Neon (22th May) shows. Guests will be treated to delicious food and organic produce from the restaurant’s garden.

The collaboration will also feature the release of a new film by Jessie Rodger. Filmed in July 2021, Breaking Bread uncovers the creative motivations and aspirations of the Collective’s musicians and WTLGI’s chefs, culminating in a filmed meal and performance with soprano Ruby Hughes that celebrates artistic exchange and the communal experience of sharing music and food. It will be screened at the restaurant later in the year.

“We’re always looking for interesting ways of encouraging and facilitating artistic exchange,” said Manchester Collective co-founder Adam Szabo.

“Our collaboration with Sam and WTLGI is an opportunity to explore the connections between our respective worlds. Through the pandemic, the chefs at WTLGI, like us, were compelled to keep creating, to keep researching and growing. Two ‘collectives’ in search of an audience, through the process of our partnership we have become each other’s audience, providing the artistic nourishment and exchange we both needed. We’re looking forward continuing on this journey with Sam and his team and seeing where it takes us.”

This week (15th August), the Collective invite audiences to Hallé St Peter’s for a preview of their BBC Proms show with firebrand Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, two days before travelling to London’s Royal Albert Hall to make their debut at the world-renowned festival.

It’s their first live performance in Manchester for over a year and also marks their first visit to the stunning Grade II listed Ancoats venue, where they will return throughout the 21/22 season (12th February & 23rd June) with a thrilling programme of music.

Tickets for Manchester Collective’s performance at Hallé St Peter’s performance on 15th August are now on sale. To book and for further details on the Collective’s upcoming events, visit manchestercollective.co.uk.