Manchester Camerata is delighted to announce that Chris Mayo will be the orchestra's composer in residence for the 2012/13 season.  Chris's position with the orchestra has been made possible through funding from Sound and Music as part of the Embedded Scheme.  We caught up with Chris last week to find out a bit more about him and his music, and what audiences should expect.

Tell us more about yourself, your background and your musical influences.

I was born in Toronto in 1980. My parents are both musicians and I studied music from a fairly young age, though I was never particularly good at any instruments. I started composing when I was about 16 or 17.  I would plan ridiculously ambitious projects-song cycles, immense programatic symphonies, operas-and write about three or four pages of each before getting bored and moving on to the next project.

My musical influences are fairly wide-ranging. I spend as much or more time listening to popular music as I do to classical music and I think that this comes through in my works. Not that my music is particularly 'populist', but I do think that my listening habits influence my compositions. I've been on a real country kick lately-Jerry Reed, Townes Van Zandt, Emmylou Harris-and also a bit obsessed with the Janácek string quartets. I guess my music sits somewhere in between those points.

Tell us about your music - how do you decide on an idea for a piece and how do you then develop your ideas?

I'd say about 50% of the time I don't know what a piece is going to be about until it's almost finished. Well, maybe halfway finished. It's sort of a constant process of discovery of what the potential of the material is, and what directions it could go in, and also what directions it should definitely not go in. There's always a moment when you're subjecting your material to some extremely intricate process of development or transformation only to discover that the result sounds like something out of Godspell. Those discoveries are important though-you often navigate the potential pitfalls of your material by actually falling in the pits. Sometimes though I have a very clear of what I want a piece to be from the outset. Those initial ideas can be musical but they just as often come from poetry, film, television or photography. I don't really decide on those ideas-things I see, read or hear just continue floating around in my memory and sometimes the ones that don't go away end up forming the seeds of something creative.

What excites you most about working with Manchester Camerata?

I think the most exciting thing for me is the chance to develop a working relationship with the musicians of the course of the year. So often as a composer you arrive the day before a performance and get very little time to interact with ensembles. The musicians of the Camerata are absolutely fantastic-I came to the final concert of last season and was extremely impressed-and I'm really looking forward to getting to know and working with all of them.

How do you think audiences will react to your music?

I hope that they'll enjoy it! I also hope that the audiences will get a chance to get a little bit familiar with me and my language over the course of the year and the three pieces I'm going to be writing. Then, by the final concert in May, they'll already have a small window into understanding the way I work and express myself.

What you hoping to get out of the composer in residence experience?

The one thing I hope the most is that I write three good pieces of music! The composer in residence position is designed to help that as much as possible though. There are extensive workshops and rehearsals for my pieces, so hopefully by the time of the performances, all of the compositional kinks will have been worked out and the pieces will be in the optimum configuration!

The first opportunity for audiences to hear Chris's music will be on 24 November at RNCM, when cellist Hannah Roberts will perform a short piece for cello and orchestra. Click here for full concert details.

Manchester Camerata is marking its 40th anniversary by looking to the future with the launch of a new youth programme.  Its aim will be to offer young people the opportunity to develop skills and participate in new music projects across Greater Manchester, fusing classical and non classical styles to create innovative events and new pieces of art.

A key part of the programme is Manchester Camerata Youth Forum, a collective of young people from Greater Manchester with a passion for music. Made possible with funding from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, Curious Minds and Ernest Cook Trust, recruitment for the forum is currently taking place.  The orchestra is looking for young people aged 14 - 19 who are enterprising, passionate and committed to their own original music, interested in shaping the development of the Camerata youth programme activities and who have a desire to make a difference within their community.  Whether their expertise lies in singing, rapping, DJ'ing, songwriting or instrumental playing, both classical and non-classical, Camerata would love them to be part of the new Youth Forum.

Recently appointed Youth Programme Co-ordinator, Rachael Jones, said 'this is a fantastic opportunity for young people to really make a difference to the development of Camerata youth projects and to have a positive impact on the progress of Camerata's youth engagement activities across Greater Manchester.'  

Anyone who is interested in applying to become a member of the Manchester Camerata Youth Forum should contact Rachael for an application form by emailing rjones@manchestercamerata.com or calling 0161 226 8696

Giovanni Guzzi joined Manchester Camerata in 2010. Ahead of the chamber orchestra’s 2012/13 season, BBC Music Magazine spoke to him about why music director Gábor Takács-Nagy is like a father to him and some of the highlights of the year

Which concerts are you particularly looking forward to this season?

We’re starting a Mozart Piano Concerto series with really wonderful pianists [Francesco Piemontesi, Ingrid Fliter and Ferenc Rados] that is going to continue throughout the season. And on top of that, I’m going to be directing and playing The Four Seasons – both the four by Vivaldi and the four by Piazzolla. These eight pieces are really close to my heart so it’s a really exciting time for me and the orchestra.

After a summer spent playing with lots of different orchestras – including leading the Budapest Festival Orchestra – and performing at the Verbier Festival, is there a feeling of going back to school now the new season has started?

Well in a way it’s actually quite exciting to go back after having spent the summer doing many different things – you gather experiences and stories that you want to share, musically, with everybody. So it’s enriching going back.

You’ve been at the Manchester Camerata for two years and Gábor Takács-Nagy has been music director for one year. How has your working relationship developed in that time?

We’ve known each other for six or seven years now. We met a long time before we actually started playing in the Camerata together and for me Gábor is almost like a father, not only musically but also sentimentally. There is a complete sense of trust in everything we do and a huge commitment because we both strongly believe in the future of classical music – and that what is happening in the Manchester Camerata is really special and unique. The orchestra feels like a huge group of friends coming together to make great music.

Your concert this Saturday (13 October) with pianist Francesco Piemontesi includes not only Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 but also Holst’s St Paul’s Suite, Elgar’s Sospiri and Haydn’s Oxford Symphony. Which piece are you most looking forward to performing?

One of the Manchester Camerata’s specialities is diversity. I really admire the orchestra’s chameleon-capacity to adapt to everything we’re doing and really commit to each work. But the work I’m most looking forward to this Saturday is the Piano Concerto. For me, Mozart is the great master and every time we play one of his pieces the orchestra feels very comfortable. Every time we play Mozart with Gábor it feels so fresh and almost like the music was composed yesterday.

Manchester Camerata performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with pianist Francesco Piemontesi this Saturday, 13 October.

We're 40 - and we’re launching a one-off fundraising appeal to raise £40,000 this year to help secure the future of the orchestra. We are asking you to make a one-off donation of £40 - £1 for every year of our existence. With Gift Aid, we can turn your £40 into £50.

Click here to make your donation using the Charity Service secure website.

When looking back over the past 40 years, we were amazed to find that we’ve played to over 2 million people and delivered education and community work to over 150,000 children. We’re currently planning our next decade, and to help us continue to bring you innovative and exciting concerts, deliver life-changing work in the community, and establish new initiatives like our Youth Forum to build our audiences for the future, we need your help.

Alternatively, you can send a cheque made payable to Manchester Camerata Ltd to: Bob Riley, Manchester Camerata, RNCM, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD.

Your donation will ensure we can continue to tour the North West with our fabulous musicians, and help to make a real difference to the lives of young and old in our community. 

Thank you.

Audiences at Manchester Camerata concerts are actively encouraged to make videos and tweet during performances, just one change in ht eorchestra’s 40-year history. Robert Beale reports.

THERE cannot be many top-class chamber orchestras to have been created by a local radio station. But that was the origin of Manchester Camerata. Today, 40 years on, it is used to audiences who make their own videos and send tweets while listening.

It was the brainchild of Raphael Gonley, BBC Radio Manchester’s first music producer, and gave its first series concert on 30 September 1972. The new venture, a series of five public concerts in the city, was intended ‘to stimulate the profession outside the regular full-time orchestras’.

It certainly did that. Everybody wanted concerts in the varied centres that make up Greater Manchester, and it soon had an eight-month season, with the then Greater Manchester Council providing the lion’s share of its grant income. Principal conductors and music directors since have included Szymon Goldberg, Manoug Parikian, Nicholas Braithwaite, Nicholas Kraemer (who has enjoyed a continuous relationship with the Camerata from 1982 to the present), Carlo Rizzi, Sachio Fujioka and Douglas Boyd. Sir Charles Groves was president from 1984 until his death in 1992, and conducted regularly.

Concerts have been given in almost every auditorium Greater Manchester offers and in many places beyond, with long-running series in Nantwich and Crewe in Cheshire, in Colne (and more recently Ulverston, Stafford and Doncaster), as well as at the Royal Northern College of Music, Free Trade Hall and Bridgewater Hall.

Highpoints in the past have included a residency at the Buxton Festival from 1979 to 1993, a yearly pilgrimage to Moura Lympany’s festival at Rasiguères in the foothills of the Pyrenees from 1981 to 1992, and annual open-air fireworks concerts at Cholmondeley Hall in Cheshire from 1991 to 2000.

The financial road has been long and winding, and at times rocky. Self-promotions such as fireworks events used to be were sometimes lucrative but also high-risk, and since the demise of the GMC in 1985 income from local authorities was unpredictable.

But the start of its fifth decade sees Manchester Camerata in good shape and assured of its place in the UK orchestral spectrum. It is orchestra-in-residence at the RNCM, with administration based there. It’s under the stewardship of chief executive Bob Riley (in a line including Gavin Reid, Lucy Potter and John Whibley) and intensely proud of new music director Gábor Takács-Nagy and new leader Giovanni Guzzo.

Takács-Nagy is former concertmaster and now principal guest conductor of Iván Fischer’s Budapest Festival Orchestra, and music director of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. He teaches at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, but calls Lancashire home as well, as he’s married to a Burnley lass, Lesley, and has joined the RNCM as International Chair in Chamber Music.

Giovanni Guzzo, born in Venezuela, is a close collaborator – he studied at the RAM and is an internationally in-demand soloist. He is beginning the Camerata season as the proud possessor of a ‘golden period’ Strad made in 1709, newly loaned to the orchestra by the philanthropist Jonathan Moulds.

In its fifth decade, things are changing for Manchester Camerata as rapidly as in the past. It’s just acquired a new chairman, in the person of Paul Flowers, chair of the Co-operative Bank and senior deputy chair of the Co-op group (among a host of linked appointments in the Co-operative movement at home and abroad). Unusually for a top boss in the commercial world, he is a Methodist minister.

Fortieth anniversary celebrations begin with a special event at Manchester Town Hall on 12 September, when Takács-Nagy and the orchestra previews its season, with principal Naomi Atherton the soloist in Mozart’s Horn Concerto no 4 K495. The Manchester series is built around Mozart piano concertos and Haydn symphonies at the RNCM, set against Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Shostakovich and Schnittke.

On 2 December (3pm) at the RNCM, Nicholas Kraemer has a pre-Christmas slot, and there will be nostalgia in mind as Kraemer and principal bassoon Laurence Perkins get together to reminisce before the concert.

The Camerata was part of the recent successful bid by Telford and Wreakin Music for a new In Harmony Sistema England project (one of four). ‘The Stafford music hub has brought us together with the CBSO,’ says Bob Riley. ‘It’s based on our strong links with Stafford, where we have performed for the past 10 years.’ Its extensive education programme includes a project for young Neets in Greater Manchester, a programme for children with Asperger’s/ASD in Manchester funded by Children in Need, and individual projects with a school in Moss Side and two special schools in Wigan plus a community opera and film project in Chester.

Four times in the season the orchestra’s principals go to two non-traditional city venues – the Manchester Deaf Institute and the Anthony Burgess Foundation – and perform for audiences the conventional classical world is unlikely to reach, in a series called UpClose. It’s already included jazz and theatre elements, and this time singer and visual artist John Hyatt is working with them.

‘It’s bringing music to a different and younger audience,’ says Camerata’s marketing manager Paul Davies. ‘It’s great to get people tweeting about what they hear, taking their own videos of the performance, and becoming part of the experience.’

We're 40 - and we’re launching a one-off fundraising appeal to raise £40,000 this year to support our future growth. We are asking you to make a one-off donation of £40 - £1 for every year of our existence. We are a registered charity (no. 503675), so with Gift Aid, we can turn your £40 into £50.

Click here to make your donation using the Charity Service secure website.

When looking back over the past 40 years, we were amazed to find that we’ve:

• played to over 2 million people
• delivered education and community work to over 150,000 children
• delivered business benefits to over 200 businesses

We’re currently planning our next decade, and to help us continue to bring you innovative and exciting concerts, deliver life-changing work in the community, and establish new initiatives like our Youth Forum to build our audiences for the future, we need your help.

Alternatively, you can send a cheque made payable to Manchester Camerata Ltd to: Bob Riley, Manchester Camerata, RNCM, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD.

Your donation will ensure we can continue to tour the North West with our fabulous musicians, and help to make a real difference to the lives of young and old in our community. 

Thank you.

Our New Year concerts are always a festive highlight of the winter season at The Bridgewater Hall. Whether you’re looking for a fabulous ‘Night at the Opera’ on New Year’s Eve or a waltz around Vienna on New Year’s Day, we’ve got something special just for you. Full details below.

New Year’s Day Viennese Gala

The Bridgewater Hall, 3pm 

Join Manchester Camerata for a waltz around Vienna on New Year’s Day. Something of a Manchester tradition, Manchester Camerata’s New Year’s Day Viennese Gala is sure to get 2013 off to a resounding start - a must for Strauss and Blue Danube fans!

Visit the concert information page for full details and to book online. Tickets can also be booked through the Box Office on 0844 907 9007.

Listen to our New Year's Day playlist on Spotify here

Afternoon Tea at The Midland Hotel - New Year’s Day

Why not extend your celebrations on New Year’s Day with a luxurious afternoon tea in the sumptuous surroundings of The Midland Hotel? Available 1.00pm - 5.00pm

Price per person: £18.50 or £23.50 including glass of champagne.

Advance booking essential, call The Midland Hotel on 0161 236 3333.

New Year's Eve Gala

The Bridgewater Hall, 8pm 

Add a touch of glamour to your New Year celebrations with our fabulous New Year’s Eve Gala Concert. Enjoy an evening of opera favourites, beautiful arias, heartwarming orchestral melodies and rousing choruses with a traditional Auld Lang Syne finale.

Programme includes: Rossini’s William Tell Overture and Puccini’s O Mio Babbino Caro, plus music from Verdi’s Rigoletto and Aida, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Bizet’s Carmen.

Arrive early to enjoy informal foyer entertainment from circus performers and close harmony vocal group Barbieshop.

Please see our concert information page for a full programme listing and to book online. You can also book through the Box Office on 0844 907 9000.

VODAFONE IRELAND has teamed up with Manchester Camerata for its 2012 Christmas TV advertising campaign.

The festive advert, which is about to hit the small screen, features a heart-warming animation and a glowing soundtrack performed by Manchester Camerata. 

Watch the advert here and get your heart all aglow!

Michael Cookson reviews Manchester Camerata's last RNCM concert with Ingrid Fliter, for the prestigious Seen and Heard International website.

Manchester Camerata warms up a cold night

Serving as an antidote to the wintry weather that had been lashing against the car on my motorway journey to the Royal Northern College of Music, Gábor Takács-Nagy revived the spirits with a marvellously chosen and performed programme. Only last year Gábor Takács-Nagy had programmed Manchester Camerata concerts with Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Haydn and he must have been delighted how well they were received. Including the music of those same composers tonight, augmented by a Mozart piano concerto ensured a full house and seemed to galvanise the Camerata into a stunning performance especially highly spirited with an abundance of vitality.

Vaughan Williams's Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus for string orchestra including harp opened the concert an intoxication of glorious music setting the mood for what was to follow. At one point Takács-Nagy accelerated the pace a little too fiercely for my liking although there was much to admire in his interpretation. The playing of the Camerata strings was so outstanding it felt as if they had been dipped in liquid gold and the leader Adi Brett and principal cellist Hannah Roberts, both exceptional artists, played their solos with sweet glowing tones.

Providing a stark contrast to what had gone before was the recently premièred score Lessons of the Ice-House from Manchester Camerata composer in residence Christopher Mayo. Lasting around 5 minutes by my reckoning this short work was performed by Hannah Roberts accompanied by a single note drone from the Camerata Strings. Initially I was reminded of John Tavener's composition The Protecting Veil for cello and strings. Holding the attention reasonably well Mayo's score began to feel increasingly minimalistic and restless with the soloist creating a number of interesting timbres and sonorities.

Ingrid Fliter was the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major and it didn't take long to sense just how much the Argentinian pianist was enjoying her playing. When I last heard Fliter as soloist it was with the Liverpool Philharmonic playing the Chopin First Piano Concerto at the Preston Guild Hall and her sound was rather swamped by the orchestra. Clearly relishing the more intimate setting and improved acoustics Fliter was in sparkling form demonstrating charming vibrancy with such high quality pianism. In the Andante the emotional core of the work Fliter conveyed a rare poetry, generous in both sensitivity and grace. Fliter's enthusiasm was infectious and from the extent of the applause she had clearly captivated the Manchester audience who were treated to an encore of Chopin's D flat major Waltz better known as the Minute Waltz – an entertaining work that never fails to please.

After suitable refreshment the audience was treated to Elgar's own orchestration of his two salon pieces originally for violin and piano – the captivating Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit. What glorious miniatures they are with the Camerata giving a performance full of Elgarian tenderness and affection!

Takács-Nagy clearly has an innate sensitivity for conducting Haydn. Born in Budapest only a relatively short distance from Haydn's birthplace the maestro seems to have the music of Haydn running through his veins. Showing his mettle Takács-Nagy delivered the Symphony No. 101 in D major 'The Clock' with all the piercing lucidity that has become his hallmark. Especially impressive was the Camerata's well blended sound standing out in such a zestful interpretation of Haydn's multicoloured symphonic romp. For an encore the audience was served with more English music: an attractive rendition of Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on Greensleeves.

Link to Seen and Heard International website

Mozart III with Ferenc Rados is at the RNCM on 20 April 2013, click here for more details

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Manchester Camerata's Founder and passionate supporter, Raph Gonley, has died. A Memorial Service for Raph will take place on Sunday 9th December at 8pm at Menorah Synagogue, Cheshire Reform Congregation, Altrincham Road, Manchester, M22 4RZ (tel: 0161 428 7746). We offer our sincere condolences to Raph's friends and family. 

As a tribute to Raph, we would like to share with you the following interview that was published in the Camerata magazine in 2002 to mark the orchestra's 30th anniversary.

'Raph Gonley, Manchester Camerata’s founder, looks back at the Orchestra’s early years'

Published in 2002, Manchester Camerata Magazine

Back in the early seventies, Raph Gonley was working at Radio Manchester as Music Producer.  Following discussions between the Musicians Union and BBC Local Radio, a sum of money was made available for local radio stations to promote professional music.  At that time, Manchester was the only BBC local radio station with a full time music producer and this ensured it received a substantial share of the funds. Raph was convinced that forming a chamber orchestra would fill a gap in the region’s musical life and would be the best way of using the money.  ‘I was lucky that Allen Holden, the Station Manager, was behind the idea’, says Raph.  ‘He was bold enough to take risks and when I put the proposal to him he simply said: ‘get on with it’. So that’s what I did!’

So, Manchester Camerata was born in 1972 and the next step was to appoint a conductor.  A young musician, a viola player with the Halle Orchestra and a participant in the BBC Philharmonic’s (then the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra) scheme for apprentice conductors, was approached and Frank Cliff became the Orchestra’s first conductor.  Fay Campey (who retired only this April) was appointed as Leader.

‘You couldn’t repeat the excitement of that first concert’, remembers Raph.  ‘There was a tremendous buzz, we had a party afterwards and people thought ‘how can a local radio station do this?’.  In the first year, we performed on a makeshift stage made from lab tables in the Great Hall of UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology), which was a lovely hall with a good acoustic - essential, because all the concerts were broadcast live - but the audience facilities were poor.  The following year, the Royal Northern College of Music opened, and we were able to perform there.’

Despite the humble beginnings, response from the public was terrific and after attendances of 90% at the first concert, the concerts in that first season played to near capacity audiences.  The music focused on 18th century repertoire, baroque and classical works, well suited to chamber orchestra resources.  The budget wasn’t generous and rehearsal time was strictly limited, but occasionally additional wind and brass players could be engaged to perform Haydn middle-period symphonies and there was almost always some 20th century music in the programme. Occasional commissions were also possible and the Orchestra gave the first performances of works by composers such as John McCabe and David Ellis.

‘We called the ensemble Manchester Camerata because we always believed it would have a life outside the BBC’, explains Raph.  After year one, Manchester Camerata Limited was set up to promote the Orchestra’s own concerts outside the Radio Manchester commitments.  The Greater Manchester Council (1973 – 1986) funded the Orchestra to perform concerts in Manchester’s ten districts and further funds became available from promoters in Lancashire and Cheshire who were keen to host concerts by Manchester Camerata.

Raph remained involved in the day to day running even after he had left the BBC at the end of 1974, but gave up the responsibilities about a year later because he felt there might be a conflict of interest with his new job at North West Arts.  We asked Raph what he most remembered about running the Orchestra in its early days and he replied, ‘The small scale of the operation.  Remember, I was Radio Manchester’s  Music Producer, producing all sorts of music programmes, so running the chamber orchestra was no more than a fifth of my total job.  That’s probably the main difference to running the orchestra today.  I did everything, from deciding programmes with conductors to making the flasks of coffee to take to performances for the players.  It was very satisfying.  I also owe a big debt to Allen Holden who saw the potential and gave me constant encouragement.’

Raph has many fond memories of the Orchestra, including the first time they were invited to broadcast a concert on Radio 3.  There have also been some amusing moments.  Violinist Yossi Zivoni was the soloist at an early concert and the BBC announcer, noting the unusual name, approached him to ask how to pronounce it. ‘Vladimir Ashkenazy’ came the response to a slightly bewildered announcer, before he got the joke!  On another occasion, the programme included a piece by Lennox Berkeley and the Concerto for Trumpet, Piano and Strings by Shostakovich.  Raph had invited Lennox Berkeley to the concert and conductor Frank Cliff, a little nervous, said to the trumpet soloist Maurice Murphy, ‘I am a bit worried that Raph has invited Lennox Berkeley’ to which Maurice replied, ‘Well, I hope Shostakovich isn’t coming too!’.

After a lifetime’s dedication to music making, what does Raph Gonley enjoy listening to these days?  ‘Thirty years on, chamber music is still my favourite.  It’s something to do with the economy of expression, the lack of hype in an age where hype seems so important.  With chamber music, you can’t get away with anything, you’ve got to be very good to play it and it’s deeply satisfying.’

Looking ahead to Manchester Camerata’s thirtieth anniversary celebrations, we asked Raph what he would wish if he found himself blowing out the candles on the Orchestra’s birthday cake.  ‘Another thirty years of great success’, he replied without hesitation.  ‘The Orchestra has gone from strength to strength, I am amazed at how it has developed from small beginnings.  It had from necessity to start as a modest operation, but it has grown into something I’d never have dreamt of and I’m so proud of its achievements.’

Manchester Camerata’s Four Seasons concert at the RNCM on 2 February will give audiences a rare opportunity to see and hear one of the earliest known versions of The Four Seasons.  Called the Manchester Manuscript, the part books pre-date the more commonly used Le Cene version and contain a number of important differences.  The concert features Vivaldi’s famous work, plus Piazzolla’s Vivaldi-inspired, yet totally original, The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is well known and loved by audiences around the world, but what classical music lovers in Manchester might not be aware of is that a rare original manuscript of the Four Seasons resides within Manchester City Library.  Called The Manchester Manuscript it predates the more commonly heard Le Cene version and audiences who attend Manchester Camerata’s Four Seasons concert at the RNCM on Saturday 2 February will have the opportunity to see it up-close in a special exhibition and hear it performed by Camerata on the night.

The Manchester Manuscripts are on loan for the evening courtesy of Manchester City Library, and are part of a much larger collection called the Newman Flower Collection which contains other rare manuscripts by Handel, Vivaldi, Corelli and Albinoni amongst others.  The Manchester Manuscripts were acquired by Charles Jennens, who was a benefactor of Handel and also wrote the librettos to Messiah and several other Handel oratorios. This early version offers intriguing variations notably in areas such as articulation, figuration and harmonic colouring.  In some cases it is radically different, for example lightning flashes in the first and second violins in the spring movement.

The evening’s concert will be directed by Giovanni Guzzo from the orchestra’s recently acquired 1709 Stradivarius, the first opportunity Manchester audiences have had to hear this rare violin in a solo performance.  The second half features Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, which combines Vivaldi with the life and colour of South America.  This fiery masterpiece incorporates elements of jazz and Argentine tango into a work full of luscious harmonies and punchy, earthy folk rhythms.

To watch the concert trailer and to book tickets click here

Robert Beale, arts correspondent for the MEN reviews Manchester Camerata's New Year's concerts.

DANCING to bring the New Year in has a history – the old-fashioned way is with waltzes and polkas, and there is nothing better for a Vienna-style New Year’s Day than Manchester Camerata’s concert at the Bridgewater Hall.

They also performed the opera gala the night before, and each occasion brought a gifted soprano to sing out the old or sing in the new.

On New Year’s Eve it was Rebecca Nelsen, a girl from Texas now a darling of the Volksoper in Vienna itself. With conductor Robert Ziegler the suave and lively MC as well as maestro, she gave us excerpts from Verdi (Ah, fors’ è lui and Sempre libera, from La Traviata, and Caro nome, from Rigoletto) which showed what an effective stage actress she must be.

She made a fine job, too, of Song To The Moon (Rusalka), Je veux vivre (Roméo Et Juliette)  and Quando me’n vo (La Bohème). Chorus items were by St George’s Singers, and there was no holding back the enthusiasm of the orchestra as Ziegler took them through these to a fast and noisy Candide overture and a clapalong Offenbach Can-Can (before Auld Lang Syne).

Unflagging Camerata enthusiasm continued for conductor Stephen Bell (equally suave, equally lively) on New Year’s Day. His soloist was soprano Rebecca Bottone, looking and sounding lovely.

Her contribution included not just the standard fare of the Viljalied (Léhar), Adele’s Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus and Don’t Be Cross (Zeller), but the dazzling coloratura display of Voices Of Spring and Sphärenklänge (one of the encores) in their vocal versions.

I appreciated delightful solos from within the orchestra on both occasions – specially Hannah Roberts’ cello and Mary Gilbert’s cor anglais in the evening, and Hazel Cropper on oboe and Nathaniel Boyd on cello in the afternoon.

Robert Beale

Audience Reviews

Manchester New Year’s Day Viennese Gala

‘A great New Year’s Viennese concert. If you can't afford or get to Vienna for the New Year this is recommended.’

Ulverston Viennese Gala 2 Jan

‘First time we had attended an orchestral concert and what a treat it was. The venue is small and intimate and therefore you feel involved with the performance. The conductor was animated throughout and the music delightfully played by an orchestra of various ages. We were also treated to several opera pieces sung by a superb soprano with a captivating face and smile. I couldn’t take my eyes of her !

We were in the balcony row D and they were excellent seats that we would try for again. Having said that because the venue is small I think you could sit anywhere and still enjoy it. We will be back again next year.’

On Sunday 20 January Manchester Camerata held its annual Composers Workshop day with students from the RNCM, Chethams and, for the first time, Salford University.

Musicians from Camerata spent a very successful day rehearsing, discussing and developing the works of 11 young composers with conductor Gergely Madaras, Philip Cashian, head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music who was the composer mentor for the day, and the students themselves.  

After much deliberation we are delighted to announce that Leo Geyer's composition, Moving Figure has been selected to be performed in our main Manchester concert season, on Saturday 20 April at the RNCM.

Leo is currently in his third year on the joint course at Manchester University and the RNCM, where he is studying composition with Dr David Horne and conducting with Mark Heron.  Recent projects include a commission for the Olympic 20x12 New Music Weekend at the Southbank Centre and an operatic aria for Music Theatre Wales/Opera North.  His music has been performed by ensembles including the Danel Quartet, Psappha and Vaganza, and he has won a number awards for composition including an RNCM Gold Medal in 2011.

Click here for details of the concert on 20 April and to book tickets

The Composers' Project is generously supported by the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne

Manchester Camerata, the RNCM and the University of Manchester have joined forces this spring to promote a festival celebrating one of the most original thinkers in the world of music, Heiner Goebbels.  Read on to find out more...

Saturday 23 March - Monday 25 March

Black on White: The Music of Heiner Goebbels is a three day feast celebrating one of Germany’s most prolific composers and directors. During the course of the Festival, audiences will be treated to a selection of free lunchtime and afternoon concerts, ticketed evening concerts, a Drama Lecture by the composer himself, and an Open Forum in which artistic director Clark Rundell talks to Heiner about his life and music.

‘Heiner Goebbels’ visit to the RNCM promises to be an extraordinary event,’ explains Clark, who is also Head of Conducting at the College. ‘Goebbels is a man of the theatre, writing music which takes as a starting point the full performance of the work, from the musical material to the lighting, staging and carefully calculated sound canvas. His roots in popular music and jazz continue to influence his output, with rhythms and melodies which both grab the listener and stick in the head. His pioneering work on post dramatic theatre places him as one of the most original thinkers in world theatre. Do not miss this Renaissance man in Manchester!’

Each year the RNCM presents a composer festival that not only focusses on thework of a significant living composer, but also presents new pieces by both established and aspiring young composers. This year, in addition to new works by RNCM students, one of the highlights is Manchester Camerata’s City Life concert (Saturday 23 March, 7.30pm), which includes two works by Goebbels and the world première Carillon; an exciting new piece by award-winning composer Emily Howard, for large ensemble and electronics.

Commissioned by the Camerata with support from the PRSF, Carillon uses recordings of the Manchester Town Hall bells to create fixed electronic sounds transcribed to vinyl.  Emily, an RNCM alumna and Tutor in Composition, explains: ‘The title Carillon connects with my ongoing interest in machinery and computation. The piece can be thought of as a giant autonomous chiming system in which the acoustic ensemble and electronics follow similar instructions but in very different ways, making it a game between humans and machines.

‘This is my first venture into electronics and I'm grateful to acousmatic composer Sam Salem for recording and manipulating the sounds of the Town Hall bells, and to sound artist Janek Schaefer who will perform on record players and boombox alongside Manchester Camerata conducted by Clark Rundell.’

Last Saturday’s sell-out concert at the RNCM, featuring Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires was a resounding success.  But don’t just take our word for it, we’ve had so many positive comments from audience members via email and Twitter we’d like to share them with you.

Manchester Camerata's Youth Programme has got off to a vibrant start, with young people in Salford and Stafford remixing the music of Mozart and Vivaldi respectively, culminating in live performances before Manchester Camerata concerts. Hear one of the mixes in full below.

In November, young people from Salford worked with composer Rodrigo Constanzo, DJ/Mix Artist Matt Halsall, Camerata trumpeter Helen Quayle and Vocalist Tosin Akindele over the course of three weeks prior to the final performance. Using computer samplers and effects programmes, the young people listened to Mozart's Piano Concerto no23 and identified key sections to loop and distort to create new sounds. The participants then sang their own original lyrics or raps alongside these newly created sounds.

The REmix project has had a tremendous impact on the self confidence and creativity of the young people and increased their desire to create their own music. They have also developed their leadership skills, learnt new compositional skills and discovered more about Mozart's life and style of work.

'I've enjoyed it because [the musicians] show you a different side to the type of music they listen to that you've never really seen before. Like me, normally I didn't used to be into a lot of classical music but if they have as much passion as I have for rap it can show you that you too can actually feel the same thing for music', Sam, 15.

And earlier this month, a group of students from Stafford College (pictured above) remixed one of Vivaldi's most familiar and well loved of concertos, The Four Seasons. Have a listen to one of the final tracks below - this is a song called 'Spring: Seasons Change'.

REmix and the wider Manchester Camerata youth programme is made possible through funding from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, Curious Minds and the Ernest Cook Trust. Working with young people outside of a formal education setting is a new venture for the organisation and represents Camerata's huge passion for using music to change the lives of disengaged young people or those in areas of low arts provision.

Manchester Camerata and Emily Howard invite DJs and producers to sample the sound of the Town Hall Bells ahead of our City Life concert.

This March, Manchester Camerata and the sound of the Town Hall bells will come together for the very first time in a newly commissioned work, Carillon by Emily Howard. Acousmatic composer Sam Salem has recorded and manipulated the sound of the Manchester Town Hall Bells to be transcribed to vinyl; those sounds will then be further manipulated live in performance by Janek Schaefer on turntables and boombox.

Ahead of the concert, we’re holding a competition that allows you to get your hands on these recordings for your own remix...

THE BRIEF:

We’re calling on you to use these one-off recordings of the Manchester Town Hall Bells in your own way and create a short track that evokes your City Life. All entries must be submitted by Monday 11th March and, as a guideline, should be between

1-3 minutes long.

THE PRIZE:

The winner of the competition will receive 4 tickets to our City Life concert at Royal Northern College of Music on 23rd March 2013, the opportunity to attend the rehearsal and a pair of tickets to another RNCM concert! All submitted entries will be shortlisted by Manchester Camerata’s Head of Creative Programming Manus Carey, with Emily Howard choosing the winner.

HOW TO ENTER:

1) You can download the audio files here

2) You can upload your completed entries here

Good luck!

Click here for details of the 23rd March concert and to book tickets

If you have any queries about the competition, please contact Shyam Bhatt at marketing@manchestercamerata.com

World-renowned Argentinian pianist, Martha Argerich, will perform with Manchester Camerata as part of Manchester International Festival.  MIF, the world's only festival of original new work and special events, presented biennially, today announced its 2013 programme which runs from 4 to 21 July.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Martha Argerich has won legions of admirers for her uniquely expressive and spirited performances and her fresh, imaginative recordings.  Argerich only rarely visits the UK, which is why MIF and Manchester Camerata are thrilled to welcome her to the city in this unmissable concert.  

Over the years Argerich has established a number of close working relationships with musicians around the world.  One such kinship is with Gábor Takács-Nagy, Music Director of Manchester Camerata, with whom Argerich has performed regularly to brilliant effect. This artistic affinity has inspired the concert programme, which features three vital contemporary works that showcase the keyboard in very different ways.

Argerich will join Takács-Nagy and Manchester Camerata in Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.1, a longtime audience favourite celebrating its 80th birthday this year. Either side of this vibrant work, Manchester Camerata will perform Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, a brooding masterpiece from 1937; and Arvo Pärt’s rich, powerful Lamentate, for which the orchestra will be joined by pianist David Kadouch, a rising star from the new generation.

The MIF programme ranges widely to include premieres of new commissions and re-envisioned clasic works, as well as a series for unique concerts and one-off events.  Featured artists include Massive Attack, Adam Curtis, Maxine Peake, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Willem Dafoe, Kenneth Branagh, Goldfrapp, John Tavener and many more.

For more information on MIF visit the website mif.co.uk

To book tickets for Manchester Camerata's concert with Martha Argerich book via the website or 0844 375 2013.  Tickets are also available from the Bridgewater Hall on 0844 907 9000 (£2 per ticket booking fee applies).

Ahead of the world premiere of Emily Howard's new piece, Carillon, on 23rd March, we spoke to Emily, sound artist Janek Schaefer and acousmatic composer Sam Salem about the piece. We started with Janek Schaefer, who will be playing record players and boombox on the night:

How did you become involved with the project?

I met Emily through one of my record player artworks ‘Extended Play’ which won the Paul Hamlyn Award for Composers Prize. Emily got in touch as she wanted to know how to go about cutting sounds to vinyl and we ended up collaborating with me becoming a performer with the ensemble.

Can you tell us a bit more about how the record players, boombox and orchestra will work on the night?

I don’t normally call myself a turntablist as I’m not going to be doing the flashy mixing you might expect. I supposed the piece is a variation on the ‘orchestra and tape’ format with me also improvising alongside the Camerata. You will see the ensemble of old technologies I’ve collected over the years. From my 1960s classic Dansette on legs to my 1982 boombox, and my Twin Turntable with two tone-arms that is custom built to manipulate sound on vinyl. The technology has a personality and is engaging and endearing.

What has it been like working with Emily and Sam?

It’s been very easy as usually I have to do everything, but here Sam created the sounds and Emily composed the music. Initially Emily was writing for me very specifically but we realized that just wasn’t possible to perform. It’s now reversed so she’s writing to free me up to improvise on the changing themes in the work. They’ve both done their jobs so well and it’ll be exciting to hear what it sounds like in rehearsals and on the night.

What other projects have you got on or coming up?

I’ve just had a new solo show open at the Agency Gallery, London, which runs until 6th April 2013. I’ve also got a new website for my artwork: http://www.janekschaefer.com

Click here for details of the 23rd March concert and to book tickets