Classical Music in the North

Creative Tourist

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region’s most cherished ensembles and venues.

Want more music? Head to our general Music guide for our latest scoop on the North’s best gigs and festivals.

Our top picks

Sound Sculptures at The International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Sound Sculptures at The International Anthony Burgess Foundation at International Anthony Burgess Foundation (IABF), Manchester, 11 June 2025, From £5.00 - Book now

Composer Simon Knighton curates an eclectic evening of sonic invention and boundary breaking new music in Sound Sculptures.

Sound Sculptures
Fiona Brehony

manchester jazz festival 2025

Manchester Jazz Festival 2025, Until 25 May 2025, 0-£30 - Book now

Jazz lovers rejoice – manchester jazz festival is back with a bumper edition in 2025, as the festival celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Rina Srabonian.
Rina Srabonian.

Sound Out Leeds 2024/25

Sound Out Leeds 2024/25 at Leeds Conservatoire, Leeds (and other venues), Until 15 June 2025, From £10.00 - Book now

Leeds International Concert Season is on a mission to push boundaries, expand horizons, and ask the question: ‘What haven’t we heard?’ as it presents its city-spanning Sound Out Leeds series.

A black woman sat down looking to the left.
Em Obeng

The Bridgewater Hall

The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M2 3WS - Visit now

Home to the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic orchestras, the Bridgewater Hall attracts some of the biggest names in classical music. Purpose-built to the tune of £42m, the hall was designed around its acoustic needs; it floats on 280 earthquake-proof isolations springs that mute all external noise, perfect for shielding around 250 performances a year from the trams outside.

The seats and stage in The Bridgewater Hall
Image courtesy of The Bridgewater Hall

Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM)

Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M13 9RD - Visit now

The Royal Northern College of Music is both a music venue and an academic institution training up some of the country’s finest music students.

The Stoller Hall

The Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, Manchester, M3 1DA - Visit now

Still Manchester’s newest kid on the concert hall block, The Stoller Hall opened its doors in April 2017 to further enhance the city’s already enviable live music provision.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Hope Street , Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 9BP - Visit now

The 1930s Art Deco Philharmonic Hall, home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, gives no hint of the sensuous curves of the auditorium inside from its hard exterior.

Hallé St Peter’s

Hallé St Peter’s, 40 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M4 6BF - Visit now

Hallé St Peter’s is a deconsecrated Grade-II listed church, once a theatre prop store, then a knitting factory, before being restored and becoming home to the Hallé orchestra.

Image of Halle St Peters from across Cutting Room Square in Ancoats, Manchester.
Ben Williams

Albert Hall

Albert Hall, 27 Peter Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M2 5QR - Visit now

Manchester’s Albert Hall is an astounding Wesleyan Chapel turned live music venue, regularly hosting classical concerts.

Albert Hall on Peter street Manchester
Image courtesy the Albert Hall.

Manchester Cathedral

Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street, Manchester, M3 1SX - Visit now

Manchester Cathedral dates back to at least the 1400s and has been rebuilt many times. In current, striking form, it’s still a place of worship, but also host to regular gigs and events.

More music events

Sextile
MusicManchester
Sextile at The White Hotel

From sunny Los Angeles to deepest darkest Salford, electronic punk duo Sextile head to their spiritual home of The White Hotel.

From £16.00
Rina Srabonian.
Until
MusicCity Centre
manchester jazz festival 2025

manchester jazz festival is back this May with 10 days of live music from some of the best northern, national and international musicians operating in the world of contemporary jazz.

0-£30
MusicManchester
Manchester Psych Fest 2025

Manchester Psych Fest, the UK’s trailblazing psychedelic music and arts festival has announced a massive bill for its 2025 edition.

From £44.80
A black woman sat down looking to the left.
Until
MusicLeeds
Sound Out Leeds 2024/25

Leeds International Concert Season is on a mission to push boundaries, expand horizons, and ask the question: ‘What haven’t we heard?’ as it presents its city-spanning Sound Out Leeds series.

From £10.00
Image by Jonathan Schofield.
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Classical Music in the North

Yard Bar at District
Baltic Triangle
Event venue
District Liverpool

District Liverpool is a multi-purpose venue in the Baltic Quarter, hosting gigs, club nights, films, cabaret, festivals and much more.

The seats and stage in The Bridgewater Hall
City Centre
Music venue
The Bridgewater Hall

One of Manchester’s most important cultural buildings, The Bridgewater Hall attracts the biggest names in classical music.

Waterfront
Event venue
Exhibition Centre Liverpool

Latest addition to The ACC Liverpool Group’s family of world class venues alongside interconnected sister venues BT Convention Centre and the M&S Bank Arena.

Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham
Wrexham
Gallery
Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham

Welsh for ‘everyone’s house’, Tŷ Pawb in Wrexham is a brand new cultural community hub, featuring two galleries, performance areas, a gallery shop, market stalls and a food court.

Manchester
Music venue
Bar Pop

Nightclub identifying as an ‘IndieDiscoElectroHomoMadHiphopBritPopFunkyKindaShagtasticQueerThing’, Bar Pop on Manchester’s vibrant Canal Street is known for its friendly atmosphere.

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring.