Classical Music in Manchester and the North

Symphonic Cinema - Stravinsky/Ravel at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 19 January 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

The BBC Philharmonic, in association with The Bridgewater Hall, presents a very special event marrying sound with vision, bringing classic works by two of the 20th century’s greatest composers to vivid musical and cinematic life.

Gould Piano Trio & Robert Plane at The Stoller Hall, 22 January 2019, from £17.44 - Book now

One of the country’s most acclaimed and recognised trios performs Shostakovich’s Second Piano Trio and Sally Beamish’s Piobaireachd for this visit to The Stoller Hall. The group will also be joined by regular collaborator, clarinettist Robert Plane, for the North West premiere of a new work by Huw Watkins – with the programme completed by Plane’s performance of Boulez’s Dialogue de l’ombre double – accompanied by taped electronics.

Alexandra Dariescu: The Nutcracker and I at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 24 January 2019, from £5 - Book now

Alexandra Dariescu’s The Nutcracker and I is a bold multimedia version of the classical Christmas ballet, featuring the wonderful music of Tchaikovsky.

Stravinsky/Mozart/Tchaikovsky at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 26 January 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

Born in Liverpool and a former pupil at Chetham’s School of Music, pianist Paul Lewis returns to the North-West for a performance of one of Mozart’s most elegant and expressive piano concertos. Also tonight, Ben Gernon conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a sparkling Stravinsky work and Tchaikovsky’s tempestuous, gripping Fourth Symphony.

Striking Gold Piano Series at The Stoller Hall, 30 January–31 December 2019, from £19.62 - Book now

This year-long celebration of outstanding pianists marks Chetham’s School of Music’s golden jubilee year. With almost all of the performers having previously studied at the school – and the likes of Paul Lewis, Boris Berman and Murray McLachlan already announced – it promises to be a comprehensive celebration.

RNCM Day Of Percussion featuring Trio HLK and Evelyn Glennie at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 3 February 2019, from £15 - Book now

The RNCM Day of Percussion is an annual day of inspirational clinics and performances from leading educators and artists – including the incredible Evelyn Glennie.

Pekka Kuusisto (violin) Nadia Sirota (viola) Markus Hohti (cello) at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 5 February 2019, from £5 - Book now

Once described by The Times as “The David Bowie of the fiddle”, violinist Pekka Kuusisto will perform contemporary American repertoire at the RNCM, alongside Nadia Sirota and Markus Hohti.

Winter Reels at St Michael's, Ancoats, 7 February 2019, from £6.50 - Book now

Psappha’s Winter Reels is an exciting new concert filled with much-admired contemporary classical music by John Casken, Knut Vaage and Naomi Pinnock, as well as a brand new work by Stephen Pratt.

The Hallé - The Damnation of Faust at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 10 February 2019, from £14 - Book now

Part opera, part oratorio, Berlioz’ ‘The Damnation of Faust’ is an epic retelling of the Faust story. Celebrated for its orchestral brilliance, this tempestuous work will be performed by the Hallé for the first time in seventy years.

The Lost Words: Spell Songs at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 10 February 2019, from £20 - Book now

The Lost Words: Spell Songs brings together eight remarkable musicians, plus live illustrations by Jackie Morris, to respond to the art and language of creatures and plants.

Poppy Ackroyd at St Michael's, Ancoats, 14 February 2019, from £12 - Book now

Breathtaking pianist, violinist, composer and producer, Poppy Ackroyd is bringing her elegant and dramatic neo-classical music to Manchester in February.

Berlioz - Beatrice et Benedict at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 16 February 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

As merry as the day is long, Hector Berlioz’s captivating comic opera is one of the most joyful operatic translations of Shakespeare from page to stage. Béatrice et Bénédict slims down the plot of Much Ado About Nothing to focus on the will-they-won’t they romance between the title characters, whose attraction to each other is the living, breathing antithesis of love at first sight.

Manchester Vocal Weekend at The Stoller Hall, 23 February–24 January 2019, from £3 - Book now

Over the final weekend of February, award-winning baritone Marcus Farnsworth will lead the very first Manchester Vocal Weekend, filled with performances, workshops and masterclasses.

Schumann/Robin Holloway/Valentin Silvestrov at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 23 February 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

The BBC Philharmonic celebrates Robin Holloway’s 75th birthday with a brand new work by the treasured English composer, given its world premiere by guest soloist Håkan Hardenberger. Also tonight, a rare performance of Valentin Silvestrov’s transcendent Fifth Symphony, one of the best-kept secrets in contemporary music.

The Hallé - Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 28 February 2019, from £14 - Book now

The Hallé are joined by conductor Jamie Phillips for Mozart’s ‘Paris’ Symphony, John Casken’s ‘Madonna of Silence’, and the centrepiece of the evening, Prokofiev’s ‘Fifth Symphony’.

RNCM Session Orchestra and Choir with Mario Jose at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 2 March 2019, from £15 - Book now

Seasoned singer-songwriter, powerhouse vocalist and a true entertainer, Mario Jose will be returning to the RNCM this March for a rare collaboration with the Session Orchestra.

RNCM Symphony Orchestra at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 7 March 2019, from £5 - Book now

From its dark and murky opening to its exultant finale, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony takes its listener on an hour-long journey whose emotional scope is almost overwhelmingly ambitious.

This Woman's Work at The Stoller Hall, 8 March 2019, from £10.90 - Book now

On International Women’s Day 2019, The Stoller Hall will host a celebration of Clara Schumann’s wonderful music and legacy.

Decontamination #16 Contralto at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 22 March 2019, from £8 - Book now

For Decontamination #16, the RNCM has programmed Sarah Hennies’ ‘Contralto’, a work for video, strings and percussion that explores transfeminine identity.

Stravinsky/Dvořák/Martinu at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 23 March 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

Bohuslav Martinů and Igor Stravinsky both fled Europe during the Second World War – and tonight’s concert is centred on two works they composed in the USA: Stravinsky’s expressive ballet and Martinů’s inspiring Fourth Symphony. Dvořák’s Cello Concerto was also part-written in America, but it sings of the composer’s Bohemian homeland.

Olivia Chaney at The Stoller Hall, 26 March 2019, from £13.08 - Book now

An ever-rising star in the folk world, former Chetham’s student Olivia Chaney returns to Manchester, following her incredible 2018 album Shelter.

The Pilgrim’s Progress by Ralph Vaughan Williams at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 31 March–6 April 2019, from £21 - Book now

Inspired by John Bunyan’s novel, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ opera The Pilgrim’s Progress will be one of the highlights of the RNCM’s Spring Season.

Thomas Adès | Prokofiev | Schubert at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 6 April 2019, from £17.5 - Book now

The final symphony completed by Franz Schubert before the composer’s death at just 31, the epic Ninth is ‘Great’ in both nickname and nature. Before it, Clemens Schuldt directs the brilliant Alina Pogostkina in Prokofiev’s riveting First violin concerto. Also this evening – a homage to French Baroque music from Thomas Adès.

Bax/Walton/Vaughan Williams at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 13 April 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

BBC Philharmonic favourite John Wilson returns to The Bridgewater Hall to celebrate our green and pleasant land with this all-English programme, taking in Vaughan Williams’s impassioned Fourth Symphony, Bax’s reflections on autumn and Walton’s iconic Violin Concerto – performed by acclaimed Canadian soloist James Ehnes.

Sibelius | Tippett | Stravinsky at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 25 April 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

Steven Osborne made the definitive recording of Tippett’s masterpiece several years ago – and tonight, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, he joins the BBC Philharmonic to perform it live. Also on the programme, two symphonies by 20th-century pioneers: Sibelius’s brilliant Sixth, and a vital work written by Stravinsky ‘to the glory of God’.

James MacMillan/Britten/Tippett at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 2 May 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

Either side of Sophie Bevan’s performance, conducted by English National Opera’s Music Director Martyn Brabbins, two epic fourth symphonies by great Britons, each a single movement: James MacMillan’s kaleidoscopic masterpiece, premiered at the 2015 BBC Proms to huge acclaim, and Michael Tippett’s punch-packing odyssey from birth through life to our inevitable end.

Hauschka at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, 10 April 2019, from £25 - Book now

Renowned pianist and Oscar-nominated film composer Hauschka returns to the RNCM to perform his new record, A Different Forest.

Elgar/Rachmaninov at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 18 May 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

Edward Elgar was a violinist as well as a composer – and his soaring Violin Concerto opens this evening’s concert. Following Christian Tetzlaff’s performance of this towering work, John Storgårds conducts the BBC Philharmonic in Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony, a wonderful homage to his native Russia.

The Hallé - Symphonie fantastique at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 16–22 May 2019, from £14 - Book now

Sir Mark Elder brings the 2018–19 Opus One Series to a triumphant close with Berlioz’ best-known work, ‘Symphonie Fantastique’. Also in the programme is the brilliantly virtuosic overture to Smetana’s ‘The Bartered Bride’, as well as Dvorák’s beautiful ‘Violin Concerto’.

Mahler/Shostakovich at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 1 June 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

Dmitry Shostakovich lived much of his enigmatic life in the shadow of Stalinist Russia – and turbulence in his homeland led him to keep his magnificent, Mahlerian Fourth Symphony under wraps until Stalin’s death. Before it, conductor Mark Wigglesworth is joined by British baritone Roderick Williams for some of Mahler’s most romantic songs.

Mozart | Mark Simpson | Mahler at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 15 June 2019, from £12.5 - Book now

A previous winner of both the BBC Young Musician and BBC Young Composer of the Year awards, Mark Simpson is both the soloist and composer of tonight’s world premiere – his Clarinet Concerto. Either side, leading British soprano Elizabeth Watts joins the BBC Philharmonic for three Mozart arias and Mahler’s majestic Fourth Symphony.

Chetham's Symphony Orchestra: Mahler Symphony No. 8 at The Bridgewater Hall, City Centre, 5 July 2019, from £11.50 - Book now

For this one-off concert, musicians from around the world will join Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra in a rapturous celebration of the school’s 50^th anniversary year.

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.

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, Hunts Bank, Manchester, M3 1DA - Visit now

Manchester’s new 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, 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, 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.

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.

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.