• Daring cross-genre collaborations with American composer and pianist Vijay Iyer, major electronic artist Clark and singular cellist Abel Selacoe

• Major new commissions from artistic voices working at the forefront of contemporary British music today - Nabihah Iqbal, Laurence Osborn and Héloïse Werner

• Breadth of programming blurs the lines between new and old, familiar and unfamiliar, from Mozart to Eric Prydz

• Guest artists include ‘cyborg pianist’ Zubin Kanga, violinist Simmy Singh and conductor Duncan Ward

Manchester Collective today reveal their 24-25 season of programming, presenting seven boundary-pushing projects and collaborations that travel intuitively through a melting pot of inspirations, cultures, sounds and genres.

 Known for their imaginative programming at the forefront of classical music, the Collective’s new season amplifies compelling artistic voices from the past and present through shared musical conversations. Major projects include a modern retrospective with American composer and pianist Vijay Iyer; a genre-defying journey through 1,000 years of music with electronic artist Clark; and a revival of Sirocco, the Collective’s critically-acclaimed collaboration with singular cellist and storyteller Abel Selaocoe.

Classical masterpieces sit alongside cutting-edge commissions and futuristic sounds, as the Collective blur the lines between the familiar and unfamiliar and breathe new life into music, classic and contemporary. Original ideas and artists are at the heart of the season, with commissions from two of today’s most exciting composers, Laurence Osborn and Héloïse Werner, as well as a world premiere from alternative musician and DJ, Nabihah Iqbal.

 Rakhi Singh, co-founder and Artistic Director of Manchester Collective, says: “This season is all about connections – our connection with the music of the past and the music that is yet to be written, connections between performers and audience, connections across styles and genres and most importantly, the human spirit that runs through all these elements.

 "We're working with some collaborators for the first time, and deepening our relationship with old friends of the Collective. All the music featured in this season pushes us forward – we're finding the edges of our craft and seeing how far we can go. Sometimes this is into unknown spaces, at others it is about looking more closely at what we have right in front of us, as this is often overlooked. This season will guide us into new territory, and we hope you can join us."

 THE 2024/25 SEASON

• The Collective’s new season launches in September with Crisis Modes, a collaboration with American composer and pianist Vijay Iyer. For one night only at London’s Wigmore Hall (23 September), Iyer joins the Collective and guest conductor Duncan Ward for a retrospective with a difference, journeying through some of the composer’s classical catalogue written over the last 20 years. The show opens with a tribute to the people of Flint, Michigan, for solo viola, and ends with the UK premiere of Crisis Modes, written for string orchestra and percussion. Elsewhere, a once-discarded fragment of Mozart’s String Quartet in E minor is reinterpreted in Iyer’s 2011 work, Mozart Effects.

• The Collective showcase the full force of the string orchestra in Fever Dreams, touring to Manchester and London in October. Tchaikovsky’s beloved Serenade for Strings is blurred with excerpts from Caroline Shaw and Wojciech Kilar, and Polish composer Gražyna Bacewicz’s feverish Concerto for String Orchestra offers a work-out for both the musicians and audience alike. The world premiere of Schiller’s Piano, a new concerto by Laurence Osborn for piano, keyboard, live electronics and string orchestra, responds to fascism’s empty attempts to recreate the past, featuring keyboard and sampler parts to be performed by ‘cyborg pianist’ Zubin Kanga.

• Following an acclaimed tour of North America this April 2024, the Collective brings its irrepressibly energetic collaboration, Sirocco, closer to home for a major tour of England and Europe throughout November. A storm of a show that celebrates the warmth and diversity of musical traditions from across the globe, Sirocco is a love letter to music and camaraderie, crafted by Manchester Collective with cellist and storyteller Abel Selaocoe over many years.

• The Collective invite audiences to experience the intimate chemistry required of musicians during the performance of chamber music in Hidden Mechanisms throughout February, featuring music by four composers working at the forefront of contemporary music today. Works by Oliver Leith, Cassandra Miller and Olli Mustonen sit alongside the world premiere of Héloïse Werner’s piano quintet Hidden Mechanisms, which peers into a music box and examines the tiny mechanical parts that power it, each inspiring a different movement.

• Touring throughout March 2025, SERENITY 2.0 will take audiences on a journey from blissful calm to furious frenzy and everything in between, with a programme that features music by Bryce Dessner, Sebastian Gainsborough and Dobrinka Tabakova, as well as a world premiere from musician and DJ Nabihah Iqbal. Ben Nobuto’s RPS Award-winning SERENITY 2.0 is a visceral collage of strings, percussion and samples, before the show ends with a reimagining of Swedish DJ Eric Prydz’s ‘Opus’.

• Manchester Collective and world-renowned electronic artist Clark team up for an explosive collaboration in Refractions throughout April and May. Clark’s career spans a quarter of a century, encompassing the full spectrum of electronic music – from hard-hitting techno to soft ambient, films scores, TV shows and games. Touring to Manchester, London, and further cities to be announced, the Collective and Clark draw on repertoire from the last 1,000 years, plus newly recreated work, and invite audiences to enter a musical time warp.

• The Turning will see the Collective’s Artistic Director Rakhi Singh present an intimate programme that explores our relationship with nature, joined by her sister, creative artist and performer Simmy Singh. The paired back show for violin duo and electronics will visit venues throughout June. 

This season the Collective is touring to UK venues including: Howard Assembly Room in Leeds; Tung Auditorium in Liverpool; Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre in London; Bridgewater Hall, Royal Northern College of Music and Stoller Hall in Manchester; Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in Birmingham; and Lakeside Arts in Nottingham. More to be announced… 

 Internationally, Manchester Collective tour to: Prague Sounds Festival; Rudolf-Oetker-Halle in Bielefeld; Kölner Philharmonie in Cologne; Bozar in Brussels; and Konzerthaus in Dortmund.

 For full programme details, visit manchestercollective.co.uk