After the huge opening weekend lined up for Manchester’s newest concert hall, The Stoller Hall, the rest of 2017 looks set to continue to thrill audiences.
Highlights for the coming months are set to include:
Composer and silent film accompanist Neil Brand visits in May, starting with a public masterclass for young composers, and continuing with a unique family event – Slapstick for Kids – in which Neil accompanies joyfully irreverent film moments from a piano live onstage. Later the same evening, he’s joined by the Dodge Brothers – including Culture Show presenter and film critic Mark Kermode on bass and harmonica – for a live accompaniment to the 1927 silent film, Beggars of Life. And to cap it all off, the Dodge Brothers present their own unique brand of Americana in a late night concert with discounts for anybody attending both.
There’s a chance for audiences to get involved, with an exploration of Rudolf Karel’s Nonet with Manchester Camerata, for dedicated music fans; a Friday night gospel singalong with choir leader Ken Burton for all to enjoy, and the chance for singers and instrumentalists to take part in Your Creation – choruses from Haydn’s masterpiece, performed by members of the public with support from conductor Paul McCreesh and students from Chetham’s. They perform the entire piece later in July, and in the same week present A Celebration of Richard Rodgers, with songs from Carousel, South Pacific and The Sound of Music, among many more.
Stoller Hall is also set to team up with other local organisations – including Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra, who give a concert in aid of dementia charities with violinist Chloë Hanslip; Band on the Wall, who visit with multi-award winning harp and kora collaborators, Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita; and Stockport Symphony Orchestra, who open this year’s Piano Summer School with the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos, performed over two nights in four unique concerts.
image of The Stoller Hall
In other events acclaimed film composer and accompanist Neil Brand hosts a two day event for students, adults and families looking at film music Friday 12 – Saturday 13 May. Jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen is joined by Simin Tander (vocals) and Jarle Vespestad (drums) on Friday 26 May to explore the tradition or Norwegian church music in an non-traditional manner. The following day writer and self-taught musician Chris Wood weaves his take on the unofficial history of English-speakers with his own contemporary parables.
Prior to their performance on Tuesday 4 July, the public are invited to join Artistic Director of the Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh in a massed rehearsal of choruses from Haydn’s Creation on Sunday 2 July, with an informal performance at the end of the session. On Thursday 6 July, Stephen Threlfall conducts the Chetham’s Concert Orchestra in a celebration of Richard Rodgers. In October, the Kuss Quartet bring Chetham’s cycle of the complete Shostakovich String Quartets to a close, with a performance of Nos. 9 & 11, followed by Beethoven’s Op. 18 No.11 in D minor, on Thursday 12 October.
The annual Chetham’s International Piano Summer School and Festival for Pianists will take place for the first time in The Stoller Hall. 2017 introduces a ‘festival with a festival’ with four evenings of thrilling concerti from Leon McCawley, Noriko Ogawa, Peter Frankl and Leslie Howard from Saturday 19 -Sunday 20 August. A week later the Manchester International Concerto Competition for Young Pianists returns with Manchester Camerata as the orchestra for two evenings of concerto works performed by its six finalists.
Full details of events taking place at The Stoller Hall available at www.stollerhall.com
