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Looking forward to the new season, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Manchester Camerata’s inspirational Music Director says,

‘I feel music has to be spiritual medicine for people. Every note has to dance, sing or say something. This is how I see our performances – changing people’s mood and lifting them’.

Other world class soloists collaborating with Camerata this season include trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth in an alternative festive event happening at Manchester’s newly resurrected Albert Hall (14 Dec), and acclaimed pianists Dejan Lazić (18 April) and Ingrid Fliter (16 May) performing piano concerti by Chopin and Beethoven respectively.

Showcasing the exceptional artists within the orchestra’s own ranks, the spotlight falls on the orchestra’s new leader, Adi Brett on 30 January when she performs Haydn’s C major Violin Concerto, and then principal cellist Hannah Roberts tests out the newly refurbished RNCM Concert Hall on 11 February with the Elgar Cello Concerto.

Following three dramatic and highly successful UpClose concerts last season, the orchestra has come up with three more inventive programmes as part of this eclectic series. The first, an edgy collaboration with Manchester Literature Festival, sees Bill Ryder-Jones, former lead guitarist with The Coral performing his cinematic new venture If… live for the first time (Manchester Cathedral, 9 October). The second features Lithuanian accordion sensation Martynas Levickis rocking Manchester’s Gorilla bar with an extraordinary programme of Piazzolla, Bach and Lady Gaga, all accompanied by Manchester Camerata’s principal musicians (25 November). Completing the UpClose series is an event which promises to push the boundaries of the concert experience, offering a blindfold to each member of the audience in order that they experience the music (in this case Crumb, Dowland, Shostakovich and Haydn) in a completely different way (Royal Exchange Theatre, 1 March).

Manchester Camerata is committed to nurturing and developing new artistic talent and there are opportunities to hear the results sprinkled liberally throughout the 2014/15 season. The orchestra is part of In Harmony Telford and Stoke on Trent (an In Harmony Sistema England project supported by Citygrove) and its young participants have the fabulous opportunity of performing with Nicola Benedetti and Tine Thing Helseth prior to the main concerts on 20 Sept and 14 Dec respectively.oundaries of the concert experience, offering a blindfold to each member of the audience in order that they experience the music (in this case Crumb, Dowland, Shostakovich and Haydn) in a completely different way (Royal Exchange Theatre, 1 March).

Manchester Camerata’s Youth Programme also unearths talented young performers and they take to the platform prior to the concert on 18 April with REmix, their own new fusion music inspired by the concert programme. See Marcus Headlam, rapper, songwriter and member of Camerata’s Youth Forum expressing his view of Camerata in his own unique way on www.manchestercamerata.com

Composers are also given the opportunity to shine through the orchestra’s Composers’ Project , which sees 10 students having their compositions rehearsed and developed on 21 January, overseen and mentored by acclaimed British composer Mark Simpson.

Performing to 70,000 people each year, Manchester Camerata is chamber-orchestra-in-residence at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester but can also be seen at a number of different venues across the city including Manchester Cathedral, RNCM, Albert Hall, Gorilla Bar and Royal Exchange Theatre. Through both Camerata’s concert series and its Learning and Participation programme the orchestra touches the lives of people of all ages and walks of life, looking for new stories, meanings and ideas about what music is and can be.

For full season details, tickets and bookings visit: www.archive.manchestercamerata.co.uk

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