Camerata in Europe – virtually

Manchester Camerata will perform in Europe on Friday 2nd October…without leaving Manchester. The orchestra will play a collaborative concert of new music using the power of Manchester’s high-speed broadband network.

A live synchronised performance by Manchester Camerata and the Venetian ensemble Ex Novo will be relayed to the Venice World Forum on Climate Change via the Internet, using the latest groundbreaking technology. Together they will perform Green Piece, a world première by Michele Dall’Ongaro, specially commissioned for the occasion. The performance takes place on Friday 2 October, as part of a free lunchtime concert featuring music by Charles Ives and Oliver Knussen, during the connection between the orchestras will be kept open, with a trumpeter in Venice providing the trumpet solo for Ives’ ‘Unanswered Question’.

Manchester Camerata will perform their contribution live at Manchester University at 12.45pm GMT, linking in over the internet with Ex Novo, who will be playing simultaneously in the Concert Hall at the Venice Conservatoire, at 1.45pm local time. The resulting performance will be broadcast live via a high-speed internet connection to the delegates at the Venice World Forum on Climate Change, based in the Doge’s Palace in St Mark’s Square.

This is the first time that the two orchestras have worked together at all, let alone in this innovative way. The combined performance, simultaneously working across a time delay, has been made possible thanks to technological help from Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA) working with Manchester University and Feedback Italia.

The Venice World Forum on Climate Change is an international event held over two days, which brings together leading experts on the environment, Nobel Laureates and ministers.

One of the overall objectives of this year’s event, hosted by the International Academy of Environmental Sciences (IAES), is to establish a European Environmental Criminal Court and an International Environmental Criminal Court. This would enable the court to take environmental polluters to task and make disasters such as Bhopal easier to respond to.

Manus Carey, Head of Artistic Planning at Manchester Camerata, said: “We are a 21st century orchestra embracing the issues of our time and raising awareness of environmental concerns through the power of music. We are incredibly proud to be taking part in this groundbreaking event and we hope to help raise the profile of the work of the International Academy of Environmental Sciences here in the UK. Manchester Camerata has an international outlook in-keeping with the city’s philosophy. We are eager to make an impression in Europe; this way we can do it without carbon emissions or incurring air-miles.”

Time & Date: 12:45pm, Friday 2nd October 2009

Venue: Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Manchester University

Tickets: Free on a first come/first served basis. Please email rshaw@manchestercamerata.com, stating how many you require.

Download the Green Piece Flyer as a PDF.