Vivaldi, Handel and Bach: Manchester Baroque announces its 2026/27 concert season

The season opens with some of the most celebrated composers of the Baroque era including Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Telemann and Purcell. Led from the violin by artistic director Pauline Nobes, the concert features countertenor Francis Bamford, while principal viola player Alex Mitchell takes the spotlight in Telemann’s Viola Concerto. Other highlights include Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe with oboist Joel Raymond.

A much-loved fixture in Manchester’s Advent calendar, Handel’s Messiah returns to Manchester Cathedral in a performance with Manchester Cathedral Choir, conducted by Christopher Stokes and led by violinist Pauline Nobes. First performed in Dublin in 1742, it features some of the best-known music in the classical repertoire, including the celebrated ‘Hallelujah’ chorus. The cathedral provides a fitting backdrop for an evening of stirring choruses and beautiful arias.

This chamber concert offers a chance to hear an unusual historical instrument: the baryton, a bass string instrument that was already rare by the 18th century. Luke Challinor joins Manchester Baroque to perform three works written for the instrument by Joseph Haydn. The programme also features early classical chamber music by Sammartini, Lidl and Bréval, offering an insight into the elegant musical style that emerged as the Baroque era gave way to the Classical period.

Marking 300 years since its first performance in 1727, Bach’s monumental St Matthew Passion takes centre stage at Manchester Cathedral, performed with Manchester Cathedral Choir under the direction of Christopher Stokes. Telling the biblical story of the final days of Jesus, it combines two orchestras, two choirs and soloists to create a powerful musical journey with real emotional depth and range.

Journey back in time to experience an original concert programme from the city’s first known subscription concert series in 1744 and 1745. Led by Pauline Nobes, Manchester Baroque has researched historical programmes and scores held at Manchester Central Library to bring these performances back to life. Alongside music by Handel and Corelli, the concert includes lesser-known concertos by Tessarini and Hasse, as well as a cantata attributed to English composer George Hayden.

Bach and Telemann feature in a lively programme celebrating the exuberance, inventiveness and variety of Baroque music. Bach’s Fourth Brandenburg Concerto brings together two recorders and a solo violin in a playful exchange with the orchestra, while Telemann’s toe-tapping Double Concerto for Recorder and Flute and Trumpet Sinfonia showcase the talents of the ensemble’s soloists. The concert opens with music from Purcell’s King Arthur, one of his most accomplished music dramas.

This chamber music concert explores the composers who helped shape Baroque music across France and Italy, featuring flute, violin, cello and harpsichord. The programme includes music by Giuseppe Giordani, whose work reflects the transition from the Baroque to the Classical style, alongside French composers Jean-Philippe Rameau, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier and Jean-Marie Leclair. There’s also a Manchester connection with one of Vivaldi’s so-called ‘Manchester Sonatas’, discovered in Manchester Central Library in 1973.

The final concert will be Bach’s B Minor Mass, performed with Manchester Cathedral Choir under the direction of Christopher Stokes. Composed towards the end of Bach’s life, it brings together a range of musical styles and is seen as one of the great achievements of Baroque vocal music. Performed in the magnificent surroundings of Manchester Cathedral, it promises to be a celebratory finale to the season.