Featuring boundary-pushing innovation, intimate recitals and more, Manchester’s upcoming classical concert schedule boasts a diverse array of live performances from the nation’s most celebrated musicians and orchestras.
Here are some of the best classical shows coming to Manchester over the next few months.
Manchester Collective joins forces with Ivorian percussionist and griot musician Sidiki Dembélé for a cross-cultural musical voyage, bringing West African storytelling and European classical traditions into vivid conversation.
With Dembélé and his band performing traditional songs from the Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal alongside the Collective’s strings and bass guitar, the programme moves freely and fluidly between baroque music, African percussion and improvisation.
The Chamber Series at Hallé St Peter’s is a fantastic chance to get up close and personal to the music with sublime performances in an intimate setting. In October, Saint-Saëns’ Septet for trumpet, piano and strings, is paired with the world premiere of John Casken’s Enchant for trumpet and piano.
Proclaimed by Tchaikovsky himself as ‘the best thing I ever composed or shall compose’, the BBC Philharmonic bring the majesty and magic of Pathétique to The Bridgewater Hall this October, with a programme that also features Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide and Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto.
A perfect introduction to classical music, this concert is packed with showstopping hits, featuring some of the world’s favourite-ever classical pieces. Stephen Bell leads the Hallé orchestra through a programme that spans everything from Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto to Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet: Montagues and Capulets.
A spellbinding moonlit live concert celebrating the eerie back catalogue of Tim Burton and other gothic classics takes over Manchester Opera House in October. Expect to hear pieces from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Beetlejuice, Labyrinth and more.
Having recently appeared on this season of Channel 4’s The Piano, American pianist Tiffany Poon makes her Manchester debut with selections from Nature, her critically acclaimed album of French repertoire that bridges the worlds of Alkan, Debussy, Rameau and Ravel.
A unique classical concert which aims to improve the experience of people with hearing loss who want to enjoy music is coming to Manchester this October.
Academics from the Cadenza Project, working with the Manchester Camerata orchestra, are inviting people with and without hearing loss to a special research show at the Stoller Hall. The concert will feature Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the Pastoral Symphony. To start, the Camerata will play a movement from the piece and the audience can just sit back and enjoy. The orchestra will then perform short excerpts in different ways to explore common problems people with hearing loss have. The audience will give feedback on each rendition via a simple questionnaire. The Camerata will finally play another movement, where attendees can just relax and listen, or do an optional additional research task.
Manchester Baroque’s 26/27 season begins with a varied programme led from the violin, featuring some of the most popular Baroque composers. Audiences can hear pieces from Vivaldi, Handel and Bach, mixed with vocal items with countertenor Francis Bamford.
The RNCM Session Orchestra transforms timeless disco anthems into powerful orchestral creations. Expect to hear reimagined versions of hits by the likes of Chic, Gloria Gaynor, and Diana Ross, expertly arranged for the full sound of an orchestra and soloists from the school’s Pop Department.
Frame Ensemble brings silent-era films back to the screen with brand-new, improvised music created by artists across traditions ranging from jazz and folk to classically trained performers. Coming to the Stoller Hall for a special Halloween show, four musicians will score the unsettling 1924 psychological thriller, The Hands of Orlac.
Promising a night of drama and expansive sounds, the Hallé’s Principal Conductor Kahchun Wong conducts the RNCM Symphony Orchestra. The concert also features soprano soloist Esther Shea and the world premiere of a new work by RNCM composer Amit Manna, conducted by Juan Jose Munoz Borja.
A landmark collaboration with the V&A East Museum and Friday Night is Music Night comes to the BBC Philharmonic Studio at MediaCity, celebrating the impact of Black British music on British culture. The programme is still TBC, but this is certainly one to keep on your radar.
Step into the world of the Brontë sisters with Kantos Chamber Choir in a unique evening of choral music and spoken word inspired by the lives and imaginations of one of literature’s most famous families.
Elizabeth Gaskell specialist Dr Sherry Ashworth joins Kantos as co-curator and presenter for this performance, and the event will feature a pre-concert talk at 7.30pm.
Steve Reich’s minimalist masterpiece, which has inspired a myriad of artists throughout the years, ranging from Bowie to Aphex Twin, is performed by the virtuoso players of Paraorchestra at the RNCM Concert Hall in November. Paraorchestra is a pioneering collective of disabled and non-disabled musicians, renowned for creating unforgettable musical experiences.
Grammy-nominated conductor and composer Miho Hazama makes her Bridgewater Hall debut alongside the BBC Philharmonic, with a jazz-inflected evening featuring the music of George Gershwin, overseeing the iconic Rhapsody in Blue alongside new orchestral arrangements, Charlie Chaplin’s Smile and the world premiere re-orchestration of her own In Late at Night of Retiro.
The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and The Bridgewater Hall come together for a special performance of Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony, conducted by one of today’s leading conductors, Simone Young, as part of the Bridgewater Hall’s International Concert Series.
Young is one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Richard Strauss. Currently the chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, this performance will see Young directing the epic Strauss symphony, which depicts a harrowing eleven‑hour mountain climb, complete with a wind machine, thunder machine, and more than 100 musicians. The concert will also include two sharply contrasted works by Robert Schumann, featuring French pianist Cédric Tiberghien.
Watch Raymond Briggs’ classic animated film, accompanied by the Hallé performing Howard Blake’s magical score. Plus, there’ll be some festive extras thrown in by way of the Polar Express and Frozen.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the iconic Academy Award-winning film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, fans can immerse themselves in a spectacular audio-visual spectacle, with Howard Shore’s original scores performed live with the film.
Always a real Christmas treat, Manchester Camerata and the AMC Gospel Choir come together against the dramatic backdrop of the Albert Hall for a night of powerful festive classics. This one always sells out, so get in early.
Experience Jonny Greenwood’s immersive work 605 Years of Reverb, a piece written by the Radiohead star to celebrate the unique legacy of organs in historic buildings. Organists James McVinnie and Eliza McCarthy team up to take on this immense piece, which draws upon influences from Indian music.
A mighty crossover here, as the biggest Trance classics are performed by a 24-piece orchestra at O2 Ritz. Expect the biggest tracks from the likes of Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Paul Van Dyk and more.
- Words:
- Wire Editor
- Published on:
- Thu 1 Oct 2026
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