Lunchtime listening: Bridgewater Hall’s Manchester Mid-day Concerts in Spring 2019

Back for the new year are the Bridgewater Hall’s Manchester Mid-day Concerts, giving you a taste of classical music in the length of a lunch hour. The next six showcase music and musicians from around the world – from pure percussion to operatic ensembles.

Thu 17 Jan: Aurora Percussion Duo – percussion 
Having worked together for a number of years, percussionists Le Yu and Delia Stevens perform as one for a mesmerising show, and this eclectic and unusual programme – featuring pieces by Casey Cangelosi, Anver Dorman, Gene Koshinksi, Piazzolla, Ivan Trevino and Daniel Wirtz – promises a fiery and fascinating concert.
Book now: bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Tue 29 Jan: Gildas Quartet & Jack McNeill – strings & clarinet
No strangers to the Bridgewater, for this concert, Gildas have teamed up with lively and versatile clarinetist, composer and cross-discipline musician (including guitar and singer-songwriting) Jack McNeill, seguing from Mozart’s masterpiece Quintet in A major for Clarinet and Strings K.581 to a selection of David Bruce’s energetic African-influenced Gumboots.
Book now: bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Fri 1 Feb: Riyad Nicolas – piano
Making his debut in the Syrian city of Aleppo aged 10, pianist Riyad is now settled in the UK after studying at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. He will demonstrate his technique and talent with two pieces by Chopin plus Liszt’s Paganini Étude No.6.
Book now: bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Tue 5 Feb: RNCM Opera Gala – opera
This programme of arias and ensemble pieces – including The Pearl Fishers and The Flower Duet – should be a lively and popular concert, showcasing the warm baritone voice of John Ieuan Jones alongside RNCM colleagues soprano Eliza Boom, mezzo soprano Lucy Vallis and tenor Iain Henderson, accompanied on piano by Silvia Magagni.
Book now: bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Thu 14 Feb: Heejae Kim – piano
A pianist of passion and sensitivity, Heejae comes to Manchester following her success in the 2015 Leeds International Piano Competition. Placed second overall, she was also declared winner of the Terence Judd-Hallé Orchestra Prize, providing this opportunity, performing Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue and Schumann’s great, groundbreaking Fantasie in C major.
Book now: bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Fri 22 Feb: K’antu Ensemble – vocals & instruments
Versatile vocal/instrumental ensemble K’antu draw from repertoire from around the world and across the centuries, and this concert – entitled Dancing and the Divine from Montserrat Monastery, Spain, to Oaxaca Cathedral, Mexico – combines Hispanic culture from both sides of the globe in a unique fusion of early, world and folk music.
Book now: bridgewater-hall.co.uk

A Manchester Wire partnership post.

Thu 17 Jan – Fri 22 Feb, The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3WS, Tel: 0161 907 9000, 1.10pm, £7.50-12, bridgewater-hall.co.uk