The Hallé joins forces with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood this month

The Hallé and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood will join forces for a special performance at The Bridgewater Hall this February.

The special concert, which takes place on Thu 26 Feb, celebrates the Radiohead lead guitarist’s love of orchestral string writing.

Joining the night’s lineup will be acclaimed violinist Daniel Pioro, who will perform Greenwood’s Violin Concerto, which steals electronic experimental sounds and puts them into live strings, using the full sonic potential of the solo violin and string orchestra.

Speaking about the piece, Jonny explains: “I think of it as a piece of music for solo violin, string orchestra, and conductor – as three equals. It’s very challenging for all the players – and the conductor – but again, that sense of collective effort, for one unique performance is like nothing else, and in its impermanence feels utterly contemporary to me.”

“It’s also about treating the orchestra as a resonator for Daniel’s solo violin, and exploring how various digital and analogue sound processing can be reinterpreted with technology as old as violins/violas/cellos/basses. The results are, I think and hope, more complicated and interesting than the electronic originals that inspired them. They’re certainly different every time they’re played by the orchestra, and that’s central to what inspires me.”

In Water, the warmth of the Hallé strings envelopes two flutes and an Indian tanpura on a journey of rippling colour. Lutosławski’s moving Musique funèbre, dedicated to the pioneering composer Bela Bartók, also forms part of the evening’s programme, as does Steve Reich’s lyrical Pulse, which is a tenderly contemplative, yet constantly pulsating, work.

Tickets are on sale now. Book yours below.