Bach, the Universe & Everything

Bach, the Universe & Everything is a concert series with a difference.

Across six Sunday morning events, each featuring a guest scentific speaker, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment explore the human desire to understand our place in the cosmos, guided by the music of JS Bach.

VOCES8

Sun 15 Oct

The Genesis Quest

JS Bach Cantata, BWV 48

Speaker: Michael Marshall

Sun 19 Nov

Mission to Mars

JS Bach Cantata, BWV 139

Speaker: Professor Sanjeev Gupta

Sun 17 Dec Soul Music

JS Bach Cantata, BWV 186a

Speaker: TBC

Sun 21 Jan

Here Comes the Sun JS Bach Cantata, BWV 3

Speaker: Professor Lucie Green

Sun 18 Feb Got To Have Faith

JS Bach Cantata, BWV 22

Speaker: TBC

Sun 17 Mar

To Infinity and Beyond

JS Bach Cantata, BWV 148

Speaker: Stuart Clark

December

Sat 2 Dec | Hall One | 6.30pm

Manchester Collective The End of Time

Matteis Alla Fantasia

Caroline Shaw Gustave le Gray

Chopin Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4

Messiaen Theme and Variations Quartet for the End of Time

Sergio Castelló López clarinet

Rakhi Singh violin

Nick Trygstad cello

Kathryn Stott piano

If you had to pick a single musical work to reflect the energy, chaos and trauma of the 20th century, you could do a lot worse than Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. This is chamber music at its most dramatic and unfiltered – it’s a pure distillation of the time in which it was written. To perform this harrowing epic the Collective are thrilled to welcome musical treasure Kathryn Stott for the first time. Kathy will also perform Caroline Shaw’s exquisite Gustave le Gray alongside the Chopin mazurka that inspired the piece

£26.50 with Under 30s and Concessions

Tickets

Sat 2 Dec | Hall Two 8pm

Shiva Feshareki & Sean Shibe

Sound Unwrapped

Shiva Feshareki Live turntable manifestations of Opus Infinity

Steve Reich Electric Counterpoint

Julius Eastman Buddha

Shiva Feshareki Seismic Wave Orchestra (UK premiere)

Shiva Feshareki is a British-Iranian composer celebrated for her thrilling spatialised compositions in which live sound immerses the audience as it glides and whirls within space, sculpted in the moment of performance. This hypnotic effect will be pushed to the maximum on the d&b Soundscape as she presents Seismic Wave Orchestra (2020) with special guest Sean Shibe, and live electronic manipulations of her major spatial work Opus Infinity (2019).

£18.50 with Under 30s and Concessions

Tickets

Sun 3 Dec | Hall One | 11.30am

Lucy Parham’s Celebrity Christmas Gala

The return of Lucy Parham’s acclaimed Christmas Gala at Kings Place, with celebrities from outside the musical world joining her on stage to play music that has inspired them to play the piano. This Christmas Gala will once again be presented by BBC Radio 3’s Sean Rafferty, with narration and festive surprises.

£21.50 with Under 30s and Concessions

Tickets

Sun 3 Dec | Hall One | 6pm

The Goldberg Variations Reimagined

Rachel Podger: Artist in Focus 23/24 JS Bach, arr. Chad Kelly The Goldberg Variations Reimagined

Rachel Podger violin/director Brecon Baroque

Employing a variety of instrumental combinations from a typical Bach ensemble of single strings, oboe, flute, bassoon and harpsichord, these newly-crafted Goldbergs illuminate this well-worn journey with exquisite responses to the genres expressed in Bach’s scores. From aria to overture, fugue to trio sonata, and concerto to quodlibet, the variations take flight in ways which would have graced his Sunday coffee concerts in Leipzig in the 1730s –and which transform the listening experience for today’s audience.

£19.50-£49.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Mon 4 Dec | Hall One | 7.30pm

Chloé Piano Trio

Kirckman Society Presents

Cécile Chaminade Piano Trio No. 2 in A minor, Op. 34

Kelly-Marie Murphy Give Me

Phoenix Wings To Fly

Haydn Piano Trio No. 45 in E flat major, Hob. XV:29

Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66

The Chloé Piano Trio brings a vibrant and diverse programme to this concert. The trio in A minor by Cécile Chaminade is a dramatic work with folk influences. In Kelly-Marie Murphy's Give Me Phoenix Wings to Fly the life cycle of a phoenix is portrayed through three movements representing destruction, desolation and rebirth. The players continue with Haydn’s playful last-published piano trio, written during a stay in London, a contrast with Mendelssohn’s monumental Trio No. 2. This is a Kirckman Society promotion.

£15-£25 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Wed 6 Dec Hall One | 6.45pm

Piatti Quartet

Dvořák String Quartet No. 13

Rush Hour Lates

Charlotte Harding Iorsa

Dvořák String Quartet No. 13 in G, Op. 106

Michael Trainor violin

Emily Holland violin

Miguel Sobrinho viola

Jessie Ann Richardson cello

By 1895, Dvořák had returned from America to what is now the Czech Republic to write his his mighty, life-affirming Quartet No. 13, full of the sounds of and the composer’s love for his Bohemian homeland. Charlotte Harding’s Iorsa wascommissioned by the Piatti Quartet and Three Choirs Festival in 2022. This short, effective work brings the listener to the windswept and rugged Glen Iorsa on the isle of Arran. It represents a place in which to listen or, at times, cry out.

£17.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Sun 10 Dec Hall Two 5pm, 7pm

Gildas Quartet

Britten No. 3 in Surround Sound

Sound Unwrapped

Determined to bring the visceral experience of string quartet performance to audiences at close quarters, the Gildas Quartet created their immersive project Surround Sound Sessions. Each performance brings a single great quartet work to listeners, inviting them to sit literally in ‘surround sound’ and experience the drama from the centre of the ensemble. In this performance the players will explore Britten’s valedictory and deeply moving Third Quartet. You will get to know the piece as they deconstruct and demonstrate aspects of the music. A complete memorised performance of the Britten ends the concert, with the audience surrounding the players.

£20 with Under 30s and Concessions

Tickets Gildas Quartet 10 Dec