Between Tuesday 15 and Sunday 20 September, Manchester Camerata is on the move once more, bringing its internationally acclaimed musicians to perform free concerts and pop-up performances in unexpected public spaces across all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester to literally say: Here We Are!
Free pop-up music performances across all ten boroughs in Greater Manchester in unusual and unexpected places including Manchester Airport’s T2, Manchester Museum, Stretford Carpark and Bolton Library.
A ticketed headline show at Gorton Monastery with exciting, up and coming Scottish pianist and composer, Ethan Loch.
Free and drop-in taster sessions in all ten boroughs at Manchester Camerata’s groundbreaking Music in Mind Music Cafés for those living with dementia
Dynamic and innovative collaborations with storytellers and musicians including Rappers and RnB performers and BBC Proms artist, Carmel Smickersgill
Following the enormous success of Manchester Camerata’s inaugural Here We Are celebrations last October, which saw over 4,000 people engage with its musicians and with orchestral music in unusual spaces across all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester – many for the first time – the pioneering North-West based orchestra is on the move across the region once more for six more days of free, pop-up performances.
As part of this, the orchestra will give two free performances of Brian Eno’s seminal album Ambient 1: Music for Airports at Manchester Airport – only the second time this music will have ever been played by a professional orchestra at a UK airport. Moreover, it is taking place in the ‘super-terminal’ of Manchester Airport which recently underwent a £1.5-billion transformation. Released in 1978 on Polydor, and Eno’s sixth studio album, this ambient masterpiece, is widely cited as ‘the greatest ambient record of all time’ and will be brought to life by six Manchester Camerata musicians, inducing calm and defusing travel anxiety amongst Manchester Airport’s busy and unexpecting passengers. A small, non-travelling public audience will be able to attend via free tickets.
Additional venues where unexpected performances and musical partnerships will take place during Here We Are 2026 are The Manchester Museum, Salford Crescent Hospital, Bolton Library, Stretford Carpark and St Andrews Care Home in Tameside – to name but a few. Manchester Camerata will split its orchestra into smaller Wind and String chamber quartets to travel across the region to perform a wide range of co-curated setlists, in partnership with a diverse range of performers and organisations in each Greater Manchester borough. Collaborations include a set with BBC Proms artist Carmel Smickersgill, storytelling with Goofus Puppet Company and performances with local Rap and RnB artists in Rochdale. Camerata musicians will also be performing on the dementia wing of Salford Crescent Hospital and celebrating the legacy of Wigan’s Northern Soul Scene at the Old Courts.
Here We Are’s six-day celebration is part of Camerata’s continual mission to embed itself in the local community, help transform lives through the power of music, and redefine what a 21st-century orchestra should be. Last year’s celebrations revealed powerful evidence of how music connects, heals and inspires communities. Manchester Camerata’s intention behind this year’s Here We Are is to therefore continue this positive connectivity, bringing its music and its musicians directly into more local community groups to highlight how accessible music should and can be. It is aimed at inviting families, shoppers, commuters, holidaymakers and other unexpected audiences to experience the transformative power of music and the orchestra’s core belief that music should be available to all.
In addition to the free events, there will be a ticketed headline performance by Manchester Camerata with their Artistic Partner Scottish pianist Ethan Loch on Friday 18 September in its home at The Monastery in Gorton. The Expansion of Sound, with the acclaimed German conductor Christoph Alstaedt, will feature Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 3; Perotin – Viderunt Omnes; Charles Ives – The Unanswered Question; Terry Riley in C and a new piece written especially for Manchester Camerata by Alan Williams of Salford University inspired by the stories of the carers involved in the orchestra’s groundbreaking Music in Mind dementia music programme.
There will be two free open rehearsals for the Ethan Loch concert at the Monastery in Gorton on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 September as part of Here We Are. At these, everyone is welcome to see the orchestra up close as it prepares for Friday’s headline concert.
Visually impaired since birth, Ethan Loch is an acclaimed Scottish pianist and composer. He was a finalist in BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2022 and has won several competitions including the Scottish International Youth Piano Competition and the prestigious Verbier Academy in Switzerland. He has performed with several renowned orchestras in addition to Manchester Camerata – such as BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Loch’s rise to fame has also been captured in a recent BBC documentary as part of their Out Live series: Seeing With Sound.
As committed to changing lives through music off the stage as well as on it, Manchester Camerata will be running free, drop-in taster sessions for the autumn term of their groundbreaking Music in Mind dementia Cafés during Here We Are 2026. These sessions will run in all ten boroughs throughout the weekend and are open to anyone living with dementia and their carers. They are designed specifically to enable those living with dementia to experience the joy and mental health benefits of live music in a safe and inclusive environment – supported by Camerata’s professional music therapists.
Launched in October 2024, Manchester Camerata’s Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia delivers county-wide dementia Music Cafés in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, The University of Manchester, and former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham’s Live Well agenda. These Cafés provide vital care for people living with dementia, based on Camerata’s award-winning Music-in-Mind techniques.
Bob Riley, Chief Executive of Manchester Camerata, comments:
“Of the thousands of people we reached last year, over 400 people told us in detailed feedback that music is vital to living well. The number 1 request was for immersive performances in unusual spaces. As a response, this year we are performing minimal masterworks in a car park in Stretford, we’re bringing a story to life in the ‘Living Worlds’ Gallery of Manchester Museum, as well as performing Brian Eno’s ambient masterpiece, ‘Music for Airports’, live from Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport. This is what Here We Are is all about. Engaging with many different voices from many different places, bringing us all together through the power of music.”
Jem Girl at the Piano 