The Manchester International Festival has announced the programme for the 2015 event (Thursday 2 – Sunday 19 July), which celebrates a decade of the world’s only festival of original new work. The programme includes world premieres, unique concerts and one-off events, including a number of free events across the festival.
Alex Poots, founding CEO and Festival Director said: “For our fifth Festival, in our tenth year, we remain committed to working with some of the world’s greatest artists, supporting them to make their most ambitious and best work. For my last Festival it is such a pleasure to welcome many new artists and some returning artists to MIF.
Over the last decade, MIF has helped enable artists to develop their art forms and at times foster connections between different art forms. The best of these works have shown the interdependence between creative disciplines that may not, on the surface, seem to have as much in common, but actually have a deep rooted artistic compatibility.”
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Over the past decade, MIF has helped cement Manchester’s position as a major player on the global arts scene, while attracting tens of thousands of visitors from around the world, providing an important economic boost to the city, and inspiring members of our communities to get involved in the arts.
“The calibre of internationally renowned artists, musicians and performers announced for this summer’s event demonstrates that MIF is continuing to break new ground and will continue to showcase Manchester as a vibrant centre of innovation and creativity.”
Richter / Pärt is a remarkable project, several years in the making. Gerhard Richter and Arvo Pärt have made work inspired by and dedicated to each other, after being introduced by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Alex Poots in 2013. These works will be united for the first time at the recently re-opened the Whitworth art gallery. To accompany the show at the Whitworth the Manchester Camerata will perform an evening of Pärt’s music at the Bridgewater Hall conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy.
Manchester International Festival announces the programme for the 2015 event (Thursday 2 – Sunday 19 July), which celebrates a decade of the world’s only festival of original new work. The programme includes world premieres, unique concerts and one-off events, including a number of free events across the festival.
Neck of the Woods sees Turner Prize-winning artist Douglas Gordon and celebrated pianist Hélène Grimaud create a portrait of the wolf in a collision of visual art, music and theatre, with Charlotte Rampling as the raconteur.
Choreographer Wayne McGregor is creating Tree of Codes for MIF 2015, a contemporary ballet inspired by the book Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer. Soloists and dancers from The Paris Opera Ballet alongside Company Wayne McGregor will form the company, performing in an environment created by visual artist Olafur Eliasson to a score composed by Mercury Prize-winning producer/composer Jamie xx.
Artist Ed Atkins is lifting the veil on the production of digital art with Performance Capture at Manchester Art Gallery; this installation will provide a unique and reflexive insight into the production of a computer-generated moving image work.
Four years on from her ground-breaking Biophilia residency, Björk returns to MIF for a spectacular one-off gig at Manchester’s Castlefield, while 24-year old Venezuelan artist Arca (co-producer for Björk’s Vulnicura) makes his first MIF appearance. One of the most innovative and inspired musical voices of his generation, he will present a live show with his long-time collaborator, visual artist Jesse Kanda.
The Age of Starlight will be a world first show about the origin of the universe and everything within and without it, brought to life by incredible new cinematic reality technology that is being pioneered by Magic Leap.