Article published in Manchester Evening News 23 September 2016

CLASSICAL fans are spoilt for choice this weekend, as tomorrow night not only do the BBC Philharmonic open their autumn schedule at the Bridgewater Hall with Haydn’s The Creation, but Manchester Camerata open theirs at the Royal Northern College of Music.

It’s a typically eclectic programme, ranging from music by Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones to Haydn, Mozart, Holst and Vaughan Williams.

Gábor Takács-Nagy conducts and ‘Haydn to Hendrix’ is the title – so what’s that about?

“Our aim is always to push at boundaries,” says Camerata head of creative programming Samantha Morgan, “and we believe that good music is always good music.

“We’re looking to bring in younger, fresher members of the audience as well as older ones, and we’re saying: ‘We know it might not be what you’re used to, but come with us on this journey’.

“Gábor has been doing this kind of thing in his work in Switzerland, too, and people find they really enjoy it.

“We want them to trust us, and we will ensure that any non-classical music is by musicians who are first-class in their own right. The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil is in an arrangement by Daniel Schnyder, and for Hendrix’s Purple Haze Variations there’s also material by Simon Parkin, who’s worked with us for a number of years.”

Further ahead there’s a visit from Tine Thing Helseth, the trumpet player who has enlivened the Camerata’s ground-breaking ‘UpClose’ performances. She’s soloist and director for their ‘Festive Happening’ on December 18 (3pm) at the Albert Hall, Peter Street.

“Tine Thing has already helped us put these kinds of things into action with her programming. Freedom of choice of music gives freedom in performance, and we can profile members of the orchestra and engage with an audience that way,” says Samantha Morgan.

Between those two events, on November 17 pianist Alexander Ullman is lead artist for a promenade concert by the Camerata at the Whitworth gallery (making its own French impression, with Poulenc, Roussel, Debussy and Stravinsky).

The UpClose concept, says Morgan, is informing all their concerts: “We’ve taken our musicians into bars where there’s no classical music normally, and people just loved it. We’ve learned about how to communicate to the audience who come through that kind of door.”