Black Angels

We are delighted to be teaming up with Manchester Collective again on their new season of shows, as we bring some of their incredible touring shows to Birkenhead. On 17th March we venture into darkness, with George Crumb‘s cult piece Black Angels setting the theme, emotionally and musically. We’re also treated to a world premiere on new work by NYC musician Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother) on this stormy night. MC’s musical director Rakhi Singh will be leading a highly accomplished string quartet in delivering these atmospheric works. Luce Mawdsley opens this show as support,

This is not music for the faint of heart. Come, journey into the black of the night.

Manchester Collective shows are renowned for their incredible atmospheres and intense experiences. Their musicians bring new life to classic arrangements and present brand new compositions from contemporary artists who break the walls between classical and modern worlds.
Tickets on sale now (see below for details).

GOD MUSIC. DEVIL MUSIC. NEW MUSIC.

George Crumb’s Black Angels is about as close as you’ll get to an acid trip without breaking the law. Subtitled Thirteen Images From The Dark Land, it’s a cult work for a reason – once you hear it, you’ll never forget it.

The notoriously difficult piece makes extraordinary demands of any string quartet who dare to attempt it. Musicians are instructed to chant in foreign languages, play their instruments upside down, incessantly tap the strings with thimbles and glass rods, scream, shout, beat, count and pray. It’s a roast.

Themes of death, destiny and obsessive spirituality prevail in Crumb’s avant-garde masterpiece – performed here alongside Death And The Maiden by Schubert. Elsewhere, the Collective present a brand-new commission by New York hip-hop artist, activist, poet and composer Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother). The set is completed by Edmund Finnis’ transcendent 2nd string quartet and Gabriella Smith’s fast and furious Carrot Revolution.

LINE-UP

Rakhi Singh Music Director
Manchester Collective Amplified string quartet

SETLIST

Gabriella Smith Carrot Revolution
Edmund Finnis String Quartet No. 2
Moor Mother New Work – World Premiere
Franz Schubert Death and the Maiden, II.
George Crumb Black Angels

+ support Luce Mawdsley

Approximate run time: 100 minutes (including an interval)

Manchester Collective presents
Black Angels
Friday 17th March 2023
7pm doors – performance starts promptly at 7.30pm
75 Argyle Street
Tickets £5 / £12 / £15

Tickets available online in advance or in person at the Future Yard Box Office.
Future Yard is a cashless venue – all payments are taken by contactless or chip and pin. Kitchen open 4pm-9pm. Live curfew 10.30pm.
If you have any specific access requests, please read all of the details about accessibility at Future Yard here.

Luce Mawdsley is a neurodivergent non-binary composer and guitarist from the west coast of Merseyside, UK. As a member of ambient doom duo Mésange and avant-prog punks Cavalier Song, Mawdsley has earned a reputation for a range of stirring performances and recordings combining poetic art forms into subversive investigations of gender, sexuality, power and identity.

Accompanied by bass clarinettist Nicholas Branton and violist Rachel Nicholas, Mawdsley will present a set of new chamber folk works that explore Queerness across boreal landscapes.

lucemawdsleymusic.com