Manchester Collective: Weather

Urgent, haunting and unforgettable, tonight’s event is an artistic record of threatened habitats, where live music meets audiovisual installation.

You’re transported from an East Asian rainforest to the world’s oldest desert; from an Icelandic glacier to a sunken medieval town off the English coast. Each singular in their beauty, each bearing the scars of extreme weather events.

At the heart of this hour-long odyssey is Michael Gordon’s Weather for string orchestra and electronics. Inspired by chaotic weather patterns, embracing both danger and calm, here it is brought to life by the boundary-pushing Manchester Collective.

From Cabaret Voltaire to David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet, seminal sound artist and field recordist Chris Watson has had a storied career. Out of his rich archive, the slow bubbling of melting ice, merciless desert winds and the morning cries of tropical birds animate the space around us.

Completing our voyage, two screens envelop the stage with panoramic vistas captured by Watson’s long-time collaborator, film-maker and artist Carlos Casas.

After the interval, stay with us for a performance and discussion with boundary-pushing artists exploring how we can harness the power of music in service of the planet. The world around us is irrevocably changing. But what if we got it right? Together with presenter Elizabeth Alker and EarthPercent, the music industry’s climate foundation, we reimagine our collective future in the face of the climate crisis.

Manchester Collective is a Southbank Centre Resident Artist for Classical Music: Spring/Summer 2027.

WEATHER is supported by the Leche Trust and the Maria Björnson Memorial Fund

Tickets: from £24