Carols from Kantos
The Stoller HallFollow the Star… This festive season, join Kantos to share the joy of Christmas as we follow the star, wherever...
Fresh from their European tour, The Sunday Boys – Manchester’s low voiced LGBTQ+ choir are proud to present Queer British Voices, a journey across the many musical genres the UK has to offer.
Featuring music by Sigala/MNEK, Self Esteem, Rina Sawayama as well as a World premiere from Fraz Ireland and Ella Otomewo, this concert will show off a mix of contemporary classical, musical theatre and pop artists from here in the UK and across the globe.
The event will also feature readings by Ella Otomewo, Andrew McMillan and Rachel Mann.
6pm – Pre-concert talk
‘When queer words meet queer voices: a discussion on poetry in choral song’. A discussion with writers Ella Otomewo, Andrew McMillan and Rachel Mann will take place in The Stoller Hall for all ticket-holders, chaired by composer Anna Appleby.
6.45pm – Pre-concert performance
Blackpool’s LGBTQ+ Community choir Electric Pink Voices will perform in the atrium.
Queer British Voices is supported by public funds from Arts Council England.
Please note that that some of the songs being performed will include explicit language.
As part of our Pride programming, we’re also delighted to host Loud and Proud: Vocal Connections Workshop, an inclusive workshop for trans and queer voices.
About Anna Appleby (chair of our pre-concert talk)
Anna Appleby (born in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a Manchester-based composer and songwriter. Her classical work has been performed all over the world and she continues to compose spiritual, hard-hitting, melodic and rhythmically-driven work for orchestras, opera companies, choreographers, contemporary music ensembles, soloists and choirs. She also has an experimental electronic music alter-ego called Norrisette and set up a regular night of queer electronica called FLUFF. Recent premieres include an opera, Drought, for the BBC Philharmonic and an award-winning collaborative youth opera for Glyndebourne, Pay the Piper.
Andrew McMillan
Andrew McMillan (he/him) was born in Barnsley in 1988. His debut collection of poetry, physical, was the only poetry book to ever win the Guardian First Book Award; it was also awarded a Somerset Maugham award, an Eric Gregory Award, the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize and in 2019 was voted as one of the Top 25 Poetry Books of the Past 25 Years by the Booksellers Association. His second collection, playtime, won the inaugural Polari Prize. A third collection, pandemonium, was published in 2021 and in 2022 he co-edited the acclaimed anthology 100 Queer Poems, which was shortlisted in the British Book Awards. He is professor of contemporary writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His debut novel, Pity, will be published next year.
