Manchester Camerata is the kind of orchestra that leaps out of the pit and swaggers onto the street to engage new audience in classical music. Heard of the game-changing, now legendary, Haçienda Classical? That’s them. The team’s latest project is Here We Are, a five‑day programme that takes music out of the concert hall and into the everyday spaces of Greater Manchester, UK. Aside from its imagination (and talent, naturally), Manchester Camerata’s enduring endearing quality is its inclusivity and care for the community. Embarking on a project to touch every borough of Greater Manchester is a statement of intent, as much as a ploy for engagement. It strikes me as…Parisian in its virtues.
A musical gift to the city, Here We Are will take place from 1–5 October 2025, with Camerata musicians performing across all ten boroughs in Greater Manchester, bringing a dash of musical joy to libraries, skate parks, shopping centres, the Metrolink line, and even Manchester Picadilly train station.
The idea is simple, delightful and meaningful: musicians meet audiences where they are and get them involved in the process. There is a combination of small and found delights, like musicians on the Tameside to Media City Metrolink on Saturday 5 October, to headline performances of new work and old masters at key venues, as well as the inclusive open rehearsals. Alongside borough-wide pop‑up performances, Manchester Camerata is launching ten new Music Cafés for people living with dementia and their carers, expanding its award-winning Music in Mind community work that has become a model for orchestras across Europe.
Bookending the week are two headline concerts. At The Monastery in Gorton, music director Gábor Takács‑Nagy leads the orchestra in Mozart, Beethoven and Arvo Pärt. While over at Aviva Studios, Manchester Camerata joins forces with Manchester electronic duo Space Afrika for the UK premiere of Opera Omnia.
The week also opens up the rehearsal room, with the public invited to watch the orchestra at work in Gorton. Elsewhere, musicians collaborate with local partners via youth writing groups in Stockport, action sports communities in Salford, and family storytellers in Oldham and Bolton. By the final day, its musicians will have performed in every borough of Greater Manchester, from sets in Bury and Wigan to intimate shopping mall performances in Trafford and Rochdale.
Here We Are – Manchester Camerata
