Minimalism with Mad Song @ Cross St Chapel, Manchester

Join Mad Song's "expert young players" (The Observer) for a vibrant concert exploring repetition in the music of five living composers. The varied programme spans the globe and culminates in Steve Reich's iconic Double Sextet.

The evening opens with Nico Muhly's Doublespeak, a dazzling showpiece of ensemble virtuosity. Kai Kubota-Enright then takes us to the meditative soundworld of coastal Japan. The contemplative mood continues with Isabella Gellis's And Other Things, before Missy Mazzoli's lyrical Still Life with Avalanche rounds off the first half. After the interval, we'll dive into Double Sextet, the work that won Steve Reich the Pulitzer Prize.

Mad Song are a specialist new-music ensemble who have performed around the UK and in Germany. Their "rock solid groove" (Artsdesk) promises to make for an unforgettable evening!

Nico Muhly | Doublespeak

Kai Kubota-Enright | spatial communication of dripstone

Isabella Gellis | And Other Things

Missy Mazzoli | Still Life with Avalanche

~ interval ~

Steve Reich | Double Sextet

Mad Song are a dynamic ensemble of "expert young players" (The Observer) who specialise in performances of 20th and 21st century music. Originally founded by conductor Joshua Ballance for a performance of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King, from which they took their name, the group then established itself as an ensemble in 2022. Since then they have performed around the UK and abroad, with their playing described as "beyond praise" (Seen & Heard International). They recently recorded their début album, supported by the Marchus Trust.