Explore and experiment within the world of contemporary classical music.
EXPERIMENTA offers music creators the chance to be supported by Manchester Collective’s musicians and creative team to write and showcase new work.
The pilot edition in 2025 is for artists from any musical background, based either in the north of England, or elsewhere in the UK and who have experienced barriers to entry into the contemporary classical world. The six-month-long programme includes a £1,125 bursary, a two-day Manchester residency, one-to-one workshops and mentoring, along with the opportunity to take creative risks together and be part of a forward-thinking artistic community.
The EXPERIMENTA 2025 artists are Anja Ngozi, LINTD, Lucy Green, and plus44kaligula. Sign up to our newsletter to hear about future open calls.
EXPERIMENTA is supported by PRS Foundation’s Talent Development Network, Thriplow Charitable Trust, Idlewild Trust, Garrick Trust, and Granada Foundation
2025 Artists
ANJA NGOZI
Who are you? Anja Ngozi – producer, DJ, soundtrack composer and visual artist.
Where are you based? South East London.
Sounds you explore in your practice? Eclectic and intuitive sonics. My DJ sets span ambient, electronic, hip-hop, experimental, footwork and dub, focusing on deep listening experiences, rhythmic deconstruction and hybrid genre fusion.
What else does your practice include? I often use images or films for inspiration when creating music, and vice versa for visual pieces. I like to include elements of nature within my work – field recordings, videos recorded on my handcam – as they give a texture that can’t be generated.
Biggest influences and inspirations? I have too many musical influences to name… but around contemporary classical music: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Julius Eastman and Ichiko Aoba. And more widely across art and film: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Takeshi Kitano, Bruce Lee and Mica Levi.
Who have you collaborated with? Tate Modern, Southbank Centre, ICA, V&A, The Couch (Het Hem); as well as creatives such as Tirzah, Puma Blue, Fatima, OKI, Maiya Blaney, Marysia Osu.
PLUS44KALIGULA
Who are you? Cally Statham aka plus44Kaligula – an English songwriter, music producer, composer and performance artist.
Where are you based? Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Ideas you explore in your practice? Growing up in a northern mill town where the goal was simply to survive, my creative interests lie in communication and expansion through art; how our dialect and mother tongue betray us, and how sometimes it is a gift.
What does your music sound like? Dark, dramatic impulse and strange, compelling juxtapositions; bold vocals reign over collageistic productions of liquid textures that beckon a host of seraphim to song.
Biggest influences and inspirations? David Bowie, Beth Gibbons, Aphex Twin.
Who have you collaborated with? Lighting designer Emmanuel Biard. I’ve performed or will soon perform at CTM in Berlin, Festival Mofo in Paris, Sonar in Istanbul and Manchester Psych Fest.
LINTD
Who are you? Iyunoluwanimi Yemi-Shodimu aka LINTD (Life Is Never That Deep) – a Nigerian-born musician, composer, producer and filmmaker.
Where are you based? Manchester.
Ideas you explore in your practice? The black extraordinary. Speculating worlds where the marginalised feel comfortable to be their full, emancipated selves. Often these worlds are spectacular, always they are true. Ushering in a unique Nigerian-speculative approach into this maniacal apocalyptic world.
What work are you proud of? A self-directed multimedia piece, ‘Concrete’, for the premiere black artist exhibition at the Southbank Centre in London, which was curated by veteran photographer Misan Harriman.
Who have you collaborated with? I’ve produced work for The White Hotel, Camden Arts Centre, Factory International, Asaabako Festival in Ghana; and have collaborated with artists like Samrai (Swing Ting), Space Afrika, Sam Scott, Kyami, Le Diouk, Porter Brook.
Where can we find you? Bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
LUCY GREEN
Who are you? Lucy Green – composer.
Where are you based? Manchester.
Ideas you explore in your practice? My ideas often come from something outside music – maybe a conversation or experience.
Sounds you explore in your practice? I work across electronic and contemporary classical music, exploring ways of creating new textures using various techniques and different objects to manipulate into unique sounds.
Biggest influences and inspirations? Electronic artists like Bogdan Racynski, Tim Hecker and Mica Levi. Contemporary composers such as MIZU, Anna Meredith and Oliver Leith.
What work are you most proud of? ‘Fading Signals’, a brass band piece that won the 2025 UniBrass Composition Competition and was recorded by Flowers Band.
Who have you collaborated with? I scored a short film by Winifred Hewitt-Wright and Isobel Clark, and performed with my sister Phoebe Green in a band called The Cutter.