A breathtaking journey through four natural habitats. Each shaped, scarred and transformed by extreme weather events.

Michael Gordon's cult 1997 piece ‘Weather’ for string orchestra is brought to life in this musical tour-de-force – a brand new collaboration between Manchester Collective, seminal sound artist Chris Watson, and Spanish filmmaker Carlos Casas.

You’ll be transported from an East Asian rainforest to the world’s oldest desert; from an Icelandic glacier to the sunken medieval town of Dunwich off the English coast… Combining live performance, real-world sound and film, WEATHER is an artistic record of threatened environments that is urgent, haunting and unforgettable.

Award-winning field recordist Chris Watson has worked on some of the BBC’s best-loved documentaries, including David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet and The Life of Birds. For this project, Chris has revisited his extensive archive to create an immersive sound installation which accompanies the string orchestra’s hour-long performance:

“During my travels, I have recorded in many habitats around the world that are under threat from climate change, capturing the sounds of places that are disappearing. This project has given me the opportunity to work with these sounds to create an ambient, multi-channel installation that places the audience where my microphones were when I made the original recordings. Every sound you will hear has come from the places I have visited – the voices of those habitats speak to the future generations, who might not be able to experience them for themselves.”

WEATHER is created by Manchester Collective and co-commissioned with the Southbank Centre

Dates & Tickets

23 September – Manchester – Royal Northern College of Music
24 September – London – Southbank Centre

Programme

Michael Gordon Weather

Approximate run time: 70 minutes

Northern Voices

Manchester-based artists Sophie Broadgate and Mary Griffiths have created new artworks – a short film and a series of drawings – in response to Michael Gordon’s ‘Weather’.

SEE THE ARTWORKS →

Creative Team

Manchester Collective Ensemble
Rakhi Singh Creative and Music Director
Adam Szabo Creative Director
Chris Watson Sound installation
Carlos Casas Film installation
Joe Reiser Sound design
Steph Clarke Producer