Manchester Collective: Shaker Loops

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Life, death and divine ecstasy.

Music and movement are doorways to spiritual experience. Enter the Shakers. A radical Protestant sect with roots in 18th-century Northern England, they harnessed this power for holy connection and transcendence. American minimalist composer John Adams pays homage to their frenzied worship and ecstatic energy in the high-octane ‘Shaker Loops’. This is no ordinary concert. Weaved into Adams’ oscillating rhythms is freshly-penned spoken word from lyrical force Christ Bryan.

The Lancastrian poet emerges from the depths of The White Hotel –the iconoclastic Salford nightclub and arts space –to join the Collective live on stage. In three poems, we wade through the industrial smog of the past and the spiritual malaise of the present to seek salvation. Before we reach the heavens, there’s a mysterious ode to the departed and an ancient hymn invoking the Holy Spirit. Come, let the light in, and surrender to a force larger than yourself.

Performers

Manchester Collective String ensemble
Christ Bryan Poetry

Programme

Dobrinka Tabakova Such Different Paths – string ensemble, 2008 (17’)
Kaija Saariaho Terra Memoria – string quartet, 2006 (20’)
Hymn arr. Rakhi Singh Veni Creator Spiritus – string ensemble (5’)
John Adams Shaker Loops feat. Christ Bryan – string ensemble, 1978, spoken word, 2025 (26’)