Manchester International Festival line-up unveiled

Creations by Zaha Hadid and lighting specialist Paul Normandale are part of the line-up for this year’s Manchester International Festival.

Zaha Hadid Architects has created a chamber music hall for the solo works of Bach, which will be housed within Manchester Art Gallery for the duration of the festival, in July.

Hadid offered to design a visually and sonically suitable space for chamber music especially for the festival, according to MIF director Alex Poots.

Mercury-award winning band Antony and the Johnsons has teamed up with lighting designer Normandale, to help lead singer Antony Hegarty convey concepts around environmental degradation through a light-and-laser construct at the Manchester Opera House.

A temporary pavilion created for the 2007 festival by architect Stephenson Bell will return to Manchester’s Albert Square, where the festival’s free events will be held.

MIF – the brainchild of Manchester’s creative director and graphic luminary Peter Saville, along with Poots – had its inaugural year in 2007, establishing itself as a commissioner of new work.

Musician Damon Albarn and designer Jamie Hewlett’s Monkey: Journey to the West was among the successful productions.

The MIF 2009 festival will run from 2-19 July.

For further details, go to www.mif.co.uk.