Iain Ballamy, Matthew Sweeney, Dave McKean, The Pepper Street Orchestra

MLF and Manchester Jazz Festival unite for a major new commission to celebrate their respective tenth and twentieth anniversaries. In a playful reimagining of Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, three critically acclaimed artists create a unique multimedia performance combining words, music and visual art to tell the story of an immigrant’s journey to Manchester.

Irish poet Matthew Sweeney is a consummate storyteller famed for his strong sense of noirish filmic narrative; poems for this piece are inspired by time spent in Manchester observing its people and places.

Saxophonist and composer Iain Ballamy is an internationally recognised musician producing eclectic, original work. Dave McKean is a comic artist, illustrator, and filmmaker who has worked with Richard Dawkins, Neil Gaiman, Alice Cooper and Tori Amos.

The music will be performed by an international ensemble including Norwegian virtuoso Stian Carstensen, pure-toned Swedish vocalist Emilia Mårtensson and young British Mercury contender Kit Downes.