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FIND OUT MOREMIF: The second coming
It exploded onto the UK cultural map in 2007, grabbing headlines and crowning Manchester the cultural heart of Britain. Now, as Manchester International Festival gears up for its second run this summer, director Alex Poots explains to All About Manchester why less is more.
The wait is almost over. The second Manchester International Festival (MIF) launches this July with a packed programme of new projects from some of the world's leading artists, and Alex Poots and his team are busy making sure the festival lives up to its tremendous reputation.
At the time of this interview Poots is in-between meetings in London, and although he sounds chatty and cheerful as ever, he also sounds restless, like he's just ingested his monthly caffeine intake in one go. This is a man with a lot on his mind, and if the success of the first festival has made him complacent, he hides it well.
"I can't relax, it's not in my nature," he confirms, laughing. So instead of resting on his laurels, he has been busy learning lessons from the first festival and trying to make the new one better, if not bigger.
"This festival hadn't been done before anywhere in the world, so there was an awful lot to learn after it about what actually happens when you create a festival of world premieres.
"One of the many things that became clear to me was that in the DNA of such a festival is a propensity, in comparison to other festivals, towards doing fewer things but trying to do them to the best of the artists' ability.
"Growing up in Edinburgh I knew that one of the benchmarks of success of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, for example, was that this was an expanding festival. But for us, commissioning new work is about the artist and the festival giving it their all to give birth to a new thing. Trying to do more isn't what we are about, but rather trying to make more of our commissions successful.
"So the reality is that whilst the festival budget is, I think, either the same or fractionally bigger this time, we are actually doing slightly fewer productions. And in a way, I think less is more."
If you couldn't get enough of the festival last time, you should draw comfort from the fact that although less numerous, this year's events will last longer.
Poots explains: "This year we're trying to create events that run through the festival, so when someone finds out about something it's not already been and gone.
"For example, the JS Bach/Zaha Hadid commission, which we launched last October, is on one level a chamber music series. We invited Zaha Hadid Architects to create a sublime space in which some of the most beautiful solo music that's ever been written can be performed by world leading soloists. And we structured that so that in the opening weekend it's Bach's solo piano works, in the second weekend it's his solo cello works and in the third weekend it's his solo violin works."
According to Poots, another lesson learnt from the last festival was the need to get local talent and the local community in general more involved in the festival. But how do you make a biennial festival of new works by international talent feel like it really belongs to Joe Public in Manchester?
"Some of the work commissioned this year aims to build bridges between international artists and local communities. For example, we commissioned Turner prize-winning British artist Jeremy Deller to work on something involving local community groups and organisations, and he came up with the idea of creating a procession, a Manchester parade. This is not the kind of Lord Mayor parade we are used to from the past; this is very much an artist's view of what makes up an interesting city, and Deller is working with 20 very different groups that are not normally represented in a civic parade.
"There's also a wonderful group from Mali called Amadou & Mariam, and about a year ago I asked them if they would come and work with a local group called The Beating Wing Orchestra - an amateur group formed in Manchester from musicians of refugee and other migrant backgrounds. Together, Amadou & Mariam and The Beating Wing Orchestra are developing new music and we will stage its world premiere.
"We also felt we needed to offer training opportunities and ways into the festival for young producers of all kinds. So we set up the MIF Creative, where we operate a trainee producers scheme, and we now have six trainee producers working full time in the festival office."
Making the shows accessible to everyone was another priority for the MIF team, which is why so much of the programme is free this year. Poots says that, with hindsight, this was a smart move.
"This decision was made way before the economic downturn, as another way of drawing the good people of Manchester. And it's another reason why there are slightly fewer commissions this time. Jeremy Deller's Procession, for example, is probably the most expensive commission of the whole festival and it's free to whoever wants to attend it. And there will be free events at the weekend, as well as a free exhibition that runs all the way through the festival."
Poots avoids using the word 'recession', but that doesn't stop it from creeping into our conversation like a chilly draught. The inaugural MIF cost a whopping £9 million, about a third of which came from private sponsorship, a third from Manchester City Council and Arts Council England funding, and a third from ticket sales. This time, the festival will cost around the same, but private funds are much harder to come by.
"We've had to work harder to raise money, but we're now down to the last one or two per cent of private sector sponsorship that we need to raise. Plus the city council has put a contingency aside, which is about five per cent of the total festival budget, to protect the festival from difficulties in case we are not able to renew some of the private sector funding. So I am cautiously confident that we will reach our target."
The city's unwavering commitment to establishing MIF as a highlight on the international cultural calendar certainly makes life a bit easier for Poots, but at a time when people are worried about losing their jobs and falling behind with their mortgage payments, will the festival be a box office hit?
"With new work by artists who are extremely well regarded within their field, we are in a slightly better position than say some of the classic weekend rock festivals of which there are so many. We're in a stronger position because what we have to offer is entirely unique.
"When we went on sale with Rufus Wainwright's opera last October, in a week people had bought tickets from Texas, Canada, Poland, Holland, Spain, Germany...people are flying in to see our show.
"But also, I know from talking to colleagues like Nick Hytner from the National Theatre that if the work is of a good quality and of interest, people will still go out. They might spend less in the restaurant or they may not buy as many drinks at the interval but they will still come out and buy tickets. I think that's happened in previous recessions, when people wanted shared experiences and wanted to get out and be inspired or provoked or intrigued or entertained, and I'm hoping the festival programme will do all of those things."
MIF 2009 runs from July 2 to 19, and you can check out the entire festival programme by visiting www.mif.co.uk.
MIF 09: the highlights
Prima Donna
Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright presents his debut opera - a portrait of a fading opera singer, set in Paris and sung in French.
Palace Theatre, July 10, 12, 14, 17 & 19. £12.50 - £47.50.
Kraftwerk and Steve Reich
A double bill with the godfathers of electronic music Kraftwerk and composer Steve Reich.
Manchester Velodrome, July 2. £35.
Elbow & The Halle
Local boys done good Elbow perform with The Halle in a world exclusive, orchestrated by Joe Duddell.
Bridgewater Hall, July 8 & 9. £15 - £42.50.
Amadou & Mariam
The musical duo from Mali work with local amateur group The Beating Wing Orchestra to create new music.
Pavilion Theatre (Albert Square), July 7 & 8. £16.50.
Marina Abramovic Presents...
The godmother of visual arts curates a group show that brings live artists into a gallery space. Thirteen international artists, including Ivan Civic, Amanda Coogan and Jordan Wolfson, will perform new works in a daily four-hour programme.
Whitworth Art Gallery, July 3 - 19. Free.
Procession
Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller works with a diverse range of local community groups to create a uniquely Mancunian parade. Groups to be represented in the parade include trainspotters, unrepentant smokers and shops that closed down in the city since the last festival.
Deansgate, July 5. Free.
The Manchester Report
Lord Bingham chairs a panel of experts who will solicit from some of the world's leading scientists a range of big ideas that could reverse climate change. The results will be published in The Manchester Report, which will be delivered to December's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
The Great Hall, Manchester Town Hall, July 4 & 5. Free.
JS Bach / Zaha Hadid Architects
Architect Zaha Hadid has been commissioned to create a unique space for musicians to perform Bach's solo works.
Manchester Art Gallery, July 3 - 18. £28.50.
Everybody Loves a Winner
Director Neil Bartlett premieres a new theatrical show that will turn the Royal Exchange Theatre into a bingo hall.
Royal Exchange Theatre, July 3 - 18. £8.50 - £29.