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FIND OUT MOREA woman's place
From Emmeline Pankhurst to Agyness Deyn, Manchester has never been short of inspirational women. Here are three to watch this year.
Olivia Moore, 32, violinist/composer
She gave her first performance at the age of four and spent her childhood playing classical music, but it is an inventive blend of jazz and Indian music that has become Olivia Moore's trademark and the haunting sound of her first solo album.
Surrey-born Olivia has been living in Manchester since 1995. She studied classical music at the Royal Northern College of Music but found her true calling at 21, when a friend asked her to play in his drum and bass band.
"I was absolutely blown away by jazz and improvisation," she recalls. "So I decided to study jazz for a Master's degree at Leeds College of Music."
While pursuing her Master's, Olivia was exposed to the influences of Indian and Cuban music; sounds that she assimilated into a unique and distinctive voice of her own.
During the last few years, Olivia has been gigging across the country and abroad, and she has recorded with some of the world's top artists, including Mukesh Jadhav (tabla) and Jean Toussaint (saxophone). At the same time, she has been composing music for her band, Unfurl, and for The Owl Ensemble.
Last November, Olivia reached a milestone when she launched her first solo album, Amoghasiddhi.
"When I wrote this album I was living in a Buddhist community in Prestwich," she says. "My compositions celebrate my love of Indian music and jazz, and there's something quite transcendental and calming about them."
Some of Manchester's finest musicians have joined forces to make Amoghasiddhi a showcase of Northern talent, including Stuart McCallum and Jon Thorne. The album has been well received by critics and jazz aficionados alike, described as 'divine', 'emotional' and 'inspiring'.
Collette Costello, 26, fashion company director
Collette Costello is so passionate about her hometown's heritage that she prints it onto fabrics and makes handbags out of it.
"I'm from Salford, my family is from Salford, and I've always been interested in the history of the area and the way society has changed," she explains. "When I was younger, we used to go on school visits to the local museum and I was particularly interested in the Victorian slogans and advertising used in the city."
Collette studied embroidery at Manchester Metropolitan University and then taught fashion to college students for a while, but it wasn't long before she decided to leave the cosy world of academia behind and start her own fashion and textiles company.
At 26, she has just launched a self-named firm, with support from the Prince's Trust and a Salford-based business initiative, Salford Hundred Venture.
Her first collection of dresses, handbags and cushions is wonderfully quirky and inspired by Victorian Salford - the fabrics feature drawings of typical objects from the period, like post boxes and gramophones, and slogans such as 'More tea vicar'.
"What makes this company unique is the fact that I design all the fabrics myself and then use them to design individual pieces that I currently sell online and in selected outlets, including Salford Art Gallery," she enthuses. "I'm hoping that in the near future Collette Costello will be a recognisable brand stocked in a number of outlets, and that I will eventually have my own chain of shops."
Original, funky, individual and practical, Collette's creations have a lot going for them. And with bucketfuls of energy and ambition, this Salford lady is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Alyson Doocey, 39, restaurant owner
At a time when people are tightening their purse strings, Alyson Doocey's brand of affordable, freshly-made pizza is hitting the spot.
Having studied fine art at Staffordshire University, Manchester-born Alyson returned to her hometown to set up her own business promoting artists and designers' work in alternative environments.
Ten years later she took some time off to travel to Thailand, China, Vietnam and Cambodia, before returning to Manchester and taking on the role of marketing manager at the Chinese Arts Centre in the Northern Quarter. She worked there for the best part of five years, while searching for suitable premises to open a restaurant serving her favourite food - pizza.
She found the right building just when she realised that she was pregnant with her first baby. Undeterred, she pushed ahead with plans to transform a huge, two-storey building on High Street into a stylish pizza restaurant and bar.
Opened last November, Dough Pizza Kitchen has filled a gap in the market for affordable, family-friendly dining in the Northern Quarter, while the adjoining Apotheca Bar is fast becoming a haunt for chic urbanites.
For Alyson and her two business partners, David Cook and Andrew O'Dwyer, this is just the beginning.
She explains: "We make the dough fresh on site, and we offer something a little bit different, with speciality doughs (we do whole-wheat and gluten-free ranges), so we're now looking at the Dough-to-go aspect as our next step.
"I'd also like to look at getting our speciality dough ranges into supermarkets."
Watch this space.