Disruptors: BBC Young Musician Keyboard Category Final winner Ethan Loch joins Manchester Camerata for music by Beethoven and local composer Carmel Smickersgill

Ethan Loch at the BBC Young Musician 2022 Final (Photo: BBC)

For their next performance in Manchester, the Manchester Camerata is changing their base of operations and giving a concert in the Albert Hall on Thursday 2 May 2024. Performing in the round, the orchestra will be conducted by young Irish conductor, Karen Ní Bhroin in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 8, plus a new work by Manchester-based composer Carmel Smickersgill. 

Smickersgill studied composition with Gary Carpenter at the RNCM in Manchester, and is now an associate member of the college, and she has written works for Liverpool Philharmonic's ensemble 10/10,  Laura Bowler, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Das Neue Ensemble, Galvanize Ensemble, and the Equilibrium Quartet.

The soloist in the piano concerto will be Ethan Loch, the 20-year-old pianist who won the BBC Young Musician Keyboard Category Final in 2022. Diagnosed blind since birth, Ethan Loch has had a unique learning curve to master his instrument.

The evening will also include a performance from schools taking part in the orchestra's Create with Camerata programme, where Camerata musicians and a composer teamed up with over 400 pupils from 15 schools across Stafford, Stoke and Telford to write their own music inspired by Roald Dahl’s classic book, Matilda with the results being performed at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock.

Full details from the Manchester Camerata's website.