Manchester Camerata wins prestigious Manchester Culture Award

Manchester Culture Awards 2019 by Manchester Council at Manchester Central Conference Centre. Pictured Winner – Best Performer Camerata and Louise Wallwein MBE with hosts Jennie McAlpine and Ria Meera Munshi

Last Saturday Manchester Camerata scooped the award for Best Performance at a  prestigious awards ceremony hosted by Jennie McAlpine and Ria Meera Munshi, against strong competition from other high profile arts organisations.

The award went to Manchester Camerata and Louise Wallwein MBE for a new theatre piece Hidden.

Regarded as global leader in creative music making with people with dementia, Manchester Camerata joined forces Wallwein and Sue Roberts – director and dramaturg to create and develop this powerful performance.

Created through a programme of public engagement, and working with younger people with dementia and their families, this uncompromising piece is an enquiry into the lived experience of young onset dementia.  Hidden addresses the challenges that both people living with young onset and their loved ones are faced with.

Earlier this year the play toured seven performances in the North West before participating at BBC Contains Strong Language Festival in Hull in September.

Steve Dauncey Manchester Camerata Chair said:

“We’re very proud to have won the Best Performance award at this year’s Culture Awards. The award recognises the work we do with those who live with early onset dementia. Louise and the Hidden Company co- created this performance piece with individuals from Greater Manchester to bring their experiences to an audience, in an extremely powerful and moving way.  This is Camerata in the Community at its very best and we look forward to seeing this work go from strength to strength.”

Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Skills, Culture, and Leisure, Manchester City Council, added: “This was another phenomenal year for the Manchester Culture Awards, both in terms of the number of entries and also the standard of those nominated – which was quite simply off the scale and world-class.

What was so brilliant again about the entries is that they really showed off the incredible range and quality of cultural activity that has taken place in Manchester over the last year. “

They also highlighted the many different partnerships that exist across the city, all helping this great culture to happen.

“Culture is very much part of our city’s DNA.  Not for us an optional extra but something to be nurtured and invested in, something that time and again we see delivers real social and economic benefits.”  

The cultural call-out back in June saw over 300 nominations made across twelve different award categories.  Entries were once again of the very highest standard – giving judges the difficult and unenviable task of choosing just five finalists in each category. Choosing the final winner of each category was an even harder job for the judges given the exceptional quality and uniqueness of all those who reached the final stage of judging.

We’re very proud to have won the Best Performance award at this year’s Culture Awards.

Steve Dauncey

This was another phenomenal year for the Manchester Culture Awards, both in terms of the number of entries and also the standard of those nominated – which was quite simply off the scale and world-class.

Luthfur Rahman