Composers, writers and artists celebrate World Book Night

04 Mar 2011

The School of Arts, Histories and Cultures at The University of Manchester is to celebrate World Book Night with a special event at the Martin Harris centre today (4 March)

The Royal Northern College of Music’s Wind Band will perform Professor Philip Grange's large-scale work for symphonic wind band entitled Cloud Atlas along with John Casken’s Distant Variations for saxophone quartet and symphonic wind band.

Grange’s work is based on David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas and was premiered at the Cheltenham Festival in 2009

The work recently won the prestigious Wind Band/Brass Band category at the British Composer Awards 2010.

Casken’s work was inspired by the composers’ experience of the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, and lines by Janek Schon that describe this as the “Fortresses of rock” coming to life.

As both pieces are influenced by literary sources, the evening will be a prelude to World Book Night.

This event is a UK-wide celebration of books and reading. Copies of Cloud Atlas will be given out in the Martin Harris Centre foyer before the concert.