Zaha Hadid Architects created a sinuous, futuristic space for MIF09, a fluid and enveloping chamber music hall that unfurled in Manchester Art Gallery like a ribbon. The tight swirls of white fabric that swathed the audience gave the space an incredible and immediate intensity, offering a fresh and compelling context within which pianist Piotr Anderszewski, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and violinist Alina Ibragimova delivered breathtaking accounts of Bach’s 18th-century masterpieces. Both audiences and performers were bewitched, and the free lunchtime recitals by students from the RNCM and Chetham’s School of Music were full to capacity every day.

‘The perfect union of sound and space’ The Independent

Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation and Holland Festival. Produced by Manchester International Festival and Manchester Art Gallery.