An evening of experimental night-music for piano. Henry McPherson performs new compositions by Joshua Brown, Maria Sappho, Stanford Cheung, Duncan Krummel and more TBC, alongside nocturnal improvisations for piano and electronics.
Event information:
Tuesday 2nd December 2025 @ International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester (M1 5BY)
Doors from 7pm, music from 7:30pm, finished by 8:30pm.
The building is wheelchair accessible, with an access toilet on the ground floor. If you have particular mobility requirements, please contact the IABF in advance or speak to a member of staff.
Tickets : Pay what you can
£10 (full price)
£5 (concession/students)
£FREE/donation (no one turned away for lack of funds)
Tickets available via Eventbrite at : https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/empty-dreaming-contemporary-piano-nocturnes-tickets-1723121796679
Programme:
Old Dream (from Afremov Oil Piantings, 2016), Duncan Krummel, 3′
Empty Dreaming (2025), Joshua Brown/Henry McPherson, 15′
New Work (2025), Maria Sappho, 5′
New Work (2025), Stanford Cheung, 5′
Dream Sequence (2025), Henry McPherson, 10′
and more TBC!
About Henry:
Henry McPherson is a composer, improviser, interdisciplinary artist, and researcher from Herefordshire (UK). His work explores human–environment relationships through music and sonic art, often inspired by plant ecologies, night atmospheres, the deep sea, and forested landscapes.
At home in diverse soundworlds – from abstract noise to rich extended tonalities – Henry’s music traverses contemporary classical, experimental, and freely improvised influences in an evolving exploration of creative sound.
His work has been performed and recorded by internationally acclaimed ensembles and artists, broadcast on national and regional radio, and presented at festivals, galleries, and performance events across the UK, France, Switzerland, Greece, the USA, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Ireland, and China. Notable past premieres include the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Uhte, 2016), Scottish Opera (Maud, 2017/2023), Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble (How to Play Mariana, 2024), and the Glasgow Improvisers’ Orchestra (Foutraque, 2021). Recent installation and audiovisual works include Colagens at Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh, 2019) and Despina Gallery (Rio de Janeiro, 2018), Bryographs and Moss Verses at Galérie Analix Forever (Geneva, 2024), More Than One Thing at hcmf// (Huddersfield, 2021), and How to Be a Forest at Fox Yard Studios (Lowestoft, 2024).
Henry works at the University of Manchester, where he researches how artists use improvisation for personal, social, and environmental wellbeing.
www.henrymcpherson.org.uk / @HenryDMcPherson
