Martin Amis on Literature and Violence and LGBT composers

The summer is in full swing and Manchester has some great events in July and August. The Martin Harris Centre at Manchester University has a series of events over the summer months.

Thursday 1st July 2010, 6.30pm
Martin Amis Public Events: Literature and Violence
with guests Blake Morrison and John Gray

World famous novelist Martin Amis will be discussing the relationship between Literature and Violence at his next University of Manchester debate on Thursday 1st July 2010. The writer will be joined by high profile guests Blake Morrison and John Gray for the evening event at the University’s Martin Harris Centre. The event will offer a unique chance to hear Professor Amis and his guests discuss the psychological and cultural roots of violent acts, and consider the ways in which writers from Shakespeare to JG Ballard depict and respond to violence.

Tickets: £7 (£5 concessions)
Tickets are available from the Martin Harris Centre box office on 0161 275 8951 or e-mail boxoffice@manchester.ac.uk. You can also contact Quay Tickets on www.quaytickets.com or 0870 428 0785.

Monday 23rd August 2010 - Friday 27th August 2010, 1pm
Manchester Pride Chamber Music
A series of lunchtime recitals celebrating music by LGBT composers past and present.

Monday 23rd August, 1pm
David Maxwell Anderson (tenor) with Ditlev Rindom (piano)
Tchaikovsky - At the ball / None but the lonely heart / To forget so soon / Mezza notte
Hahn - Chansons en dialecte Vénitien Nos 1, 2, 4
Hahn - L’allée est sans fin / L’heure exquise
Poulenc - Air Champêtre / Air Grave / Voyage à Paris / Hotel
Barber - Mélodies Passagères, Op.27
Tchaikovsky - Rondel / Déception / Again, as before, alone / Don Juan’s Serenade

Tuesday 24th August, 1pm
"Nocturnes, Ballades & Mazurkas" – a PianoFest, with performances by Alasdair Beatson, Philip Fowke, Ian Jones, Leon McCawley, Ditlev Rindom, Emmanuel Vass and Ashley Wass

Wednesday 25th August, 1pm
Nicholas Daniel (oboe) with David Quigley (piano)
Poulenc - Sonata for oboe & piano
Berkeley - Sonatina for oboe & piano, Op.61
Britten - 6 Metamorphoses after Ovid for solo oboe
Barber - Canzonetta for oboe & piano

Thursday 26th August, 1pm
John Myerscough (cello) with Alasdair Beatson (piano)
Barber - Sonata for cello & piano, Op.6
Henze - Capriccio per Paul Sacher

Friday 27th August, 1pm
CHROMA: Marcus Barcham-Stevens (violin), Stuart King (clarinet) & Martin Cousin (piano)
Menotti - Trio for clarinet, violin & piano
Rorem - End of Summer
Marc Yeats - schlick's approximation (World Première - Manchester Pride Commission.

The Martin Harris Centre, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL
Tel: 0161 275 8951
www.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre
boxoffice@manchester.ac.uk

Crain's RIP

World Class Service Ltd are sad to see the end of Crain's Manchester Business; for it's ability to have an opinion, for getting the local story, for getting it out there weekly, for talking about the hotels and restaurants, for amusement and for saying who did what to who and for how much. You will be missed. I hope the team are able to find a great new outlet for their talent.

From all of us here at World Class Service.

New Visitor Centre for Manchester

Visit Manchester unveil Manchester's new Visitor Information Centre on June 20th. Here's a preview of the sort of new technology you'll be able to find in there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN83DQs0yCo&feature=player_embedded

24:7 Theatre Festival Media Launch, Live Online.

The 24:7 Theatre Festival returns on July 26th and the Media launch is this Tuesday 15th June. To join the launch, all you need to do is go to 247theatrefestival.co.uk at 6:15pm and refresh the page.

The Manchester Digital Development Agency will be cranking the handles to make it all happen.

So, wherever you are, as long as you have a computer with Internet access, you'll be able to see the event unfolding.

Key Dates for 24:7 2010

media launch: Tuesday 15 June;
previews: Sunday 25 July;
Festival Week: Monday 26 July - Sunday 1 August.

Keep up to date with developments here on the eNews and on the 24:7 website, where you can see the names of the ten productions and their writers: 247theatrefestival.co.uk

Big Chip Awards recognises cream of North West talent

The North West digital sector gathered at Manchester’s Palace Hotel to celebrate the 2010 Big Chip Awards.Manchester Digital, the trade association for the region’s digital sector, organised the event and it was backed by media partners Insider and New Media Age.

Chairman of Manchester Digital Shaun Fensom said: “There is a highly-skilled and very creative pool of talent in the North and North West region and Big Chip provides a showcase for the very best projects and organisations.”

The winners Click on the name of each winner for more information.

Best E-Business Project
Winner: 11 Out Of 10 with Pure Gym
Shortlist: KMP Digitata with Jetparks.co.uk, Manchester Airport budget car parking; KMP

Best Public Sector Project
Winner: Lightbox Education with MP for a Week
Commended: Manchester Museums Consortium & Visit Manchester with Creative Tourist
Shortlist: Pennine Telecom with Bridging the Digital Divide Net@BOSC; Studio Distract with Wrecked

Best Not For Profit Project
Winner: Cahoona with Band on the Wall Website Redevelopment
Shortlist: Fudge with English Rose; LOVE with Acting on Impulse website; Sigma Consulting

Best E-Learning Project
Winner: Stardotstar with Things to Come for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Shortlist: Shira Rubin with learn2lingo

Best Use of Visual Design
Winner: Digital Blah Blah with Adam Rix Website
Shortlist: Cahoona with the Cahoona website; Fudge with English Rose; RealtimeUK with LG’s Behind the Picture

Best Application of Technology
Winner: Stardotstar with Nosey Parker
Shortlist: 4i Security with the OMC Online Security System; Code Computerlove with myebook.com – digital technologies for online automated tailoring service; Scraperwiki with Scraperwiki; Stephen Henesy with PiP Interactive

Best Use of Animation
Winner: The Neighbourhood with Nord Anglia
Commended: Craig Knowles and David Ridges with Bon Appetit
Shortlist: MediaCityUK with Take Note; RealtimeUK with LG’s Behind the Picture; The Neighbourhood with Angel

Best Use of Search
Winner: PushON with Love Those Shoes
Shortlist: Lakestar Media with Parcel2Go.com’s SEO campaign; PushON and The UK Wedding Shows with The UK Wedding Shows' campaign

Best Digital Marketing Campaign
Winner: iris Manchester with Wonderbra – Ultimate Strapless
Shortlist: Mobious with Carling weekly email; PushON and Brazen PR with 30 Beats: Mechanical Music; Righttxt with Mobile for a Small Organisation

Best Online Brand Development
Winner: Manchester Museums Consortium & Visit Manchester with Creative Tourist
Shortlist: IAS b2b Marketing with Beat the Wolf; Mando Group with United Utilities rebrand; Xentum with X marks the spot

Best Newcomer (enterprise)
Winner: Wooshi.com
Shortlist: 4i Security; Cahoona; Digital Blah Blah; Stephen Henesy; WebVideoMarketing (webVM)

Best Freelancer / Micro Enterprise
Winner: Digital Blah Blah
Shortlist: Fat Heads Creative Studio; Kilogramme; Moo Marketing; Robin Hayward

Best New Media Agency
Winner: Stardotstar

Big Green Chip Award
Winner: The DTP Group with Managed Print & Copy Services at Leeds Metropolitan University

Little Chip Student Award
Winner: Andreas Linden, University of Central Lancashire

Game of the North
Winner: Connect2Media with Arachnadoodle

Big Chip International Award for Innovation
Winner: Studio Liddell and Magic Lantern for BBC Children’s Bugbears

Tasty Website
Winner: Cahoona
www.cahoona.co.uk

Grand Prix
Winner: Lightbox

Anthony Wilson Original Modern Award
Winner: Kilogramme

The 2010 FIFA World Cup in Manchester.

It all kicks off (update:) TODAY! The hosts take on Mexico in the opening fixture and England start their campaign on Saturday evening against the USA. If you're not interested, worry not. We'll be producing the Top Ten Things to do in Manchester each week throughout the tournament and you can rest assured that there are plenty of things to fill your time if the beautiful game is not your thing.

However...if you find yourself burning with national pride, have painted the front of your house as the St George's Cross or simply want to enjoy the carnival atmosphere that goes along with the biggest sporting occasion in the World, you don't have to worry either. What's more, you don't need to be in South Africa. Manchester is getting into the spirit of things and, as anyone here to witness the Commonwealth Games will testify, we know how to love our sporting events.

Manchester's Fan Park is at Catlefield Arena and is screening every single one of the 64 matches across the tournament and access is free but you will need tickets for the screenings of the England matches. These are available from www.quaytickets.com with a limit of 4 per household and a transaction fee of £1.50.

Of course, if you are in town and feel the need to celebrate, there are hundreds of bars, clubs and restaurants available. There's also a fair few hotels in the city centre where you could bed down for the night and wake up to a hearty breakfast.

We're looking for ideas for football fans to get into the spirit of things over the month of the tournament so don't hesitate to let us know if you have heard of any particularly good ideas. We'll add them below, in the order that they arrive with us:

Local football fan and DJ Terry Christian has teamed up with Phil Beckett with an all new club night in Chorlton called "Bop Local" which happily coincides with England's first match of the tournament. So, if you find yourself in South Manchester with an urge to celebrate, "The idea is simple: Start early, have lots of fun and a darn good time without spending a fortune on drinks and taxis in town. Then get home at a reasonable time for the babysitter! Or if you have no kids, in time for an impromptu kitchen party!" Update: The doors are now opening at 8pm and they will be showing the game on their big screen so why not go down early and catch the second half (It kicks off at 7.30pm).

Base Cafe Bar on Charles Street have a happy hour during every World Cup game, not just the England ones and will be showing them all in HD.

Manchester Made it Easy Meeting

The next gathering will take place at the Midland Hotel on Friday 25th June at 09.00. All are welcome.

As agreed in our last meeting we will be evaluating the 2010 Summer Campaign progress so far. We will be looking at the innovations, activities, partnerships, website activity and sales for 2010 and establishing a summer business club for 2011.

If you'd like to come along, please rsvp to louise at this email address.

We hope to see you there.

The Aumbrey comes to Chorlton

Following the success of Beth Creedon’s ‘Wild Food’ last month, Electrik presents Guestrant (No 5) on Monday 21^st June. Husband and wife chef team, Laurence Tottingham and Mary Ellen McTague take a night off from Aumbry in Prestwich and offer their food expertise in the Electrik kitchen for this one-off gastronomic experience.

They will be delivering a 3 course meal of culinary surprises for one night only.

Aumbry has become a destination restaurant since it opened in October 2009, Laurence and Mary Ellen spent 4 years as part of the 3 Michelin-star team at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, before they decided to open their own place in Prestwich. Although the food they cook at Aumbry isn’t like the Fat Duck, as such, they do use a lot of the cooking techniques leant there including using Sous Vide and a water bath to cook meat and fish.

Laurence and Mary Ellen wanted to use the opportunity that Guestrant provides to show some very typical Aumbry dishes, using lots of great Lancashire and Cheshire produce. There will be no specific theme for the night ~ they will be simply offering a different audience a snapshot of what they do at Aumbry.

Tickets for this gastronomic event are £25 each. Places are strictly limited.

Purchase advance tickets from Electrik or via paypal: info@electrikbar.co.uk

Electrik is at 559 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0AE.

Go see this: a new website

All About Audiences, the people formerly known as Arts About Manchester, have launched a new website, designed to be the one-stop-shop for tickets for shows in Manchester. You can buy multiple tickets for multiple venues and put them all in one basket. It's certainly a great idea. Have a look www.goseethis.com and use it and let us know what you think.

Adidas Original Coronation Street Party

Nice to know that Manchester can still turn it on globally. Gary McClarnan and the Sparkle Street team deserve a huge cheer from all of us in Manchester for creating a truly original street party for Adidas on Saturday night. The Whip, Badly Drawn Boy, Bad Lieutenant and host of VIP's and 500 party goers made for a fun night that was transmitted globally from the Corrie at the old Granada HQ on Quay Street.

Adidas Original Street Parties have been popping up around the globe since March,for Manchester even Snoop Dogg sent a personal message. Surreal; certainly. Original; no doubt about it. Well done to Sparkle Street and everyone involved in a truly original street party. Well done for the Corrie team for letting this astonishing party happen.

We loved the cup cakes, Craig Charles' intro and Bernard Sumner doing Regret in a black and gold Adidas shirt to a crowd of umbrella waving party folk.

Mad.