Metrolink extensions confirmed

Manchester has confirmed that three Metrolink extensions will go ahead. The extensions will see the system running to Oldham, Rochdale town centres by spring 2014 and Manchester Airport by mid 2016.

The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) confirmed funding of £0.5 billion from the Greater Manchester Transport Fund to deliver the three new tram lines.

Chair of the AGMA Executive, Lord Peter Smithsaid: “Public transport has a crucial part to play in supporting Greater Manchester's economy and these Metrolink extensions will give a huge boost to the region. I am delighted that these vital projects can now go ahead. These new Metrolink lines in particular will also be the catalyst for regeneration in several areas, so the announcement is great news.”

Manchester Airports Group has also agreed to provide a contribution to funding for the Airport line.

Chief Executive of the Manchester Airports Group, Geoff Muirhead said: “We are delighted at this news, and have been long standing supporters of the Metrolink extension since it was first proposed. We have consistently maintained that support and are pleased to see it coming to fruition, as it will make us one of the most accessible destinations in the region.”

14 new trams will be ordered to serve the extensions to Manchester Airport and Oldham and Rochdale town centres. The total number of new trams for Manchester’s expanded Metrolink is 62.

For much more detail and a list of the stations see LRTA.org's pages on the Oldham and Rochdale extensions and the spur taking the tram out to the Airport via Chorlton and Wythenshawe

Manchester10 The Top Ten app for your iPhone

We're delighted to announce the release of our first iPhone app, available free to download from iTunes now. The app gives you a weekly top ten things to do in Manchester. The app includes links to enable users to find out more information and book tickets for the events. World Class Service have developed the application with La Factory del Software

Nobody pays to be included in the Manchester10 app. The only way you can be included is to do something outstanding.

Manchester10 is made in Manchester by Mancunians so that you can have the pick of what's on in this world class city at your fingertips every week.

Download the app now

For more information, contact Andrew Glester

Manchester Jazz Festival 2010

The Manchester Jazz Festival opens on Friday 23rd July 2010.

With Band on the Wall reintroduced to the city, the 15th Manchester Jazz Festival covers more ground than ever before. Venues include The Bridgewater Hall, Matt & Phreds and the Midland Hotel.

Most events are free so if you have any spare time at all in the next 2 weeks, just go and feel the festival buzz.



For full listings see here

24/7 Theatre Festival: The plays

	The Bluest Blue A young bookseller is tackled by a predatory traffic warden, and a street cleaner sweeps up the pieces
	The Fading Hum Two estranged brothers struggle to face up to their father's death. Set against the backdrop of a world without bees...
	Hatch A haunting, lyrical drama, charting the heartbreaking homecoming of an absentee father and his grown up children.
	The Inconsistent Whisper of Insanity If at fifteen you 'slept' to wake aged seventy-six, to what ends would you go to find out what happened in those 'lost years'?
	Islanders A dark comedy about three wardens on a nature reserve on the remote Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast.
	Make Believe If you let it your mind can take you anywhere... A comedy that leaves a lot to the imagination.
	No View From The Window Armed with a fish slice and a bottle of Matey there is something Louise needs to do. A powerful, disturbing and witty one woman play.
	Pawn A robbery goes wrong, leading to a hostage situation. One hell of a venue for a school reunion.
	Reeling A play about nostalgia, family, mistakes... and ninety minute cassette tapes. To understand the past, you have to relive it.
	Sheepish Stuck wearing fancy-dress in the middle of field - what would EWE do? Follow your dreams or follow the herd.

Intimate I am Kloot gig at Piccadilly Records

The new I am Kloot record "The Sky at Night" is released today and frontman John Bramwell is playing an intimate solo gig at Piccadilly Records at 5pm tonight.

Tickets are only available via the shop in advance along with the new album and the shop will shut at 4.30pm to get set up for the gig.

The new album is produced by Elbow's Guy Garvey and you can listen to it via the Guardian website

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.