The city-wide cultural event returns from 29 June to 16 July.
Hosted by Factory International, Manchester International Festival has announced the programme for its forthcoming edition. As part of the programme, a mixed reality concert featuring a composition by Ryuichi Sakamoto will be premiered with a virtual Sakamoto performing on the piano. Janelle Monáe also joins the line-up, taking part in a three-day residency which will see the American musician headline a music programme that also features Angélique Kidjo, Alison Goldfrapp, Afrodeutsche and Sufi singer Sanam Marvi.
Elsewhere, John Grant and the Richard Hawley band are set to premiere a new show which celebrates the work of Patsy Cline and composer John Luther Adams will debut new work inspired by arctic landscapes and performed by the BBC Philharmonic. Record label Young will also curate a night of music in collaboration with dance company L-E-V.
As part of it’s expansive art programme, the festival will host an exhibition of Yayoi Kusama’s inflatable sculptures, a collaboration exploring art and football from curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and footballer Juan Mata and a live photographic performance from Benji Reid.
Speaking on the festival John McGrath – the artistic director and chief executive of Factory International and Manchester International Festival – said: “From the radical and agenda setting to the purest of celebrations, MIF23’s programme covers a huge range of art forms and styles – from a ritual on the banks of a newly uncovered river, to mixed reality from one of Japan’s greatest composers, from a hunt for artworks across the city to a residency from one of American music’s most vibrant superstars. A genuine melting pot of creativity where artists share their ideas with each other and the public, the Festival will once again take the temperature of our times, and imagine possibilities for the future.”