Poppy Ackroyd

In February 2018, breath-taking post-classical artist Poppy Ackroyd released her first full-length album with One Little Indian Records, Resolve. A classically trained pianist, violinist, producer, and composer, Ackroyd turned heads in the neo-classical world with her previous works Escapement and Feathers, as well as her involvement in Hidden Orchestra (Tru Thoughts).

However, Resolve saw Ackroyd receive global acclaim from critics and new fans alike, with a sold out Barbican show and then another at Southbank Centre's Purcell Rooms to boot. The unique musician returned at the start of the year newly signed to Bjork's label One Little Indian Records, fresh off the back of an acoustic mini-album Sketches and set to release her brand new self-produced full-length record her most ambitious and progressive piece of work to date.

The ground-breaking album explores life's constant challenges, and many of the songs are extremely personal to Poppy. In her own words: 'Resolve is about the determination to embrace the good things in life whilst dealing with unexpected and challenging difficulties. Finding the light in the dark, facing sadness and loss head on, and developing a growing inner strength.'

Although a keen collaborator outside of her solo work having created soundtracks for film, dance, physical theatre and radio Resolve is the first record for which Poppy employed other players, including Manu Delago (Bjork, Cinematic Orchestra, Anoushka Shankar) playing hang, Mike Lesirge (Bonobo, Andreya Triana) playing clarinets and flute, and Jo Quail on cello.

On opening track Paper, the musician creatively recorded and manipulated experimental beats, born from using paper over piano strings. The principal melody on Stems was created using a combination of pianino (a very small toy piano) and wine glasses. The piece sound-tracked a Bafta-winning short animation by Ainslie Henderson. Trains, the lead single from the album, simulates the sounds, movement, speed and changing scenery of a train journey. The track's accompanying time-lapse video has won 12 awards, including the Gold Movie Awards and South London Shorts.

Ackroyd creates percussive textures from traditional classical instruments, and the result is almost the emulation of an entire orchestra, using very few instruments combined with the artist's incredible production skills. The intelligent artist works by recording improvised contemporary classical piano motifs and then rearranging and manipulating these sounds digitally. The result is a fantastic fusion of acoustic and electronic in a post-classical setting.

'Resolve puts her comfortably on par with neo-classical giants Nils Frahm, Max Richter and Hauschka' MOJO

'Occupying a space somewhere between Nils Frahm and warped electronic composer Anna Meredith' Q Magazine

This will be one of the first public concerts in St Michael's since its recent re-opening, having been closed since 2004. The Roman Catholic church was founded in 1859 and became the heart of the Little Italy Community in Ancoats.

AGE RESTRICTION: This show is 14+. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.