The Manchester Camerata is a British chamber orchestra based in Manchester, England. The orchestra was founded in the 1971–1972 season. A sub-group from the orchestra, the Manchester Camerata Ensemble, specialises in chamber music performances.
The orchestra's primary concert venue is The Bridgewater Hall. It also presents concerts at the Royal Northern College of Music. In addition, the orchestra gives run-out and residency concerts in various cities in the North of England, including Kingston upon Hull, Sheffield, Leeds, Kendal, Whitby, Keswick, Bradford, Stamford, Crewe, Colne, Stafford and Ulverston. The orchestra appeared annually at the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine, held near Perpignan, France, which Moura Lympany established in 1981.[1]
Past principal conductors of the orchestra have included Szymon Goldberg, Nicholas Braithwaite, and Sachio Fujioka. Braithwaite had also been principal guest conductor of the orchestra from 1977 to 1984. Nicholas Kraemer is currently the orchestra's principal guest conductor. Douglas Boyd was principal conductor of the orchestra from 2001 to 2011. In March 2010, the orchestra announced the appointment of Gábor Takács-Nagy as the orchestra's fifth principal conductor, effective September 2011.[2] Bob Riley is the orchestra's current chief executive. The current chairman of the orchestra's board of directors is Geoffrey Shindler OBE.
Principal funding for the orchestra comes from the Arts Council England and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. The orchestra has encountered financial difficulties during its history, running up a deficit of £120,000 into the early 2000s. In 2002, the orchestra received stabilisation funding of £345,000 from the Arts Council to retire its debts.[3]
The orchestra has recorded commercially for the Avie label, conducted by Boyd[4] and by Takács-Nagy[5].