MIF is offering £10,000 to local musicians and creatives in and around Manchesteras part of its MIF Sounds initiative.
Pledging £10,000 to support ten Greater Manchester music industry creatives and practitioners, the funds have been specially created to help local artists develop new projects across the region.
Manchester International Festival’s MIF Sounds Initiative provides financial help and talent development opportunities.
First launched in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, the first round of funding helped support the creation of new music, a series of production workshops run for women, non-binary and trans musicians, a sound artist collective to produce an installation in a church, and the launch of a new gig night promoting the best in Northern talent.
Now, the funding has been opened up for 2021 – meaning that each successful applicant will receive up to £1,000 whilst also benefiting from peer-to-peer support, access to MIF’s Talent Development activity and networking opportunities.
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MIF SOUNDS IS BACK! 🎶 Are you a music creative in Greater Manchester looking for extra financial support? Apply for MIF Sounds today, our programme designed to support you on your creative journey. Deadline: 12pm, Thursday 16 December https://t.co/FFL18pazNLpic.twitter.com/oOotp0WfOz
From recording music to presenting a gig, releasing a record or starting a new label imprint., people from all areas of the music industry in Greater Manchester are encouraged to apply with no restrictions on what they can ask to use the money for.
Jane Beese, head of music at MIF said: “I’m pleased to announce another round of MIF Sounds support, open to everyone who makes music happen in Manchester. MIF is committed to helping rebuild our sector following the impact of Covid*, in which tens of thousands of jobs have been impacted.
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“We encourage everyone involved in the local music scene to apply, artists, technicians, promoters, venues, labels, managers and beyond we look forward to hearing all of your brilliant ideas and proposals.”
Those supported through MIF Sounds so far have included: All Hands on Deck, Swing Ting founder Balraj Samrai, Jacob Connor, Loose Articles, Lone Taxidermist, singer OneDa, SAF-S2E, Sprechen, Vzion, and more.
Swing Ting founder Balraj Samraiexplains how the initiative helped him, saying: “The backing from MIF Sounds enabled me to commit to work outside of my comfort zone. There was support, feedback and encouragement from the rest of the Sounds cohort and MIF team throughout the creative process”.
On 23 November Balraj will release Someone Died Today, new work created with the support of MIF Sounds, which explores loss in a South Asian household during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The piece will be available to purchase on Bandcamp with money raised from sales going to Taraki, a non-profit working with Punjabi communities to reshape approaches to mental health.
People interested in applying MIF Sounds can attend an online meeting with MIF at 6.30 pm on Monday, 29 November to get advice from the selection panel on applying.
Applications for MIF Sounds should be submitted by video or in writing by midday on Thursday 16 December here. Successful applicants will be announced in January 2022.
Feature image – WHP
Manchester
Crown and Kettle set to take over another former Northern Quarter bar
Danny Jones
The team behind beloved Ancoats pub The Crown and Kettle have announced that they are set to take over another former bar and restaurant location in nearby Northern Quarter.
We were gutted to see the old place go, but at least we can’t think of many better to take over the unit.
The historic watering hole on the corner of Oldham Road and Great Ancoats Street is said to have stood in that spot since the 18th century, but now the present owners have confirmed they’ll be taking on a third venue, having also opened The Rat and Pigeon back in June 2024.
Many of you may have been to one or multiple of its previous iterations of the site in question over the years, but most recently, it was the Calcio sports bar – and soon it’ll become ‘The Badger’.
Revealing the news online last week, Crown and Kettle wrote: “We’re delighted to announce that our new pub, The Badger, arrives on Dale Street this spring!
“Once home to Calcio, Allotment & Nickelbys, this beautiful old building first served as The Haunch of Venison public house back in the early 1800s. Over the past few months, we’ve been hard at work, quietly bringing it back to life & returning it to its roots as a community pub.
“With The Badger, we’ve set out to create the kind of place we love most, warm, welcoming, full of character, with all the charm of a great countryside pub in the heart of the city.
“Expect cosy corners, traditional pub foods, fine ales & the warmest of welcomes. Made for regulars. Open to all. Worth returning to. We can’t wait to welcome you to your new city centre local. GET SET(T)…” Oh, very good indeed.
We visited Calcio many times over the past couple of years, both for work and pleasure in our own free time; it was a great place to watch the footy, enjoy some matchday scran and roll back the years with retro videogames.
As mentioned, though, not only did it used to be one of multiple Allotment vegan and vegetarian eateries in Greater Manchester – thankfully, their presence still remains in multiple buildings – but it has a past long before that which many people bring up on social media.
Insert, “I remember when…’ post.
While we might not know much about what they have in store for this next chapter, knowing how much we love their current city centre favourites, we’re very excited.
As it stands, we’re also yet to hear anything about a more precise opening date, but at least we know it’s coming sometime soon, and we have every faith they’re going to smash it.
One of Manchester’s grandest restaurants has finally reopened TWO YEARS after fire
Daisy Jackson
One of the most historic restaurants in Manchester has reopened at last, two years after a fire forced its closure.
Mount Street Dining Room & Bar – which many of us may remember as Mr Cooper’s – stands within the Grade II-listed Midland Hotel.
The grand dining room dates all the way back to 1903, when it opened with the hotel as the Grill Room.
The restaurant was at the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution and was frequented by railway travellers, perhaps best-known for hosting a lunch between Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in 1904, who went on to form the world-famous Rolls-Royce brand.
The Midland’s restaurants has gone through several changes in the decades since, undergoing a major £14 million refurb in 2020 to relaunch as Mount Street Dining Room & Bar.
Its interiors are inspired by the hotel’s early 1900s art deco and railway heritage, with a menu that focuses on locally-sourced British produce.
But the restaurant has been shut since early 2024, when a fire damaged the entrance and trellising around its main entrance on Mount Street.
The beautiful bar areaA glimpse of the menu at Mount StreetCocktails and British food
The Midland has finally managed to get the restaurant back open again this month, with a new food and cocktail menus, which aims to offer refined but simple British dining.
Expect dishes like pork and black pudding bonbons, white onion soup with crispy potatoes, smoked British salmon with lemon gel and dill mascarpone, and slow cooked beef daube with confit garlic mash.
Plus desserts such as rice pudding with Anise glazed pearsand Bakewell pudding with cherry syrup.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen inside this beautiful, storied dining room – and it looks just as beautiful as we remember.
Georgina Pellant -
17th November 2021 
