There’s a headline I never thought I’d write, but the pithy title reflects a genuine project that will reach culmination on 27 November.

Two laser beams – one visible and one invisible, the latter carrying the music – connect the Metropolitan and Anglican cathedrals, which stand at either end of Hope Street.

The Hope Street Project Concert essentially uses the two cathedrals as giant musical instruments and adds spoken voices and two choirs singing at each other: 

For the past two months sound artist Peter Appleton has turned the awesome enormity of Liverpool’s two cathedrals into a delicately resonating sound installation. This is a new kind of public instrument. In response, writer Colin Dilnot has brought together the voices of the people of Liverpool. Their speaking breathes life into the instrument. Now composer Simon Thorne creates a live performance of spectacular audacity. The two buildings sing to each other. Two choirs, one in each space, create an elegiac tapestry of voices. They are responding to the installation, and also to the unique acoustic properties of each architecture. A laser link makes for the possibility of live transmission between the two spaces. So the singers give voice to a slowly unfolding harmony that is the unique resonance of both spaces as they vibrate in tune with each other. The outcome is an experience of listening that is a profound and inspirational testament to the dignity of our shared humanity. 

I don’t know about a ‘testament to the dignity of our shared humanity’, but it certainly sounds like the sort of imaginative project that demands your patronage.

Another interesting dimension is that North-West Tonight has done a feature on the project, showing some friends of mine singing. Here’s a picture of Kate and Amo looking surprised:

Anyway, there are only a handful of days left when you can experience the project prior to the concert: on 22 November between 5.00–6.00pm; and 26 November between 2.00–3.00pm. The concert take place between 7.30–8.30pm on 27 November.