Cross Street Unitarian Chapel, Manchester City Centre

12/06/2026

11/06/2026

Coming to Cross Street Unitarian Chapel tomorrow ~ Aaron Breeze and his new performance project, VANITY. If you're in Manchester city centre tomorrow, Friday 12th June, at 1pm, please come along. If you have never seen Aaron perform, you've been missing out.

"VANITY began as a joke.
The title arrived long before the music was assembled: a tongue-in-cheek response to months spent in the gym, documenting physical transformation while preparing a programme built around virtuosity, spectacle, excess, humour, and endurance. What began as a visual concept gradually revealed deeper connections between the act of practising and athletic training. Hours of repetition, incremental improvement, physical fatigue, frustration, and discipline are familiar to both. VANITY includes works spanning three centuries. Featuring music by Scarlatti, Chopin, Satie, Prokofiev, Scriabin, Florence Price, Karen Tanaka, and Aaron Breeze, the programme unfolds without spoken interruption, drawing connections between the physical intensity of music-making and athleticism, alongside evolving ideas of triumph and victory."
Booking recommended!!

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04/06/2026

Our next bonus Friday Lunchtime Recital, on Friday 12th June at 1pm, will feature Cross Street's resident pianist and Friday recital favourite Aaron Breeze. Aaron will be performing his ambitious new project, VANITY.

"VANITY is a piano recital exploring virtuosity, spectacle, excess, humour, and endurance across works spanning three centuries. Featuring music by Scarlatti, Chopin, Satie, Prokofiev, Scriabin, Florence Price, Karen Tanaka, and Aaron Breeze, the programme unfolds without spoken interruption, drawing connections between the physical intensity of music-making and athleticism, alongside evolving ideas of triumph and victory."

Booking recommended!!

29/05/2026

We have a limited number of seats left for today's recital (Friday 29th May at 1pm) featuring members of the Halle Orchestra and Royal Northern College of Music staff.

25/05/2026

Yesterday we celebrated our Flower Communion! The service, originally created by Norbert and Maja Capek in Prague over 100 years ago, recognises the beauty and uniqueness we bring to the world, as well as the strength of our diverse communities. Following the service, Rev'd Cody Coyne led a brief remembrance service for anyone recently bereaved, by pouring water from the vase into our Pop-up Peace Garden.

Photos by Catherine Coyne

07/05/2026

Our minister, Rev'd Cody Coyne, was honoured to participate in the FN4M (Faith Network for Manchester) 's "Future of Interfaith in England" consultation. After the closure of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, regional and local groups have felt under-resourced and over-extended. There was a brilliant energy, and lots of positive ideas have come forward.

01/05/2026

We were honoured last week to contribute to the Hey! Festival - a celebration of writing, activism, faith and more. A collaboration between the chapel, MMU's Centre for Fiction, and the Hard Arts Collective, we saw faith leaders join with singers, writers, actors and activists. We are grateful to present such an enjoyable programme alongside the many other events and groups at chapel! Many thanks to all the volunteers and staff who helped make it possible!

27/04/2026

Cross Street's next lunchtime recital, on Friday 29th May at 1pm, will feature members and staff from the Hallé and RNCM. We are looking forward to welcoming Hugh McKenna (oboe), Sarah Bennett (flute), Linda Merrick (clarinet) and Lauryna Sableviciute (piano) for a programme of music by Camille Saint-Saëns, Malcolm Arnold, Francis Poulenc, Maria Dranishnikova, Arthur Bliss and more.

Booking recommended.