Statues at the Shree Radha Krishna Mandir, Manchester, where Anuradha Paudwal will be appearing as part of the Sacred Sites mini-festival. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Sacred music in Manchester: beyond belief
A festival-within-a-festival exploring the music of different faiths sees churches, mosques, synagogues and temples throw open their doors to concert-goers
By Riazat Butt
In the back room of a Manchester church, a woman fishes a stereo and some CDs out of a carrier bag . As the evening sun streams through the frosted windows, choir leader Jacqui Allen calls to order the dozen people exchanging small talk around her. Then something extraordinary happens. The choir sings gospel songs such as Face to Face and Joyous in a way that makes the spine tingle, the heart soar and the tummy flip. The same thing happens at its rehearsals every week, but this one is different. The choir of New Testament Church of God is preparing for its biggest appearance to date – alongside US gospel singer Candi Staton – for the Sacred Sites arm of the festival, which puts international performers in places of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim worship across the city. "I feel very privileged, motivated and encouraged to know the festival is not an in-house event," says Diane Plummer, a choir member since its inception five years ago. "It will bring the community into a place they don't normally go." Fellow singer and parishioner Cory Bernard says the choir has "never done anything like this before. I don't know what people expect. There are lots of stereotypes about gospel choirs. I think they will hear passion and something different." The church noticeboard testifies to the event's popularity, with three pages' worth of congregants requesting tickets for friends and family.
Staton says that the difference between playing a concert and singing in a church comes down to the atmosphere. "When people come to church, it's about praise, worship and reverence," she says down the phone from Atlanta, where she is rehearsing with her band, which is joining her in Manchester. "When people come to a concert, they come to party. For me, I've done the secular and sacred. But I am very excited about being part of this." Staton began her career in the 50s with the Jewish Gospel Trio. She gained mainstream success in the 70s, then returned to her gospel roots in 1982. While the audience at the New Testament Church of God won't hear her 1976 hit Young Hearts Run Free, she will perform her other smash, You Got the Love, as she says it's "an inspirational song."
For festival director Alex Poots Sacred Sites is a way to explore how God is celebrated through the arts. "We're interested in experimental theatre and offering the chance to witness performances in the most resonant setting. It shouldn't be something you could see last week." Poots was inspired by the US theatre director Peter Sellars, who told him there was a network of faith in every city. "Sellars said you could look at a city and it was a grid of sacred sites. That term stuck in my mind."
Poots originally planned to do Sacred Sites for the inaugaral festival in 2007, but couldn't make it work in tiome. "One of the earliest sensitivities was going into a situation and asking a stupid question. I wanted to do it with integrity and respect, I wanted there to be dialogue. It's not a religious service but there are religious aspects to it." Other than the performances themselves, what marks out this strand from the rest of the festival is the etiquette code. It's not enough to turn your mobile off or to refrain from rustling crisp packets. Men and women will sit in separate rooms at Manchester Central Mosque to hear Qari Sadaqat Ali recite verses from the Qur'an. Women are asked to cover their hair. Audiences are requested to observe a modest dress code at the mosque, the synagogue, temple and gurdwara. That said, Poots is keen for Sacred Sites, which he describes as a "platform within a festival", to appeal to people of all faiths and none. "One of the things we have to do is provide a doorway for people to walk through." One of those doorways is the Manchester Reform Synagogue. Its rabbi, Reuven Silverman, says there is plenty of room for everyone. "I think it's brilliant. It's like Edinburgh, where you have the big events and then you have the fringe." He calls music an "international language" and a "centrifugal force" that brings people on the perimeter together.
The artists taking part in Sacred Sites may not be widely known among UK audiences but to the congregations and faith leaders they are household names. The rabbi is a huge fan of Mor Karabasi – a singer-songwriter from Jerusalem who sings in Ladion, the ancient language and music of Jews from Portugal and Spain. "Even if someone is singing in a language you don't understand you can still be moved by it. It is so expressive."
Meanwhile, the Hindu devotional singer Anuradha Paudwal can shift 10,000 tickets in her Indian homeland, according to the genial men sitting in the administration office of Shree Radha Krishna Mandir, plastered with posters of deities. "She is very famous," says Jai Sharma, temple trustee, "and it will be her first visit to Manchester."
"She normally plays Wembley," adds general secretary Kim Gandhi.
Devotional songs are very popular in India, they point out, and Paudwal is the Lata Mangeshkar of the genre. "You know Lata don't you?" asks Sharma. "The most important Indian film playback singer. Anuradha is the Lata of bhajans and sangeets" – religious songs. "If you ask any Tom, Dick or Harry she is nothing less than a goddess."
The temple shares premises with the Manchester Indian Association, which holds non-religious events such as badminton and table tennis, in the community hall where Paudwal is performing for three nights. Festival organisers contacted a number of Hindu temples, explains Dr Gandhi, and asked questions about the venue and facilities. "They needed a stage, they needed a sacred place and they needed a PA system. We don't know why these chose us but we we were over the moon." Preparing for the event is a lot of hard work say the two men, but the temple has good people who are enthusiastic. "Singing is very important to our worship; without it we don't pray," says Gandhi. "It lifts our congregation, our spirits, and helps us to focus. It adds meaning and you can express your sentiments much better." It is this idea – that music or singing enhance prayer and devotion – that unites the five distinct religious communities taking part in the event.
Poots is keen to allay any concerns about using places of worship for purposes other than devotion. "I have friends who are not of faith and they have asked if they can go," he says. "There is a resistance to go if you're not religious."
Yet back at the church, as the choristers prepare to leave by collecting their belongings and children, these concerns seem to be unfounded. One of the singers, Trish Hall, says she thinks everyone, whether they believe or not, will also be moved by what they hear. After all, she says, "some people will acknowledge music before they ever pick up a Bible".
Sacred Sites runs 6-10 July at various venues.
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