Bach Unseen

Bach Unseen comes to the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) on Friday 30 October, with cellist David McCann taking the lead. It's a concert that makes listening the only way of knowing where you are, and it starts in a way you'll recognise: McCann playing J.S. Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G major alone on stage under traditional concert lighting. As the final notes fade, the room is plunged into total darkness, and three cellists emerge to play a new work built from fragments, gestures and resonances of the suite.

From there, the musicians move through the space, continuously shifting their relationship to one another and to the audience. Without visual reference points, the sound becomes fluid and unpredictable, moving around you rather than coming from a fixed point on a stage. It's described as part concert and part exploration of perception, an invitation to experience music as a living presence unfolding all around you rather than a fixed object you watch from a seat. The whole thing lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes, so you'll spend a good chunk of it in the dark.

The evening is part of the Northern Lights Mini-Fest, run by the Belfast Music Society, which was founded in 1921 and is Northern Ireland's longest-standing promoter of classical chamber music. It also sits within the 64th Belfast International Arts Festival, which runs from 14 October to 8 November 2026 with more than 200 events across 30 venues.

It starts at 7:30pm at SARC, Cloreen Park, Belfast BT9 5HN. Tickets are £20, £15 for concessions, and £5 for students.