With Manchester International Festival just three weeks away, Mancubist’s comprehensive (read: fairly haphazard) coverage is gearing up. First off, here’s a tip-off about one of your last chances to get tickets to possiby the festival’s biggest event:

Thought you’d be interested to know that the good people at Boosey & Hawkes are giving away 2 tickets to the sold out Kraftwerk/Steve Reich gig, complete with hotel, dinner and… backstage passes!

And in fact the prize includes two nights at the Radisson Edwardian, dinner at The Market Restaurant – plus a chance to meet Reich. To win, you need a Twitter account and then to visit @SteveReich for a series of questions. Check out the latest answers here, and get your own answers in by Friday.

The American composer (a bit of a hero of mine) will be having his new work 2×5 premiered by Bang on a Can at the Manchester Velodrome on 2 July. I’m sure you know what Kraftwerk are all about, but for an introduction to Reich’s music, visit his Myspace. Or if you fancy splashing out, I highly recommend this album by Powerplant, which features music by both.

Finally, I hear that a handful of tickets might be released nearer show time – so keep checking the MIF site if you don’t win.