Author: Charles Hutchinson

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Who will be playing at York Early Music Festival from July 3 to 11? Find out here


I Fagiolini, with director Robert Hollingworth, centre, with sparkler: Performing opening concert of 2026 York Early Music Festival

THE 50th anniversary York Early Music Festival will run from July 3 to 11 with the theme of Beyond Borders.

More than 30 concerts will take place in York’s medieval churches, historic buildings and York Minster over nine days.

The festival was created in 1977 by a small group of Early Music enthusiasts and is long established as the premier British Early Music festival, attracting artists and visitors from far and wide.

Anacronia: Making York Early Music Festival on July 4

The festival will open with Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, presented by I Fagiolini with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, under Robert Hollingworth’s direction, on July 3 at 7pm at the sold-out Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York. This concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on July 8.

Last in York for the 2025 York Early Music Christmas Festival, Solomon’s Knot will provide a spectacular summer festival finale at The Quire, York Minster, on July 10 at 7.30pm, when Jonathan Sells will direct singers and musicians performing Friedrich Nicolaus Bruhns’ St Mark Passion by heart.  

The festival will mark the 400th anniversary of the death of the great English composer and lutenist John Dowland by dedicating a whole day to his works on A Day Of Dowland on July 6.

Organist Ben Horden: To Lubeck and Bach concert at Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall on July 7

Katherine Butler, associate professor at Northumbria University, will open the day with her sold-out 10.30am talk at Bedern Hall entitled Dowland’s Dolour: Music, Melancholy and Self-Fashioning in Elizabethan England.

Lutenist Thomas Dunford will present a selection of Dowland’s 90-plus compositions in The Rarest Musician at the sold-out St Olave’s Church, Marygate, at 1pm, and the Rose Consort of Viols, featuring lutenist Jamie Akers, will perform Dowland’s Teares Of Sorrowe And Gladnesse in the Undercroft, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall (again sold out,) at 6pm. Music by Orlande de Lassus and Alfonso Ferrabosco will complement works both sorrowful and joyful by Dowland.

Dowland’s day will end with Tears Into Light: A Contemporary Reimagining of John Dowland’s Lachrimae, performed by Imago Mundi, directed by Sofie Vanden Eynde, at the National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, at 8.30pm.

Top: Lutenist Thomas Dunford. Bottom: Imago Mundi director and lutenist Sofie Vanden Eynde. Both taking part in A Day of Dowland on July 6

Drawing on the insights of scholar-philosophers and the concept of inspired melancholy, Tears Into Light explores how melancholy has been understood through history and how it offers a lens for viewing the present. Dowland’s Lachrimae will be interwoven with American traditional music in a reminder that light can always emerge from darkness.

The opening of the 50th festival will be heralded by the York Fanfare, a specially commissioned piece by Wakefield-born Sam Meredith for the 2026 ensemble-in-residence, the historical wind band [hanse] Pfeyfferey, comprising Lilli Patzold, cornetto, Alexandra Mikheeva, slide trumpet and trombone, and Laura Dumpelmann, shawm.

York Fanfare will herald the festival opening, ahead of July 3’s first concert, on the grass outside the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, and then be performed around the city during the opening weekend, including outside the West Door of York Minster before The Sixteen’s 7.30pm concert there on July 4.

The Sixteen: Presenting Siglo de Oro, Music from the Spanish Renaissance, at York Minster on July 4. Picture: Johnny Millar

Directed as ever by Harry Christophers, The Sixteen will present Siglo de Oro, Music from the Spanish Renaissance, featuring works by Sebastian de Vivanc and Cristobal de Morales, Sir James MacMillan’s Nothing In Vain and the world premiere of NCEM Composers Award alumna Kerensa Briggs’s Lead, Kindly Light. BBC Radio 3 will air this concert on July 9.

The Great Noyze, organised by the International Guild of Town Pipers, has moved from College Green, York Minster, to St Sampson’s Square on July at 4pm.

Further highlights will be Minster Minstrels, From Holborne To Handel, at the NCEM on July 5, 11am; University of York Baroque Ensemble, with Ensemble Hesperi (in-house band at University of York), in The Music Party, NCEM, July 7, 12.30pm; organist Ben Horden, To Lubeck and Bach, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, July 7, 6pm, and Ghent’s B’Rock Orchestra & Vocal Consort, Da Pacem: Sacred Music by Heinrich Schutz and Contemporaries, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, July 7, 7.30pm.

Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston: Teaming up with tenor Paul Agnew and lutenist Sergio Buchel for A Gentle Air at Merchant Taylors’ Hall on July 9

Clavichord player Steven Devine’s Preludes, Fugues and Fantasies, at All Saints Church, North Street, on July 8 at 12.30pm, has sold out; Yorkshire Baroque Soloists will perform Amphion Anglicus, Chapter House, York Minster, July 8, 7.30pm, and Early Music will meet jazz and modernity in Duo Gambelin’s All’Improviso, Undercroft, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, July 8, 9.30pm.

On July 9 at 7pm, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, tenor Paul Agnew and lutenist Sergio Buchel will feature French songs by Michel Lambert and Sebastien Le Camus in A Gentle Air at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall. In July 10’s Concert by Candlelight at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, soprano Hannah Ely, alto Rebekah Jones and tenor Paul Bentley-Angell will perform songs from the courts of 12th-century France in Love From Afar.

Contre le temps: Le Baiser de la Rose programme at NCEM on July 5

At the heart of the festival is the NCEM’s year-round commitment to supporting emerging talent, this year represented by two young European ensembles, NCEM Platform Artists Anacronía, from Spain, in their festival debut at the NCEM on July 4 at 1.30pm, and the Franco/American medievalists Contre le temps, whose Le Baiser de la Rose programme at the NCEM on July 5 at 8.30pm will be recorded for BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show for broadcast on a date yet to be confirmed.

Held every two years, the prestigious York Early Music International Young Artists Competition will feature 40 musicians in nine ensembles competing for a series of prizes in a day of thrilling concerts at the NCEM on July 11 from 10am to 5pm.

Duo Gambelin: Early Music meets jazz and modernity in All’Improviso concert at Undercroft, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, on July 8

This year’s finalists are: I Mastricelli; Il Parrasio; La Mandorle; Lagrime; Nari Baroque Ensemble; Ossian’s Dream; Quarterino; Tra Noi and The Lyons Mouth (formed at the University of York).  

The full programme can be found at ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf. Box office: 01904 658338; email at boxoffice@ncem.co.uk; ncem.co.uk or in person from the NCEM.

Festival director Dr Delma Tomlin says: “We’re very excited to be staging our 50th festival, which is brimming with musical delights. The very first festival took place in 1977 and has gone from strength to strength, inspiring the restoration of St Margaret’s Church and the creation of the National Centre for Early Music in 2000.”

York Early Music Festival director Delma Tomlin

“Our 50th edition features world-class ensembles and emerging artists; celebrates the genius of John Dowland; hosts the prestigious York Early Music International Young Artists Competitionand has commissioned the York Fanfare to open the proceedings, making sure the festival gets off to a flying start.

“Last but not least, our media partners, BBC Radio 3 will be back, broadcasting the hugely popular Early Music Show live from the NCEM, presented by Hannah French on July 5 at 5pm with a line-up of guest artists from the festival. We hope you can join us in York for this very special celebration.”

The full programme can be found at ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf. Box office: 01904 658338; email at boxoffice@ncem.co.uk; ncem.co.uk or in person from the NCEM.

Solomon’s Knot: Festival finale at York Minster on July 10

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REVIEW: John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday ****

Grainne Dromgoole’s Liz Gold and Ralf Little’s Alec Leamas in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Picture: Johan Persson

NO John le Carré novel had been adapted for the stage until Chichester Festival Theatre took on the challenge of 1963’s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold in August 2024.

Film, yes, television series, yes, but the stage: the question is why not? Especially when psychological thrillers work just as well in a theatrical setting. Thankfully adaptor David Eldridge and director Jeremy Herrin, in tandem with production designer Max Jones, grabbed the elusive bull by the horns, their smart, slick and stylish Chichester premiere being followed by a West End bow at @sohoplace and now a nationwide tour.

A bicycle rests on its side centre stage, the front wheel still spinning, never stopping, defying Newton’s Laws of Motion, as Wednesday’s matinee audience gathers.

This symbol of wheels constantly turning, nothing ever settling, encapsulates the clandestine, claustrophobic world of Cold War espionage, deception and moral compromise, machination and manipulation. How can you trust anyone when you can’t even trust your eyes?!

Enter Ralf Little, late of The Royal Family and Death In Paradise, charged with the large task of following in the footsteps of Richard Burton in Martin Ritt’s 1965 film as burnt-out, disillusioned British intelligence agent Alec Leamas.

Drinking too heavily, smoking prodigiously, never seeing his children, Leamas is ready to “come in from the cold” in October 1961, a hollow shell of an outcast at 45. However, a combination of the Control (the immaculate, inscrutable Nicholas Murchie) and supposedly retired veteran spymaster George Smiley (Tony Turner), hovering ominously in the shadows of the stage and Leamas’s mind alike, persuades him to take on one final mission.

He must infiltrate East German intelligence in Berlin, giving him the chance to avenge his nemesis, the taciturn, cynical Nazi-turned-Communist agent Hans-Dieter Mundt (Peter Losasso), after his East German contact, Riemeck (Jonny Burman), is taken out.

Berlin is now divided by the Berlin Wall that looms large over Max Jones’s black-box design, with its steps to a mezzanine level, where Turner’s Smiley makes his entrances, like King Hamlet’s ghost, until taking centre stage late on, when taking over the narrator’s role from Little’s Leamas.

The floor is covered by a huge red map of Cold War Europe, Berlin West and East at its epicentre. Tables and chairs are forever being moved on and off the otherwise bare expanse of stage, where Azusa Ono’s lighting designs – often red and green, rather than the usual cold, disorientating blue – take on greater emotional significance and impact.

Into the plot are woven The Circus, Fiedler (Eddie Toll), the ideological, Jewish, Stalinist deputy director of the East German intelligence service, and librarian Liz Gold (Grainne Dromgoole), the naive young Communist Party activist, Leamas’s unforeseen love interest – the one element Smiley and the British Intelligence overlords had not calculated would influence Leamas’s actions.

Come the interval, Little’s exasperated, exhausted Leamas is calling both the ever-concealing Control and Smiley “liars”. No-one can indeed be trusted in this oppressive, suppressive quagmire of double crossing, deceit and dubious morals, where the end result is all that matters and Leamas is nothing more than a paranoid pawn in the chess set of espionage.

After first reading le Carré’s novel at 16, its chilling Cold War story and lead character had stayed with Little ever since. Now, 30 years on, he invests an assiduous sense of duty into Leamas, who is increasingly rueful and a loose cannon too, prone to sporadic outbursts of humorous theatricality and rising risk-taking to stay alive. Above all, the combination of Eldridge’s writing and Little’s intense performance conveys Leamas’s inner thoughts through haunted monologues in the tradition of Hamlet and Macbeth.

The murky miasma of spying in John le Carré’s books makes Alec Leamas poles apart from Ian Fleming’s secret agent James Bond. His world is no less dangerous and lonely, but drudgery and skulduggery prevail without the glamour and desirable locations.

Outwardly, Eldridge and Herrin’s noir thriller is a period piece, but as the ice forms on a new, 21st century Cold War, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold may well have to be sent out into the cold again.

Second Half Productions and The Ink Factory present Chichester Festival Theatre in John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Grand Opera House, York, until June 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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REVIEW: Black Treacle Theatre in Educating Rita, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday ****

Learning the meaning of “Only connect” in E M Forster’s novel Howards End: Jamie McKeller’s Frank tutoring Florence Poskitt’s Rita in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders

BLACK Treacle Theatre founder and director Jim Paterson has brought together two of York’s finest comedy actors for the first time for Willy Russell’s classic two-hander Educating Rita. 

Call it chemistry, call it alchemy, it is inspired casting  as Jamie McKeller and Florence Poskitt unite as whisky-soured university lecturer Frank and working-class Liverpool hairdresser Rita White, who wants to do more than change her name from Susan in signing up for an Open University literature course.

Frank, whose poetic flame has burned out, is only taking on Open University classes as a means to funding his chronic need to drink.  Behind all too many books in his shabby office are hidden bottles, bringing a regular clink to his day as he numbs his senses at his failure to sustain his early promise as a poet.

Keen to learn, keen to change, keen to challenge: Florence Poskitt’s Literature student, Rita White, looking sceptical in Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders

McKeller’s Frank is one of those drinkers who remains lucid in thought and expression, bleary eyed yet still articulate, waspish, piercingly perceptive, frustrated and frustrating. He talks of tragedy in Shakespeare being different from what we might call “a tragedy” in everyday life, yet Frank’s inability to change his path, his ways, his boozing, while knowing his destination, is closer to the former than the latter.

Poskitt’s Liverpool lip Rita is the one keen to change, to learn, to reach a state of knowledge and understanding, talking ten to the dozen, smoking feverishly, opinionated, frank, humorous.

She wants to lift Frank out of his doldrums too, but he is more concerned about how her initial individuality, her different way of thinking, is changed essay by essay, session by session, to meet the conventional understanding of critical thinking. You sense that this is Russell’s own despair with the education system, its requirements for common grounding, when Literature studies should lead to original thought.

He thinks, he drinks: Jamie McKeller’s Frank in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders

In his educating of Rita, Frank makes her more conventional in the world of gown, not town, where her husband Denny objects to her studies, wanting her to focus on starting a family instead.

In turn, Rita learns that no world is perfect, that a quest for knowledge, an insatiable curiosity, may not provide the answers she wants, but she is still better for now having the knowledge to help her move forwards.

There is light, especially in the combustible humour of Frank and Rita’s clashes of cultural thinking in their tutorials, but there is darkness too, whether in Frank’s embittered demeanour and eloquently arrowed self-loathing or the revelation of the troubles of Rita’s flatmate, Trish.

Educating Rita director Jim Paterson

McKeller, whose theatre work has taken in everything from John Godber’s Bouncers to Shakespeare and Rowntree Players pantomime villains and ugly sisters, gives a masterclass in understated performance: every line and movement weighted with significance, never overplayed in Frank’s reliance on drink to medicate his “absolute disaster” of a stagnating life. 

He is superb too at working in tandem with Poskitt’s flighty, effervescent yet increasingly deeper-thinking Rita, a bright spark whose honesty matches the ever-frank Frank as her confidence blossoms in her discovery of art, culture, theatre, herself.  

Yet change is as much of a mental minefield as no change. Frank won’t change, Rita will, but in considering “who they are and who they want to be”, choice may still be influenced by class, by circumstance, by whether you are a man or a woman. 

So much to learn from each other: Jamie McKeller’s tutor Frank and Florence Poskitt’s student Rita in Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders

Paterson may set Black Treacle’s production in a hybrid of the 1980s and 1990s, but the themes are as resonant as ever, especially at a time when the price of education – the burden of debt it now brings and the difficulty in finding a job afterwards – is challenging our perception of its purpose.

In the educating of Rita, Willy Russell’s universal play is still championing the possibilities and power of knowledge to change, to broaden horizons, to bring greater freedom of choice, against the tide of the frustratingly linear world of academia .

Black Treacle Theatre presents Educating Rita, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm nightly until Saturday. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 24, from Gazette & Herald

Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer Alec Leamas in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Picture: Johan Persson

COLD War espionage, artist open studios on moor and coast, Wright & Grainger in short form and Elvis Costello’s early years revisited make their mark on culture guide Charles Hutchinson.

Thriller of the week: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees today, tomorrow and Saturday

FOR the first time, a John le Carré novel is being brought to life on stage by Chichester Festival Theatre in David Eldridge’s adaptation of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, a typically taut tale that journeys through the fog-shrouded terrain of Cold War espionage, deception and moral compromise.

Death In Paradise star Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer, Alec Leamas, is ready to come in from the cold, until veteran agent George Smiley persuades him to take one final mission against the East German Secret Service. Deep undercover, Leamas finds his convictions tested and his defences breached by Liz Gold, a quietly defiant librarian, whose compassion threatens to thaw his frostbitten heart. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Rich Hall: Delivering comedy’s version of Chin Music at Pocklington Arts Centre

American comedian of the week: Rich Hall: Chin Music, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

THE expression “chin music” has two meanings. One is idle talk; the other is a ‘brushback’ throw in baseball or cricket to intimidate the batter. Both describe North Carolina-born Rich Hall’s comedy: idle but intimidating, sharp, quick, splenetic and improvisational. Don’t duck out of seeing him in action in Pocklington tonight. Box office: 017589 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Florence Poskitt’s Rita and Jamie McKeller’s Frank in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Literature lessons of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Educating Rita, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm

YORK actors Florence Poskitt and Jamie McKeller team up for the first time under Jim Paterson’s direction in Willy Russell’s warm, witty and moving double-hander about the power of education to change lives. When Rita, a working-class hairdresser hungry for something more, signs up for an Open University literature course, she meets disillusioned academic Frank, whose passion for teaching has long faded. 

Their weekly tutorials become a battle of ideas, humour and honesty as Rita’s confidence blossoms and Frank reckons with his own choices and the possibility of a second chance. Change comes with difficult choices for both student and tutor, who must reconsider who they are and who they want to be. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The Bluffs’ poster for Unwritten: The Literary Improv Show at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Unscripted silliness of the week: Unwritten: The Literary Improv Show, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tomorrow, 8.30pm, doors 7.30pm

YORK troupe The Bluffs take classic short-form improv games and infuse them with storytelling flair in an evening of laughter, silliness and plot twists. Each fast-paced show is shaped by audience suggestions and spontaneous creativity. Expect scenes inspired by classic literature, unexpected character mash-ups and even a fanfiction-inspired musical number.

The Bluffs are drawn from a melange of theatrical, comedy and musical backgrounds, from festival stages to pantomime and competitive Theatresports. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/unwritten-the-literary-improv-show-tickets-1984763723726.

Easingwold creative duo Wright & Grainger: Presenting Say It & Play It at The Old Paint Shop

The Old Paint Shop presents: Wright & Grainger Say It & Play it, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow, 8pm

FRIENDS and working partners since Easingwold schooldays, Wright & Grainger serve a carefully curated evening of stories, poems, songs and gentle chaos. Known for their internationally acclaimed adaptations of Ancient Greek myths, sometimes they do something a tad different.

Hence Say It & Play It will be a set full of Alexander Flanagan Wright & Phil Grainger’s shorter collaborative works, the poems that stand on their own, the beautiful tracks they have been writing. “It’s a gorgeous weave of our home-grown stuff, grown and told on home turf,” they say. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Paul Weller: Heading back to the East Coast to play Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Seaside excursion of the week: Paul Weller, TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Friday, gates 6pm

PAUL Weller follows up April’s release of Weller At The BBC Vol 2 with his return to Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the first time since July 7 2024. The Modfather, 68, will be expected to draw on material from his days in The Jam and Style Council, as well as his solo years, from 1992’s self-titled debut to July 2025’s Find El Dorado. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Mark Butler: Taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026

North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026, Moors and Coast, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

MORE than 200 artists and makers are taking part in the second weekend of the summer edition of North Yorkshire Open Studios, including 73 representing the Moors and Coast. Among them will be Boo Barwick-Ward; Iona May Stock; Jo Naden; Sarah Sharpe, Alison Spaven; Anna Matyus; Pam Edwards; Deborah Wilkinson; Iona Harrison; Jonathan Pomroy and Stephen Bird.

So too will Rory Menage; Sue Slack; Mike Nowill; Studio Milena; Clare Belbin; Elizabeth Bailey; Lyn Bailey; Pauline Brown; Sally Parkin; Nettle Cottage Prints; Slab and Slip; Rebecca Callis; Kate Brown; Jess Shaw; Martin Gittins; Alice O’Neil and Gillies Jones. Full details can be found at nyos.org.uk.

Elvis Costello: Revisiting his early years in his Radio Soul! show at York Barbican. Picture: Ray Di Pietro

York gig of the week: Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello, York Barbican, June 17, 7.45pm

ELVIS Costello plays York Barbican for the first time since May 2012, joined by The Imposters’ Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher and Texan guitarist Charlie Sexton for a set list drawn from 1977’s My Aim Is True to 1896 Blood & Chocolate albums, complemented by “other surprises”.

“For any songwriter, it has to be a compliment if people want to hear songs written up to 50years ago,” says Costello, 71. “You can expect the unexpected and the faithful in equal measure.” His special guest will be Emily Moment. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Dominic Goodwin: Performing Twice Nightly over two nights at Helmsley Arts Centre

Recalling variety’s golden days: Pyramus and Thisbe Productions present Dominic Goodwin in Twice Nightly, Helmsley Arts Centre, June 26 and 27, 7.30pm

DOMINIC Goodwin, one-time manager of Helmsley Arts Centre, returns to his old stamping ground with his first one-man comedy show, written and performed by Goodwin and directed by York director Thomas Frere.

Twice Nightly follows the story of struggling comedian Freddie Francis in 1956 as the final curtain hovers over  variety. Many acts of the time are highlighted, including Norman “Over The Garden Wall” Evans (said to be an influence on Les Dawson) Stockton comic Jimmy James, wartime star Robb Wilton and the iconic Max Miller. “It’s been an honour to perform these stars’ material, and even more so to have the backing of the families,” says Goodwin. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

York printmaker Michelle Hughes holding a copy of her debut book, Printing Birds and Wildlife in Linocut

In Focus

Book event of the week: An Evening with Michelle Hughes, Printing Birds and Wildlife in Linocut, Kemps Books, Malton, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK linocut printmaker discusses her debut book, Printing Birds and Wildlife in Linocut, her creative story and upcoming tenth anniversary in business at Kemps Books. “Liz Kemp has been a huge supporter of my printmaking journey, selling my original prints in the early days, greeting cards over the years, and now stocking my book,” says Michelle. “Do come along and support a fabulous indie gift shop and bookshop.”

Published in February 2026, Michelle’s beautifully illustrated book shares how to design, carve and print birds and wildlife using traditional linocut techniques, guiding  readers from simple one-colour prints through to more advanced multi-colour methods, including jigsaw, reduction and multi-block printing.

“Whether you are completely new to linocut or already exploring printmaking, the book offers clear step-by-step guidance, practical tips and creative inspiration for capturing birds and wildlife in this rewarding craft,” says Michelle.

“During the evening you’ll enjoy my short talk about my journey to becoming a professional printmaker; behind-the-scenes insights into how the book was created, with a chance to see original prints and lino blocks featured in the book and a Q&A session about linocut printmaking, followed by a book signing.

Come and celebrate wildlife, printmaking and the joy of carving and printing by hand.” Tickets must be booked in advance in person in store or at kempsgeneralstore.co.uk/pages/events.

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Fisherman’s Friends to play York Barbican on April 2 2027. Sheffield, Halifax and Bridlington dates announced too

Fisherman’s Friends: In harmony at York Barbican next spring

FISHERMAN’S Friends will make York Barbican a port of call on April 2 on their 34-date 2027 British tour.

The Cornish folk harmony group will play further Yorkshire concerts at Sheffield City Hall on March 19, Victoria Theatre, Halifax, April 23, and Bridlington Spa, November 7 2027.

Fresh from their sold-out 2026 UK dates and an Australia tour earlier this year, Fisherman’s Friends ran their inaugural Fisherman’s Friends Festival at Stithians Showground, Cornwall, in a landmark three-day celebration of music, maritime heritage and Cornish culture from May 28 to 30.

At a time when rising costs and industry pressures have seen many UK festivals forced to scale back, postpone or close altogether, the launch of a new independent festival marked a significant achievement, underlining both the enduring appeal of Fisherman’s Friends and their commitment to championing Cornwall’s culture, community and live music scene.

For a group whose remarkable story has inspired two hit feature films, 2019’s Fisherman’s Friends and 2022’s Fisherman’s Friends: One And All,  and the touring stage musical Fisherman’s Friends The Musical, the 2027 tour marks yet another chapter in an extraordinary journey that began with friends singing on the harbour in Port Isaac to raise money for local causes.

The tour will see Fisherman’s Friends perform across the UK from February through to November 2027, returning to theatres and concert halls nationwide with the humour, camaraderie and stirring harmonies that have made them one of Britain’s best-loved live acts.

Fisherman’s Friends said: “To be announcing another UK tour while opening our very first festival in Cornwall feels incredibly special. We never imagined when we started singing on The Platt in Port Isaac that it would lead us here.

“Launching a festival in Cornwall and seeing audiences continue to support live music means a great deal to us. We’re looking forward to getting back out on the road and seeing audiences around the country once again.”

York Barbican tickets are on sale at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/fisherman-s-friends/.

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Sparks to play York Barbican on August 25 in return to city after 52-year hiatus

This town is big enough for the both of them: Sparks’ Ron and Russell Mael are bound for York Barbican. Picture: Munachi Osegbu

CULT pop-rock pioneers Sparks will play York for the first time since 1974 on their 2025-2026 world tour.

The Mael brothers, Ron (keyboards) and Russell (vocals), will take to the York Barbican stage on Tuesday, August 25 in one of two date added to a British itinerary already booked into London, Glasgow, Blackpool, Bournemouth and Bristol. Southend-on-Sea newly awaits too on an itinerary also taking in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Returning to York after a 52-year hiatus, Sparks are lining up a euphoric, career-spanning set on the back of their 28th studio album, 2024’s MAD!, and companion EP, MADDER!

Ron, now 80, and Russell, 77, rose to fame with 1974  hits This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us and Amateur Hour, from the album Kimono My House.

Further chart success ensued with Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth (1974); Something For The Girl With Everything (1975); Get In The Swing (1975); Looks, Looks, Looks (1975); The Number One Song In Heaven (1979); Beat The Clock (1979); When Do I Get To Sing My Way (1994); When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing) (1994); When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’ (1995) and This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us, with Faith No More (1997).

Sparks formed in Los Angeles, California, where Ron and Russell were raised in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood and established the band in 1968 while attending UCLA. Going on to be recognised as “your favourite band’s favourite band”, the duo inspired artists as diverse as Joy Division, Squeeze, Depeche Mode, Björk, Beck and latterly The Last Dinner Party. As producer Jack Antonoff once put it: “All pop music is re-arranged Sparks.”

In 2021, the Maels were the subject of Edgar Wright’s documentary The Sparks Brothers. That year too, the brothers conceived, wrote and scored visionary French filmmaker Leos Carax’s surreal, dark, meta-fictional rock opera, Annette, which charted the tragic romance between a provocative stand-up comedian and a world-renowned opera singer, whose lives are upended by the birth of their mysterious child.

Alongside this summer’s headline shows, Sparks will appear at Green Man Festival on August 23, preceded by supporting Gorillaz at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20, having joined Damon Albarn and co on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 9 to perform The Happy Dictator, a collaboration featured on Gorillaz’s 2026 album The Mountain.

Extra tickets have been released for Sparks’ York Barbican debut at yorkbarbican.co.uk. Doors will open at 7pm.

The poster for Sparks’ concert at York Barbican on August 25

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A temporary inconvenience…

Out of touch: Phone woes for CharlesHutchPress

PLEASE note, phone calls are not being ignored. Alas, the CharlesHutchPress mobile has breathed its last, without warning, necessitating a replacement selection process that is under way.

In the meantime, contact is more than welcome by email at charles.hutchinson104@gmail.com.  Hutch is very happy to arrange interviews on Zoom too.

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on Teddy Thompson, supported by Blair Dunlop, All Saints Church, Pocklington, June 6

Teddy Thompson: Showcasing new album Never Be The Same at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes

BOOKING a lover of period touches like Teddy Thompson into Pocklington’s beautiful All Saints Church was a good move.

This wonderful Hurricane Promotions concert was further helped by the fact that Thompson has happy memories of Pocklington, at least the fish and chips, and he was in good form. He has a well-spoken, dry and ironic sense of humour that provided the warmth between songs.

There was plenty of affection too for fan favourite Blair Dunlop. Dunlop sounds fully committed to his Americana sound and showed off new songs in his brisk opening set. Trilobite might be 500 million years out factually but was musically on the money, while Sweet On You could almost be a Teddy Thompson song with its charming surface and darker interior.

Blair Dunlop performing at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes

Some singers close their eyes as they sing; Dunlop smiled often. Thompson, on the other hand, stared unnervingly straight ahead, which gave him and his material an edge.

On a casual introduction, Thompson’s new record, Never Be The Same, seems a fairly slight thing, full of short lovelorn songs that sound straight out of the 1960s’ gold era of country pop.

Listen more than once and you’ll be hooked by the clever lyrics, wonderful period production and some gorgeous melodies.

Teddy Thompson’s set list for June 6’s concert at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes

As Thompson talked about in his interview with Miles Salter for York Calling, restraint is a key part of his songwriting approach, so each tune is a finely chiselled thing. In concert too, the songs were played straight by a three-piece band (with Mike Robinson on guitars and Chris Jones on drums).

By some sleight of hand, the drummer also was able to add in extra keys, strings and to this reviewer’s ears something at the bottom end.

The Pocklington crowd was treated to ten numbers off that record over the course of the 17-song set, which also revisited some older material. While the first three songs were taken at a clip and sounded a bit too bright, it grew much better.

Teddy Thompson, centre, and his band, guitarist Mike Robinson and drummer Chris Jones, on stage at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes

The older songs revealed that Thompson hasn’t wandered too far stylistically in the intervening 26 years. Step Behind, from his first record, showed his style was essentially there from the get-go.

As the sun set and lit up the old stone columns that framed the band, Thompson was by this point fully warmed up, and the wonder that is his singing voice really shone.

I Remember, which sounds like it could have been a country hit for Skeeter Davis, was wonderful and what could have been a Buck Owens riff, while Same Old Song (ironic, but true in a set list that did rather sound the same and stick in the same tempos) was full of lovely period references.

All Saints Church lit up at Teddy Thompson’s concert. Picture: Paul Rhodes

The encore deserved to bring the house down, with a clever solo version of So This Is Heartache. The best song on the new record by a country mile, where it sounds like a lost Stax country classic, Pocklington saw it in naked, devastating form.

The band returned and the anthemic In My Arms rounded off the set. That this song only made it to number 107 tells you everything that is wrong with music charts. Like any number from his catalogue, you wonder when someone else will make it a hit. Until then Thompson remains a well-preserved cult figure ripe for a larger audience.

Review by Paul Rhodes

BLAIR Dunlop will be on the main stage at The Magpies Festival, Sutton Park, Sutton-on-the-Forest, near York, on August 15. Full festival details can be found at https://www.themagpiesfestival.co.uk/.

The instruments set up for Teddy Thompson’s set at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes

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REVIEW: Tim Robinson’s verdict on York Musical Society, Philharmonischer Chor Münster & The Ebor Singers, Elgar’s The Dream Of Gerontius, York Minster, June 6

Conductor David Pipe

IN its 150th year, York Musical Society joined with Philharmonischer Chor Münster and The Ebor Singers to perform Elgar’s The Dream Of Gerontius.

Intensely passionate, strangely driven, deeply spiritual: just three ways to describe this wonderful performance delivered by David Pipe and his choir and orchestra of more than 250.

The passion is right there with the conductor. He embodies the music, every part of him leading this dance, almost balletic in his own movements. Whilst the three choirs have been rehearsing separately, David Pipe’s ability to bring them together on the day is remarkable witness to his outstanding musical leadership.

Sam Furness’s first line, a prayer, after the orchestral introduction, “Jesus Maria – I am near to death and thou art calling me”, was delivered sotto voce and with gorgeous restraint. This was both deeply felt and perhaps a little operatic – hardly surprising that Elgar drew inspiration from Wagner.

Furness handled the many facets of Gerontius’s emotional and spiritual journey with ease, delivering closely knit contrasting lines with consummate skill.

The orchestra accompanied choirs and soloists with great sensitivity. Towards the end of the piece, the Angel sings pianissimo, Softly and gently, dearly ransomed soul. The soloist and orchestra almost melted into each other with the tenderness and assurance of these words.

Kate Symonds-Joy’s Angel gave an exquisite performance throughout, almost still in the quieter moments, yet she gave spell-binding fortissimos, for example in the preamble to the great chorus, “Praise to the holiest”.

James Cleverton, as the Priest and Angel of the Agony, sang with great power throughout, deliberately contrasting with the voices of Gerontius and the Angel.

The three choirs were brought together to produce a great sound. Imitations of laughing (Ha! ha!) were vigorously proclaimed, whilst the great crescendo in “To Praise to the holiest” was delivered with warmth and accuracy. The orchestral accompaniment was always steadfast, flexible and sensitive to the singers.

Such events as these belong to amateur singers who are part of Great Britain and Germany’s great choral societies. This is difficult music both in its technical reach and emotional charge. Their dedicated work over a period of months comes to fruition on this one night. It was good to see both Dr Martin Henning, director of Philharmonischer Chor Münster, alongside David Pipe taking a bow.

Thank you for a terrific evening. Our great choral tradition remains in confident hands.

Review by Tim Robinson, musician, choral and chamber concert reviewer and former Church of England vicar at All Saints’ Church, Helmsley, serving Helmsley and Upper Ryedale Benefice for 11 years until retirement in 2021; also as Area Dean of Northern Ryedale.

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Theatre@41 to stage It’s A Wonderful Life as first community play from December 10 to 23. When will auditions be held?

Eija Gibson: Directing Theatre@41’s first community play, It’s A Wonderful Life

THEATRE@41, Monkgate, York, is to play host to its first community play from December 10 to 23.

The John Cooper Studio’s black-box theatre will be transformed for the classic Christmas story of It’s A Wonderful Life with a community cast and crew.

Directed by Eija Gibson, Mary Elliott Nelson’s stage adaptation of Frank Capra’s 1946 film follows down-on-his-luck banker George Bailey as he is paid a visit by his guardian angel on Christmas Eve 1946.

Soon he discovers how life in Bedford Falls – the beloved small American town where he has grown up – would be without him, whereupon his outlook is transformed in a joyful story of love, hope and community.

The show poster for Theatre@41’s community play, It’s A Wonderful Life

This will be the first time the intimate independent theatre has staged its own community production. Auditions for community actors to take part in this winter’s production will take place on Sunday, June 28 at Theatre@41. An audition pack with further details and a link to sign up is available at https://63872f16-4d92-4e53-b625-a6dcb0d0b81d.filesusr.com/ugd/8d660e_d0eebbde62c14d67893e7e2eade6f382.pdf.

Director  Eija Gibson is an exciting young director with a growing reputation, whose credits include being associate artist at Leeds theatre company Wrongsemble.

Eija will be mentored by Theatre@41 theatre manager Tom Bellerby, who has worked at the National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and several leading regional theatres, Hull Truck Theatre among them.

“I am so excited to be directing this gorgeous show in such a wonderful space!” she says. “It is such an exciting opportunity and I can’t wait to bring my vision to Theatre@41, learn from Tom’s mentorship and meet the wonderful creatives of York to create a really strong ensemble and a beautiful show.

Step this way: The entrance to Theatre@41, Monkgate, where auditions for It’s A Wonderful Life will take place on June 28. Picture: James Drury

“Hope, community and connection are at the heart of It’s A Wonderful Life. Through intimate staging, fluid storytelling and visual contrast, and most importantly a strong ensemble, we will bring Bedford Falls to York.”

In a message to auditionees and subsequently successful recruits, she says: “Join me for a collaborative, supportive and creative rehearsal process, resulting in a production that feels uplifting, heartfelt and celebratory.”

Theatre@41 chair Alan Park says: “For more than 25 years, Theatre@41 has hosted productions from York’s incredible community theatre companies. It’s A Wonderful Life will allow us to showcase the very best of York’s community theatre performers and creatives. We can’t wait to welcome people to our own Bedford Falls as we throw a lasso round the moon to re-create the most life affirming of Christmas stories.”

Theatre@41 theatre manager Tom Bellerby says: “We are really excited about this new project and providing the theatre audiences of York with an alternative offer this festive season. Our brilliant community creatives will be mentored by experienced professional artists, providing a unique opportunity for those involved.”

Megan Drury in Wright & Grainger’s Selene, playing Theatre@41, Monkgate, on July 15 and 16

Already this year, under Bellerby’s management, Theatre@41 has partnered with internationally acclaimed North Yorkshire theatre company Wright & Grainger  to co-produce their new show, Selene, soon to kick off a UK tour after 70 performances in Australia and New Zealand.

Starring Australian theatre, film and television actor Megan Drury, Selene will play Theatre@41 on July 15 (7.30pm) and July 16 (8.30pm) ahead of its Edinburgh Fringe run in Alexander Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger’s story of the goddess and the dark side of the moon.

In this radical explosion of an ancient lunar myth by the company behind Helios, Orpheus and The Gods The Gods The Gods, a young girl watches the moon landings on repeat, a teenager makes a list of all the things they are not and a young adult starts to discover who they are.

“It’s a story about the light sides of us, the dark sides of us, and the things we grow up in the orbit of – and about the stuff inside us, all the wild stuff inside us,” say Wright & Grainger.

Tickets for Selene and It’s A Wonderful Life are on sale at https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/.

Phil Grainger and Alexander Flanagan Wright of Wright & Grainger, creators of Selene