Category: Breaking News

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Opera North launches Home song-writing project for installation at new Leeds centre

Writing Home: Opera North’s song-writing project for the Howard Opera Centre. Picture: Tom Arber

OPERA North is launching Writing Home, a community song-writing project for creating an innovative arts installation when the Leeds company opens its redeveloped home, the Howard Opera Centre.

The new building, on New Briggate, is designed to be a creative space for the whole community, an aim that will be reflected in an interactive musical trail on the theme of home.

Contributions will be recorded by schools, community groups, the Opera North Youth Company and members of the public, with visitors being able to listen to the resulting performances as they walk around the building.

As part of the project, a six-week course of free Writing Home workshops will be held online from Monday, February 22 at 6.30pm, led by professional  musicians Thandanani Gumede and Dave Evans.

Participants will be asked to explore what “home” means to them through a variety of musical genres before creating their own compositions. A selection of these will be featured as part of the final trail.

Everyone is welcome to join. No previous musical experience is necessary, only the willingness to try something new.

Jacqui Cameron, Opera North’s education director, says: “We will be embedding the voices of the people of Leeds and the North in the very walls of the Howard Opera Centre to create a sense of ownership and to encourage the whole community to see it as their artistic home.

“The word ‘home’ has assumed even greater importance over the past year, and this project aims to give participants the time to reflect specifically on what it means to them, and why it is important to us all to have spaces where we feel ‘at home’.

Work ongoing on former shop units beneath the Howard Assembly Room in New Briggate, Leeds. Picture: Tom Arber

“We hope this project will also provide a boost at a time when we are aware how much people are missing their usual evening meet-ups. Thanda is looking forward to finding the inner composer in everyone who takes part, helping them create something that will provide a great testament to the creativity of the people of Leeds in our new building.”

Despite the setbacks posed by the pandemic, Opera North has continued with its £18m redevelopment project on New Briggate, albeit it with new Covid-19 safety measures in place.

The Howard Opera Centre is pencilled in to open later this year. As well as providing new rehearsal facilities for the orchestra and chorus of Opera North, a costume and wigs workshop and administrative offices, the building will feature several public areas.

Among them will be a flexible education centre that will enable audiences of all ages and backgrounds to come together to learn about and participate in music making. 

Anyone accessing the education centre will use the same entrance as the artists and staff in a bid to inspire the younger generation and to encourage a feeling of parity and belonging.

Other public spaces will include a fully accessible atrium and a new restaurant and bar that will replace a row of previously vacant shop units.

Opera North’s performance venue, the Howard Assembly Room, within Leeds Grand Theatre, will reopen with an enhanced programme of musical and spoken-word events.

The work is being delivered by Sheffield contractors Henry Boot Construction, with the first phase scheduled to open in the late spring and final completion in the diary for autumn.

Opera North’s new orchestra rehearsal studio above the existing Harewood and Linacre rehearsal studios in the Howard Opera Centre, seen from the bottom of Harrison Street, Leeds. Picture: Tom Arber

Opera North general director Richard Mantle says: “We want young musicians to feel that they’re an integral part of Opera North, which is why we’re delighted to be able to give them the opportunity to rehearse in the same building as the chorus and the orchestra.

“Having our own dedicated education centre will facilitate more collaborations with the main stage; open up more learning and performing opportunities for children and young people, and provide extraordinary musical experiences for the wider community every day. 

“We very much hope that people will see the Howard Opera Centre as their artistic home in the city, with Writing Home marking the first step in ensuring they feel a part of the building and everything it represents.”

The company is “very grateful” to all the individuals, trusts and organisations that have helped it to raise more than £17 million towards the Music Works fundraising campaign target of £18 million.

Dr Keith Howard OBE, president of Opera North and founder of Emerald Group Publishing, made a philanthropic gift of £11.25 million; Leeds City Council has pledged to contribute £750,000, together with the lease of the vacant shops on New Briggate, and Arts Council England has provided £1 million, including a £500,000 Capital Kickstart Award.

The balance of the funds has come from private donors, trusts and supporters, including a £1 million donation from the Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation, as well as a significant contribution from Mrs Maureen Pettman and major gifts from private individuals.

In addition, gifts have been pledged by the Marjorie and Arnold Ziff Charitable Foundation; Wolfson Foundation; Backstage Trust; the Kirby Laing Foundation; the Foyle Foundation; 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust; Sir George Martin Trust; Garfield Weston Foundation; J Paul Getty Jnr General Charitable Trust; the Arnold Burton 1998 Charitable Trust and Alerce Trust. 

Opera North has launched the Play Your Part campaign, seeking support from patrons, Friends and audience members, as well as continuing to attract funding from the Leeds business community and further charitable trusts and foundations as it looks to raise the £500,000 still needed for the project.

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Courtney Marie Andrews to release debut poetry collection ahead of Pocklington gig

Courtney Marie Andrews: Double award winner at the 2021 UK Americana Awards

COURTNEY Marie Andrews will play Pocklington Arts Centre on June 17 on the back of being crowned International Artist of the Year at the 2021 UK Americana Awards.

The Phoenix singer-songwriter also saw off competition from American Aquarium, Margo Price and Katie Pruitt to win Best International Album for Old Flowers at the January 28 virtual ceremony presented by Bob Harris, host of The Country Show on BBC Radio 2.

Elvis Costello, Steve Earle and Gillian Welch all performed at the awards, run by the Americana Music Association, to celebrate the very best in country from Britain and internationally. 

This summer, Courtney, 30, will perform the Grammy-nominated Old Flowers, her break-up album released last July on Loose/Fat Possum Records, on her return to Pocklington.

She last played a sold-out PAC in December 2018, at the end of a week when she was felled by a viral infection the morning after her London gig and had to call off her Birmingham, Bristol and Oxford gigs.

Rested and recuperated, she was still nursing a cough, but found the energy for a solo set of songs and stories, introducing Ships In The Night and It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, two new compositions that would end up on Old Flowers.

Courtney had been booked to play PAC on June 17 last year, but Covid restrictions forced the postponement of her six-date tour. In the quietude of an emptied diary, she completed her debut poetry collection, Old Monarch, set for release in the UK on May 13 (preceded by April 6 in the United States) through Simon & Schuster.

The book cover for Courtney Marie Andrews’ first poetry collection, Old Monarch

“It’s been hard to contain my excitement about this news…my first poetry collection,” Courtney said on Instagram, introducing a book that “reads like a transformation, me, the narrator, being the figurative Old Monarch”.

“Some people are like monarch butterflies – solitary by nature, on a passionate search for somewhere,” the publicity explains for a collection divided into three sections, Sonoran Milkweed, Longing In Flight and Eucalyptus Tree (My Arrival to Rest).

Centred on themes of longing and a desire to belong, while excavating scenes from her childhood in the American Southwest, the poems address Courtney’s childhood in Arizona, family and the naive assumptions of youth; leaving home; falling in love for the first time and becoming an adult as the Old Monarch butterfly arrives in a figurative garden.

“Last summer, while on an island out at sea, I decided to finish some poems I started years ago. Pondering metaphysical transformation, I collected these questions and instilled them onto these pages,” Courtney’s Instagram post  said.

“From my childhood in Arizona to allegorical gardens of rest, you can follow my journey as an Old Monarch. Between its pages, I hope you find patterns of your own path reflected.”

Summing up the third section in the book’s press release, Courtney concludes: “There are a lot of metaphysical and philosophical poems in this section. I arrive at the figurative garden, and I finally understand the journey at the edge of my life.

“There are a lot of poems in the context of a garden here, accepting mortality and the ever-changing world. These are meant to be wise old woman poems.”

“Between its pages, I hope you find patterns of your own path reflected,” says Courtney Marie Andrews of her Old Monarch poetry collection

You will have to wait until June 17 to discover if Courtney will include any of Old Monarch’s poems in her Pocklington set, when she will be accompanied by a full band.

Looking forward to Courtney’s return, PAC director Janet Farmer says: “We would like to congratulate Courtney on her impressive, but not surprising, UK Americana Awards wins, as well as the publication of her debut collection of poetry. 

“We can’t wait to welcome Courtney back to Pocklington this June when we’ll get the chance to hear her perform her stunning album Old Flowers live.

“If you don’t want to miss this incredible opportunity, I would urge you to buy your tickets now to avoid disappointment.”

Old Flowers was created in the aftermath of a long-term relationship ending, leading to her most vulnerable writing on ten songs that chronicle her journey through heartbreak, loneliness and finding herself again.

“There are a million records and songs about heartbreak, but I did not lie when writing these songs,” Courtney says. “This album is about loving and caring for the person you know you can’t be with.

“It’s about being afraid to be vulnerable after you’ve been hurt. It’s about a woman who is alone, but OK with that, if it means truth. This was my truth: my nine-year relationship ended and I’m a woman alone in the world, but happy to know herself.”

The cover artwork for Courtney Marie Andrews’ break-up album, Old Flowers

Truth hurts, love hurts, but Courtney found writing Old Flowers “a safe place, a place of comfort”. “I didn’t lie in what I wrote because it was a very cathartic process,” she says.

“It was the only way I could channel what I was going through but I think sometimes people do lie in these situations because vulnerability is scary – and when you’re vulnerable you show your weakest emotions, and people are uncomfortable with that.”

By way of contrast, Courtney benefited from the confessional self-analysis. “Songs can predict your future or look back at what’s happened, and I didn’t realise that I felt the way I did until I started writing them,” she says.

“I definitely learned a lot about vulnerability: not hiding behind a character I learned so much about my relationship and goodbyes. Everything has a reason and we’re always searching for ourselves and for joy in our lives. This record is no different: when you reach the end of the tunnel, you reach the light and life goes on.”

Produced by Bon Iver and Big Thief producer Andrew Sarlo, Old Flowers was recorded at Sound Space Studio, a private studio in Los Angeles, with only three musicians: Andrews on vocals, acoustic guitar and piano, Twain’s Matthew Davidson, on bass, celeste, mellotron, pedal steel, piano, pump organ, Wurlitzer and background vocals, and Big Thief’s James Krivcheniaon drums and percussion.

“I think it may be only the third or fourth album to have been made there. Andrew had made a connection with the owner, and it’s just an amazing downtown space in the arts district of LA with giant windows and so many cool instruments in there,” says Courtney.

“Andrew and I had both decided the album needed to be made in a very intimate space with the fewer cooks in the kitchen, the better, and this place was perfect.

“A friend of mine once said to me that flowers are timeless, and I can agree with that sentiment,” says Courtney, reflecting on her album title

“A lot of the record was just Matt and me and I guess it was like a musical dance of communication between the two of us, and then James added those small moments of magic between our ‘dancing’.”

Old Flowers is Courtney’s seventh album, following on from 2018’s May Your Kindness Remain; 2016’s Honest Life; 2013’s On My Page; 2010’s No One’s Slate Is Clean; 2009’s Painters Hands And A Seventh Son and 2008’s Urban Myths.

“I definitely look at albums in their own right. I’m with Neil Young on that,” says Courtney. “Every album has its own journey. It would be a disservice and an injustice if I were to try to make the same record over and over again. The best artists are constantly re-born with each album.”

Old Flowers finds Courtney in full bloom. “The title means lots of things to me, one of them being that you can’t revive old flowers, but they remain beautiful even when they’ve died and they’re preserved.

“A friend of mine once said to me that flowers are timeless, and I can agree with that sentiment.”

Tickets for Courtney Marie Andrews’ 8pm concert at Pocklington Arts Centre on June 17 cost £20 at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Did you know?

Courtney Marie Andrews recorded a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s America with Liz Cooper and Molly Sarlé in 2020.

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Mary Coughlan has a life of stories to tell in song at Pocklington Arts Centre autumn gig

Mary Coughlan: Songs of heart and soul and survival on Life Stories

GALWAY jazz and blues chanteuse Mary Coughlan is moving her Pocklington Arts Centre show for a third time in these pandemic times.

“Ireland’s Billie Holliday” twice rearranged her gig during 2020, and now she is doing so again, switching from April 23 to October 19.

At the heart of Mary’s concert, fourth time lucky, will still be Life Stories, her 15th album, released on the wonderfully named Hail Mary Records last September.

As the title would suggest, and likewise such song titles as Family Life, Two Breaking Into One, Elbow Deep and Twelve Steps Forward And Ten Steps Back, these are songs of heart and soul and survival, steeped in reflection on family, love, loss and an extraordinary life of the blues wherein Mary has overcome childhood trauma, alcoholism and drug addiction.

Mary has never hidden her battles – 32 times she ended up in hospital with alcohol poisoning – as indicated by calling her first three albums Tired And Emotional (1985), Under The Influence (1987) and Uncertain Pleasures (1990), and later entitling  her frank 2009 autobiography Bloody Mary: My Story.

The cover artwork for Mary Coughlan’s 2020 album, Life Stories

Life Stories emerged in the wake of Women Undone, her 2018 fusion of theatre, music and dance at Projects Art Centre, Dublin, in a collaboration with the Brokentalkers and Valgeir Sigurðsson, that told the story of a young woman who endured abuse, addiction and mental illness and whose discovery of art and music was her redemption.

Coughlan appeared alongside female quartet Mongoose, performing an original score by Sigurðsson that fused electronic music with live instrumentation and a haunting vocal score.

“On the back of that show, I asked Pete [guitarist, songwriter and producer Pete Glenister] to make this album with me, in 2019, going over to his house, working on the songs,” recalls Mary. “I’d sing him the lyrics, he’d work on the melodies, and then we had all these songs ready.”

Glenister and Coughlan recorded Life Stories at No Name Studios in London in the summer of 2019, applying the finishing touches in February 2020, before the first lockdown.

“Wonderful long summer days of collaborating on songs,” says Mary in her album sleeve-notes. “Singing and making music all day and eating wonderful food and spending the evenings in the garden sipping mint tea.”

Alongside the Glenister and Coughlan originals is the album-opening cover of Family Life, a Paul Buchanan composition from Blue Nile’s 1996 album Peace At Last. “He liked it!” says Mary. “I had to run it by him, though I don’t think Paul is the kind of person that would stop me doing it.

“I had all these stories, so these songs are autobiographical,” says Mary Coughlan

“There’s a Blue Nile fan club and they follow me everywhere, always turning out in force at my shows, and I started singing that song more than two years ago. I sang it for the first time the day my mother was buried, so it means a lot to me.”

Mary has always been a noted interpreter of songs, not least on her 2000 album Mary Coughlan Sings Billie Holiday, but Life Stories largely moves away from that template.

“I’ve always hid behind other people’s songs that meant something to me, but then, looking at the calendar, I was turning 64, and it was pointed out I had all these stories, so these songs are autobiographical.

“That made it a more difficult process and much more difficult for me, because maybe it was too raw.”

The resulting album has been met with critical acclaim and chart-topping success. “I nearly passed out when it was made Album of the Week in Ireland, and then it was number one in the Irish iTunes…at 64…as a grandmother!” says Mary. “Number one anywhere is great!

“It’s so exciting but also scary when you bring out a new record,” says Mary. “You don’t know how people will receive it”

“It’s so exciting but also scary when you bring out a new record. You don’t know how people will receive it. Who knows! But there’s a lot of different styles on there. I needed the balance that people could relate to on there, and they have.”

Last year had promised to be Mary’s “best for a long time”, but then the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to her appearances at Glastonbury and Galway Arts Festival, gigs in Norway and 15 sold-out shows across Britain.

She did, however, perform a series of socially distanced open-air album launch concerts in Ireland, in September, and one in her Wicklow home when the rain forced her inside to sing surrounded by 100 candles and fairy-lights.

She brought a personal touch to the album too, distributing signed copies, each with a drawing of flowers enclosed, from her house.

Those songs, those stories, will flower anew when Mary plays her autumn shows. In the meantime, do seek out Life Stories, an album from a year when Galway City’s mayor presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hurricane Promotions presents Mary Coughlan at Pocklington Arts Centre on October 19. Box office: pocklingtonartscetre.co.uk.

Copyright of The Press, York

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Velma Celli and Jess Steel to serve up streamed show from Earl Grey Tea Rooms

LOCKDOWN cabaret streaming duo Velma Celli and Jess Steel are going on location to the Earl Grey Tea Rooms for their Showbizzy Shambles show in York tomorrow (5/2/2021).

After the camply nautical, naughty fun of their water-themed Fabulously Flooded online gig last week, they are vacating the riverside abode of Ian Stroughair, drag diva Velma’s creator, by Lendal Bridge for light relief and camp cabaret belting.

“We’re getting the keys to the Earl Grey Tea Rooms in Shambles and filming it there,” says Ian/Velma. “We’ll be going vintage, so join in with your apparel, peeps, if ya feel like it. Not essential but fun.”

Tickets for Showbizzy Shambles grant access to the streamed show any time from 5pm tomorrow to Sunday evening (7/2/2021). Go to http://bit.ly/3pAtBAF for all the details. “Please feel free to invite all your mates,” says Ian/Velma.

Here, everything stops for tea questions and more besides as Charles Hutchinson grills Ian Stroughair/Velma Celli.

How is your house now, post-flooding?  Fully recovered?

“Yes! Thank RuPaul (God)! It took a lot of scrubbing, but I got there!” 

Where did you end up recording your January 22 show when water had seeped in through the front door and back door?

“Still in the house. The kitchen is lower than the living room, so we were cool.” 

What songs on a water theme did you perform in last week’s Fabulously Flooded show? Something by The Waterboys?  Peter Gabriel’s Here Comes The Flood?  (Lendal) Bridge Over Troubled Water, maybe? So many possibilities!

“Ha ha, so many! It’s Raining Men (obvs). Waterloo. River Deep Mountain High. Cry Me A River. You get the drift.” 

No! No song by The Waterboys featured in Velma and Jess’s water-themed cabaret show

How has the streamed gig at the Earl Grey Tea Rooms come about?

“Clare and Howard [Proctor] are very good old friends and they’re fabulous supporters of all my Velma and Ian appearances.

“I adore this place as much as its owners and it’s been a real struggle over the past year, as you’d imagine, so I wanted to raise them up.

“Not only because it’s such a fabulous tea room – to get you all chomping at the bit to visit, as soon as we move tiers – but also to highlight just how hard it is right now, not just in my sector of live performance but in the hospitality industry too!

“Clare and Howard have worked so hard for years, so I wanted to use my platform to shine a spotlight on them.”

Velma Celli and Jess Steel’s social-media artwork for their Fabulously Flooded show last week

In which room will you record the show?

“Undecided. Each one is so quaint. Will depend on lighting, darling.”

Water theme last week.  Any tea and cake songs this week? Can’t think of a crumpet song….

“We are going vintage. From the 1940s, but all the way up to Lady Gaga and everything in between.

“Why not prepare yourself an afternoon tea with scones, finger sandwiches, tea pots filled with fizz, and let us entertain you, direct and safely in your own home.”

What is your perfect afternoon tea and where? 

“Earl Grey Tea Rooms of course! Best scones ever. I love their Coronation Chicken jacket, followed by a cream tea with English brekky! You must all go as soon as they reopen. Such quality and atmosphere.”

Jess Steel: Showbizzy Shambles will be the sensational singing hairdresser’s last streamed concert with Velma Celli “for a few weeks”

Earl Grey, Darjeeling or Lapsang Souchong?

“All. But my favourite is English Breakfast in the morning and Orange Pekoe on an afternoon.” 

Cream first or jam first on a scone?

“Cream!!!!!!!!” 

Favourite cake?

“Traditional Victoria Sponge.” 

Have you ever left a cake out in the rain, a la MacArthur Park?

“No. Come rain or shine, Velma never neglects confection.” 

What’s coming next?

“Tomorrow is the last show with Jess and me for a few weeks as I have some solo live- stream bookings to perform.”

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Story Craft Theatre to deliver Zoom storytelling sessions for The Worrysaurus

Cassie Vallance invites you to join Story Craft Theatre’s Crafty Tales session for The Cranky Caterpillar

STORY Craft Theatre’s next few weeks of Crafty Tales storytelling and craft-making sessions on Zoom are filling up quickly.

The York children’s theatre company, run by professional actors and mums Janet Bruce and Cassie Vallance, have a few tickets left for Oliver Jeffers’ This Moose Belongs To Me and Richard Graham’s The Cranky Caterpillar.

“We’re also doing four days during half-term of Rachel Bright’s The Worrysaurus,” say Janet and Cassie. “Book now for craft and storytelling fun for two to seven year olds.

Half-term fun: Story Craft Theatre duo Janet Bruce and Cassie Vallance will be hosting Crafty Tales sessions for The Worrysaurus

“Each 10am session is based around a popular picture book and is packed full of fun with lots of activities to keep your little folk’s imagination alight. We begin the session with a craft activity using basic materials; we go through the instructions with you step by step.”

Five spaces are left for tomorrow morning’s 50-minute session for This Moose Belongs To Me; six for Friday; none for Saturday. Ten spaces remain for The Cranky Caterpillar on February 10; seven for February 12; none for February 13. Six spaces are up for grabs for February 17’s hour-long session for The Worrysaurus; 18 for February 18; ten for February 19; nine for February 20.

As for the back story on Story Craft Theatre, Janet Bruce appeared in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street in the West End; Cassie Vallance was part of the Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre company at the Castle car park in 2019 and last seen in a York show in Park Bench Theatre’s Teddy Bears’ Picnic in Rowntree Park last  summer.

To book for Crafty Tales, go to: bookwhen.com/storycrafttheatre.

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Milton Rooms’ Covid-safe accreditation extended for 2021 by Visit England

Socially distanced seating at an autumn event at the Milton Rooms, Malton, before the imposition of Lockdown 3

THE Milton Rooms, Malton’s community and arts venue, has had its Covid-safe accreditation extended for 2021 by UK tourism body Visit Britain.

Venue manager Lisa Rich says: “When the pandemic began, we put a whole range of measures in place around cleanliness and social distancing, which meant people could feel safe coming back to visit us, either for performances or community events.

“We managed to run a number of successful events last autumn, and we are working on a diverse and dynamic programme for when we can fully reopen.”

The Milton Rooms is run as a charitable company, mainly by volunteers, and the Market Place venue has been working hard behind the scenes on refurbishing and refreshing the building ready to welcome the public back in when allowed.

In the meantime, the Milton Rooms is appealing for support from the public in the wake of income from events and hire fees being reduced hugely since the pandemic began last year. 

Hence the launch of Keep The Curtain Up, a Go Fund Me appeal to help to fund the substantial continuing overheads, such as utility bills, heating and insurance costs, until the building can reopen as a venue. 

Donations can be made at gofundme.com/f/the-milton-rooms-charity

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Squeeze up! Glenn Tilbrook puts The Crescent in his diary for March concert

Glenn Tilbrook: Heading for The Crescent in 2022

GLENN Tilbrook will play The Crescent in York on March 13…next year.

As far away as the gig is, nevertheless tickets have gone on sale already for the solo show by the Squeeze singer, songwriter and guitarist, now 63.

More than 45 years after he first answered an ad placed by Chris Difford, looking for like-minded sorts to form the Deptford band that became the evergreen Squeeze, an ending is nowhere in sight.

Squeeze made their recording bow with the Packet Of Three EP in 1977 and a multitude of hits ensued: Take Me I’m Yours; Cool For Cats; Goodbye Girl; Up The Junction; Pulling Mussels; Another Nail In My Heart; Tempted; Labelled With Love; Black Coffee In Bed; Is That Love and Hourglass, complemented by such albums as Argybargy, East Side Story and Some Fantastic Place.

A series of solo albums have ensued, kicking off with 2001’s The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook, followed by 2004’s Transatlantic Ping-Pong and 2009’s Pandemonium Ensues, made with his solo touring band The Fluffers. In 2014 came the mostly acoustic Happy Ending, his most personal work to date with its series of evocative portraits of time, people and places.

Presented by The Gig Cartel, tickets for Tilbrook’s show cost £20 at seetickets.com.

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Stephen Joseph Theatre boosted by big grant from Garfield Weston Foundation

Stephen Joseph Theatre chief executives Paul Robinson and Caroline Routh. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

THE Stephen Joseph Theatre has been awarded £237,752 by the Garfield Weston Foundation to support its work over the coming year.

The Scarborough theatre will put part of the grant from the foundation’s Weston Culture Fund towards its summer and autumn season.

That programme is likely to feature a new play by the SJT’s director emeritus, Alan Ayckbourn; a show in the slot filled previously by The 39 Steps and Stepping Out, and the autumn commission of The Offing, adapted from Benjamin Myers’ novel, set in nearby Robin Hood’s Bay.

The grant also will contribute towards equipment and training to allow film recordings of the SJT’s live shows, plus a programme of community-focused “pop-up” screenings of the films, aimed at engaging those who might not usually access live theatre.

The SJT’s joint chief executives, Caroline Routh and artistic director Paul Robinson, say: “We are absolutely delighted that the SJT and Scarborough have benefited from the great generosity of the Garfield Weston Foundation, which has done such remarkable work over the past 60 years.

Stephen Joseph Theatre: “Benefiting from the great generosity of the Garfield Weston Foundation”. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

“We are, of course, conscious of how fortunate we are at a time when so many of our colleagues are struggling in this age of great uncertainty. This grant will allow us to create more much-needed opportunities within the sector, as well as contributing to the wider economy of Scarborough.”

The SJT grant is part of a £30 million programme of grants to arts organisations across Britain announced today by Garfield Weston Foundation’s Weston Culture Fund.

In deciding to support the SJT, the foundation took into account “a wide range of factors, including local cultural provision, the interconnectivity of the sector, the potential accessibility of donors, and accessibility and outreach”.

Foundation director Philippa Charles says: “Our cultural sector is at the heart of our local communities, providing not only entertainment but also education and inspiration for many.

“Our trustees were impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit shown across the arts in response to Covid-19 and it was a privilege to hear what organisations had been doing to not only survive but also to reinvent the way they reach audiences.

Alan Ayckbourn: New play expected in the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s 2021 programme. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

“What really stood out was the level of collaboration and support they had for each other and the determination to keep going, despite the increasingly difficult situation.” 

Philippa adds: “We all want and need our cultural sector to thrive and, if anything, our time away from the arts has shown just how important they are to us, bringing much-needed pleasure and enrichment to our lives.

“Arts organisations are desperate to re-open and get back to what they do best, and we hope that this new funding will help many of them do exactly that.”

Established in 1958, the Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded grant-making charity that supports causes across the UK and gave more than £88m last year. In all, the foundation has donated more than £1bn to charities over the past 62 years.

The foundation’s funding comes from an endowment of shares in the family business that includes Twinings, Primark, Kingsmill and Fortnum & Mason. From small community organisations to large national institutions, the foundation supports charities and activities that make a positive impact in the communities where they work. Around 2,000 charities across the UK benefit each year from the foundation’s grants.

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York River Art Market seeks artists and makers for this summer’s weekend stalls

The poster for York River Art Market 2021, designed by Holgate digital print artist Adele Karmazyn, a regular participant in both York River Art Market and York Open Studios

YORK River Art Market 2021 is issuing a call-out to artists for this summer’s riverside event on Dame Judi Dench Walk, Lendal Bridge, York.

This award-winning art and design market had to cancel its fifth summer of weekend stalls last year when council officials advised that the space besides the River Ouse was unsuitable for social distancing.

“See you all in 2021 for the best year yet,” said the official notice at the time. True to that promise, York River Art Market has announced plans to return for markets on June 26; July 3, 24, 25 and 31, and August 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28.

Hence the call-out for applications to participate in a market that hosts 30-plus artists at each event, selling original art and hand-crafted goods.

Those applications should be emailed to yorkriverart@gmail.com with the following information:

* Three quality images of your work;

* A few sentences about your work;

* Links to digital platforms where you show or sell your work (if you have any; if not, do not worry);

* Preferred choice of dates, listed in the YRAM biography on its Facebook page.

“I look forward to your submissions,” says organiser Charlotte Dawson, who oversaw York River Art Market going online for #yramathome virtual winter art markets last November and December.

Let us hope that Government Covid strictures will have been eased sufficiently for this summer’s markets to be given the green light.

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Magic Carpet Theatre and Pocklington Arts Centre unite for half-term streaming of The Wizard Of Castle Magic from February 18

Wizard and Frog: Jon Marshall in Magic Carpet Theatre’s The Wizard Of Castle Magic

MAGIC Carpet Theatre and Pocklington Arts Centre are renewing links for a free online streaming event for the February half-term.

The Hull company’s family show The Wizard Of Castle Magic will be shown on PAC’s  YouTube channel from Thursday, February 18 at 2.30pm, available to view for 14 days until March 4.

The Wizard Of Castle Magic is the second Magic Carpet Theatre play to have been filmed live at PAC behind closed doors by Pocklington production company Digifish last autumn.

The first, Magic Circus, starring director Jon Marshall as the Ringmaster and Steve Collison as the Clown, streamed to more than 1,600 people over Christmas and the New Year.

As with Magic Circus, The Wizard Of Castle Magic will be free to watch from the safety of a home seat. Once more, if viewers enjoy it, there will be an option to make a donation to support PAC at this challenging time. 

Clowning around: Ringmaster Jon Marshall and misbehaving Clown Steve Collison in Magic Carpet Theatre’s Magic Circus

Again too, East Riding families who access regional food banks will be the first to be offered the chance to watch The Wizard Of Castle Magic days before its February 18 premiere.

The streaming project, replete with plans for online workshops, has been made possible by a £4,100 grant from East Yorkshire’s I Am Fund, via the HEY Smile Foundation. 

PAC director Janet Farmer says: “We’re delighted to present our next online family theatre show to our audiences.  We’ve really missed being able to offer our family theatre programme, which has earned a national reputation for high quality, engaging, diverse children’s theatre and workshops.

“So, to be able to offer our younger audiences and their families the chance to experience all the magic and excitement of live theatre at home is just fantastic.” 

Janet adds: “The funding we’ve secured for the project will enable us to develop an enhanced online presence, leading to sustained arts engagement from younger generations during the pandemic and beyond. 

“To be able to offer our younger audiences and their families the chance to experience all the magic and excitement of live theatre at home is just fantastic,” says Pocklington Arts Centre director Janet Farmer

“Once again, we’d like to say thank you to the I Am Fund and the HEY Smile Foundation for making this possible.”

Magic Carpet Theatre are firm PAC favourites, staging numerous sold-out events there full of circus skills, magic and audience participation.

Now comes the online The Wizard Of Castle Magic, an enchanting show based on the traditional Sorcerer’s Apprentice tale for children aged three to 11 and their families with a script packed with comedy, illusion and special theatrical effects. 

The You Tube stream is a new digital version of a company-devised production that has played schools, arts venues and the Edinburgh Fringe. 

Donations in support of PAC can be made at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/magic-carpet-theatre

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