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How the Music Works for Opera North as new redevelopment is named the Howard Opera Centre

Architect’s visualisation of the redeveloped Opera North estate, showing the Howard Assembly Room, new restaurant, box office and atrium on the left and the Howard Opera Centre on the right.

OPERA North’s redeveloped headquarters in Leeds will bear the name of philanthropist Dr Keith Howard OBE.

The Howard Opera Centre will take on this title in recognition of the Yorkshire benefactor’s personal gift of £11.25 million towards the opera company’s redevelopment project, Music Works.

It is thought to be among the largest private donations ever made to a British arts company outside of London.

Dr Howard, a lifelong opera lover and cricket fan, is the founder of Emerald Group Publishing and president of Opera North.

The Howard Opera Centre will house Opera North’s rehearsal studios, costume and wigs workshop and administrative offices.

The redevelopment work on New Briggate and Harrison Street will create a world-class facility to make opera; a new education studio and additional rehearsal spaces, including a new rehearsal room for Opera North’s orchestra and chorus and a suite of music coaching rooms.

The Howard Opera Centre will join another space named ten years earlier in recognition of Dr Howard’s support for the company, the Howard Assembly Room, a 300-seat performance venue offering a diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.

Originally opened in 2009 after extensive restoration, the Howard Assembly Room is closed during the Music Works redevelopment project. It will reopen in 2021 with a new dedicated and fully accessible entrance and atrium, an increased number of performances and a new restaurant and bar, replacing a row of previously vacant shop units on New Briggate.

The redevelopment project began on site last summer and is being delivered by Henry Boot Construction, a Sheffield regional construction contractor with a commitment to reducing environment impacts.

The overall target for the Music Works fundraising campaign is £18 million.  Opera North has raised £15.6 million to date, including the £11.25 million gift that combines £9 million with £2.25 million in Gift Aid.  Leeds City Council has contributed £750,000, together with the lease of the vacant shops on New Briggate, and funding of £499,999 has been awarded by Arts Council England.

The balance of the funds raised so far 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.

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, from Leeds City Council, left, Dr Keith Howard, and Opera North’s general director, Richard Mantle, attending the <Leeds company’s 2019/20 season launch at Harewood House. Picture: Justin Slee

In addition, gifts have been pledged by the Wolfson Foundation, Backstage Trust, the Kirby Laing Foundation, the Foyle Foundation and the Garfield Weston Foundation.

Although 87 per cent of the target has been raised, there remains a funding gap of £2.4 million to close. Opera North is  looking to patrons, Friends and audiences to play their part in the success of the redevelopment at many different levels. Work also continues to attract funding from further charitable trusts and foundations and the business community in Leeds.

Richard Mantle, Opera North’s general director, said: ““Opera North is delighted to be able to recognise the extraordinary generosity of our longstanding supporter and friend, Dr Keith Howard, whose contribution to this project means that we are able to create a new artistic home for the company, as well as improving the infrastructure, access and visitor experience for the Howard Assembly Room.

“The Howard Opera Centre will be a true centre of excellence, bringing together rehearsal spaces for world-class opera productions with coaching rooms, where singers can develop their vocal expertise, and specialist costume workshop spaces.

“A new hub for our education work will create an inclusive space for our work with young people from across the city, bringing children and young people right to the heart of our creative community.”

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “We are pleased to see this significant redevelopment now taking shape, creating a vastly improved artistic and educational hub for one of Leeds’s leading cultural assets.

“Opera North makes a huge contribution to the city, both in terms of the vitality and diversity of work seen on stage, and also through its work with children, young people and communities throughout our region.

“Through the revitalisation of a neglected section of New Briggate, the improved facilities for the Howard Assembly Room will work in tandem with our wider aspirations for the area as part of the Heritage Action Zones and Connecting Leeds programmes, creating a vibrant destination and supporting our plans for a better-connected city.” 

Opera North employs more than 250 people, such as costume makers, stage managers, electricians, stage technicians, props makers, sound and lighting technicians, educators, designers and musicians, in addition to working with around 370 freelance performers, creatives and artists each year.

Opera North’s opera productions are created and premiered in Leeds, where the company performs at Leeds Grand Theatre each season before touring its opera productions to theatres across the country.

The Music Works redevelopment is scheduled to be completed in phases, with the Howard Opera Centre opening in late 2020, and the Howard Assembly Room, restaurant and atrium scheduled for completion in 2021.

Watch a short film about Music Works at https://youtu.be/4xQU4q0xFD4

Work to replace the vacant shop units on New Briggate, Leeds, with a new restaurant and bar, December 2019. Picture: Tom Arber

MUSIC WORKS

“More live music, for everyone”.

 More performances in the Howard Assembly Room every year;

 A dedicated entrance for the Howard Assembly Room;

 An open, welcoming building that is fully accessible at all levels;

 New public spaces and an atrium.

Music Works will enable Opera North to host a full year-round programme of performances, workshops and small-scale productions in the Howard Assembly Room, increasing the number of performances given at the venue.

The best global musicians and artists will be brought to Leeds each year, creating a

diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.

 A new restaurant and bar, open to everyone all day;

 A refurbished Opera North box office and reception for Leeds Grand Theatre

 Restoration of a Grade II listed building

A crane moves steel on to the construction site at the top of the new Howard Opera Centre, looking east towards the Quarry House government offices, January 2020. Picture: Tom Arber

Music Works will regenerate a row of vacant shops directly beneath the Howard Assembly Room to

create a new restaurant and bar alongside a refurbished box office. A new dedicated “front door” will be established for Opera North and the Howard Assembly Room; the building will be open to everyone from morning until late at night for coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks.

Cutting-edge facilities for making opera: The Howard Opera Centre:

 A new purpose-built Music Rehearsal Studio;

 Three new music practice rooms;

 Refurbished Costume Workshop and Dye Room;

 A new artist and Company green room.

A home for Opera North Education:

 A new, flexible Education Studio;

 A new music coaching room for students;

 Break-out spaces and “secret garden” for school groups;

 A shared entrance for students, artists and staff, placing young people at the heart of the company.

An environmentally sustainable cultural flagship for Leeds:

 An environmentally sustainable and efficient estate;

 Photovoltaic panels to generate energy;

 A significant contribution to the New Briggate public realm;

 A major capital investment in the run up to 2023 Leeds cultural celebrations;

 Investment in digital infrastructure to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

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The Sandy Denny Project to open new season at Selby Town Hall with rare show

The Sandy Denny Project: rare treat at Selby Town Hall. Picture: Paul Michael Hughes

SELBY Town Hall’s spring season opens on February 1 with an 8pm performance by folk-rock supergroup The Sandy Denny Project, paying homage to the late Fairport Convention folk-rock singer.

“Featuring, among others, Sally Barker, a former finalist on BBC One’s The Voice, they don’t play a great many gigs together,” says Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones. “This is one of only a couple of shows announced for 2020 – a rare treat.”

In a tragically short career – she died at the age of 31 – Sandy Denny sealed her place among the most influential and best-loved singer-songwriters of the past 50 years.

Britain’s pre-eminent folk-rock singer, she began her performing career with The Strawbs, then joined Fairport Convention, formed Fotheringay and released four solo albums.

Her song Who Knows Where The Time Goes? has been recorded by Judy Collins, Eva Cassidy, Nina Simone and Cat Power, while her wider work has been the subject of numerous reissues, documentaries and high-profile tribute concerts.

Sally Barker, from The Poozies, and fellow former Fotheringay MkII member PJ Wright, from The Dylan Project, are joined in The Sandy Denny Project by frequent Fairport Convention guest Anna Ryder, fast-rising singer, fiddler and guitarist Marion Fleetwood and a rhythm section of bassist Mat Davies and drummer Mark Stevens, from the now-defunct folk-rock group Little Johnny England.

Sandy Denny’s writing is approached not in the manner of a tribute band slavishly copying the records, but as an interpretation of her work by six musicians who share a folk-rock pedigree.

“Although Sandy died in 1978, her songs remain as fresh, poignant and as beautiful today as the time that they were penned, and with every year her reputation as a songwriter and interpreter of traditional material continues to grow,” says Chris.

“The repertoire of The Sandy Denny Project reflects the amazing legacy left behind by Sandy, through her work with the early incarnations of Fairport Convention, the sublime Fotheringay and her incredible solo songs.

“February 1 is a rare chance to see these six fantastic musicians perform their pitch-perfect tribute. The band really are of the highest folk-rock calibre and this is an opportunity no folk fan will want to miss.”

Tickets cost £19 on 01757 708449 or at selbytownhall.co.uk or £21 on the door from 7.30pm.

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Strictly’s Giovanni Pernice says This Is Me in York Barbican summer dance show

This is him: Giovanni Pernice in This Is Me

STRICTLY Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice will lead his cast of professional dancers in This Is Me at York Barbican on June 11.

For his fourth year of touring, the 29-year-old Sicilian will be joined by leading lady Giulia Dotta, a professional dancer on Dancing With The Stars Ireland, who performed with Pernice on his first two solo tours and has appeared around the country in shows such as Rip It Up and Here Come the Boys.

The poster for This Is Me, Giovanni Pernice’s new touring show

In the company too will be Oksana and Jonathan Platero. Oksana is a former Strictly professional, reaching the quarter-final with Judge Rinder in 2016. Her husband, Jonathan, is a world salsa champion and they both dance on the Latin version of So You Think You Can Dance? on American television.

The line-up of dancers from around the world also will include Larisa Untila, Valerio La Pietra and Domenico Palmisano.

This Is Me is directed and choreographed by dance power-couple Trent Whiddon and Gordon Grandosek Whiddon. This duo has performed in such shows as Burn The Floor and on screen in Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With The Stars, as well as creating the musical Le Hotel. 

Giovanni Pernice on stage, leading his company of dancers

Pernice’s new show will pay homage to the music and dances that have inspired a career that has taken him from competition dancer to Strictly regular on BBC One.

Last summer, Strictly trio Pernice, Aljaž Škorjanec and Gorka Marquez played Harrogate Convention Centre on June 25 and Hull Venue on July 17 on their 38-date Here Come The Boys tour.

Tickets for This Is Me’s 7.30pm performance are on sale on 0203 356 5441, at yorkbarbican.co.uk or in person from the Barbican box office.

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The world’s first Tourette’s superhero to spend half term at Scarborough Art Gallery

Jess Thomas: artist, play worker and comedian , hosting Heroes Of The Imagination

THE world’s first Tourette’s superhero lands in Scarborough Art Gallery this February half-term with a free “interactive, inclusive and incredible” superhero-themed experience.

Heroes Of The Imagination, from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, February 22, invites disabled and non-disabled children to discover their own powers, create a superhero identity and use their imagination to change the world. 

Touretteshero herself will be there with her team to help children make masks, create capes, perfect their moves and launch their new superheroes in a magical photo studio.

Touretteshero was founded by Matthew Pountney and Jess Thom, an artist, play worker and comedian who has Tourette’s syndrome and finds her tics are a source of imaginative creativity. She has never been seen in the same room as Touretteshero, by the way!

Children taking part in a previous Touretteshero event

“Touretteshero needs you!” says Jess. “Bring your ideas, excitement and energy to celebrate difference and save the world from dullness.”

Scarborough Museums Trust chief executive Andrew Clay says: “We’re excited to host internationally acclaimed company Touretteshero to inspire and energise us in our journey towards becoming more accessible and inclusive.

“We have some way to go but we’re committed to radically improving access over the next few years, particularly at Scarborough Art Gallery, including installing a lift.”

Taking place on the ground floor of the gallery, in The Crescent, this celebration of creativity, imagination and neurodiversity will allow children to choose and move between activities.

Another Touretteshero event in Scarborough

There will be a chill-out area, quiet and busy spaces and plenty of staff and helpers on hand, plus a Mobiloo outside the gallery on The Crescent: a Changing Places accessible loo with an adult-size changing bed and ceiling hoist.

The fully accessible, multi-sensory drop-in activities for disabled and non-disabled children and their grown-up sidekicks are free, but places are limited and booking is essential. The event is recommended particularly for children aged five to 13.

Further free half-term events being run by Scarborough Museums Trust include:

  • Fabulous Fossils, Rotunda Museum, Tuesday, February 18, 10.30am to 12 noon and 1.30pm to 3pm;
  • Superheroes of Science, Rotunda Museum, Thursday, February 20, 10am to 12 noon and 1pm to 3pm;
  • Explorer Backpacks and Trails, Rotunda Museum, Scarborough Art Gallery and Woodend, available every day.

To book for Heroes Of The Imagination, and for more information on all the half-term events, call 01723 374753 (Scarborough Art Gallery) or 01723 353665 (Rotunda) or visit scarboroughmuseumstrust.com/whats-on/.

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Damien Jurado in a rush as he storms into Leeds City Varieties for February gig

“It just felt like it was time,” says Damien Jurado of recording a solo acoustic album last year

SEATTLE singer-songwriter Damien Jurado will showcase his acoustic album In The Shape Of A Storm in a solo show at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on February 25.

The 47-year-old American will be playing ten dates on his European February and March tour after releasing his 14th studio album on April 12 last year.

Jurado always likes to work fast, but In the Shape Of A Storm came together with unprecedented speed, even by his standards, being recorded over the course of two hours one California afternoon.

On his sparsest album to date, gone are the thundering drums and psychedelic arrangements that defined the trilogy of concept albums he made with his long-time collaborator and close friend Richard Swift.

Gone too is the atmospheric air that hovered above his early albums for Sub Pop. Here, instead, there is only Jurado’s voice, acoustic guitar, and occasional accompaniment from Josh Gordon, playing a high-strung guitar tuned Nashville style, rendering its sound spooky and celestial.

Although his fans have long requested a solo acoustic album, the prospect never made sense to Jurado, until one day it simply did. “It just felt like it was time,” Jurado says.

“There is nothing left to hide,” Jurado sings on the opening Lincoln, where everything is clear and laid bare, two tone, like the drawing he crafted for the record’s cover.

Originally written for 2000’s The Ghost Of David, Lincoln was shelved and forgotten until Jurado rediscovered it on an old cassette tape, inspiring him to gather up compositions that had never found proper homes. As a result, In The Shape Of A Storm became an archive of previously abandoned songs.

Jurado’s discography is filled with songs written as miniature movies, cinematic vignettes that capture people, the places they are from, and where they are going. By contrast, In The Shape Of A Storm is his first black and white picture, both a snapshot of two hours in a California recording studio and a document spanning 19 years and a life of music.

“I believe songs have their own time and place,” Jurado says. For these ten, that time has finally come on album number 14.

Tickets for Jurado’s 8pm Leeds gig, when he will be supported by Dana Gavanski, are on sale on 0113 243 0808 or at cityvarieties.co.uk.

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This is why Castle car park in York will be closed on Saturday…

The poster image for Eye Project, the short film for the Castle Gateway project, being shown on Clifford’s Tower, York, on Saturday

EYE Project, a new short film made by four York artists, will be shown in a free outdoor screening on Clifford’s Tower, Tower Street, York, on Saturday evening.

Created as part of the Castle Gateway consultation project, the film recalls the history of the Castle Gateway, where the River Ouse and River Foss meet, while also celebrating its future possibilities. 

Emanating from the site of the former York Castle, the area covers the length of Piccadilly, the Coppergate shopping centre, Clifford’s Tower and the Eye of Yorkshire and runs through to St George’s Field and the Foss Basin.

Artists Rich Corrigan, Jade Blood, Julia Davis Nosko and Mat Lazenby worked with hundreds of young York people and InkBlot Films to “explore the ways we can shape and influence the future of Castle Gateway through a major development of the site”. 

Overseen by Kaizen Arts Agency and English Heritage, Eye Projectwill be shown from the Castle car park between 5.30pm and 8.30pm on Saturday as part of this weekend’s York Residents Festival.

The public will have an opportunity to have a say about the area’s future during the screening by using #eyeprojectyork. 

Andrea Selley, historic properties director at English Heritage, says: “Any consultation process is interesting but this one has been particularly so: listening to the views that young people have about that the Castle Gateway space and seeing the passion and creativity of their ideas has been fascinating and insightful.

“Clifford’s Tower, centred so prominently in the city centre, is an apt place to project such a creative community-led project and we’re pleased that the tower has been part of this.” 

The poster for Conflux, one of three Castle Gateway project commissions

Rebecca Carr, Kaizen Arts Agency’s artistic director, says: “We aim to bring York residents into this conversation who wouldn’t usually engage in a traditional consultation. This project is presenting different ways to share ideas; it creates another way to explore the place, while at the same time activating the site, and beginning to shape it into the place we might want it to be.

“People sometimes feel as if their voice isn’t heard, or their opinion is not valued, so we’re really excited to be part of a team that aims to change that.”

Eye Project is the third in a trio of art commissions to be presented as part of City of York Council’s consultation on Castle Gateway, using art to reference the past while looking to the future of the iconic city-centre site. 

Another of the commissions, Conflux, an hour-long audio walk collaboration between Hannah Davies’s Common Ground Theatre and Hannah Bruce & Company, can be downloaded and experienced until December 2020, with more details at cgtheatre.co.uk/portfolio/conflux/.

Councillor Darryl Smalley, City of York Council’s executive member for culture, leisure and communities,says: “Throughout the My Castle Gateway project, we’ve looked to innovate and bring fresh ideas to capture the views of residents, businesses and visitors about how the area can be regenerated for the next generation. 

“It’s fitting that the car park will be closed for the day [Saturday, January 25] to showcase these ideas from York’s young people, along with local artists, because one of the key features of the masterplan is to relocate Castle car park to St George’s Field with a new purpose-built multi-storey car park. 

“I would urge people to come along and see the short film to discover the heritage behind the Castle Gateway site and the ambitious opportunities that lie ahead for the area.” 

The project is funded through Leeds City Region Business Rates Pool, a scheme that allows local authorities to retain growth in business rates for local investment. Public funding comes from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, with further support from City of York Council, York Mediale and the University of York music department.

Please note: Castle car park will be closed on January 25 for the Eye Project event.

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Hyde Family Jam celebrate Burns Night with a bonanza bash @41 Monkgate

Jam packed: Hyde Family Jam cram in the hits in their Burns Night Bonanza

YORK busking kings Hyde Family Jam present a Burns Night Bonanza at the John Cooper Studio, Theatre @41 Monkgate, York, on Saturday at 7.30pm.

“Huzzah!” says frontman and guitarist John Holt-Roberts. “We’re back, playing a gig in York to celebrate Burns Night and help you shake off the January blues. Come and stomp, dance and sing along with us.”

Hyde Family Jam, winners of the Outstanding Busker prize in the 2018 York Culture Awards, are likely to sell out. “So, get your tickets early to avoid disappointment,” urges John. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.

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Tribute shows at the double as Frankie Valli and Simon & Garfunkel celebrations play Grand Opera House

The Best Of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

THE Grand Opera House, York, plays host to two tribute shows this week, first hitting the high notes with The Best Of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons on Friday.

The Simon & Garfunkel Story follows on Saturday in a return visit to the Cumberland Street theatre.

From the creators of The Barricade Boys comes the Frankie Valli show, a high-pitched celebration of the career of four New Jersey boys, who started singing under a streetlamp.

Sherry, My Eyes Adored You, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Walk Like A Man and December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) all feature in a show performed by cast members from Jersey Boys and other West End shows.

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

After a run at London’s Vaudeville Theatre and a worldwide tour, the tribute show to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is back on the road with Adam Dickinson’s Simon and Cameron Potts’s Garfunkel.

Using projection photos and original film footage, the 50th anniversary celebration features a full band performing Cecilia, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs Robinson et al.

Tickets for the two 7.30pm performances are on sale on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york.

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Big Ian’s A Night To Remember leaps into action for charities at York Barbican

Annie Donaghy, Big Ian Donaghy, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay and Jess Steel at A Night To Remember in 2019 at York Barbican. Picture: Karen Boyes

AS New Year’s resolutions wane and gym memberships become a direct debit, a group of York musicians start their boot camp of rehearsals for A Night To Remember.

Now in its eighth year, the annual fundraising event helps good causes in the city to make a difference.

Organiser and host Big Ian Donaghy brings together “the finest musicians and singers for a gang show like no other” at York Barbican.

“This year’s show is so jam packed with quality that we’ve had to create another day to fit it in: Saturday, February 29, in the leap year of 2020!” says Big Ian.

Heather Findlay performing at last year’s A Night To Remember fundraiser. Picture: David Harrison

Unlike other shows, A Night To Remember has all the singers performing as an ensemble exceeding all of its constituent parts.

“When you have a dream team on the stage, it seems a shame to not use them, so everybody sings on everybody else’s songs,” says Big Ian.

“It’s become a big musical family – and there’s some range on stage! For example, festival superstar Kieran O’Malley, on fiddle, could power the entire night with his energetic performance leading the crowd like a pied piper,” says Big Ian.

A Night To Remember lets singers take on their favourite songs. “In previous years, no song has been off limits. Last year saw the cast rise to the challenge of Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety, something not even Queen tackled!

Jess Steel: taking on “near-impossible demanding songs” at York Barbican. Picture: David Harrison

“Soulful Jess Steel will take on a Dusty Springfield classic, as well as other near-impossible demanding songs that she’ll deliver in the manner she’s now well known for.

“Heather Findlay, fresh back from a sell-out UK tour, brings her class into the mix,  performing two of her favourite songs.

“Overall, you should expect showbiz, expect boundless energy, expect the unexpected.”

The gig’s house band will be led by York music stalwart George Hall, joined by powerhouse duo Rob Wilson and Simon Snaize on guitar duty.

The poster for A Night To Remember 2020

Look out for Beth McCarthy, who made her debut at the Mount School when Big Ian ran a School of Rock concert there. “I still call him ‘Mr D’ as he was my teacher,” says Beth, who will be stepping out of her comfort zone to rock the Barbican foundations.

Graham Hodge will “venture into very different areas as he celebrates his 70th birthday”. Gravel-voiced Boss Caine, alias Dan Lucas, will tackle a country favourite that nobody would ever guess.

Hope & Social’s Gary Stewart will play the congas, as well as singing a Paul Simon rouser.

York singer Jessa Liversidge will bring  her fully inclusive Singing For All choir, a group with members aged up to 98.

Beth McCarthy: “Stepping out of her comfort zone to rock the Barbican foundations”

“This choir is all about bringing people together to combat loneliness and celebrate a love of music with rehearsals that are very tea and cake heavy,” says Jessa.

“I love Jessa’s passionate, positive approach to bringing the community together, so it was an obvious fit to raise the choir’s profile and show the city just how fantastic they are,” says Big Ian.

“So much, so we’ll have them singing The New Seekers’ I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.”

Annie Donaghy will put her spin on a George Michael classic on a night when the set list will feature covers of Dusty Springfield, Shania Twain, Simple Minds, Paul Simon, Michael Buble, Guns N’ Roses, Barbra Streisand, Peter Gabriel, Elton John and Marvin Gaye classics, as well as a few surprises.

Oh, what A Night To Remember as singers and musicians gather at the finale of last year’s fund-raising concert at York Barbican. Picture: Ravage

“This year, the show has a bigger, brassier feel with a 12-piece brass section, made up of Kempy, Pete, Stu and Chalky from my band Huge, being joined by funk horns and brass players from York Music Forum, ranging in age from 13 to 18, led by Ian Chalk,” says Big Ian.

“We’re celebrating the young talent in the city within the brass section and putting them alongside singers up to 98 years old. Music has no age limit. It is for all of us!”

Possibly the most important man on the night will be sound engineer Craig Rothery, who has the unenviable task of mixing this leviathan of a line-up.

“Craigy is a phenomenal sound engineer, who mixed the launch event for the Tour de France at Leeds First Direct Arena that was viewed by millions. Craig is so much more than a safe pair of hands; he’s the cement that holds us together,” says Big Ian.

Graham Hodge in action at last year’s A Night To Remember concert

He also promises “ground-breaking, heart-warming and heart-breaking films” to raise dementia awareness. “Watch out for surprise appearances, as previous years have included messages from Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, The Hairy Bikers, Rick Astley, Nick Knowles, Anton du Beke and Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson,” he says.

“But the real reason these musicians come together is to help St Leonard’s Hospice, Dementia Projects in York, Bereaved Children Support York and Accessible Arts & Media.”

Jo Cole, of Bereaved Children Support, says: “As well as helping us fund one-to-one counselling, A Night To Remember has raised our profile, so families who desperately needed us to help now know where we are.”

Working the crowd: A Night To Remember host Ian Donaghy

Emma Johnson, of St Leonard’s Hospice, says: “Big Ian and the team have provided invaluable help for years, making such a difference in the city.”

Big Ian, who speaks all over Europe about dementia care, concludes: “Dementia awareness and the difference we can make by bringing community together is the envy of many cities around the UK.

“We throw everything into this evening. It takes months of hard work and phenomenally talented people working tirelessly. I’m so proud to be part of this team.”

Tickets are available at £17.55 and £15 on 0203 356 5441, at yorkbarbican.co.uk or in person from the Barbican box office.

The 7.30pm show is being sponsored by Haxby Group and Care Shop.

Singers, musicians and the York Barbican audience pose for a group selfie after last year’s concert
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Leeds Playhouse marks Holocaust Memorial Day with David Greig’s ghetto play Dr Korczak’s Example

Robert Pickavance as Dr Janusz Korcza in rehearsals for Dr Korczak’s Example. All pictures: Zoe Martin

LEEDS Playhouse regular Robert Pickavance, Gemma Barnett and newcomer Danny Sykes will star in Dr Korczak’s Example, the first 2020 production in the new Bramall Rock Void.

Artistic director James Brining directs David Greig’s powerful and moving play in a Leeds premiere timed to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.

Set in the shadows of the Warsaw Jewish ghetto in 1942, Dr Korczak’s Example examines life in an orphanage where escapism is key to survival, and where the children’s shared sense of community is the only barrier against the wave of hatred approaching their haven of solidarity.

Director James Brining at work in the Leeds Playhouse rehearsal rooms

Greig’s play highlights the work of Polish educator and children’s author Dr Janusz Korczak, who championed the voices of young people and whose influence led to the creation of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

Director James Brining says: “Dr Janusz Korczak was an incredible individual whose beliefs and teachings helped to redefine how we think about the way we bring up our own children and the part we have to play within society to achieve that.

“I commissioned the play and first directed it in 2001. It’s such a powerful, moving and timely story and I’m so looking forward to returning to it in the new Bramall Rock Void and particularly to working with Hebden Bridge designer Rose Revitt, winner of the Linbury Prize for theatre design.”

Gemma Barnett rehearsing her role as Stephanie in Dr Korczak’s Example

The Bramall Rock Void forms part of the £15.8 million redevelopment of Leeds Playhouse, completed last autumn. “What we have already discovered about our new theatre is that its raw intimacy can create a powerful environment for powerful stories and Rose’s vision for Dr Korczak’s Example does just that,” says James. ”I’m  honoured to be directing this [play] again with such a brilliant company.”

Brining commissioned Greig to write the play 20 years ago when he was running TAG, a children’s theatre company in Glasgow, Scotland. Now looking forward to introducing it to a new audience in his home city of Leeds, he says:“I’ve done quite a few things more than once, but I never intended to go back to this piece again.

“I was really happy with the original production. Then, a year or so ago, I came across a statistic that showed quite a high number of people – maybe 18 to 20 per cent – thought the Nazi holocaust was exaggerated, with a slightly smaller number saying it was completely fabricated. I was really struck and shocked by that because when I grew up it was a very present thing.”

Leeds actor Robert Pickavance during rehearsals for Dr Korczak’s Example

Brining continues: “On a very personal level, revisiting the play has made me ask if I’m the same person I was 20 years ago. Having children has changed the way I see the play and, perhaps, explains why I was so moved when I read it again. I’m not saying that having children gives you more of a profound understanding, but it does give you a different perspective. And I’m just older, so I can now align myself quite strongly with Korczak.

“I think that’s the measure of a really great piece of theatre: it speaks to you differently according to who you are and where you are. Having children, being older, the world being a slightly different place, even having more distance from 1942, all of these things affect the way you engage with it. But as I’ve watched rehearsals, I’ve been really moved. The power of the play is still very potent.”

The role of Dr Janusz Korczak will be played by Leeds actor Robert Pickavance, who starred as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Sava in David Greig’s Europe as part of the Leeds Playhouse Ensemble during its Pop-Up Season.

Newcomer Danny Sykes rehearsing his role as Adzio

He will be joined by Gemma Barnett, fresh from starring as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare In The Squares, as well as Rory in A Hundred Words For Snow at Trafalgar Studios and Lola in Lola at The Vaults, both in London.

Danny Sykes will make his first professional stage appearance after graduating with a BA in Acting from Arts Ed in 2019.

This Playhouse production is supported by the Linbury Prize for Stage Design, funded by the Linbury Trust. This biennial prize, the most important of its kind in Britain, brings together the best early career designers with professional theatre, dance and opera companies.

Joining Brining and Revitt in the creative team are lighting designer Jane Lalljee, sound designer and composer David Shrubsole, movement designerRachel Wise.

Dr Korczak’s Example runs at Bramall Rock Void, Leeds Playhouse, January 25 to February 15. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or at leedsplayhouse.org.uk.