York Ice Trail 2025: Taking the theme of Origins on February 1 and 2
YORK Ice Trail, Make It York’s annual “free weekend of frosty fun”, returns on February 1 and 2 with a 2025 theme of Origins as York’s streets are turned into an icy wonderland of frozen tableau.
Among the 30 ice sculptures showcasing 2,000 years of city history will be a Roman shield, a Viking helmet, a chocolate bar, a drifting ghost, a majestic train and a Yorkshire rose, all captured in the language of ice by ice sculpture specialists Icebox.
The ice sculptures will bring captivating tales to life, each telling a story from York’s rich heritage or depicting a moment of celebration or a creature that lived long ago.
On display too will be an origin block of ice, showing how each ice sculpture starts before Icebox’s team of professional ice carvers bring designs to life.
From 12 noon each day, visitors can experience the thrill of live ice carving demonstrations at St Sampson’s Square, where expert sculptors from Icebox will transform raw blocks of ice into works of art before your eyes.
Throughout the weekend, the grounds of Middletons Hotel will be transformed into The Sweeter Side of Life in a family-friendly showcase of four ice sculptures, including Sweet Like Chocolate, dedicated to the heritage of the hotel’s Sir Terry Alms Cottages. Look out too for The Ice Wall, where you can “‘freeze” yourself in a perfect photo moment.
York BID will be journeying back 2.4 million years to the Ice Age to present five prehistoric animals, once thriving in the frozen era but now extinct, brought to life anew in sculptural form.
Make It York managing director Sarah Loftus says: “We’re so excited for the York Ice Trail weekend! With these stunning ice creations set to transform the city, we can’t wait to see the incredible artistry and imagination that will bring the Origins theme to life.
“We’re incredibly grateful to all the local businesses whose support makes the York Ice Trail possible. Their contributions are essential to bringing this beloved event to life, and we couldn’t do it without them. See you there!”
Icebox managing director Greg Pittard says: “We are so excited to be returning to York this year with 30 spectacular ice sculptures, each telling a different story. With years of experience and a passion for creating ice masterpieces, Icebox takes pride in turning ordinary gatherings into extraordinary experiences.
“Our team of talented artisans worked closely with Make It York and partners to craft custom ice sculptures that reflect their unique vision, making this York Ice Trail an exceptional one that guests will talk about for years to come. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, you’ll thank us for this mesmerising experience!”
FROM a free outdoor gig to the biggest free festival of the year, the return of The Old Paint Shop cabaret to the Poet Laureate’s foray into music, Charles Hutchinson welcomes signs of 2025 gathering pace.
Free gig of the week: Holly Taymar at Homestead Park, Water End, York, today, 11am to 12 noon
YORK “acoustic sophistopop” singer-songwriter and session-writer performer Holly Taymar heads out into the winter chill for a morning performance, supported by Music Anywhere, with the further enticement of a pop-up cafe.
“I’ll be playing songs in this most beautiful setting, surrounded by nature, all for free!” says Holly. “There’s a coffee van and some seating available, so come along and take in the fresh air and fresh sounds from me.”
Man In The Mirror: Celebrating the music of Michael Jackson at York Barbican
Tribute show of the week: Entertainers presents Man In The Mirror, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
MICHAEL Jackson tribute artist CJ celebrates the King of Pop in Man In The Mirror, a new show from Entertainers featuring a talented cast of performers and musicians in a Thriller of an electrifying concert replete with Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Man In The Mirror, dazzling choreography, visual effects, a light show and authentic costumes. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Mr Wilson’s Second Liners: New Orleans meets Hacienda 90s’ club classics at The Crescent
“Revolutionary genre bashers” of the week: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm
IN New Orleans, funerals are celebrated in style with noisy brass bands processing through the streets. The main section of the parade is known as First Line but the real fun starts with the parasol-twirling, handkerchief-waving Second Line.
Welcome to Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, where “New Orleans meets 90s’ club classics in a rave funeral without the body” as a rabble of mischievous northerners pay homage to the diehard days of Manchester’s Hacienda, club culture and its greatest hero, Mr Tony Wilson. Stepping out in uniformed style, they channel the spirit of the 24-hour party people, jettisoning funereal slow hymns in favour of anarchic dance energy. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Ania Magliano: Triple threat at play in Forgive Me, Father at The Crescent
Comedy gig of the week: Burning Duck Comedy presents Ania Magliano, Forgive Me, Father, The Crescent, York, January 23, 7.30pm
IN the first Burning Duck gig since the sudden passing of club promoter Al Greaves, London comedian and writer Ania Magliano performs her Forgive Me, Father show.
Describing herself as a triple threat (bisexual, Gen Z, bad at cooking), she says: “You know when you’re trying to wee on a night out, and you’re interrupted by a random girl who insists on telling you all her secrets, even though you’ve never met? Imagine that, but she has a microphone.” Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Mica Sefia: Future-soul singer fuses alt. soul, jazz and soft rock in The Old Paint Shop
The 2025 Old Paint Shop cabaret season opener: CPWM presents Mica Sefia, York Theatre Royal Studio, January 23, 8pm
BORN in Liverpool, based in London, future-soul singer Mica Sefia “prefers to keep her lyricisms and narrative open to interpretation”, applying a “balanced approach to songwriting, in which her music remains subjective, but retains its emotive sensitivity” in songs that lean into alt. soul, jazz and soft rock to create atmospheric sounds and textured layers. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lyrical musicianship at York Theatre Royal: Poet Laureate and LYR band members Richard Walters and Patrick Pearson. Picture: Katie Silvester
The language of music: An Evening With Simon Armitage and LYR, York Theatre Royal, January 24, 7.30pm
UK Poet Laureate, dramatist, novelist, broadcaster and University of Leeds Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage teams up with his band LYR for an evening of poetry (first half) and music (second half), where LYR’s soaring vocal melodies and ambient instrumentation create an evocative and enchanting soundscape for West Yorkshireman Armitage’s spoken-word passages. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Ned Swarbrick: Debut headline gig at The Crescent at the age of 16
Headline debut of the week: Ned Swarbrick, The Crescent, York, January 24, 7.30pm
AT 16, York singer-songwriter Ned Swarbrick heads to The Crescent – with a couple of band mates in tow – for his debut headline show after accruing 40 gigs over the past two years. Penning acoustic songs that reflect his love of literature and pop culture, he sways from melancholy to upbeat, sad to happy, serious to tongue in cheek.
The first to admit that he is still finding his feet, in his live shows Ned switches between Belle & Sebastian-style pop numbers and intimate folk tunes more reminiscent of Nick Drake. Check out his debut EP, Michelangelo, featuring National Youth Folk Ensemble members, and look out for him busking on York’s streets. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Frankie Monroe: Transforming The Old Paint Shop into the Misty Moon working men’s club at York Theatre Royal
Beyond compere: Frankie Monroe And Friends, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, January 24, 8pm
BBC New Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe Newcomer winner Frankie Monroe hosts an evening of humour, tricks and mucky bitter in The Old Paint Shop. Join the owner of the Misty Moon – “a working men’s club in Rotherham that also serves as a portal to hell” – in his biggest show yet with some of York’s finest cabaret performers. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Clifford’s Tower: Taking part in York Residents’ Festival next weekend
Festival of the week: York Residents’ Festival, January 25 and 26
ORGANISED by Make It York, this annual festival combines free offers, events and discounts for valid York Card, student card or identity card holders that proves your York residency. Among the participating visitor attractions will be Bedern Hall, Clifford’s Tower, Yorkshire Air Museum, Merchant Taylors Hall and, outside York, Beningbrough Hall and Castle Howard. For the full list of offers, head to: visityork.org/offers/category/york-residents-festival.
Scott Matthews: Wolverhampton singer-songwriter plays the NCEM
Folk gig of the week: The Crescent and Black Swan Folk Club present Scott Matthews, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 25, doors 7pm
ON a tour that has taken in churches and caves, Wolverhampton singer-songwriter Scott Matthews plays St Margaret’s Church, home to the NCEM in Walmgate, next weekend.
Combining folk, rock, blues and Eastern-inspired song-writing, he has released eight albums since his 2007 debut single, Elusive, won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. His most recent recording, 2023’s Restless Lullabies, found him revisiting songs from 2020’s New Skin with a stark acoustic boldness. Box office: seetickets.com/event/scott-matthews/ncem/3211118. Please note, this is a seated show with all seating unreserved.
Illustrator Katie Smith with one of her giant Top Trumps cards to be hidden around the city during the Jorvik Viking Festival 2025. All pictures: George Slater
ILLUSTRATOR Katie Smith has come up Top Trumps for Jorvik Viking Centre.
Thousands of examples of her work will be handled by children and games fans around the world after the launch of a new set of the card game by the York visitor attraction.
Katie, who has worked for 18 months for York Archaeology, the charity behind Jorvik, has designed the newest addition to the Top Trumps game, newly on sale this week.
When Jorvik was approached to create its own set of Top Trumps, a game collected and played by enthusiasts globally, Katie leapt at the chance of designing a set of illustrations for the 30-strong pack.
Lisa Wood, head of communications and marketing for York Archaeology, says: “Top Trumps is an iconic game, and we wanted to create a set of cards that reflected Norse heritage, myths and legends, but unlike versions featuring cars or athletes, we couldn’t really photograph mythical creatures or Norse Gods, so this was an amazing opportunity to use Katie’s illustration skills.”
“Designing a set of Top Trumps and actually holding the completed game in my hand feels amazing,” says Katie Smith
York Archaeology Viking lore expert Lucas Norton created a list of characters to feature, whereupon Katie set to work creating the array of illustrations to be used on the cards. “It was a lot of fun, but also hard work making sure that the illustrations captured not only the look, but also the spirit of the character – and with their core strengths highlighted in the statistics below each image, that had to be right!” says Katie, 25.
Jorvik Viking Centre’s Top Trumps are on sale in the gift shop and online at jorvikshop.com, priced at £12.50.
The new game will feature in the Jorvik Viking Festival 2025, running from February 17 to 23. Giant Top Trump cards will be hidden in locations across the city, creating a new Viking-themed trail, and Katie will host an illustration workshop, aimed primarily at young artists aged 15 and over.
“There are so few opportunities for young people to explore opportunities in illustration, and I would have found it incredibly useful to have someone to talk to before I made my college and university choices about how you can turn a passion for art into a career,” says Katie.
“Breaking into the industry when you don’t know anyone within it can be tough, and it took me a couple of years of building a portfolio while working full-time in a very different role before I found my feet. Designing a set of Top Trumps and actually holding the completed game in my hand feels amazing.”
York Archaeologyillustrator Katie Smith will hold Art of Illustration workshop at Barley Hall on February 20
The Art of Illustration workshop will take place at Barley Hall on February 20 and will feature an introductory talk followed by a drawing workshop, where participants will be supported by Katie.
Each participant will receive a limited-edition Top Trumps card that Katie will sign. The workshop costs £10 per participant, with discounted tickets available for anyone on a low income. To book, visit jorvikvikingfestival.co.uk.
Top Trumps are made by Winning Moves. Yasmin East, custom games executive at Winning Moves UK, says: “We’re so happy we could include Katie’s illustrations and it’s now one of our favourite custom packs in-house with our designers and office nerds! We’re also really pleased we can be part of Jorvik Viking Festival. We love activities here and think it’s a smashing way to launch the game.”
Katie Smith: the back story
Illustrator and graphic designer, aged 25, from Armley, Leeds, with a degree in illustration from the University of Huddersfield. Worked in York Archaeology communications and marketing team for 18 months, creating eye-catching illustrations for posters, events and guidebooks used in York Archaeology’s attractions, Jorvik Viking Centre, DIG: An Archaeological Adventure and Barley Hall.
Taboo-shattering comedy: Ed Byrne in Tragedy Plus Time at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Roslyn Grant
FROM Narnia to ice sculptures, comedy in wolf’s clothing to Ayckbourn’s 91st play, Charles Hutchinson finds plenty to perk up the days and nights ahead.
Taboo subject of the week: Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time, Grand Opera House, tonight, 7.30pm
MARK Twain, the 19th century American writer, humorist, and essayist, defined humour as Tragedy Plus Time. Irish comedian Ed Byrne tests that formula by mining the most tragic event in his life – the death of his brother Paul from Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 44 – for laughs.
Byrne’s show carries the content warning “Discussions of death”. “But as with any subject I do, there are always digressions into asides,” he says. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Mark Reynolds’ illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, on tour at York Theatre Royal for five nights
Comedy and not comedy: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm; The Shed presents Indeterminacy with Tania Caroline Chen, piano, Steve Beresford, piano and objects, and Stewart Lee, voice, National Centre for Early Music, York, February 1, 3.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
On John Cage and David Tudor’s 1959 double LP Indeterminacy, Cage read 90 of his stories, each one, whether long or short, lasting precisely one minute. Unheard by Cage, Tudor simultaneously played the piano and other things in another room. Now Stewart Lee joins pianists Tania Caroline Chen and Steve Beresford to do their own version of Cage’s work in a 40-minute performance in one room, where the musicians do their best not to hear Lee’s reading. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
York Ice Trail 2025: Taking the theme of Origins on February 1 and 2
After this week’s deep freeze, here comes York Ice Trail 2025, February 1 and 2
YORK’S “free weekend of frosty fun” returns with a 2025 theme of Origins as York’s streets are turned into an icy wonderland of frozen tableau in this annual event run by Make It York. Among the 30 ice sculptures showcasing 2,000 years of city history will be a Roman shield, a Viking helmet, a chocolate bar, a drifting ghost, a majestic train and a Yorkshire rose, all captured in the language of ice by Icebox. Full details can be found at visityork.org/york-ice-trail.
The book cover for Elizabeth Sharkey’s Why Britain Rocked: Under discussion with musician and environmental campaigner husband Feargal at Pocklington Arts Centre
One-off interview comes into view: Why Britain Rocked: Elizabeth and Feargal Sharkey, Pocklington Arts Centre, February 13, 7.30pm.
FEARGAL Sharkey, former frontman of The Undertones, will interview his wife, author Elizabeth Sharkey, on one night only of her debut book tour: the final show, which just happens to be in Pocklington.
Together they will explore the history of British pop music, as charted in Why Britain Rocked: How Rock Became Roll And Took Over The World, wherein Elizabeth re-writes the established history by uncovering the untold stories behind Britain’s musical evolution and challenges the American claim to have invented rock’n’roll. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
The Corrs: Kicking off the 2025 season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Off to the East Coast this summer: Scarborough Open Air Theatre season
IRISH siblings The Corrs lead off Cuffe & Taylor’s 2025 season in Scarborough with support from Natalie Imbruglia on June 11. In the diary too are Gary Barlow, June 13; Shed Seven with special guests Jake Bugg and Cast, June 14; Pendulum, June 15; Basement Jaxx, June 21, and The Human League, plus Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Blancmange, June 28.
July opens with The Script and special guest Tom Walker on July 5; UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, with special guest Bitty McLean, July 6; Blossoms, with Inhaler and Apollo Junction, July 10; Rag’n’Bone Man, with Elles Bailey, July 11; McFly, with Twin Atlantic and Devon, July 12; Judas Priest, with Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons, July 23, and Texas, with Rianne Downey, July 26. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Bunmi Osadolor (Edmund), Jesse Dunbar (Peter), Kudzai Mangombe (Lucy) and Joanna Adaran (Susan) in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe at Leeds Playhouse. Picture: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
Touring show of the year: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Grand Opera House, York, April 22 to 26, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
STEP through the wardrobe into the kingdom of Narnia for the most mystical of adventures in a faraway land. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and say hello to Mr Tumnus, the talking Faun, Aslan, the Lion, and the coldest, cruellest White Witch.
Running at Leeds Playhouse until January 25 in the most spectacular production of the winter season, this breathtaking stage adaptation of CS Lewis’s allegorical novel then heads out on a new tour with its magical storytelling, bewitching stagecraft and stellar puppets. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Alan Ayckbourn: Directing his 91st play, Earth Angel, at the SJT, Scarborough, in the autumn. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st play: Earth Angel, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, September 13 to October 11
STEPHEN Joseph Theatre director emeritus Alan Ayckbourn directs his 91st play, Earth Angel, wherein Gerald has lost his wife of many years. Amy was the light of his life, almost heaven sent. It is tricky thinking about life without her but he is trying his best to put a brave face on things, accepting help from fussy neighbours and muddling along as best he can.
Then a mysterious stranger turns up at Amy’s wake. He seems like a nice enough chap, washing the dishes and offering to do a shop for Gerald, but is he all that he appears? Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
In focus: The Waterboys’ new album and tour dates at York Barbican, May 15; Sheffield City Hall, May 9, and Leeds O2 Academy, June 17
Mike Scott: Leading The Waterboys at York Barbican for the eighth time on May 15. Picture: Paul MacManus
THE Waterboys will showcase “the most audacious album yet” of Mike Scott’s 42-year career, Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, on their latest return to York Barbican, having previously played their “Big Music” brand of folk, rock, soul and blues there in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023.
Released on April 4 on Sun Records, their 16th studio album charts the epic path of the trailblazing American actor and rebel, as told through a song cycle that depicts not only Hopper’s story but also the saga of the last 75 years of western pop culture.
“The arc of his life was the story of our times,” says Scott, “He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol.
“He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a wild ten-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
As a first taste of what lies in store, Hopper’s On Top (Genius) was unveiled on streaming and video this week, capturing the electric, heady moment when Hopper’s Easy Rider became a cultural phenomenon and cemented his place in Hollywood history. Buoyed by Scott’s searing vocals, vibrant instrumentation and a psychedelic edge, the song channels the euphoria and hubris of the 1960s’ counterculture that Hopper epitomised.
Scott worked for four years on Life, Death And Dennis Hopper. Produced with Waterboys bandmates Famous James and Brother Paul, the album spans 25 tracks that trace the trace the extraordinary ups and downs of Hopper’s life, from his youth in Kansas to his long rise, five wives, tumultuous fall and ultimate redemption.
The album cover artwork for The Waterboys’ Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, set for release on April 4
Every song has its own special place and fascinating, deep-rooted story. “It begins in his childhood, ends the morning after his death, and I get to say a whole lot along the way, not just about Dennis, but about the whole strange adventure of being a human soul on planet Earth,” says Scott.
The album will be The Waterboys’ first for Sun Records. “Hey, we’re label mates with Howlin’ Wolf and young Elvis,”says Scott, who is joined by a stellar line-up of guests, ranging from Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple and Steve Earle to Nashville-based Alt Americana artist Anana Kaye, English singer Barny Fletcher, Norwegian country-rockers Sugarfoot, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s and punk arch-priestess Patti Palladin.
The 31-date UK and Ireland tour will run from May 1 to June 19. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Leeds, academymusicgroup.com.
Life, Death And Dennis Hopper track listing:
1. Kansas (featuring Steve Earle) 2. Hollywood ’55 3. Live In The Moment, Baby 4. Brooke/1712 North Crescent Heights 5. Andy (A Guy Like You) 6. The Tourist (featuring Barny Fletcher) 7. Freaks On Wheels 8. Blues For Terry Southern 9. Memories Of Monterey 10. Riding Down To Mardi Gras 11. Hopper’s On Top (Genius) 12. Transcendental Peruvian Blues 13. Michelle (Always Stay) 14. Freakout At The Mud Palace 15. Daria 16. Ten Years Gone (featuring Bruce Springsteen) 17. Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend (featuring Fiona Apple) 18. Rock Bottom 19. I Don’t Know How I Made It (featuring Taylor Goldsmith) 20. Frank (Let’s F**k) 21. Katherine (featuring Anana Kaye) 22. Everybody Loves Dennis Hopper 23. Golf, They Say 24. Venice, California (Victoria)/The Passing Of Hopper 25. Aftermath
Nothing could burst Shed Seven’s celebratory balloons in 2024. Picture: Chris Little
CharlesHutchPress doffs his cap to the makers, creators, artists and shakers who shaped York’s year of culture.
Story of the year and gigs of the year:Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary annus mirabilis
GOING for gold anew, York’s likely lad Britpop veterans had the alchemist’s touch throughout their busiest ever year, matching Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and Elton John in notching two number one albums in a year in January’s studio set A Matter Of Time and October’s newly re-recorded compilation Liquid Gold.
In a year of resurgent upward motion in York, one that ended with York City atop the National League, Shed Seven’s resurrection was crystallised by lead singer Rick Witter’s name being appropriated for a council road gritter but even more so by two nights of homecoming concerts at York Museum Gardens in July, when special guest Peter Doherty’s beatific smile best captured the exultant mood of celebration.
Tristan Sturrock’s Blue Beard versus Katy Owen’s Mother Superior in Wise Children’s Blue Beard at York Theatre Royal
You Should Have Seen It play of the year:Wise Children’s Blue Beard, York Theatre Royal, February 27 to March 9
“IT certainly won’t be boring,” promised Wise Children writer-director Emma Rice, and it certainly wasn’t. Blue Beard, her table-turning twist on the gruesome fairytale, was everything modern theatre should be: intelligent, topical, provocative, surprising; full of music, politics, “tender truths”, mirror balls and dazzling costumery.
It had comedy as much as tragedy; actors as skilled at musicianship as acting and dancing to boot, all while embracing the Greek, Shakespearean, cabaret, kitchen-sink and multi-media ages of theatre. So, why oh why, weren’t the audiences bigger?
Angst and anger: Bright Light Musical Productions in Green Day’s American Idiot
York debut of the year:Bright Light Musical Productions in Green Day’s American Idiot, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, July 4 to 6
BRIGHT Light Musical Productions staged the York premiere of punk rock opera Green Day’s American Idiot in Dan Crawfurd-Porter’s high-octane, politically driven, perfectly-timed production that opened on American Independence Day and the UK General Election day, also marking the 20th anniversary of Green Day’s groundbreaking album American Idiot.
“Personally, the issues it tackles have affected me profoundly, as they have many others,” said Crawfurd-Porter. “The aim is to give a voice to those who feel unheard, just as it has given one to me.” The show, with its commentary on America and the impact of politics at large, did just that.
Jack Savoretti performing at Live At York Museum Gardens, presented by the Futuresound Group. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Event launch of the year:Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, July 18, 19 and 20
LEEDS concert and festival promoters Futuresound stretched their wings to launch Live At York Museum Gardens, selling out all three nights featuring Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti and a brace of gigs by local heroes Shed Seven, each bill featuring York and Yorkshire support acts. One complaint, from Clifton, over the Sheds’ noise levels was rejected by City of York Council, and Mercury Prize winners Elbow are booked already for 2025.
Rob Auton: Comedy mined from self-examination at The Crescent, York
Comedy show of the year:Rob Auton in The Rob Auton Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club, The Crescent, York, February 28
ROB Auton, hirsute York/Barmby Moor stand-up comedian, writer, podcaster, actor, illustrator and former Glastonbury festival poet-in-residence, returned north from London with his tenth themed solo show.
After mulling over the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking, time and crowds in past outings, surrealist visionary Rob turned the spotlight on himself, exploring memories and feelings from his daily life, but with the observational comic’s gift for making the personal universal as the sublime and the ridiculous strolled giddily hand in hand.
Bristol street artist Inkie’s artwork for Rise Of The Vandals at 2, Low Ousegate, York
Exhibition of the year:Bombsquad’s Rise Of The Vandals, 2, Low Ousegate, York, June 22 and 23, June 28 to 30 and July 5 to 7
YORK art collective Bombsquad launched Rise Of The Vandals in a celebration of the city’s street art scene, taking over a disused office block with the owner’s permission but suffused with the underground spirit of squatters’ rights. Art was not only wall to wall, but even the loos were given a black-and-white checkerboard revamp too.
Spread over four floors in one of the tallest buildings in the city, the installation showcased retrospective and contemporary spray paint culture, graffiti, street art and public art in three galleries, complemented by a cinema room, an art shop and live DJs. There really should be more such artistic insurrections in York, instead of turning every shell of a building into another hotel or yet more student accommodation.
Honourable mention: National Treasures, an exhibition built around Claude Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond, as part of the National Gallery’s bicentenary, at York Art Gallery, May 10 to September 8.
Leading lights: Riding Lights’ new executive director Oliver Brown, left, and artistic director Paul Birch at Friargate Theatre in York
Re-enter stage right: Riding Lights Theatre Company and Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, under the new artistic directorship of Paul Birch, picking up the baton from late founder Paul Burbridge. York Theatre Royal Studio, re-booting for cabaret nights as The Old Paint Shop.
Behind you: Departing dame Berwick Kaler gave his last pantomime performance as Dotty Dullally at the Grand Opera House, York, on January 6 2024. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Exit stage left: Dowager dame Berwick Kaler, from York pantomimes after 47 years; Harkirit Bopara, from The Crescent community venue; The Howl & The Hum’s Sam Griffiths, from York and Leeds for London; At The Mill, from serving up theatre, comedy, music, fine dining and Saturday sausage sandwiches at Stillington Mill; The Victoria Vaults, from promoting gigs, in an enforced pub closure on December 11 after 160 years. The very next day, City of York Council upheld York CAMRA’s request to list the Nunnery Lane premises as a community asset. Watch this space.
Gordon Kane RIP. Picture: Gareth Jenkins
Gone but not forgotten:Gordon Kane, actor and good sport
A SCOTSMAN by birth and richly theatrical accent, but long resident in York, this delightfully playful screen and stage actor, and casual cricketer and golfer to boot, appeared in Time Bandits, The Comic Strip Presents and latterly Nolly and Buffering, but around Yorkshire he will be treasured for his work for York Theatre Royal, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Harrogate Theatre and Hull Truck Theatre, not least in John Godber’s plays.
His good friend Mark Addy delivered the eulogy – written with typically mischievous humour by Gordon himself – at December 18’s funeral at York Cemetery.
NCEM Platform Artists: Intesa, A Merry Conceit, Bedern Hall, Bedern, York, December 15
IT is rare, even under the umbrella of Early Music, to encounter a concert as wide-ranging as this. Intesa, who are Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti and combine playing bass viols with singing, roamed as far back as 5th-century Armenia while including a 21st-century piece by Musaelian herself in this mid-morning recital.
The programme was devised to show the coming of light to a dark and wintry world and had an appropriately religious flavour. Armenia became the first officially Christian state in AD 301, when its king was converted. Its largely musical liturgy depends on eight basic modes (octoechos), considerably pre-dating Gregorian chant, which were reformed in the 12th century by St Nerses IV, who was nicknamed “Shnorhali” (Gracious).
So it was fascinating to begin with one of Shnorhali’s own pieces, Aravot Luso (O Morning Of Light), which involved hypnotic drone under sinuous soprano. It was quite a stretch to Morley’s duet madrigal Miraculous Love’s Wounding immediately afterwards, although we needed to hear a little more from Giorgetti’s light tenor.
Lucine Musaelian: Fiery melismas
Two more traditional Armenian songs proved catchy, especially when jazzed up with plucked viols, as in Shogher jan, which marks the return of friends along with the cool weather. They were preceded by the superb Maria, Dolce Maria by Francesca Caccini, the first woman known to have composed operas, where Musaelian’s fiery melismas – bunches of notes to a single syllable – added considerable intensity.
At the centre of it all lay a touching Canzonetta Spirituale by Tarquinio Merula, an extended rocking lullaby over a bass ostinato that presages the Christ-child’s ultimate fate. That still left Dowland’s timeless lute song Time Stands Still, one viol simulating a lute, and two gamba duets by Tobias Hume, where Intesa’s virtuosity really had a chance to blossom.
Muselian’s love-song to her own poetry, Morning Light, was gracefully dusted with both syncopation and viol harmonics, the latter a first in my experience.
Finally, Intesa took us to Wales, with All Through The Night. We had traversed eight countries and 16 centuries, a tasting menu if ever there were. Tasty too.
Ensemble Augelletti, The Morning Star, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 13
IT didn’t take me long to work out that the Morning Star in question was not “the only English-language socialist daily newspaper in the world” (Wikki), but also the name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise.
Indeed, Ensemble Augelletti’s inspirational programme “celebrating star-gazers across the centuries” was itself inspired by one Edward Piggott who, in a letter dated 23 December 1784, “recounted his discovery of variable stars and made York the centre of the astronomical world”, where it has remained ever since.
The cosmic journey began with Sonata a Tre Pastorale by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (a contemporary of the Austrian Jesuit astronomer Johann Grüber). I found the performance was simply charming, particularly the opening courteous exchanges between Olwen Foulkes (recorder) and Ellen Bundy (violin).
The two instrumentalists maintained their musical conversation throughout Giovanni Battista Fontana’s Sonata in D major no. 8. The virtuosic and rhythmic shifts enhanced the vibrancy of the performance. It’s worth noting, maybe, that both Fontana and Biagio Marini were composing during an era of remarkable astronomical advancements.
Benedict Williams performed Marini’s Sonata Sopra La Monica à 3, op. 8 no. 45, on the harpsichord instead of the organ. This change provided richer support for the violin and recorder. However, the performance of the piece, originally written for two violins and basso continuo, once again highlighted the soloist’s exchanges.
They appeared to be engaged in a musical competition, a musical one-upmanship (if I may be so bold), alternating florid, ornamented passages with homophonic textures. I particularly enjoyed the ending.
La Monica was a popular song that had been used by other composers to create sets of variations. Therefore, it was fitting that Olwen Foulkes prefaced the Marini with a beautiful performance of the Christmas tune Unto Us A Son Is Born by Jacob van Eyck.
With Henry Purcell’s Sonata No. 9 in F major, Z.810, affectionately known as the “Golden” Sonata, the programme transitioned into the distinctive Baroque style. The opening Allegro once again showcased the lively, intricate conversations between the two soloists.
The melancholic Largo, filled with the poignant imagery of “dying falls”, evoked profound emotions, but mercifully, it was lifted by a spirited contrapuntal Canzona. Once more, after a contemplative yet sombre reflection (Grave), the work concluded with a joyous dance, brimming with vitality. The knowing cadence is always guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, and it certainly did.
Handel’s A Flight Of Angels in C major, HWV600, was composed for a musical clock with a tiny organ inside, crafted by Charles Clay. I found the title, the concept and the performance delightful.
Corelli’s Sonata in F major, op. 5 no. 3 had so much going for it: the highly virtuosic opening Allegro with cadenza windows, as well as the driving energy and shaping of the concluding Allegro. But it was the tenderest of harpsichord and recorder duets in the central Adagio which moved me the most.
Telemann’s Trio Sonata in A minor commenced with the most enchanting violin playing in the opening Affetuoso. It was a delicate, persuasive and tender performance. The unaccompanied duet between the recorder and violin in the closing Menuet was equally impressive, showcasing the profound musical understanding between the two players.
The performance was preceded by the composer’s Wie Schön Leucht Uns der Morgenstern (How Lovely Shines The Morning Star), a Chorale Prelude for solo organ. Benedict Williams’s rendition of this piece, based on a Lutheran hymn by Philipp Nicolai, was a delight.
It was an intimate and almost hypnotic experience, listening to the performer skilfully weaving the composer’s diverse contrapuntal textures around the cantus firmus (fixed melody).
The Toccata Seconda & Canario by Giovanni Kapsberger were performed by Toby Carr on the theorbo. The opening Toccata is titled Arpeggiata, which is quite fitting. The playing was impeccable, showcasing the perfect technique. However, it sounded like Spanish music played on a guitar to me.
Well, the planets were certainly aligned in Mr Carr’s performance of this simple yet utterly seductive Canario. It essentially has a simple ground bass in 6/8 time with metric shifts (3/4), accompanied by the cosiest of melodies. The playing had a musical chocolatey comfort about it, so incredibly satisfying.
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Sonata in A major, La Pastorella, C.106, for violin and theorbo, is a virtuosic tour de force for the violin. While it may not possess the explosive fireworks of some of the more renowned sonatas, Ellen Bundy’s absolute mastery of the technical demands ensured an exhilarating performance experience. The piece also features moments of genuine charm.
For the final performance of this immensely gratifying concert, it was back to the ground bass, accompanied by the two instrumental protagonists, the recorder and the violin. They engaged in initial exchanges that escalated into rapid-fire volleys of melodic ideas, as if they were playing a game of musical tennis.
I would have appreciated hearing more from Benedict Williams (organ/harpsichord) as a solo contributor, but that’s a minor nitpick. Ensemble Augelletti is an incredibly impressive ensemble with a profound understanding of their innovative repertoire. They clearly enjoy playing together, and this joy was infectious.
P.S. I found the themed astronomy thread that runs throughout the entire programme to be delightfully bonkers. The example below is (meant to be) gently satirical…
Jeremy Paxman: “University of York, your starter for ten. What is the astronomical connection between composers George Frideric Handel and Arcangelo Corelli?”
University of York: “Corelli performed regularly in the Cardinal’s Monday evening concert series and benefited from his extensive music library, presided over by librarian and astronomer Francesco Bianchini (1662-1729).
“Both [composers] were members of the literary society Accademia dell’Arcadia and engaged in an exhilarating exchange of artistic and scientific research. Whilst Corelli became famous for his use of a new style of harmony that operates around the tension and release of diatonic dissonance and resolution, Biancini is remembered for research that includes…his study of Venus, the morning star.” (Olwen Foulkes)
Australian soprano and NCEM Platform Artist Emilia Bertolini
Emilia Bertolini, Sergio Bucheli and Lucie Chabard, Love And Melancholy, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 7
NOT the least of the many pleasures thrown up by these festivals is the discovery of new talent in the NCEM Platform Artists’ programme.
Here we enjoyed the Australian soprano Emilia Bertolini, the French harpsichordist Lucie Chabard and the Mexican theorbist Sergio Bucheli, whose common denominator is that they undertook all or part of their training in London, underlining its status as the world capital of advanced music education.
Between songs by Purcell in this midday recital, they included chansons by three of his French contemporaries along with two instrumental interludes. Bertolini is in fact no stranger to North Yorkshire, having played Cupid in Venus & Adonis at last year’s Ryedale Festival with considerable flair. The same enthusiasm shone through her Purcell.
There were some neat decorations in I Attempt From Love’s Sickness To Flyand a lovely line in Fairest Isle, following a tasty instrumental intro. The trio combined graphically in She Loves And She Confesses Too, with its intimations of witchcraft, taken from Abraham Cowley’s The Mistress (1680), while Man Is For The Woman Made was wittily cheeky.
Bertolini has a nicely focused soprano with a touch of darker tone that adds creaminess. This tended to evaporate when she sang the chansons from a seated position. But, standing again, it returned perfectly for the wide leaps of O Solitude and a leisurely account of An Evening Hymn, where her breath control was superb.
Her encore was fascinating: a setting of Thomas Carew’s No More Shall Meads Be Deck’d With Flowers by Nicholas Lanier, the first Master of the King’s Musick, with its Italian-style strophic variations.
Bucheli threaded his way calmly through the improvisational thickets of a Kapsberger toccata, while Chabard’s harpsichord found a nice balance between her hands in an instrumental version of Les Sourdines, an air from Lully’s opera Armide(1686). An elegant programme, stylishly delivered.
AT first glance, this seems to be an unlikely meeting of minds.
Sean Shibe is a classical guitarist, former BBC New Generation Artist specialising in contemporary classical music. Aidan O’Rourke, on the other hand, learned the fiddle in the West Highland style and has his roots firmly planted in Scottish and Irish music. Lùban, the project name, means ‘loops’ (in Scottish Gaelic).
The fear, well, my fear when two very different musical cultures combine, is that we find an all too often lazy ‘cross-over’ music or, as Aidan O’Rourke puts it: a “classical world …trying to reverse-engineer the blurring of boundaries”. Lùban, however, is an entirely different experience.
Joining the party were guests John Dowland and Robert Johnson, both famous 16th-century English Renaissance composers, lutenists and singers, Mr O’Rourke himself and, it goes without saying, John Cage.
The programme opened with Aidan O’Rourke taking centre stage and performing a continuous flow of Scottish folk-inspired tunes and understated dances or reels. As there were no programme notes or playlist, one had to rely on the softly spoken Mr O’Rourke for steerage, I quickly decided to focus solely on the music itself. And it was quite magical.
A lovely folk tune, sometimes singing free and sometimes accompanied, harmonised in a way that had echoes of Bach, transformed into a dance, a jig – all understated yet utterly engaging.
We then returned to the song and accompaniment. I found the playing so poignant. Mr O’Rourke closed this medley (for want of a better term) with a fast, rhythmically-driven dance to round things off.
We then welcomed Sean Shibe to the stage. He began with a Dowland song, well, what sounded like one. He teased out the most beautiful of lute melodies emerging from various lute textures.
The two performers combined to perform some 17th-century dance tunes, jigs. The initial lead was very much fiddle driven where the syncopated, hemiola rhythms added variety, complexity and energy.
The first half closed with a delightful set of violin and lute duets. Each instrument had a distinct musical identity whilst still cohabiting with and enriching each other.
A sober processional ushered in the start to the second half. It wove a kind of minimalist, hypnotic spell, the violin playing just two notes throughout (a major second interval if memory serves). Tonally this demanded resolution, instead it transformed into a lovely Dowland-esque song infused with folksong flavours.
The instrumental roles were then exchanged with the violin singing a gentle, melancholic jig and the lute breathing the air of Dowland. However, it was once again the quirky rhythmic twists that really added to the vitality of the performance.
Now then, seated on a stool on the stage was the elephant in the room in the form of an electric guitar. I was reminded of the ‘infamous’ Bob Dylan response to a folksy heckler (Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1966) objecting to the electric betrayal: “Play it …loud,” he said to the band. I omitted Dylan’s expletive. No such concerns here, though.
Sean Shibe created a gentle cushion of support for the fiddle lament. The electric guitar playing gradually evolved, using a foot pedal and harmonics – the violin lament remaining a constant, into a world of contemporary otherness. Quite brilliant, ingenious and rewarding.
Following a return to the lute and the musical wonderland of 16th-century English Renaissance John Dowland or Robert Johnson, a contemporary musical window reopened. This time it was Aidan O’Rourke playing a violin ostinato or loop, exploiting the colour of the strings and harmonics. How we arrived here was quite as mysterious as the sound-world being expressed: eerily beautiful.
So we met Dowland and, presumably Robert Johnson, and Aidan O’Rourke seemed to be omnipresent. But no sign of John Cage. I suspect, however, that for Cage the sounds of the odd empty beer bottles being knocked over would constitute the ambient sound intended to contribute to the performance. Maybe not.
Finally, Sean Shibe and Aidan O’Rourke promised us a “shared language [we] might find in the backstreets, byways and marginalia of ancient Scottish lute and fiddle manuscripts”. And thanks to their quite remarkable musicianship and insight, we did just that.
Spiritato: Opened York Early Music Christmas Festival with Northern Light concert
THE eight members of Spiritato opened this year’s festival in some style, exploring the ‘Northern Light’ that shone from mainly German composers born between the 1620s and the 1650s. By far the best-known of them was Johann Pachelbel, who was the only composer we heard from twice.
The other unifying factor was that all their music was unearthed recently from a collection essentially assembled by Gustaf Düben at the Swedish court, where he was a member of its orchestra from 1648.
On this occasion, Spiritato omitted its much-vaunted trumpets but fielded two violins and two violas, with four instruments in its continuo section. This lent particular muscle to the bass line, no bad thing in Baroque music.
But whenever viola da gamba and bassoon were underpinned by organ, itself rather boomy, the balance was awry and bottom-heavy. Whenever harpsichord replaced organ, the upper strings emerged with much greater clarity.
Although seven of the nine numbers here were designated ‘sonata’, virtually all made use of a ground bass – chaconne if you prefer – at some stage. These sonatas, not to be confused with classical sonata form, had numerous sections, varying in tempo, meter and character.
The opening one, by Heinrich Schmelzer, was a variation sonata, where Spiritato’s rhythms were especially lively. A Pachelbel Ciaccona, its title already hinting at a nod towards Italy and built solely on the top four notes of the descending minor scale, featured riffs for the upper strings, which were eagerly seized upon.
Rather in the manner of jazz, individual instruments were allowed to the fore: Sergio Bucheli’s idiomatic theorbo in a Johann Kaspar Kerli sonata, for example, while Catriona McDermid’s agile bassoon had a moment in the spotlight courtesy of a Krieger sonata – which also had a touching pianissimo ending.
One of the evening’s most memorable offerings was the fifth of Pachelbel’s six Musical Delights, this one a trio sonata in C, where the counterpoint was exceptionally smooth – and silkily delivered.
A Kirchhoff sonata demanded, and received, considerable virtuosity from the violin of the group’s leader, Kinga Ujszászi; she also gave witty introductions to several of the works. She oversaw tempo-changes throughout, including a hyperactive epilogue to the closing Romanus Weichlein sonata.
These composers may not have been among the greatest names in music history. But they were the men who tilled the very ground from which the great J S Bach was to spring in 1685. He owed them much.
Review by Martin Dreyer
York Early Music Christmas Festival runs until December 15. For the full programme and tickets, go to: ncem.co.uk.
