Category: Festivals

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More Things To Do in York & beyond, two for a Yorkshireman’s favourite price. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 3, from The York Press

Holly Taymar: Fresh air and fresh sounds

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.

The show poster for The Deadpan Players’ Robin Hood – Making Nottingham Great Again

York debut of the week: The Deadpan Players in Robin Hood – Making Nottingham Great Again, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 24 and 25, 7.30pm and 2pm Saturday matinee

THE Deadpan Players, a not-for-profit community group from just outside York that raises money for charity through their performances, will visit the JoRo for the first time with their fifth pantomime, a unique take on Robin Hood, original script et al.

Join Robin, Maid Marian and the Merry Men, along with a handful of friends, as they brainstorm some “ongoing achievables” and work towards a win-win situation that will deliver Nottingham from the Sheriff’s evil grip and “Make Nottingham Great Again”. Next steps never felt so good. Better bring a quill, there’s going to be admin aplenty.

All proceeds will go to Candlelighters and the Farming Community Network, in memory of Nick Leaf, a fellow Deadpan Player and North Yorkshire farmer. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.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.

In Focus: Stewart Lee at the double in York as Theatre Royal comedian for five nights and NCEM narrator for one afternoon

Mark Reynolds’s poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf at York Theatre Royal

COMEDIAN Stewart Lee will play five nights in a row at York Theatre Royal from January 28 and squeeze in a Saturday matinee of an entirely different experimental performance, Indeterminacy, at the National Centre for Early Music too.

Lee, 56, who deadpanned his way through three nights of Basic Lee on his last Theatre Royal visit in March 2023, explains the length of run for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, a show that has been playing London’s Leicester Square Theatre since December 3 before opening its tour on January 19.

“Yeah, well, the theatre must have thought they could sell it!” says Stewart, who loves playing the Theatre Royal. “For me, once you get much above 2,000 seats, my kind of comedy becomes hard to do because you can’t interact with the audience and you can’t hear audience responses, so I’m always happy to do smaller venues.”

He has dates in his diary until November 19 with his website promising “more to be added” for a show that he presages by declaring he is “in danger of being left behind”. As his tour publicity puts it, “He’s approaching 60 with debilitating health conditions [worsening hearing], his TV profile has diminished, and his once BAFTA award-winning style of stand-up seems obsolete in the face of a wave of callous Netflix-endorsed comedy of anger, monetising the denigration of minorities for millions of dollars.

“But can Lee unleash his inner Man-Wulf to position himself alongside comedy legends like Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais and Jordan Peterson at the forefront of side-splitting,stadium-stuffing s**it-posting?,” he asks.

“The problem I’ve got is that the act is about a man who feels undervalued and not given enough credit, but I am really popular! I play to a quarter of a million people on each tour; I’m on TV every two and a half years when a show is finished – and young people are coming to the shows, so the audience is replenishing.

“Suddenly I’ve gone from someone starting out in the dying days of alternative comedy to someone still writing long-form shows when people now tend to make bitty work that’s packaged up.”

In Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares his stage with a “tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity”, where 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 with the silver bullet of Lee’s unprecedentedly critically acclaimed style of stand-up?” he ponders.

Is this “conceptual comedy”, Stewart? “Well, you can call it that. It’s not for me to say, but I think it’s very much that. I know what it is,” he says. “I like to read local reviews and student reviews as they seem to get it more than the national press.

“This is a show about taste and responsibility in comedy, which suddenly has a real resonance that it didn’t have even three weeks ago. What responsibilities do Elon Musk [X] and Mark Zuckerberg [Facebook] have in relation to telling the truth, like Musk lying about someone like Jess Phillips…and what is our place in that if we don’t do something about it.

“I was worried it was just a show by someone who was thinking about it, but now it seems prescient – and the worse the world gets, the better the show is. Three weeks ago it was like, ‘well, where is this going’’? Now they know where it’s going, so weirdly they might have been thinking, ‘oh, he’s being a bit pessimistic’, but sometimes it turns out you’re a bit ahead of the curve and then the world catches up.”

One of the joys of a Stewart Lee show is how he plays with the form, boundaries and possibilities of comedy. “In this one, I try doing the same material three times in three ways: first, liberal material told in a liberal way; next, reactionary material, in a reactionary way; then reactionary material, in a liberal way,” he says.

Stewart has found his comedy changing through the years, in part in response to Jerry Springer: The Opera [the musical comedy he wrote with Richard Thomas] “becoming literally a matter of life or death for someone”. “I thought what an amazing privilege it is to be able to write and perform, and you have to think about the implications of that,” he says.

“As I get older I increasingly appreciate how difficult it is to afford tickets and get a babysitter to come to a show. My comedy becomes more high concept and thoughtful, but at the same time it’s also more old-school comedy, being both philosophical and thinking about how Frankie Howerd or Kenneth Williams would sell this idea of becoming more pretentious and vaudevillian simultaneously.

“I do feel we have a sense of responsibility to deliver a night out that makes sure something happens that night that only happens that night. You also have to send people away with a bit of hope, when a lot of people like me feel they have lost the battle for the things they are concerned about, like environmental issues.”

Such environmental matters, and more specifically sewage in the River Derwent in Malton and Norton, triggered Ryedale arts promoter and Malton town councillor Simon Thackray to ask The Shed regular Stewart Lee to take part in the first Shed show since 2015 to “’encourage’ Yorkshire Water to go the extra mile’.

Narrator Lee will team up with pianists Tania Chen and Steve Beresford to perform John Cage’s Indeterminacy at the NCEM on February 1 at 3.30pm. “Make sure people know it’s not a comedy show, though it’s quite funny in its way,” he says.

Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. The Shed presents Indeterminacy, NCEM, York, February 1, 3.30pm. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

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York Archaeology illustrator Katie Smith designs pack of cards for Jorvik Viking Centre version of Top Trumps game

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 Archaeology illustrator 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.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond in 2025 Part Two when the ice age cometh. Hutch’s List No. 2 from The York Press

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

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Who won the 2024 Hutch Awards?

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.  

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Intesa at York Early Music Christmas Festival

Intesa’s Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti

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.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Steve Crowther’s verdict on Ensemble Augelletti, York Early Music Christmas Festival 2024

Ensemble Augelletti: “Inspirational programme”

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)

Review by Steve Crowther

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Bertolini, Bucheli & Chabard at York Early Music Christmas Festival, 7/12/2024

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.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Steve Crowther’s verdict on York Early Music Christmas Festival, Lùban: Sean Shibe (guitar/lute), Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle), December 9

Lùban duo Sean Shibe and Aidan O’Rourke

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.

Review by Steve Crowther

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REVIEW: York Early Music Christmas Festival, Spiritato, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 6

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.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond, come snow or Storm Darragh’s high winds. Hutch’s List No. 50, from The Press, York

Ensemble Augelletti: BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Baroque Ensemble present their new Christmas programme, The Morning Star, at the NCEM on December 13 at 7pm

CHRISTMAS festivities gather pace with a community pantomime, Early music festival, cabaret, Strictly dance king and a Muppet movie, as Charles Hutchinson reports.  

Festival of the week: York Early Music Christmas Festival, National Centre for Early Music, Bedern Hall and Sir Jack Lyons Concert  Hall, University of York, until December 15

YORK Early Music Christmas Festival 2024 is under way, presenting 12 concerts and one (sold-out) choral workshop led by I Fagiolini founder Robert Hollingworth in a celebration of the winter season, its festivities, traditions, darkness and light, mulled wine and mince pies.

Concerts by Solomon’s Knot (Sunday), Stile Antico (December 12), Intesa (December 15) and Awake Arise (December 15) have sold out but tickets are available for Love And Melancholy with soprano Emilia Bertolini (today, 12 noon); Siglo de Oro (today, 6.30pm); Sean Shibe & Aidan O’Rourke (December 9, 7.30pm); Green Matthews (December 11, 7.30pm); Ensemble Augelletti (December 13, 7pm); Contre le Temps (December 14, 12noon) and Yorkshire Bach Choir (December 14, 7.30pm). Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Micklegate Singers: A White Christmas lunchtime concert for York Late Music at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York

Christmas concert of the week: York Late Music presents Micklegate Singers, A White Christmas, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm

MICKLEGATE Singers chart a journey from Joanna Marsh’s In Winter’s House through wintry landscapes to arrive at a Christmas prelude courtesy of Poulenc, Tallis, Vaughan Williams and more, including the world premiere of York composer James Else’s A Little Snow.

Among further works will be Holst’s Bring Us In Good Ale; Oliver Tarney’s The Waiting Sky and John Harle: Mrs Beeton’s Christmas Plum Pudding (Average Cost 3 Shillings And 6d). Box office: latemusic.org.

Rowntree Players’ principal panto players in Mother Goose, opening today at the JoRo

Let the egg puns get cracking: Rowntree Players in Mother Goose, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 10 to 13, 7.30pm; December 14, 2pm and 7.30pm

MEET Jack (Gemma McDonald), head of hens at Chucklepatch Farm, with its newest addition to the coop, Priscilla the goose (American Abbey Follansbee). Joined by mum Gertrude Gander (alias Mother Goose, Michael Cornell) and his sister Jill (Laura Castle), they head out on their panto adventure. 

Desperate for showbiz, Gertrude gives up the Wolds for the bright lights of Doncaster. However, ever-nasty landlord Demon Darkheart (Jamie McKeller) and his assistant Bob (Laura McKeller) will stop at nothing to collect rent, but dishy farmer Kev, the King of Kale (Sarah Howlett) and Fairy Frittata (Holly Smith) will not let the dark side rule in a rollicking romp directed by co-writer Howard Ella. Tickets update: Down to last few tickets or limited availability for most performances on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Velma Celli: Xmas Roast cabaret songs, comedy and festive fruitiness at Impossible York

Christmas cabaret of the week: Velma Celli’s Xmas Roast, Impossible York, St Helen’s Square, York, Sunday 6pm, doors 5pm

YORK’S international drag diva deluxe, Velma Celli, hosts a fabulous evening of music, comedy and festive frolics. “Come and have yourself a merry Christmas,” says Velma, the Best Cabaret at Perth Fringeworld 2024 award-winning alter ego of West End musical actor and Atlantis Gay Cruises headline act Ian Stroughair, who promises “cabaret meets a partaaaaaay”. Box office: ticketweb.uk/event/velmas-xmas-roast-impossible-york-tickets/13855143.

The Hollywood Sisters: Cat Foster, left, Rachel Higgs, Henrietta Linnemann and Helen “Bells” Spencer

Fundraising festive concert of the week: The Hollywood Sisters & Friends, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7pm

THE Hollywood Sisters, the York vocal harmony group with vintage Hollywood vibes, have added extra tickets after selling out Sunday’s show. Expect a cabaret evening of music, song and a sprinkle of festive cheer featuring the luscious close harmonies of Helen “Bells” Spencer, Cat Foster, Rachel Higgs and Henrietta Linnemann and guest appearances by The Rusty Pegs, Mark Lovell, Phoebe Breeze and Anthony Sargeant.

All profits will go to the fundraising campaign for a new sensory room for dementia patients at Foss Park Hospital, in Haxby Road, York. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Anton du Beke: Christmas song and dance with the Strictly Come Dancing judge and Friends at York Barbican

Dance show of the week: Anton du Beke in Christmas With Anton & Friends, York Barbican, December 10, 7.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing judge and dashing dancer Anton Du Beke glides into York in his new festive tour show, joined as ever by elegant crooner Lance Ellington, a live band and a company of dancers for an evening of song and dance with added Christmas dazzle.

“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big Christmas show as it’s the best time of the year, so this is a real treat for me,” says the ballroom king. “It’s the show I’ve always wanted to do with some old faces and some new!” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jools Holland: Playing to a full house at York Barbican

No year would be complete without…Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, York Barbican, December 11, 7.30pm

BOOGIE woogie pianist supreme Jools Holland makes his obligatory winter outing to York in the company of his top-notch rhythm & blues players and vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.

His special guests will be Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, who previously toured with Holland in 2018, and blues guitar prodigy Toby Lee, his guest on last year’s tour too. Holland will be performing songs from the former Squeeze keyboardist and television presenter’s long-running solo career. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Marc Almond: Jools Holland’s special guest at York Barbican. Picture: Mike Owen

Christmas film double bill: Friargate Theatre, York, presents The Muppet Christmas Carol (U), today, 2.30pm, and Die Hard (15), today, 8pm

FRIARGATE Theatre serves up a double dose of holiday cheer and action-packed excitement, opening with Kermit, Miss Piggy and the Muppet gang being joined by Michael Caine’s Ebenezer Scrooge as they re-tell the Dickens tale with a whimsical and heart-warming twist.

Let’s leave the debate over whether John McTiernan’s Die Hard is or is not a Christmas film to another day. Instead, revel in Bruce Willis’s John McClane battling with terrorists in a high-rise building on Christmas Eve. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.

Christmas Cinema at St Saviourgate

Pop-up film event of the month: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, December 12 to 23

CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, is setting up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season, kicking off on December 12 with The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) at 4pm and Bridget Jones’s Diary (15) at 7PM.

Next come Home Alone (PG) at 4pm and Love Actually (15) at 7pm on December 13; Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (PG) at 4pm and Elf (PG) at 7.20pm on December 14, then Ali Plumb’s Untitled Christmas Film Quiz Project at 5pm and The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) at 8.30pm on December 15.

Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on December 16; Die Hard (15) at 7pm that night; The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm on December 17; The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) at 4pm and Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (PG) at 6.45pm on December 18, then Home Alone (PG) at 4pm and Wonka (PG) at 7pm on December 20.

Paddington In Peru (PG) returns at 4pm on December 22, followed by Elf (PG) at 7pm, before the season concludes with The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and  It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm on December 23. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.

Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol for two nights at Friargate Theatre. Picture: Vintage Verse

Solo show of the week: Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, York, December 13 and 14, 7.30pm

RING in the Christmas season with Mat Jones’s spellbinding rendition of Charles Dickens’s Victorian festive classic, brought to life in vivid detail from Dickens’s original performance text as Scrooge encounters the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come en route to the redemption of London’s most miserable miser. 

“A Christmas Carol is not just a story; it’s a celebration of the human spirit and the power of kindness,” says Jones. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.

York artist Jo Walton setting up her exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

Exhibition of the week: Jo Walton, Steel, Copper, Rust, Gold, Verdigris, Wax, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until January 23 2025

WHEN Rogues Atelier artist, interior designer, upholsterer and Bluebird Bakery curator of exhibitions Jo Walton asked poet Nicky Kippax to put words to images she had sent her, she responded with “The heft of a cliff and a gathering of sea fret”. Spot on, Nicky.

Into the eighth month of recovery from breaking her right leg, Jo is exhibiting predominantly large works that utilise steel, copper, rust, gold, verdigris and wax in the bakery, cafe and community centre, whose interior she designed in 2021.

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