The art beat of YORKshire
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Teddy Thompson: Showcasing new album Never Be The Same at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes
BOOKING a lover of period touches like Teddy Thompson into Pocklington’s beautiful All Saints Church was a good move.
This wonderful Hurricane Promotions concert was further helped by the fact that Thompson has happy memories of Pocklington, at least the fish and chips, and he was in good form. He has a well-spoken, dry and ironic sense of humour that provided the warmth between songs.
There was plenty of affection too for fan favourite Blair Dunlop. Dunlop sounds fully committed to his Americana sound and showed off new songs in his brisk opening set. Trilobite might be 500 million years out factually but was musically on the money, while Sweet On You could almost be a Teddy Thompson song with its charming surface and darker interior.
Blair Dunlop performing at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Some singers close their eyes as they sing; Dunlop smiled often. Thompson, on the other hand, stared unnervingly straight ahead, which gave him and his material an edge.
On a casual introduction, Thompson’s new record, Never Be The Same, seems a fairly slight thing, full of short lovelorn songs that sound straight out of the 1960s’ gold era of country pop.
Listen more than once and you’ll be hooked by the clever lyrics, wonderful period production and some gorgeous melodies.
Teddy Thompson’s set list for June 6’s concert at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes
As Thompson talked about in his interview with Miles Salter for York Calling, restraint is a key part of his songwriting approach, so each tune is a finely chiselled thing. In concert too, the songs were played straight by a three-piece band (with Mike Robinson on guitars and Chris Jones on drums).
By some sleight of hand, the drummer also was able to add in extra keys, strings and to this reviewer’s ears something at the bottom end.
The Pocklington crowd was treated to ten numbers off that record over the course of the 17-song set, which also revisited some older material. While the first three songs were taken at a clip and sounded a bit too bright, it grew much better.
Teddy Thompson, centre, and his band, guitarist Mike Robinson and drummer Chris Jones, on stage at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes
The older songs revealed that Thompson hasn’t wandered too far stylistically in the intervening 26 years. Step Behind, from his first record, showed his style was essentially there from the get-go.
As the sun set and lit up the old stone columns that framed the band, Thompson was by this point fully warmed up, and the wonder that is his singing voice really shone.
I Remember, which sounds like it could have been a country hit for Skeeter Davis, was wonderful and what could have been a Buck Owens riff, while Same Old Song (ironic, but true in a set list that did rather sound the same and stick in the same tempos) was full of lovely period references.
All Saints Church lit up at Teddy Thompson’s concert. Picture: Paul Rhodes
The encore deserved to bring the house down, with a clever solo version of So This Is Heartache. The best song on the new record by a country mile, where it sounds like a lost Stax country classic, Pocklington saw it in naked, devastating form.
The band returned and the anthemic In My Arms rounded off the set. That this song only made it to number 107 tells you everything that is wrong with music charts. Like any number from his catalogue, you wonder when someone else will make it a hit. Until then Thompson remains a well-preserved cult figure ripe for a larger audience.
Review by Paul Rhodes
BLAIR Dunlop will be on the main stage at The Magpies Festival, Sutton Park, Sutton-on-the-Forest, near York, on August 15. Full festival details can be found at https://www.themagpiesfestival.co.uk/.
The instruments set up for Teddy Thompson’s set at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Conductor David Pipe
IN its 150th year, York Musical Society joined with Philharmonischer Chor Münster and The Ebor Singers to perform Elgar’s The Dream Of Gerontius.
Intensely passionate, strangely driven, deeply spiritual: just three ways to describe this wonderful performance delivered by David Pipe and his choir and orchestra of more than 250.
The passion is right there with the conductor. He embodies the music, every part of him leading this dance, almost balletic in his own movements. Whilst the three choirs have been rehearsing separately, David Pipe’s ability to bring them together on the day is remarkable witness to his outstanding musical leadership.
Sam Furness’s first line, a prayer, after the orchestral introduction, “Jesus Maria – I am near to death and thou art calling me”, was delivered sotto voce and with gorgeous restraint. This was both deeply felt and perhaps a little operatic – hardly surprising that Elgar drew inspiration from Wagner.
Furness handled the many facets of Gerontius’s emotional and spiritual journey with ease, delivering closely knit contrasting lines with consummate skill.
The orchestra accompanied choirs and soloists with great sensitivity. Towards the end of the piece, the Angel sings pianissimo, Softly and gently, dearly ransomed soul. The soloist and orchestra almost melted into each other with the tenderness and assurance of these words.
Kate Symonds-Joy’s Angel gave an exquisite performance throughout, almost still in the quieter moments, yet she gave spell-binding fortissimos, for example in the preamble to the great chorus, “Praise to the holiest”.
James Cleverton, as the Priest and Angel of the Agony, sang with great power throughout, deliberately contrasting with the voices of Gerontius and the Angel.
The three choirs were brought together to produce a great sound. Imitations of laughing (Ha! ha!) were vigorously proclaimed, whilst the great crescendo in “To Praise to the holiest” was delivered with warmth and accuracy. The orchestral accompaniment was always steadfast, flexible and sensitive to the singers.
Such events as these belong to amateur singers who are part of Great Britain and Germany’s great choral societies. This is difficult music both in its technical reach and emotional charge. Their dedicated work over a period of months comes to fruition on this one night. It was good to see both Dr Martin Henning, director of Philharmonischer Chor Münster, alongside David Pipe taking a bow.
Thank you for a terrific evening. Our great choral tradition remains in confident hands.
Review by Tim Robinson, musician, choral and chamber concert reviewer and former Church of England vicar at All Saints’ Church, Helmsley, serving Helmsley and Upper Ryedale Benefice for 11 years until retirement in 2021; also as Area Dean of Northern Ryedale.
National Brass Band Championships: Heading for York Barbican
THE National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain will bring 73 of the country’s finest brass bands to York Barbican for the first time on September 19 and 20 for the Sections 1–4 National Finals.
York Barbican has been chosen on account of its top-class concert hall facilities, central location and reputation for hosting major live events, helping attract thousands of visitors to the city across the weekend.
Local interest will be strong, with Yorkshire bands including York Railway Institute Band, Wetherby Silver Band and Swinton & District Excelsior Band qualifying to compete for national honours.
A spokesperson for the championships says: “York Barbican provides an outstanding stage for one of the biggest weekends in the brass band calendar. Audiences can expect incredible live music, thrilling competition and a fantastic atmosphere throughout the weekend.”
Tickets will be available on the day on both days only from York Barbican at £24 for adults, £16, concessions, and £8, children aged 11 to 17.
The poster for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2026
Shed Seven lighting up the Halifax night sky when opening The Piece Hall’s summer season with a celebration of A Maximum High’s 30th anniversary
THIRTY years on, Shed Seven revisited their Britpop magnum opus A Maximum High in full for one night only to launch Cuffe & Taylor’s remarkable summer of no fewer than 41 concerts at The Piece Hall, Halifax.
A Yorkshire start to an international season was a canny choice, and better still, the typically Yorkshire weather forecast of rain at 6pm and 7pm to greet support acts Seb Lowe and The Guest List turned out to be wrong. There was no need to go chasing rainbows; that could wait until the end under the darkening Halifax skies.
Built as a cloth hall for handloom weavers to sell woollen cloth, the 18th century architectural splendour of the Grade I listed Piece Hall makes a natural amphitheatre for outdoor concerts – hence the busier-than-ever 2026 programme – and Shed Seven supporters turned out in full number, 6,500 filling the courtyard and the tiers above that transform as if by magic from two to three tiers. This is Yorkshire’s answer to summer opera at Arena di Verona, no less!
Guitarist Paul Banks on stage against the backdrop of The Piece Hall
The York band had last played here in their first gig out of Covid lockdowns on September 25 2021: strange circumstances, where proximity was gradually being reintroduced; circumstances too where drummer Alan Leach and guitarist Joe Johnson were in their last days before taking an “indefinite break” from the line-up.
The Sheds returned on the crest of their second wave: two number one albums in 2024, a new album and biggest ever ShedCember tour on the way, and drummer Rob Maxfield’s gold drum kit and guitarist and keyboards player Tim Wills settled into their groove alongside the familiar axis of bassist Tom Gladwin, guitarist Paul Banks and frontman Rick Witter.
Saturday’s focus, however, was on the past. Advance notice had suggested the set would open with 1996’s A Maximum High in track order, but Witter had promised surprises in his CharlesHutchPress interview. Wasn’t that Dirty Soul, the opening track to 1994 debut album Change Giver, cutting through the Halifax air after the band entered to Elmer Bernstein’s The Magnificent [Shed] Seven theme tune? Indeed so, to be followed by early favourites Mark and Dolphin.
Going for red: Rick Witter in that dazzling shirt, fit to burn any disco down
The grimy Shed Seven graffiti that formed the backdrop in black and white should have been a clue. Then Witter, as alert as ever to audience vibes, chipped in: “We know why you bought your tickets. We’re not stupid! It’s coming but not quite yet.” Cue Speakeasy, Witter’s first mention of his mum being in the audience, and Ocean Pie.
By now, the brass band, such a swell innovation at the Sheds’ brace of York Museum Gardens shows in 2024, and five-part Shed Seven Choir, as featured at Scarborough Open Air Theatre and Glastonbury last summer, had made their entry.
The Shed Seven scrawl made way for A Maximum High’s album cover – matched by trombonist Tim Hurst, saxophonist Andy Cox and trumpet player Jamie Brownfield’s T-shirts – and Witter jettisoned his black shirt in favour of a sparkling red number. He could have gone for gold, but maybe that was in the glitter.
A maximum high hat: Shed Seven drummer Rob Maxfield
Like any album, A Maximum High has its highs and lows, but those highs a very high – Getting Better, Where Have You Been Tonight?, Going For Gold and On Standby, all from Side 1, where track two, Magic Streets, held its own too, preceded by Witter’s story of the song referring to “a house of ill repute above the Early Learning Centre”. “It’s about prostitutes. No-one knew!” he revealed.
After the audience sang its lusty version of On Standby before Witter joined in, there followed the lesser lights of Out By My Side, Lies This Day Was Ours, Ladyman and Falling From The Sky, some brought out of the vaults for the first time in two decades.
The Sheds gave them their all, Banks’s guitar parts especially so, but it was a lull, nonetheless, saved by the knowledge of what was coming next: schooldays’ crowd favourite Bully Boy, as belligerent and cocksure as ever, and Parallel Lines, the one helluva party album closer, with a light show to boot. No imagery from 30 years ago was shown, Witter painting the picture instead in anecdotes between songs.
The swanky Shed Seven logo, familiar from the past few years, returned for the rushing thrill of encores: High Hopes, latter-day landmarks Talk Of The Town and Let’s Go Dancing and the swaggering finale of Disco Down and Chasing Rainbows, sung by one and all as always as they exited.
Another night, another town, once more Shed Seven had burned this disco down.
Crowd shot: Shed Seven at the finale to Saturday’s A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show at The Piece Hall
Holly Taymar: Playing City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend
A FEAST of folk music and Shed Seven’s anniversary celebration, a le Carré thriller and a Willy Russell classic send Charles Hutchinson out and about.
Festival of the week: City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend 2026, Black Swan Folk Club, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green York, today and tomorrow
CITY of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend’s three-day programme of 50 acts continues today and tomorrow with bands, soloists and sessions throughout the pub and in the car park from 1pm each day after last night’s Irish-themed bill in the club room.
Among the performers will be King Courgette, in the return of the original line-up, Leather’O, White Sail, Janglebuddies, Graham Hodge, Monkey’s Fist, Chechelele, Caramba, Holly Taymar, Duncan McFarlane Band, Mary Molloy, Susie Coyle, Soundsphere and Jon Palmer Band. Admission is free, with collections for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Lunchtime concert of the week: York Late Music, Stuart O’Hara (bass) and Rob Hao piano), Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm
MARRYING words and music, bass Stuart O’Hara and pianist Rob Hao’s performance is based around new settings of Yorkshire poets by local composers: James Else &Alan Gillott, Retratos (world premiere, complete song cycle); Tim Brooks & Lizzi Linklater, New Student In The University Cafe (world premiere); Jenny Jackson & Richard Kitchen, Vessels (world premiere) and Nick Carter & Hugh Bernays: The Water Will Not Remember from Requiem for the Arctic (world premiere)
This afternoon’s recital also includes David Power’s Six Songs, based on the poetry of E.H. Visiak, and two new settings by York St John University student composers Robyn Hughes-Maclean and Matthew Jarvis. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
The Elysian Singers: Musical settings of poetry at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York. Picture: Linda Dawson
Poetry and music in motion: The Elysian Singers, York Late Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
DIRECTED by Sam Laughton, The Elysian Singers’ insightful programme celebrates the musical settings of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. Benjamin Britten’s A.M.D.G. will be complemented by works by Samuel Barber (Heaven-Haven), Alan Bullard (The Windhover and Spring Morning), Bob Chilcott (The Bethlehem Star) and Ian Stephens (Pied Beauty).
The première of David Lancaster’s new work, Henry Purcell, featuring Hopkins’ tribute to his own favourite composer, provides an opportunity to revisit Purcell’s Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences and O Lord God Of Hosts. David Power’s quirky and imaginative settings of four E.H. Visiak poems completes the line-up, preceded by Lancaster and Power’s 6.45pm pre-concert talk. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Shed Seven: Marking 30th anniversary of A Maximum High with one-off concert at The Piece Hall, Halifax, tonight
Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven, A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show, The Piece Hall, Halifax, today, 6.30pm
YORK band Shed Seven are marking the 30th anniversary of their hit-laden second album, April 1996’s A Maximum High, with a one-off concert at The Piece Hall, featuring the magnum opus in full plus further Sheds’ hits and fan favourites. Expect a few surprises too. The Guest List (6.30pm) and Seb Lowe (7.20pm) support.
Utter Madness: The Nutty Boys stride out at Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the fourth time tonight
Seaside trip of the week: Madness, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight, doors 6pm
IN their 50th year since forming in Camden, Nutty Boys Madness make their fourth appearance at Scarborough Open Air Theatre after previous seaside visits in 2017, 2019 and 2024.
Drawing on 31 Top 40 hits and 11 Top Ten albums, their timeless blend of ska, pop, punk and music hall will be on show as ever in Our House, It Must be Love, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun et al. The Beat featuring Ranking Jnr and reggae vocalist Hollie Cook support. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer Alec Leamas in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Johan Persson
Thriller of the week: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Grand Opera House, York, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
FOR the first time, a John le Carré novel is being brought to life on stage by Chichester Festival Theatre in David Eldridge’s adaptation of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, a tale that journeys through the fog-shrouded terrain of Cold War espionage, deception and moral compromise.
Death In Paradise star Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer, Alec Leamas, is ready to come in from the cold, until veteran agent George Smiley persuades him to take one final mission against the East German Secret Service. Deep undercover, Leamas finds his convictions tested and his defences breached by Liz Gold, a quietly defiant librarian, whose compassion threatens to thaw his frostbitten heart. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
An open book or something more complex than that? Florence Poskitt’s Rita and Jamie McKeller’s Frank in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita
Literature lessons of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Educating Rita, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm
YORK actors Florence Poskitt and Jamie McKeller team up for the first time under Jim Paterson’s direction in Willy Russell’s warm, witty and moving double-hander about the power of education to change lives. When Rita, a working-class hairdresser hungry for something more, signs up for an Open University literature course, she meets disillusioned academic Frank, whose passion for teaching has long faded.
Their weekly tutorials become a battle of ideas, humour and honesty as Rita’s confidence blossoms and Frank reckons with his own choices and the possibility of a second chance. Change comes with difficult choices for both student and tutor, who must reconsider who they are and who they want to be. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Director Courtney Brown in Pickering Musical Society’s Let’s Do It!, The Cole Porter Songbook
Musical kicks of the week: Pickering Musical Society in Let’s Do It!r, The Cole Porter Songbook, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN a sparkling showcase of wit, romance, sophisticated melodies and clever lyrics, Pickering Musical Society celebrates the joyous Cole Porter Songbook, performing beloved songs from Anything Goes, Kiss Me, Kate and High Society and such hits as You’re The Top and I Get A Kick Out Of You under the direction of Courtney Brown.
The Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance’s vibrant tap, jazz and contemporary routines combine stylish choreography, glamorous costumes and a tribute to the Great American Songbook. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
The Bluffs: Short-form improv games infused with storytelling flair at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Unscripted silliness of the week: Unwritten: The Literary Improv Show, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, June 11, 8.30pm, doors 7.30pm
YORK troupe The Bluffs take classic short-form improv games and infuse them with storytelling flair in an evening of laughter, silliness and plot twists. Each fast-paced show is shaped by audience suggestions and spontaneous creativity. Expect scenes inspired by classic literature, unexpected character mash-ups and even a fanfiction-inspired musical number.
The Bluffs are drawn from a melange of theatrical, comedy and musical backgrounds, from festival stages to pantomime and competitive Theatresports. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/unwritten-the-literary-improv-show-tickets-1984763723726.
Wright & Grainger: Say It & Play: “Gorgeous weave of our home-grown stuff” at The Old Paint Shop on Thursday. Picture: Afternoon Film
The Old Paint Shop presents: Wright & Grainger Say It & Play it, York Theatre Royal Studio, June 11, 8pm
FRIENDS and working partners since Easingwold schooldays, Wright & Grainger serve a carefully curated evening of stories, poems, songs and gentle chaos. Known for their internationally acclaimed adaptations of Ancient Greek myths, sometimes they do something a tad different.
Say It & Play It will be a set full of Alexander Flanagan Wright & Phil Grainger’s shorter collaborative works, the poems that stand on their own, the beautiful tracks they have been writing. “It’s a gorgeous weave of our home-grown stuff, grown and told on home turf,” they say. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lincoln Lightfoot: Participating in North Yorkshire Open Studios
MORE than 200 artists and makers are taking part in the summer edition of North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026.
Covering three areas of God’s Own Country, from the remote Upper Dales to the Central locations of Harrogate and York and the Moors & Coast, this annual event enables creative talents to open their studios to promote and sell their work directly to the public.
Taking part in and around York will be jewellery designer Helen Drye (Fountains Close, Riccall); oil painter Pennie Lordan (Moor Lane, Copmanthorpe); artist Emma James (Copmanthorpe Lane, Bishopthorpe); oil painter Lucie Wake (Slingsby Grove); abstract seascape painter Alex Ash (Heslington Lane, Fulford); B-movie poster art pastiche surrealist Lincoln Lighfoot (Brunswick Street) and northern landscape linocut printmaker Jon Haste (South Bank Social Club, Ovington Terrace).
So too are eco jewellery designer Rebecca Mihill (Nunthorpe Grove); mixed-media artist Ali Hunter (Alma Terrace); environment and plant-inspired printmaker Rachel Jones (Richardson Street); stained glass artist, ceramicist and printmaker Veronica Ongaro (Richardson Street); oil painter Di Gomery (Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road) and experimental artist Jill Tattersall (Mount Parade).
Further York artists will be geometric jewellery designer Evie Leach (PICA Studios, Unit 4, Enterprise Complex, Walmgate); animal artist Katrina Mansfield (PICA Studios); figurative artist Lesley Shaw (PICA Studios); Irish landscape artist Lisa Power (PICA Studios); rag rug maker Lu Mason (PICA Studios) and cityscape and architecture artist Ric Liptrot (PICA Studios).
In the line-up too will be abstract rust and gold metal-leaf artist Jo Walton (Rogues Atelier, Franklin’s Yard, Fossgate); illustrator and screen-print gig poster artist Kai West (Rogues Atelier); mixed-media figurative artist Mo Nisbet (Acomb Road); nature and animal acrylic artist Nicola Glover (Beech Grove); stoneware potter Hannah Arnup (Arnup Studios, Panman Lane, Holtby); natural world artist Kate Pettitt (Arnup Studios); fine art photographer Lesley Peatfield and enigmatic, ethereal artist Michelle Galloway (Arnup Studios).
Look out too for pattern-led tropical botanical artist Emily Littler (Sugar Hill Farm Stockton Lane); stone and wood sculptor Janie Stevens (Greenthwaite, Chantry Green, Upper Poppleton); Japanese-inspired British plant, flower and animal artist Toby Staunton (The Cottage, Main Street, Shipton by Benuingbrough); landscape artist Gonzalo Blanco (Rose Dene, Moor Lane, Strensall) and multi-media figurative and abstract artist Andrew Bloodworth (Stonelands Close, Sheriff Hutton).
The names keep coming: mixed-media landscape artist Justine Warner (Laburnum Cottage, West End, Sheriff Hutton); “happy accidents” land, sky and water artist Graham Jones (Harland House, Main Street, Huby); nature artist Nora Gaston (Moat House, Boroughbridge Road, Green Hammerton); experimental landscape artist Freya Horsley (Corner Cottage, The Green, Tollerton) and Bee-spoke Quilts’ hand-made quilt, jackets and waistcoats (Apple Croft, Gale Road, Alne),
Completing the list for York & beyond will be milliner Jane de Carteret’s woodland-type creatures (Apple Croft, Alne); Gina Bean’s semi-abstract North Yorkshire landscapes (The Bentleys, Lower Dunsforth); beach, dale and vale artist Richard Gray (Burnside, Spring Street, Easingwold); landscape artist Jeff Parker (Roedeer House, Raskelf Road, Raskelf) and Anya Manfield’s abstract textile wall hangings, mixed media artworks and layered collage pieces (Amber Cottage, Kilburn).
The full list of artists and makers can be found at nyos.org.uk. The Winter North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026, featuring the same names, is in the diary for November 7 and 8, 11am to 4pm.
Olivia Chaney
OLIVIA Chaney, York musician, Grammy nominee and haunting voice of Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights”, plays a sold-out concert for York Festival of Ideas tonight.
Olivia’s deep connection to the music of Henry Purcell runs throughout her life. Now comes Sons Of Art, her latest performance and album project highlighting the deep affinities between the Baroque composer and the modern singer-songwriter: a shared immediacy, a delight in word-setting and a fearless mix of high art and street culture.
For Olivia, this is not classical crossover but a radical reclamation – a conversation across centuries that feels startlingly fresh. Tonight’s show is part of a tour heralding the upcoming Purcell album, as this modern English songwriter, now 44, reimagines Purcell’s works in a refreshingly natural and contemporary way, alongside original compositions and a chamber ensemble.
“It’s kind of a home show, as I’ve lived in York for seven years,” says Olivia. “My now husband [George Younge] was a lecturer in medieval history at the university, but he’s quit to be a furniture designer and maker, with his workshop in Escrick, though we may be moving from York.
“For this concert, I’ve been corresponding with Delma (NCEM director Delma Tomlin] and thought how nice it would be to combine with the York Festival of Ideas.
“I’ve played a few shows in York before, but usually at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall [at the University of York].”
Olivia, however, also took part in a poignant concert on February 28 at the NCEM, where Eliza Carthy and Special Guests performed The Songs of Martin Carthy in celebration of the Robin Hood’s Bay folk titan’s 60-year legacy.
“It was a really emotional night, and I did something – I wept,” she recalls. “We’d just done The Life & Songs of Martin Carthy, a huge event at EartH Theatre, in Hackney, in September put on with Jon Wilks, with all the great and good of the folk world, Maddy Prior, Billy Bragg, Peggy Seeger, Martin Simpson, Eliza, Martin, and video contributions by Paul Weller, Van Dyke Parks and Bob Dylan. That one was particularly moving, Dylan saying Martin was a huge influence on him.”
Since then, Olivia had been to America to record her next album. “I came home, jumped in the shower and headed to the NCEM to pay tribute to Martin. I hadn’t expected him to be there [given his health], but then I saw him shuffling out of the green room to watch the concert. It was such a moving night.”
Now, Sons Of Art finds Olivia renewing her creative partnership with New York producer-pianist Thomas Bartlett. “The first album I made with him was called Shelter,” she says. “I’d written it on the North York Moors at Hawnby – before I lived in Yorkshire – when I’d been touring heavily in America and wanted to get away from everything. I had a Bechstein piano that my friends helped me transport there, then I had this surreal experience of writing songs in this bucolic setting and then recording them in mid-Manhattan!”
The release of next album Circus Of Desire, was delayed by Covid’s intervention, being held back until 2024. In the hiatus, her Six French Songs EP emerged in 2023.
“My third album with Thomas [the aforementioned Sons Of Art] will come out next year, and this season’s shows are a signposting of the start of the project: one that I’ve wanted to do for more than a decade, revisiting Purcell.”
Meanwhile, Olivia’s profile has been heightened by the presence of her stark, haunting rendition of the 19th century traditional folk ballad Dark Eyed Sailor in a pivotal scene in Emerald Fennell’s outre film “Wuthering Heights”.
“In a sense, I can’t answer completely how it came about in that the director ‘stumbled across the song’, like how after I made Six French Songs, French director Andre Techine – who had Catherine DeNeuve in all his films – found my song Auprès de ma Blonde, one of the first things I put on YouTube, which I then re-recorded for him.” she says. “The film was premiered at Cannes but never got taken up, so I’ve never seen it.”
Back to Emerald… “Having seen other movies by both Andre and Emerald, I think they were each looking for music to drive their narrative, so maybe that’s why Emerld settled on Dark Eyed Sailor, which she decided would be in “Wuthering Heights” right from the beginning.”
What’s more, Emerald was insistent on using the version she had first heard, rather than a new recording. Namely, Olivia’s recording to harmonium accompaniment for BBC Radio 2’s The Folk Show, made on May 22 2013. “There’s something about the rawness of radio sessions, and that was my first ever live session for Mark Radcliffe’s show,” she says.
“I remember painting my nails on the way to the studio, and I guess that session was the beginning of me finding my sound, delving back into folk music.
“In a way it’s a surprise that Emerald hasn’t chosen something from my albums, but she ended up using the song twice, once when Cathy realises she has married the wrong man, and then later an instrumental version, orchestrating out my harmonium.”
How did Olivia react when she attended the premiere. “What was a big surprise was that I thought it might be a little bit imperceptible, or be swamped by all the other music [by Charli xcx], but I was struck by how spare it was, so that you could hardly hear my harmonium,” she says.
“Emily Brontë’s novel is in my top ten, and I thought, ‘how can they use this happy song?’, but Emerald uses it so cleverly, where it’s seven years since Heathcliff went away and has now returned, so the theme is fidelity, as so many songs about sailors and soldiers are.”
Olivia reckons Fennel’s previous work, Saltburn, is superior. ““Wuthering Heights” is so ambitious, so hard to pull off, but where it maybe fails is in its humour,” she says. “But then there is no humour in my work. I’m not into humour in my art. I like humour but I want to be moved by art.”
Olivia Chaney, Sons Of Art: Purcell Revisited, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm. SOLD OUT.
BORN in Florence to a writer and painter-turned-academic, Olivia grew up listening to everything from Prince to Joni Mitchell to Henry Purcell.
This eclectic mix of influences sparked a passion for song-writing that she nurtured at Chetham’s School of Music and The Royal Academy.
After showcasing at SXSW and a stint as lead singer for electronica outfit Zero 7, she signed with Nonesuch, leading to collaborations with Kronos Quartet and a Grammy nomination for Offa Rex, The Queen Of Hearts, a collection of Fairport Convention-era classics made with Portland, Oregon band The Decemberists in 2017.
Olivia’s first solo album, 2015’s The Longest River, produced by Leo Abrahams, was followed by 2018’s Shelter, recorded in New York City with producer-pianist Thomas Bartlett. Both explored inherited trauma, the clash of tradition and modernity and the paradoxes of love.
In 2023 came Six French Songs, her spontaneous set of French chanson, from medieval ballad to 1960s’ pop, made over two summer evenings at Reservoir Studios with Bartlett and violinist Sam Amidon.
Olivia Turner’s Rosalinda and Ian Thomson-Smith’s Falke in York Opera’s Die Fledermaus. Picture: David Kessel
BREAK out the champagne! York Opera celebrates its 60th anniversary, no less, with this sizzling production of Johann Strauss II’s comic operetta.
Co-directed by two stalwarts of the company, John Soper and Liz Watson, this Die Fledermaus lives up to the work’s reputation as the Viennese operetta par excellence.
Inevitably that starts with the orchestra, who set the style and tone in the overture, here mercifully done without gimmicky mime. So we can concentrate fully on Edward Venn’s excellent control of the orchestra.
Not only are the many tempo changes smoothly negotiated, so are the little hesitations on the upbeats, so characteristic of Viennese style. Throughout the evening, the orchestral underlay is impeccably geared to the singing.
Two soprano principal roles are double-cast, reflecting their difficulty and intensity. Both are carried with confidence. LaLa Marais brings panache and brilliance to her coloratura as Adele, notably in her ‘laughter’ aria, and matches it ideally with a high-spirited personality.
With equally sparkling charm, Olivia Turner, also making her company debut, gives a fiery bite to her Rosalinda, triumphing in her csárdás as the masked Hungarian countess. Their alternates, tonight and on Saturday afternoon, are Stephanie Wong and Alexandra Mather respectively.
Hamish Brown brings a happy-go-lucky charisma to his Eisenstein, while succumbing with pseudo-protestation to the wiles of his friend Doctor Falke (the original ‘bat’ of the title). His franglais routines with prison governor Frank, as both pretend to be French, are comic highlights.
Mark Simmonds makes an amiable Frank, alias Chevalier Chagrin. Ian Thomson-Smith’s light baritone is well geared to Falke, as he becomes the amiable puppeteer of the proceedings.
Molly Raine glides through the trouser role of Prince Orlofsky, cigarette holder poised, and gets the champagne flowing effortlessly at his party. Alex Holland conjures a nicely bumbling buffo as Eisenstein’s lawyer, Blind. Karl Reiff’s tenor is underused in the role of Alfredo, but he does much with little in the opening scene.
Act 3 can easily pall, but John Soper’s antics as sozzled jailer Frosch keep the laughter rolling. Cameo roles consistently make their mark.
The chorus is everywhere disciplined and confident, developing a healthy blend, even if it is required to do rather less dancing than we might have expected; indeed, no choreographer is mentioned.
It is much to the company’s credit that it has made almost all its own costumes and sets over the years, doubtless one reason for its financial stability. John Soper’s sets are evocative without showiness – the prison windows are impressive – and Maggie Soper’s colourful costumes enhance the party atmosphere.
We are fortunate to have a company of this calibre in our midst: it deserves our warmest support.
Here’s to its next 60 years. Break out the champagne indeed!
Review by Martin Dreyer
Going out for the summer: Shed Seven, filmed by the huts on Brighton beach, are heading to Halifax this weekend
TICKETS sold out in only six and a half minutes for Shed Seven’s one-off 30th anniversary celebration of A Maximum High, their hit-laden 1996 album from Britpop’s apogee, at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on June 6.
Enjoying their second coming to the max, the York indie band will be opening the West Yorkshire outdoor venue’s summer of 41 shows, playing the 250,000-selling album in its entirety, complemented by a second set of career-spanning greatest hits and crowd favourites, in their only headline show of the British summertime.
“We are looking forward to giving A Maximum High’ the birthday party it deserves,” said lead singer Rick Witter, when tickets went on sale last October.
“We’re especially excited to be revisiting some of the songs we haven’t played for decades. We hope that fans will come from far and wide to join us at this ‘one night only’ huge celebratory event.”
They will indeed be doing that – and in very different circumstances to the last occasion the Sheds played the Piece Hall courtyard on August 28 2021, headlining an all-Yorkshire bill featuring Leeds bands The Pigeon Detectives and The Wedding Present and York’s Skylights.
The album artwork for Shed Seven’s second album, A Maximum High, released on April 1 1996 on Polydor Records
“My big memory of that night was that it was a little weird because it was our first gig coming out of the [Covid-19] lockdown, when we were allowed to mingle again,” Rick recalls. “To go on stage close to all those people actually span my head a little after sitting on my own in my kitchen for months on end! It took a little time to adjust.”
The primary focus will be on A Maximum High, released in 1996 on Polydor Records on April 1 – this was no April Fool’s Day prank – and going on to peak at number eight, spend 26 weeks on the Official UK Album Charts and spawn five singles, Where Have You Been Tonight? (a hit in 1995), Getting Better, Going For Gold, Bully Boy and On Standby.
Before the year was out, stand-alone single Chasing Rainbows peaked at number 11, making the Sheds the only British band to achieve five Top 40 singles in the UK charts that year.
Thirty years on, Rick looks back to the genesis of that landmark album. “We’d used an unknown producer [Jessica Corcoran] in 1994 for our debut, Change Giver, so it was very innocent, very raw. It was a case of, ‘these are the songs and that’s all we’ve got’, like REM and U2’s first albums,” he says.
“At this point it was all Blur versus Oasis, and we knew we had to hold our own. Out came Where Have You Been Tonight?, and then we kind of scrapped songs, then did a showcase in the record company offices of Bully Boy and Going For Gold, where the record label owner said he wasn’t convinced by Going For Gold!”
Shed Seven’s 2026 line-up: Paul Banks (guitar, keyboards), left, Rob Maxfield (drums), Rick Witter (lead vocals), Tom Gladwin (bass) and Tim Wills (guitars and keyboards)
They could have been dispirited but the Sheds responded by writing Lies, Getting Better and what would become the album-closer, the six-minute Parallel Lines, the Champagne Supernova of A Maximum High.
“I’d written the lyric ‘I’m feeling bright, I feel all new’ and we’d go round town shouting that line,” says Rick. “That set the tone, going into the studio.”
This time, too, they would be working with an established producer, Chris Sheldon, at RAK Studios. “He’d produced Therapy,” says Rick. “They were Mickie Most’s studios, with accommodation rooms for us and big sunken baths that you could imagine Status Quo having been in there!
“We got on a roll with it, and what potentially could have been a ‘difficult second album’ actually became quite easy. We then wrote Chasing Rainbows while we were on tour for the album and thought it was too good to hold back for the next album in two years’ time – and that song is now very much associated with that year.”
For all their achievements in that annus mirabilis, the Sheds did not garner the headlines of the likes of Blur, Oasis and Pulp. “I’ve never really been one to not be myself, and to get magazine covers you had to do something like slap someone around the face, and I’m just not that kind of guy,” says Rick.
Shed Seven’s poster for Saturday’s one-off concert, A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show, at The Piece Hall, Halifax
“That hindered us in some respects, but that [behaviour] does not compute with me because music is for everybody. There were some nice things said about us by the music press, but also some terrible things, about my haircut, my choice of trousers I was wearing, but if we kept selling records, we were happy just trundling along!
“It was the same story with wanting to stay in York, where we knew everyone and we could stay grounded, whereas if we’d moved to London, I’m convinced we would have been finished by 1999. Going home from London, it was two hours on the train, then you’d be seeing your friends, they’d ask you questions and then they’d tell you about fixing radiators.”
Further hit singles would follow – 15 in total – but A Maximum High would live up to its title until the Sheds’ renaissance was crowned with two number one albums in 2024. “I think we’re now in our second peak,” says Rick, as they look ahead to the biggest ever Shedcember 20 tour in November and December and continue to work on their next album. Already in the can is the video for the first single, filmed in Wakefield, but details will be kept under wraps until early July.
“The surprises” promised for The Piece Hall must remain a secret too until next Saturday’s set.
Shed Seven, A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show, TK Maxx Presents Live At The Piece Hall, Halifax, June 6, supported by special guests Seb Lowe and The Guest List. SOLD OUT. Doors open at 6.30pm.
NOT only a festival, held on university soil, is full of ideas. So too is Charles Hutchinson in his list of fruitful artistic pursuits as June blooms.
Festival of the fortnight: York Festival of Ideas, Place & Space, until June 12
YORK Festival of Ideas 2026 explores Place and Space in more than 200 mostly free in-person and online events designed to educate, entertain and inspire.
Led by the University of York, the event features world-class speakers, such as Nicola Sturgeon, Dame Kelly Holmes, Alexander McCall Smith and Stuart Rose, performances, exhibitions, tours, family-friendly activities, a Michael Morpurgo celebration day and much more, with topics ranging from archaeology to art, history to health, politics to psychology, football to Manchester’s Music Soul. For the full programme, go to: yorkfestivalofideas.com.
Holly Sumpton’s Ewen Montagu in SplitLip’s Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Matt Crockett
Musical of the week: SplitLip in Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
THE year is 1943 and we are losing the war but, luckily, we can gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse. Singin’ In The Rain meets Strangers On A Train in SplitLip’s Operation Mincemeat, the Olivier and Tony award-winning musical take on the unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that won us the Second World War.
Bursting at the seams with chaos beyond invention, the question is: how did a dead body, a fake love letter and MI5 operative Ian Fleming come together to wrong-foot Hitler? Let Christian Andrews, Holly Sumpton, Seán Carey, Charlotte Hanna-Williams and latest recruit Jamie-Rose Monk tell the tale. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Rosalinda at the double: Alexandra Mather, left, and Olivia Turner sharing the principal role -two performances each – in York Opera’s Die Fledermaus. Picture: David Kessel
Opera of the week: York Opera in Die Fledermaus, York Theatre Royal, Wednesday to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 4pm
YORK Opera is marking two milestones with John Soper and Elizabeth Watson’s production of Johann Strauss II’s party opera Die Fledermaus: the company’s 60th anniversary and its 40th year of performances at York Theatre Royal.
When lavish host Prince Orlofsky seeks fresh amusement at his New Year’s Eve party, what better place for disguises, deception and revenge served with chilled champagne? Alexandra Mather and Olivia Turner share the role of Rosalinda; likewise, Stephanie Wong and LaLa Marais both play Adele, alongside Molly Raine’s Orlofsky and Ian Thomson-Smith’s Falke. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The book cover artwork for Fiona Mozley’s Awake Awake
Book event of the week: An Evening with Fiona Mozley, Awake, Awake, Waterstones, Coney Street, York, June 4, 7pm
“WHAT if you can no longer trust your memories,” asks York author Fiona Mozley in her third novel, Awake Awake, published on June 4 by John Murray.
Booker-Shortlisted for her debut Elmet, and now resident in Edinburgh, Fiona returns to her home roots to discuss her new meditation on memory, loss and moral courage in a York-located story that revolves around a woman haunted by vivid memories of things she suspects never could have happened.
Her hour-long talk will be followed by a Q&A between Fiona and the audience and a book-signing session will be held afterwards. Tickets: £6, Waterstones Plus Card members £5, at https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-fiona-mozley-at-waterstones-york/york.
Writer-performers Molly Whitehouse and Dan Poppitt in rehearsal for Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ premiere of Love At First Bite
Premiere of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in Love At First Bite, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 4 to 6, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
JOSH Woodgate directs Dan Poppitt and Molly Whitehouse’s seductive new work Love At First Bite, wherein dating can be hell, but what if one of them were a creature of the night? What happens when Alan and Minnie meet at a speed-dating night? A spark flickers. Dates follow. Laughter lingers.
“Yet beneath the rhythms of a familiar rom-com, something waits in the dark,” say Poppitt and Whitehouse, who play the lovers in York company Black Sheep’s premiere. “One of them is a vampire – but the secret shifts. Each night, the actors trade fangs and the audience is left to wonder who is hunter, who is prey.” Blending sharp-fanged wit with a brush of gothic shadow, their play toys with romance, rewrites folklore and invites audiences to consider what it means to love…and to hunger! Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Sofia Romano in Silver Stage’s murder mystery Club Mistero at Helmsley Arts Centre. Picture: Freya Chaston
Immersive murder mystery of the week: Silver Stage & Solent University present Club Mistero, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
LOSE yourself inside the dazzling but dangerous Club Mistero in 1920s’ New York City, where a flighty barman, outspoken diva, secretive showgirl, neglected wife and an owner with eyes on every corner all become suspects when someone is, seemingly, nowhere to be found. Clutch your pearls, ol’ sport, murder is afoot.
In the heart of a speakeasy, surrounded by deception and secrets, a web of betrayal, revenge and power is spun, whereupon tensions rise as the line between friend and foe is blurred, but who will survive the night? Silver Stage’s Evelyn Foy, George Mclean, Niamh Boyle, Sofia Romano and Borna Vitlov will keep you guessing to the very end. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Alchemy Live! pay tribute to Dire Straits at Malton’s Milton Rooms on Friday
Tribute gig of the week: Alchemy Live!, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
FORMED in 2020 by lifelong Dire Straits fans Martin Ledger and Neil Scott, Alchemy Live’s debut in York was delayed until May 13 2022 by the pandemic lockdowns. By January 2023, they were progressing to theatre shows.
Frontman Ledger says: “It has always been the ethos to concentrate on getting the music and sound right, rather than just putting on headbands and shiny jackets. Dire Straits themselves were always about the music first and we are fully committed to upholding that. Mark Knopfler has these little percussive flourishes in his playing, which are really difficult to re-create but without them it’s just not Knopfler.” Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Rick Astley: Opening the summer season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Let the seaside season begin: Rick Astley, TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Friday, gates open at 6pm
IN the wake of 2025’s number two album, Are We There Yet?, last November’s paperback edition of his autobiography, Never, and April’s Reflection arena tour, Newton-le-Willows crooner Rick Astley opens the 2026 season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
Now 60, Astley has enjoyed two chapters of success, kicking off with Never Gonna Give You Up topping the charts in 1987, leading to BRIT award success and further hits with Together Forever and Whenever You Need Somebody. After stepping away from the limelight, he marked his half-century by returning to the top spot with his comeback album, 50, and has never looked back, playing Glastonbury and the Royal Albert Hall and performing The Smiths’ songs with Blossoms and Frank Sinatra and swing classics at Henley Festival. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Director Courtney Brown in Pickering Musical Society’s Let’s Do It!, The Cole Porter Songbook
Musical kicks of the week: Pickering Musical Society in Let’s Do It!r, The Cole Porter Songbook, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN a sparkling showcase of wit, romance, sophisticated melodies and clever lyrics, Pickering Musical Society celebrates the joyous Cole Porter Songbook, performing beloved songs from Anything Goes, Kiss Me, Kate and High Society and such hits as You’re The Top and I Get A Kick Out Of You under the direction of Courtney Brown.
The Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance’s vibrant tap, jazz and contemporary routines combine stylish choreography, glamorous costumes and a tribute to the Great American Songbook. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.