LIVERPOOL singer-songwriter Robert Vincent will
showcase his new album In This Town You’re Owned at Pocklington Arts Centre on
February 7, one week before its release on Thirty Tigers.
For this return visit, he will be accompanied on
stage by PAC favourites The Buffalo Skinners in his 8pm set.
“My last visit to Pocklington Arts Centre, supporting
Beth Nielsen Chapman, was such a great night with a lovely music-loving crowd.
So, I’m looking forward to being back and playing for the lovely folk of
Pocklington,” he says.
Vincent has been hailed by veteran BBC presenter “Whispering”
Bob Harris as “the real deal” for his Americana music. On seeing him play in
the Bluebird Café at the Bluecoat, Liverpool’s centre
for the contemporary arts, the legendary broadcaster immediately invited him,
to record an Under The Apple Tree Session in his home studio for his BBC
Radio 2 country show, describing his performance as “absolutely magnetic”.
Vincent
duly received the inaugural Emerging Artist Award from Harris in
2016 and the UK Americana Music Association’s UK Album of The Year in
2018 for 2017’s sophomore work I’ll Make The Most Of My Sins, recorded in his
hometown and mixed in Nashville by Grammy Award-winning producer Ray
Kennedy.
The Buffalo Skinners: playing with Robert Vincent at Pocklington Arts Centre
His 2013
debut, Life In Easy Steps, drew BBC airplay for its title track on Janice Long
and Radcliffe & Maconie’s shows.
He has
since toured the UK supporting Paul Carrack, James Blunt and Squeeze and The
Pretenders at the Royal Albert Hall. Last spring, he opened for Beth Nielsen Chapman
on her Hearts Of Glass tour, including the aforementioned Pocklington show.
Last
summer, Vincent was on the supporting bill for his hero, Pink Floyd’s Roger
Waters, in Hyde Park at British Summer Time and joined
“the Titan of Twang”, guitarist Duane Eddy, across the UK on his
80th birthday tour.
Now comes third album In This Town You’re
Owned, produced by BRIT Award-winning Ethan Johns.
Tickets for Vincent’s Pock gig are on sale at £13.50 on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk. Vincent has further Yorkshire gigs coming up at The Greystones, Sheffield, on March 25, and Leeds Lending Room the next night.
The Felice Brothers: two brothers, Ian and James Felice, and two friends, Will Lawrence and Jesske Hume
POCKLINGTON Arts Centre
has snapped up The Felice Brothers for a summer gig after director Janet Farmer
saw the Americana band at Willie Nelson’s ranch.
Brothers Ian and James Felice
and their friends, drummer Will Lawrence and bass player Jesske Hume, have crossed the Big Pond this month for a winter tour that visits
Leeds Brudenell Social Club on Monday.
They will return to these
shores for more dates in a summer of American and European gigs, among them
Pocklington Arts Centre on June 23.
A delighted Janet Farmer
says: “I was privileged to see them at Luck Reunion, held at Willie Nelson’s
ranch, and can highly recommend their unique brand of American folk rock. Expect
a raucous and energetic performance that will be something to truly treasure.
“Tickets for this show will sell fast, so I would encourage you to
get yours soon or risk missing out on what will be a sublime show.”
Ian and James Felice
grew up in the Hudson valley of upstate New York. Self-taught musicians,
inspired as much by Hart Crane and Slim Whitman as by Woody Guthrie and Chuck
Berry, they began in 2006 by playing subway platforms and sidewalks in New York
City.
They have gone on to release nine albums of original songs,
drawing comparison with Neil Young and Bob Dylan for their song-writing and
lawless sound. Last year they returned from a three-year hiatus with Undress,
whose songs will be complemented by a selection from their back catalogue on June
23.
Tickets for their 8pm Pock gig cost £20 on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Did you know?
The Felice Brothers served
as the backing band for Conor Oberst’s 2017 album Salutations and subsequent tour.
Storyteller John Osborne performing You’re In A Bad Way
STORYTELLER, poet and BBC Radio 4 regular John
Osborne returns to Pocklington Arts Centre on February 13 to present his
beautiful, funny and uplifting new show about music and dementia.
Last March, he performed a double bill of John Peel’s
Shed and Circled In The Radio Times in Pocklington. Now, inspired by seeing a
friend’s father face a dementia diagnosis and the warmth, positivity and
unexpected twists and turns the family went through, he has put together You’re
In A Bad Way.
“This is the fifth theatre show I’ve made and it’s
definitely my favourite,” says Osborne. “I loved performing it every day
at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer, and I’m really excited to be taking it on
tour.
“For the past few years, I’ve made storytelling
theatre shows that are funny, true stories of things that I feel are important
to people. This one is a story about what happened to my friend’s dad when
he was diagnosed with dementia a couple of years ago.”
Osborne continues: “It was a really interesting
thing to observe, because although it was horrific and terrifying and sad,
there was so much warmth and positivity and unexpected twists and turns.
“As soon as I started writing the show, it came
together so beautifully and audience members who have had their own personal
experiences of caring for people with dementia have been incredibly positive
about the show having been to see it.”
The poster for John Osborne’s show You’re In A Bad Way
Osborne spent time at a dementia care centre in
Edinburgh to ensure he was fully informed about the experience of caring for
someone with dementia.
“I never
planned to write about something as personal as dementia, and have never
written about a big topic before, but this felt like such a beautiful story
that I wanted to tell,” he explains. “Just because you’ve been diagnosed with something, it doesn’t mean it’s
the end.
“The things we know about dementia
are so sad, but within that there are some special moments. Every time I
perform the show, I feel like I learn new things about dementia.”
Describing the tone of You’re In A Bad Way, Osborne
says: “As it’s such a big topic, I’ve tried to make the show funny and life
affirming and relatable.
“I don’t want it to be sad or serious; I think it’s
important for it to be a good story to someone who has no association with
dementia, as well as being sensitive to those who live surrounded by the
illness.”
Pocklington Arts Centre director Janet Farmer says:
“I was fortunate to see this show at the Edinburgh Fringe last August and
thought it was just so beautifully written and truly uplifting, I knew we had
to bring it to Pocklington. It tackles a tough topic with such humour and
warmth, it really is a must-see.”
Tickets cost £10 on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk or £12 on the door, with a special price of £9 for a carer of someone with dementia.
Mamma Mia! is on its way to Leeds Grand Theatre on its 20th anniversary tour
MAMMA Mia! will return to Leeds Grand Theatre from November 24 to December 5 on the tour to mark 20 years since the Abba musical’s London premiere.
Tickets will go on
general sale on January 29 on 0844 848 2700 or at leedsgrandtheatre.com.
Built around the music
and lyrics of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus,Mamma Mia!revels
in Judy Craymer’s vision of staging the story-telling magic of Abba’s songs
with a sunny, funny tale of a mother, a daughter and three possible dads
unfolding on a Greek island idyll.
To date, Mamma Mia! has been seen by more than 65 million people in 50
productions in 16 languages. In 2011, it became the first Western musical
to be staged in Mandarin in China.
Mamma Mia!became the eighth longest-running show on Broadway,
where it played a record-breaking run for 14 years and it continues to play in
London’s West End at the Novello Theatre, where the 20th anniversary
fell on April 6 2019.
The first British tour of Mamma Mia! visited Leeds Grand
Theatre from May 30 to July 8 in 2017.
CULTURE vulture artist Jonny Hannah is teaming up with Lotte Inch Gallery and FortyFive Vinyl Café to bring “a unique Valentine” bond of music and love to York.
Songs For Darktown Lovers, his
exhibition of Double A-sides, will be split between the two independent York
businesses, on show from February 8 to March 7.
Having exhibited with Lotte Inch Gallery, in Bootham, over the years, one-of-a-kind Scottish artist, designer, illustrator and all-round creative spark Hannah is returning to York for his music-inspired collaboration with gallery curator Lotte Inch and her friends Dan Kentley and Dom White at FortyFive Vinyl Café in Micklegate.
Shoe by Jonny Hannah
“Songs For Darktown Lovers roots
itself in all things music, and of course, love,” says Lotte. “With Sinatra’s Songs
For Swinging Lovers playing in the background, this exhibition is an
alternative Valentine for the creatively minded.
“It’s also a love letter to
‘Darktown’, a fictional place that Jonny refers to when modern life becomes too
much, a place with countless retreats, all revealed in his book Greetings From
Darktown, published by Merrell Publishers in 2014.”
The exhibition in two places will
combine newly reinterpreted vinyl sleeves on display at FortyFive Vinyl Café with
prints and hand-painted wooden cut-outs at both venues.
Harmonium by Jonny Hannah
“This will be a rich double-exhibition
of work by a highly respected and totally unique artist,” says Lotte, curator
of both displays. “It will definitely not be your usual Valentine’s cliché,”
she promises.
BAFTA award-winning Jonny Hannah was
born and raised in Dunfermline, Scotland, and studied at the Cowdenbeath
College of Knowledge, Liverpool Art School and then the Royal College of Art in
London.
Pepe Le Moko by Jonny Hannah
Since graduation in 1998, he has
worked both as a commercial designer and an illustrator and printmaker. He lives
by the sea in Southampton, where he is a senior lecturer in illustration at
Southampton Solent University.
Hannah boasts an impressive list of
exhibitions, advertising projects and clients, such as Royal Mail, the New York
Times, the Guardian and Conde Nast, and he has published a series of “undeniably
Hannah-esque” books with Merrell Publishers, Mainstone Press and Design For
Today.
“Many local visitors to next month’s
York shows will recall Jonny’s Darktown Turbo Taxi solo exhibition at the
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, in 2018,” says Lotte.
Shoe by Jonny Hannah
“For those curious to find out more,
we recommend looking out for the Darktown Turbo Taxi – a must see, even if only in retrospect, through
the website for his London and New York illustration agency, Heart Agency.”
A preview evening to launch Songs For Darktown Lovers will be held from 6pm to 9pm on February 7 at FortyFive Vinyl Café. “You can join Jonny, who will perform an acoustic set with friend, artist and illustrator Jonathan Gibbs before taking to the decks to celebrate our exciting collaboration,” says Lotte.
“It’s a
chance to get lost
in a world filled with art, music and just plain lovely people, with tickets
available at jonnyhannahpreview.eventbrite.com.”
Confederacy Of Dunces by Jonny Hannah
The exhibition’s Double A-side opens on February 8 at Lotte Inch Gallery, now moved to the first floor at 14 Bootham. “With coffee for those with sore heads, and art to further soothe the soul, the gallery will be offering up a selection of new and recently produced work from Jonny’s abounding studio in Southampton,” says Lotte.
“Coffee by FortyFive will be available that morning from 10am at
the gallery for those needing some solace from the previous night’s escapades!
Jonny Hannah will be in residence for the morning too, so be sure to drop by.”
Lotte Inch Gallery is open Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, or by appointment on 01904 848660. FortyFive Vinyl Café’s opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm; Saturday, 10am to 6pm; Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
Emma Lucia’s Girl and Daniel Healy’s Guy performing Falling Slowly in Once The Musical. Pictures: Mark Senior
DANIEL Healy and Emma Lucia are playing the lead roles together in Once The Musical not once, but twice.
They first did so in the regional premiere in Autumn 2018 at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch.
Now, that production’s director and musical director, the regular team of Peter Rowe and Ben Goddard, have reunited the duo for the first British tour that opened this month (January) and will play the Grand Opera House, York, from February 3 to 8.
First a cult, micro-budget Irish film written and directed by John Carney in 2007, then a Broadway, West End and Dublin show, Once The Musical tells the uplifting yet yearning story of the hopes and dreams of two lost souls, a jilted Dublin street busker and a more positive Czech musician, who unexpectedly fall in love across five short days in the Southern Irish capital city.
“I’ve managed to fool a few people with my Irish accent, thinking I really must be from Dublin,” says Scotsman Daniel Healy:
The touring cast of 16 will be led by Scotsman Healy as Guy and Lucia, from Durham, as Girl, whose chemistry was apparent immediately when press and media were invited to meet the company three weeks into rehearsal at Toynbee Hall in London’s East End: a question-and-answer session introduced with rousing renditions of Irish pub and ceilidh songs and the show’s opening scene.
This peaked with Healy and Lucia’s performance of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová’s Oscar-winning signature song Falling Slowly, with all the actor-musician cast playing their part around them, “leaning into the story” in the pub setting.
Daniel’s relationship with Once goes back to “a long time ago”. “My first run-in with the show was when I was doing a show in LA [Los Angeles] called Backbeat and I had an audition for the Broadway version of Once but couldn’t do it because of various reasons,” he recalls.
“But then I understudied the lead and played one of the main characters, Eamon [the music studio manager where Guy and Girl record their album] in the London production, when I understudied Ronan Keating.”
Daniel Healy’s Guy, Emma Lucia’s Girl and Samuel Martin’s Bank Manager in Once The Musical
Daniel is a singer-songwriter in his own right, and friendship with the Boyzone singer turned into a co-writing partnership that elicited Keating’s single Breathe. “After he heard one of my songs, Ronan said, ‘I’d really like to write with you’, so I ended up writing six songs with him and touring with him in his band,” he says.
Emma saw Daniel in Once in the London production. “I was still at Mountview drama school, and doing Beautiful, the Carole King musical, on tour at the time [making her professional debut as Marilyn and understudying the lead role],” she says.
“Then I heard there was going to be a production of Once in Ipswich, and I know the musical director, Ben Goddard, from doing a couple of classes led by him at Mountview.
“You’d do all the songs you’d thought of doing for auditions and he’d give you tips and advice.”
Emma landed the role of Girl after two auditions, and it was only then that she met Daniel for the first time for rehearsals.
” I’ve always loved theatre,” says Emma Lucia. “My dad used to do a lot of am-dram and I knew it was something in my life I always wanted to do”
“Peter and Ben auditioned us separately and they must have felt we would have chemistry once we were put together,” she says. The partnership worked a treat – “we get on really well” – and there was immediate talk of a tour.
“But we needed a producer,” says Emma. “I didn’t think it was going to happen, so it was a quite a surprise when it did, but we’re so pleased,” says Daniel.
“The producers have given Peter and Ben complete control as they loved the show as it was in Ipswich.”
Hearing Emma’s Czech accent on stage in the rehearsal room and then her North Eastern one in the interview reveals how much work she put into preparing for the role. “I’d only met one person from the Czech Republic in my life, and briefly at that, so I contacted the Czech Embassy and they put me in touch with two Czech girls who were here for six months and loved the show!” she says.
It’s not like I’m playing Titus Andronicus, but I do empathise more with the human struggle than the musical one,” says Daniel Healy
“So, we met for a cup of coffee and talked about the show, and I recorded their voices and asked any questions that I felt I needed answering.”
Likewise, Daniel’s Dublin accent sounds spot on. “I think, without being big-headed, I’ve got an ear for accents,” he says. “I’d ask Irish friends too, and it’s all about not being afraid to ask.
“Though being Scottish doesn’t make it easier to learn because, when accents are close to each other, like these two, they’re actually more difficult to separate…but I’ve managed to fool a few people with my Irish accent, thinking I really must be from Dublin!”
Daniel and Emma’s instrumental skills are as important to their roles as their singing and acting. “My dad’s a guitarist, and I did musical theatre from the age of five, and TV dramas and films too, and I’ve now got a parallel career as a singer-songwriter,” says Daniel.
Emma Lucia as Girl in Once The Musical, playing the Grand Opera House, York, in early February
“I could never call myself a busker, but I have busked in the past, but I sympathise more with Guy’s struggle with not having the courage to follow through with his dreams when you hope you can make it as a singer-songwriter.
“It’s not like I’m playing Titus Andronicus, but I do empathise more with the human struggle than the musical one.”
Emma’s path to Once began with an itch to dance from the age of three. “I just couldn’t stand still,” she recalls. “Then I picked up on playing the piano [the instrument she plays in Once] at five years old.
“I’ve always loved theatre. My dad used to do a lot of am-dram [amateur dramatics] and I knew it was something in my life I always wanted to do.”
Exuding an air of positivity, she feels a strong connection with her role as Girl. “She sees it as her mission to help other people, and I empathise with that as I love to do that myself,” says Emma.
Once The Musical runs at Grand Opera House, York, from February 3 to 8. Box office: 0844 871 3024, at atgtickets.com/York or in person from the Cumberland Street theatre.
ANYTHING but plain John Smith, “the
future of folk music”, will play Pocklington Arts Centre on May 21, fresh from a
string of Australian dates.
Raised by the Devon seaside, guitarist,
singer and songwriter Smith cut his folk teeth in the bars and clubs of
Liverpool and has since released six albums, attracted 23 million Spotify
streams and played to audiences in living rooms, festival tents and concert
halls the world over.
Steeped in the lineage of British folk, taking his
cue from Richard Thompson and John Martyn in particular, Smith has evolved an
innovative transatlantic blend of fingerstyle and slide guitar techniques to
frame his songs of love, loss and the journeys we make.
On stage, Smith has opened for Iron and Wine,
Tinariwen and Ben Howard and guested with Jackson Browne, Martin Carthy,
Richard Hawley, Jarvis Cocker, Jerry Douglas, Glen Hansard and Rodney Crowell.
In his occasional role as sideman, he
has played guitar for David Gray, Lisa Hannigan, Lianne La Havas, Joe Henry and
Joan Baez.
Welcoming Smith to Pocklington Arts
Centre, director Janet Farmer says: “With his honey-on-gravel voice and mesmerising
blend of fingerstyle and slide guitar techniques, John is without doubt the
perfect addition to our live music programme for 2020.
“He has quickly amassed a huge following
of loyal fans and has opened for folk greats John Martyn, Davy Graham and John
Renbourn, who described him as ‘the future of folk music’, and now we have the
privilege of welcoming him to our stage.”
Smith has made six albums across 12
years: The Fox And The Monk in 2006; Map Or Direction in 2009; Eavesdropping in
2011; Great Lakes in 2013; Headlong in 2017 and Hummingbird in 2018. Last year came two
October singles, Burden Of The Road and Killing The Blues.
Tickets for his 8pm Pocklington gig are on sale at £15 on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Back together at Leeds First Direct Arena: Michael Ball and Alfie Boe
CHART-TOPPING duo Michael Ball and Alfie Boe will play Leeds First
Direct Arena on February 25 on their Back Together tour.
The singing double act will be on an arena tour from February 22 to
March 7 for ten dates in the wake of the November 2019 release of their third
album, Back Together, on Decca Records.
The album of duets features The Greatest Show; Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again; Sunrise, Sunset; Circle Of Life; Come Fly With Me; Queen Medley; My Way; Something Inside So Strong; I Will Always Believe; Let It Be Me; Somethings Gotten Hold Of My Heart; Army and Brothers In Arms.
Back Together follows the success of Ball and Boe’s debut, Together, Britain’s best-selling album of 2016, and 2017 number one Together Again, the latest addition peaking at number two in the charts en route to achieving gold sales.
After decorated careers in theatre and opera, Ball and Boe have sold more than one million albums in the UK, received two Classic BRIT awards and presented two ITV specials.
Last August Ball and Boe returned to Boublil and Schoenberg’s musical Les
Miserables for a 16-week run at the Gielgud Theatre, London.
For ticket availability for February 25, go to firstdirectarena.com/events/.
Architect’s visualisation of the redeveloped Opera North estate, showing the Howard Assembly Room, new restaurant, box office and atrium on the left and the Howard Opera Centre on the right.
OPERA North’s redeveloped headquarters in Leeds will bear
the name of philanthropist Dr Keith Howard OBE.
The Howard Opera Centre will take on this title in
recognition of the Yorkshire benefactor’s personal gift of £11.25 million
towards the opera company’s redevelopment project, Music Works.
It is thought to be among the largest private donations ever made to a British arts company outside of London.
Dr Howard, a lifelong opera lover and cricket fan, is the founder of Emerald Group Publishing and president of Opera North.
The Howard Opera Centre will house Opera North’s rehearsal studios, costume and wigs workshop and administrative offices.
The redevelopment work on New Briggate and Harrison Street will
create a world-class facility to make opera; a new education studio and
additional rehearsal spaces, including a new rehearsal room for Opera North’s orchestra
and chorus and a suite of music coaching rooms.
The Howard Opera Centre will join another space named ten years earlier in recognition of Dr Howard’s support for the company, the Howard Assembly Room, a 300-seat performance venue offering a diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.
Originally opened in 2009 after extensive restoration, the
Howard Assembly Room is closed during the Music Works redevelopment project. It
will reopen in 2021 with a new dedicated and fully accessible entrance and
atrium, an increased number of performances and a new restaurant and bar, replacing
a row of previously vacant shop units on New Briggate.
The redevelopment project began on site last summer and is being delivered by Henry Boot Construction, a Sheffield regional construction contractor with a commitment to reducing environment impacts.
The overall target for the Music Works fundraising campaign is £18 million. Opera North has raised £15.6 million to date, including the £11.25 million gift that combines £9 million with £2.25 million in Gift Aid. Leeds City Council has contributed £750,000, together with the lease of the vacant shops on New Briggate, and funding of £499,999 has been awarded by Arts Council England.
The balance of the funds raised so far has come from private
donors, trusts and supporters, including a £1 million donation from the Liz and
Terry Bramall Foundation, as well as a significant contribution from Mrs
Maureen Pettman and major gifts from private individuals.
Councillor Jonathan Pryor, from Leeds City Council, left, Dr Keith Howard, and Opera North’s general director, Richard Mantle, attending the <Leeds company’s 2019/20 season launch at Harewood House. Picture: Justin Slee
In addition, gifts have been pledged by the Wolfson
Foundation, Backstage Trust, the Kirby Laing Foundation, the Foyle Foundation
and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Although 87 per cent of the target has been raised, there
remains a funding gap of £2.4 million to close. Opera North is looking to patrons, Friends and audiences to
play their part in the success of the redevelopment at many different levels.
Work also continues to attract funding from further charitable trusts and
foundations and the business community in Leeds.
Richard Mantle, Opera North’s general director, said: ““Opera
North is delighted to be able to recognise the extraordinary generosity of our
longstanding supporter and friend, Dr Keith Howard, whose contribution to this
project means that we are able to create a new artistic home for the company,
as well as improving the infrastructure, access and visitor experience for the
Howard Assembly Room.
“The Howard Opera Centre will be a true centre of excellence, bringing together rehearsal spaces for world-class opera productions with coaching rooms, where singers can develop their vocal expertise, and specialist costume workshop spaces.
“A new hub for our education work will create an inclusive space
for our work with young people from across the city, bringing children and
young people right to the heart of our creative community.”
Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council,
said: “We are pleased to see this significant redevelopment now taking
shape, creating a vastly improved artistic and educational hub for one of
Leeds’s leading cultural assets.
“Opera North makes a huge contribution to the city, both in
terms of the vitality and diversity of work seen on stage, and also through its
work with children, young people and communities throughout our region.
“Through the revitalisation of a neglected section of New Briggate, the improved facilities for the Howard Assembly Room will work in tandem with our wider aspirations for the area as part of the Heritage Action Zones and Connecting Leeds programmes, creating a vibrant destination and supporting our plans for a better-connected city.”
Opera North employs more than 250 people, such as costume makers,
stage managers, electricians, stage technicians, props makers, sound and
lighting technicians, educators, designers and musicians, in addition to
working with around 370 freelance performers, creatives and artists each year.
Opera North’s opera productions are created and premiered in
Leeds, where the company performs at Leeds Grand Theatre each season before
touring its opera productions to theatres across the country.
The Music Works redevelopment is scheduled to be completed in phases, with the Howard Opera Centre opening in late 2020, and the Howard Assembly Room, restaurant and atrium scheduled for completion in 2021.
Watch a short film about Music Works at https://youtu.be/4xQU4q0xFD4
Work to replace the vacant shop units on New Briggate, Leeds, with a new restaurant and bar, December 2019. Picture: Tom Arber
MUSIC WORKS
“More live music, for everyone”.
More performances in the Howard Assembly Room every year;
A dedicated entrance for the Howard Assembly Room;
An open, welcoming building that is fully accessible at
all levels;
New public spaces and an atrium.
Music Works will enable Opera North to host a full
year-round programme of performances, workshops and small-scale productions in
the Howard Assembly Room, increasing the number of performances given at the
venue.
The best global musicians and artists will be brought to
Leeds each year, creating a
diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.
A new restaurant and bar, open to everyone all day;
A refurbished Opera North box office and reception for
Leeds Grand Theatre
Restoration of a Grade II listed building
A crane moves steel on to the construction site at the top of the new Howard Opera Centre, looking east towards the Quarry House government offices, January 2020. Picture: Tom Arber
Music Works will regenerate a row of vacant shops directly
beneath the Howard Assembly Room to
create a new restaurant and bar alongside a refurbished box office.
A new dedicated “front door” will be established for Opera North and the Howard
Assembly Room; the building will be open to everyone from morning until late at
night for coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks.
Cutting-edge facilities for making opera: The Howard Opera Centre:
A new purpose-built Music Rehearsal Studio;
Three new music practice rooms;
Refurbished Costume Workshop and Dye Room;
A new artist and Company green room.
A home for Opera North Education:
A new, flexible Education Studio;
A new music coaching room for students;
Break-out spaces and “secret garden” for school groups;
A shared entrance for students, artists and staff, placing young people at the heart of the company.
An environmentally sustainable cultural flagship for Leeds:
An environmentally sustainable and efficient estate;
Photovoltaic panels to generate energy;
A significant contribution to the New Briggate public
realm;
A major capital investment in the run up to 2023 Leeds
cultural celebrations;
Investment in digital infrastructure to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
The Sandy Denny Project: rare treat at Selby Town Hall. Picture: Paul Michael Hughes
SELBY Town Hall’s spring season opens on February 1 with an 8pm performance
by folk-rock supergroup The Sandy Denny Project, paying homage to the late
Fairport Convention folk-rock singer.
“Featuring, among others, Sally Barker, a former finalist on BBC One’s The
Voice, they don’t play a great many gigs together,” says Selby Town Council
arts officer Chris Jones. “This is one of only a couple of shows announced for
2020 – a rare treat.”
In a tragically short career – she died at the age of 31 – Sandy Denny
sealed her place among the most influential and best-loved singer-songwriters of
the past 50 years.
Britain’s pre-eminent folk-rock singer, she began her performing career
with The Strawbs, then joined Fairport Convention, formed Fotheringay and released
four solo albums.
Her song Who Knows Where The Time Goes? has been recorded by Judy
Collins, Eva Cassidy, Nina Simone and Cat Power, while her wider work has been
the subject of numerous reissues, documentaries and high-profile tribute
concerts.
Sally Barker, from The Poozies, and fellow former Fotheringay MkII member
PJ Wright, from The Dylan Project, are joined in The Sandy Denny Project by frequent
Fairport Convention guest Anna Ryder, fast-rising singer, fiddler and guitarist
Marion Fleetwood and a rhythm section of bassist Mat Davies and drummer Mark
Stevens, from the now-defunct folk-rock group Little Johnny England.
Sandy Denny’s writing is approached not in the manner of a tribute band slavishly
copying the records, but as an interpretation of her work by six musicians who
share a folk-rock pedigree.
“Although Sandy died in 1978, her songs remain as fresh, poignant and as
beautiful today as the time that they were penned, and with every year her
reputation as a songwriter and interpreter of traditional material continues to
grow,” says Chris.
“The repertoire of The Sandy Denny Project reflects the amazing legacy
left behind by Sandy, through her work with the early incarnations of Fairport
Convention, the sublime Fotheringay and her incredible solo songs.
“February 1 is a rare chance to see these six fantastic musicians
perform their pitch-perfect tribute. The band really are of the highest
folk-rock calibre and this is an opportunity no folk fan will want to miss.”
Tickets cost £19 on 01757 708449 or at selbytownhall.co.uk or £21 on the door from 7.30pm.
