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Who will be performing at York Early Music Festival 2024 in eight-day celebration of the human voice and song in July?

Consone Quartet: Participating in York Early Music Festival’s chamber music programme

THIS summer’s York Early Music Festival 2024 will be an eight-day celebration of music from medieval to the baroque under the title of Metamorfosi.

“The festival will focus on the human voice and song, a combination prized for its power to communicate most directly, and through metamorphosis, the inspiration behind the creation, reimagination and reconstruction of music across time,” says festival director Delma Tomlin.

“This is a very prestigious early music festival that everyone wants to play. We’re looking forward to bringing to York an outstanding line-up of artists, celebrating the power, magnificence and influence of the human voice over the centuries. This year’s exciting line-up will see the return of many festival favourites and a host of new ensembles.

“As ever, the festival will take place in an array of York’s most beautiful churches and historic buildings, and this year’s programme includes four performances in the iconic York Minster.”

Presented by the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), York, from July 6 to 13, festival will feature a line-up of vocal specialists such as French festival debutants Concerto Soave (NCEM, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, July 6, 12 noon); The Gesualdo Six (Chapter House, York Minster, July 9, 7.30pm); festival newcomers Vox Luminis (York Minster Quire, July 11, 7.45pm) and Cappella Pratensis & I Fedeli (York Minster Quire, July 12, 9pm).

Highlighting the theme of reimagination, guest artists including The Sixteen (York Minster, July 6, 7.30pm), the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (NCEM, July 8, 7pm), Rose Consort of Viols, with mezzo-soprano Martha McLorian (NCEM, July 9, 9.30pm), and Gawain Glenton’s Ensemble In Echo (St Lawrence Church, Hull Road, July 10, 7.30pm)  will reveal how much composers have borrowed from each other and themselves.

As well as performing herself, mezzo-soprano, BBC New Generation Artist and YEMF artistic adviser Helen Charlston is curating a series of chamber concerts, where the Consone Quartet, harpsichordist John Butt and mezzo-soprano Rebecca Leggett will be her guests.

Leggett, Butt and basse de viole player Jonathan Manson will join Charlston for Couperin: Lecons de Tenebres at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Aldwark, on July 8 at 9.15pm, and later she will perform William Thorp’s arrangement of Schumann’s song-cycle Frauenlieben und leben with the Consone Quartet through a new lens of string quartet and voice at the NCEM on July 9 at 12 noon.

Cubaroque, a new combination of tenor Nicolas Mulroy and lutenists Elizabeth Kenny and Toby Carr, will bring together an unusual programme of music by Purcell and Monteverdi, plus more modern songs from South America, at the NCEM on July 7 at 7.30pm.

Making a return to York for two concerts in a residency will be Apotropaïk, winners of the Friends Prize, the EEEmerging+ Prize (CORRECT) and the Cambridge Early Music Prize at the 2022 York International Young Artists Competition. First up, Holy Trinity, Micklegate, on July 10 at 12 noon, followed by the Undercroft, Merchant Adventurers Hall, on July 11 at 9.45pm.

Against the tide of the Brexit divorce from Europe, the NCEM and YEMF have been “especially thrilled” to be working on a new collaboration with artists and colleagues based in Flanders, Belgium, with support from the Alamire Foundation, AMUZ in Antwerp and the Flanders government.

“This partnership enables us to bring Flemish vocal ensemble Utopia to the festival [at the NCEM, July 12, 6pm,] to perform Salve Susato: Treasures from Antwerp’s Golden Age,  as well as the Cappella Pratensis & I Fedeli’s celebration of Renaissance polyphony in the Franco-Flemish music of Jacob Obrecht and Jacobus Barbireau later that day,” says Delma. “Both concerts will mark Flanders Day.”

Once more, the festival will play host to ensembles from across Europe in the prestigious biennial York International Young Artists Competition, a ground-breaking initiative that attracts young artists from all over the world.

Looking to follow such past winners as the Protean Quartet, L’Apotheose, Barroco Tout and Sollazzo Ensemble, finalists will spend time in York performing informal concerts and learning from experts before the final concerts on Saturday, July 13, from 10am to 5pm.

“We end the festival with one of the most important dates on the NCEM’s calendar, the York International Young Artists Competition York Early Music Festival,” says Delma. “The NCEM is internationally renowned for promoting and mentoring aspiring young musicians through its extensive work and we can’t wait to host this year’s competition.”

The full festival programme can be found at: https://www.ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf/.

To book tickets, ring 01904 658338 or go to: https://www.ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf/.

In Focus: Who will be the eight ensembles taking part in the 2024 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition?

Rubens Ros, from Switzerland

MEDIEVAL music ensemble based in Basel, co-directed by Aliénor Wolteche (fiddles) and Matthieu Romanens (tenor), graduates of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Repertoire ranges from 13th century accompanied monody to late-medieval vocal and instrumental polyphony. Rubens Rosa made its debut in 2022 at the Basel festival Erasmus klingt.

[hanse]Pfeyfferey, from Germany

RENAISSANCE wind band specialising in improvised and rediscovered music from circa 1500. Their goal is to reproduce authentic and refined Renaissance wind band sound that can be heard from high church towers and serves as the soundtrack for grand processions and balls.

Ayres Extemporae, based in Belgium

TRIO comprising Moldovan-Spanish violinist Xenia Gogu, Spanish cellist Víctor García García, playing on a five-string cello piccolo, and Portuguese cellist Teresa Madeira. Awarded first prize and audience prize at 2022 Semana de Música Antigua de Estella-Lizarra, leading to them being programmed in 2023 festival too. Also received second prize at Biagio Marini International Early Music Competition in Germany.

Brezza, from Switzerland

CREATED in the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, this versatile ensemble’s research, rehearsal and concert activities explore 17th and 18th century music in the core instrumentation of traverso, viola da gamba, and harpsichord.

Apollo’s Cabinet, from Great Britain

MURDERS, drinking songs, Cinderella stories, virtuosic cantatas, European tours, serene polyphony and candlelit rituals all feature in the evocative and story-driven programmes of these Göttingen Händel Competition and 2022 Maurizio Pratola competition winners. Signature mix of acting, dancing, poetry and silliness brings historical performance to modern audiences, while educational outreach for children and adults alike is at the core of the ensemble’s work.

Pseudonym, based in Switzerland

SCHOLA Cantorum Basiliensis graduates Gabriel Smallwood, Maya Webne-Behrman, Stephen Moran and Liane Sadler perform adventurous interpretations of 17th and 18th century music. Finalists and prize winners at MA Competition Bruges, Van Wassenaer Concours, international harpsichord competition Wanda Landowska in Memoriam, Bach-Abel Wettbebwerb, the International Telemann Wettberwerb and International Biagio Marini Competition.

Trio Pellegrino, from the Netherlands

FORMED after playing in larger ensemble at 2023 La Risonanza Early Music Festival in Bertinoro, Italy. Focusing on Classical and early Romantic repertoire, ranging from Haydn to Schubert, they plan to perform in Germany and England later this year.

Friedrichs Nebelmeer Ensemble,from Switzerland

DYNAMIC woodwind ensemble of Pablo Gigosos (flute), Mei Kamikawa (oboe), Claudia Reyes (clarinet), Andrés Sánchez (horn), and Angel Alvarez (bassoon) formed in 2022 out of shared passion for chamber music and commitment to artistic excellence.

The 2024 competition final will be presented by a panel of judges: Bart Demuyt, director of AMUZ/Alamire; lutenist Elizabeth Kenny; Philip Hobbs, from Linn Records; Lionel Meunier, director of Vox Luminis, and clarinettist/University of York lecturer Emily Worthington. .

The main prize includes a professional CD recording contract from Linn Records; a cheque for £1,000 and opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and the National Centre for Early Music, York.

Other prizes are supported by Cambridge Early Music Festival, the European Union Baroque Orchestra Development Trust and Friends of the York Early Music Festival.

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Bull launch second album Engines Of Honey over two days at The Crescent with gigs, DJs, jamboree art fair, bingo, quiz… and curry

Bull: Two nights and a jamboree day at The Crescent to mark the release of Engines Of Honey

BULL, York’s “finest purveyors of jangling indie joy”, launch second album Engines Of Honey with a brace of home-city shows at The Crescent this weekend.

Their tour booker has sent the guitar-powered slacker pop quintet on a frankly bonkers itinerary, beginning in Brighton on March 14, where frontman Tom Beer slept on a bean bag – “a comfy, long bean bag,” he says – at his cousin’s house, followed by Bristol.

Next came Manchester on Saturday; Edinburgh on Sunday, where Tom took a restorative run up Arthur’s Seat first thing on Monday morning; Newcastle last night (20/3/2024); Glasgow tonight; then, back home to York after all that mileage, tomorrow and Saturday, before a London finale at the Windmill, Brixton, on March 28.

“Ex-tour booker,” jokes Tom in a Wednesday morning chat in the Explore York library hush of The Centre @ Burnholme.

“Rather than music, I’d been doing a lot of painting, some little doodles – one we used for the artwork for the Red Rooves single – now some bigger ones as well, though I’ve got no plans to exhibit them, but this tour has reinvigorated me massively, making me realise I do want to do more music.

“I’m now realising that life is a round thing, where you can do lots of different things. So I can do some music, some law, some painting, some gardening, some swimming pool construction.”

Playing plenty of squash and tennis too, sometimes against fellow York singer and songwriter Sam Griffiths of The Howl & The Hum. “I beat him at squash; he beats me at tennis,” says Tom.

Kai West’s cover artwork for Bull’s Engines Of Honey

We shall return to “some law” and “some swimming pool construction” later, but first the new album, Engines Of Honey, the title taken from a lyric (from Stranger), not a song title, in the tradition of the Pixies.

“Sam [Griffiths] says that when you bring something out it reminds you that you exist,” says Tom. “You can take it way too seriously, but it’s just some songs for people to listen to, and if people have like them, that’s great. The reaction to the album has been really good.”

Released on March 1, with distribution by AWAL, who did likewise for The Howl & The Hum’s Human Contact in 2020, Engines Of Honey is available via Bandcamp on CD and vinyl, and digitally too, but not at record shops.

Billed on Facebook as “our second greatest hits”, the album’s arrival has not been accompanied by the fanfare that met the alt-rock dandies’ March 2021 debut, Discover Effortless Living, after Bull became the first York band since Shed Seven to sign for a major label, fully ten years after their formation. £20,000 from EMI came their way, along with a further £5,000 backing for 2022 EP Stuck.

“Signing to EMI opened up a lot of doors in terms of the record being sold in places like HMV, which was a big deal for us, and brought us headlines. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy where people start taking you seriously,” says Tom.

Not everything went swimmingly, however. “We were going to put out another album with EMI and went down to London to meet them, but I had a bit of a burn-out after their 2022-23 tour, when I kind of realised I didn’t want to be focusing on music as much as I’d done before…so I started a new job.”

Tom had studied for a law degree at Newcastle University in earlier days. “I’m now working as a planning consultant for the gypsy and traveller community nationally, and I’m a trustee for the York Travellers Trust too. It’s about giving them stable private homes, but where they can live their traditional lifestyle,” he says.

“I’m working with lawyer Marc Willers, a leading King’s Counsellor on gypsy and traveller issues, who’s been such an inspiration to me. We met up last week when Bull were playing Brighton, and I’m considering doing a pupillage down there.”

Bull on the March tour trail: Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Glasgow, York, last stop London

Tom decided that Bull should not push for the second album with EMI. “It wasn’t the right fit, to be honest,” he reflects. “We’re a cult independent band from York, That’s what we are. We’re not going to be the next Wet Leg. We have cult appeal, a catalogue of 35 songs, and a small group of people around the world that like us, and that’s all we want.”

Twelve of those songs form Engines Of Honey, recorded by singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Tom, keyboard-playing sister Holly Beer, guitarist Dan Lucas, drummer Tom Gabbatiss and bassist Kai West with producer Remko Schouten in his Amsterdam studio, as was the case for Discover Effortless Living, with further recordings at Tom’s parents’ house in York. “Adding endless harmonies, shakers, timpani and saxophone,” as Tom puts it.

Bull are in a good place, says Tom. “It doesn’t matter that we didn’t do a second album with EMI. We’re happy where we are because you can’t make money from music unless you’re huge, and we were broke,” he says.

“I wasn’t making ends meet, so I needed to get a job. We’re not exactly business people. We tried but it kills it. I started taking things too seriously, but it’s only music. Though I feel very conflicted about it. I don’t feel I’ve quit, but I was working way too hard at it, to the point where I can’t do that any more.

“Music is much more personal than other careers; you feel it too deeply, where it would activate my ‘fight or flight’, so I had to stop doing it, but thankfully Holly and Dan and the rest of the band took over finishing the album, with Dan doing the lion’s share of the mixing.””

Bull: Playing a different set each night at The Crescent on Friday and Saturday

Bull have signed to new management; a further York live event is upcoming at the York Explore library on May 17, and recording plans are afoot already for two more albums, one with Renko Schouten at his new studio in rural Spain, the other, “super-lo-fi” in York.

“We’re trying to strike a deal with Renko to build him a guitar-shaped swimming pool on his land to cover making the next album,” says Tom. Polymath Kai is a builder among his multiple skills, should you be wondering.

Turning 30, Tom finds himself becoming more of a home bird. “I’m engaged; I want to have kids, make normal money from a job,” he says. “I had to give up on my rock’n’roll dream, which is unreal. Only Bob Dylan pulls off the never-ending tour, and I’m not sure how happy he is. I just want to be have friends around me. Be a good citizen for York.”

First up, Bull play two entirely different sets tomorrow and on Saturday with no repeats and DJ sets afterwards by Victor Alvarez, the Mexican-masked host of the Golden Ball’s Latin nights, Sophisticated Boom Boom DJs, from the Micklegate Social, DJ Dr Vic, DJ Georgie, probably Joe Coates and maybe Tom Beer too, picked from his record collection.

In between comes Saturdays’ free daytime jamboree, kicking off at 2pm with an art fair featuring Jade Blood, Harry Clowes, Kai West and Izzy Williamson and more. Ben Crosthwaite’s music quiz at 5pm will be followed by Jade Blood’s Art Bingo with prizes at 6pm.

Look out too for Bull’s homemade curry, cooked up by Kai West, and a memoraBullia exhibition with 20 Bull T-shirts down the years, posters, promotional artwork and record sleeve designs. MemoraBullia, Tom? “I came up with that!” he says.

Please Please You and Brudenell Presents present Bull at The Crescent, York, tomorrow, supported by FEET, from London, and Vehicle, from Leeds, 7.30pm. Tickets still available at thecrescentyork.com. Saturday, supported by Eugene Glorious and Fat Spatula, 7.30pm, sold out.

Album launch Saturday Daytime Jamboree, The Crescent, 2pm onwards; free entry. To buy Engines Of Honey, go to: https://bullband.bandcamp.com/album/engines-of-honey

Kai West’s poster artwork for Bull’s album launch weekender

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More Things To Do in Ryedale, York and beyond the yellow brick road. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 7, from the Gazette & Herald

Le Collectif de Blues: Making their Ryedale Blues Club debut

BLUES and the yellow brick road, New Orleans jazz and Sondheim, egg hunts and art workshops, an album launch and a pop double bill make Charles Hutchinson’s latest list.

Blues gig of the week: Le Collectif de Blues, Milton Rooms, Malton, tonight (21/3/2024), 8pm

FOR the first time, Ryedale Blues Club presents the straight-up, no-nonsense Chicago blues of Le Collectif de Blues at the Milton Rooms. Expect a “killer harp, low key, small amps, no effects” brand of blues. “Just as it should be,” they say. Hull blues and rock musician Steve Fulsham is on the bill too. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Alligator Gumbo: New Orleans jazz from Leeds in Helmsley

Jazz gig of the week: Alligator Gumbo, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

PERFORMING everywhere from rowdy bars to prestigious jazz festivals since 2011, Leeds combo Alligator Gumbo play jazz from the hey-day of the New Orleans swing/jazz era, in particular the “Roaring Twenties”, when music was raw and largely improvised with melodies and solos happening simultaneously. 

Striving to keep the New Orleans sound alive, Alligator Gumbo play the popular songs that defined this time and place. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Baby boom: Ryedale Youth Theatre choreographer Lauren Hood, front left, producer/director Chloe Shipley and musical director Rachael Clarke with their babies and The Wizard Of Oz cast members

Ryedale musical of the week: Ryedale Youth Theatre in The Wizard Of Oz, Milton Rooms, Malton, March 27 to 30, 7.15pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

REHEARSALS were paused for several weeks when three key members of Ryedale Youth Theatre’s production team took time out to be with their new arrivals. Choreographer Lauren Hood had a baby son, musical director Rachael Clarke, a daughter, and producer/director Chloe Shipley, a son. Choreographer Rachel Morris is having a baby too, due after the show’s run.

Rehearsals resumed in February for L Frank Baum’s musical story of Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow and their journey along the yellow brick road to meet the Wizard of Oz. Box office: yourboxoffice.co.uk.

Sam Hird: Heading home to York to sing Sondheim with Pick Me Up Theatre

Musical revue of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sondheim We Remember, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 27 to 30, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

ROYAL College of Music student Sam Hird returns home to York to join his father Mark Hird in the Pick Me Up Theatre company for Sondheim We Remember’s selection of music from Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway shows, film scores and television specials.

Taking part too in this celebration of the New York composer and lyricist will be show director Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer, Susannah Baines, Emma Louise Dickinson, Alexandra Mather, Florence Poskitt, Catherine Foster, Andrew Roberts, Nick Sephton and Matthew Warry. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Bassist Kai West’s poster for Bull’s two-day album launch at The Crescent

York album launch of the week: Bull at The Crescent, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm

BULL, York’s “finest purveyors of jangling indie joy”, launch second album Engines Of Honey with a brace of home-city shows, supported by FEET and Vehicle on Friday, then Fat Spatula and Eugene Gorgeous on Saturday.

Vocalist/songwriter Tom Beer, guitarist Dan Lucas, drummer Tom Gabbatiss, keyboard player Holly Beer and bassist Kai West promise entirely different sets for each night with no repeats. What’s more, they are making a day of it on the Saturday with a free daytime jamboree from 2pm, featuring an art fair, Ben Crosthwaite’s music quiz, bingo with Jade Blood, Bull’s homemade curry and a memoraBullia exhibition, plus post-gig DJs. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

The National Trust guide to Easter activties

Easter egg hunt of the fortnight: Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, Saturday to April 7, 10.30am to 5pm; last entry, 4.15pm.

FAMILIES can enjoy a fun-packed visit to the National Trust property of Nunnington Hall throughout the Easter school holiday, when children can take part in an Easter egg hunt trail around the freshly mown garden, with activities to be completed such as an egg and spoon race, archery and boules, before receiving their egg.

Children can enjoy drawing and painting in the creative hub; take part in seed planting in the cutting garden; explore the Lion’s Den play area, with its obstacle course, rope bridge and climbing frame; learn about composting and spend time in the bird-watching area. On March 31 and April 1, additional garden activities include races on the main lawn and bird-feeder making. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.

Artist Nicola Hutchinson: Hosting two days of workshops at Helmsley Arts Centre

Workshop of the week: A Creative Art Adventure, Helmsley Arts Centre, Monday and Tuesday, 10am to 3pm

ARTIST Nicola Hutchinson embarks on an enchanting journey through a world of creativity this Easter holiday in a two-day workshop for children aged eight to 11, focusing on exploration and discovery.

These sessions offer the chance to learn new skills and techniques in a relaxed setting, with a variety of art materials provided to experiment with drawing, painting, and collage skills. All levels and abilities are welcome; snacks and drinks are provided; please dress to get messy. Tickets: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

York gig announcement of the week: Wet Wet Wet & Heather Small, York Barbican, October 13 2025

Wet Wet Wet with special guest Heather Small: Playing York Barbican in October 2025

WHEN Wet Wet Wet headlined a festival in Dubai, who should they bump into but Heather Small, the big voice of M People. She duly accepted their invitation to be the special guest at all dates on their 2025 tour.

Wet Wet Wet will be returning to York Barbican after their January 31 2024 double bill with Go West on the Best Of Both Worlds Tour. In the line-up will be founding member and bassist Graeme Clark, long-standing guitarist Graeme Duffin and singer Kevin Simm, The Voice UK winner and former Liberty X member, who joined the Scottish group in 2018. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at axs.com.york.

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on BC Camplight, The Crescent, York, March 15

BC Camplight: “This will be one of the top five nights of your life,” he proclaims. All pictures: Paul Rhodes

BRIAN ‘BC Camplight’ Christinzio may have some imperfections, but false modesty is not one of them. Walking on stage with his crack five-piece band, he said: “This will be one of the top five nights of your life.” Luckily, he had the songs and the humour to (almost) pull that off. Top five BC Camplight gigs? Most certainly.

Camplight appears like someone always in transition; seemingly always in a weird place. His songs morph and mutate, and as a performer he now finds himself on the cusp to the next level of stardom that everyone present, not least the man himself, seems to expect.

That he’s been burned so many times before on the brink of greater things would only increase the much-delayed gratification of musical justice prevailing.  

BC Camplight: “Mordant lyrics are both laugh-out-loud funny and startling in their depiction of his mental illness,” says reviewer Paul Rhodes

This was the last gasp of the Last Rotation On Earth tour (a top 40 record) and the stage was packed with musicians to bring out the many nuances in his music. Particularly credit should go to Francesca Pidgeon, Camplight’s primary foil and multi-instrumentalist. A still presence on stage, she was actually perpetually moving, switching across instruments and singing.

For the uninitiated, Camplight is a BBC 6Music staple. Someone with an outsize talent and a knack of controlling a stage. He’s a man who has drunk deeply from the well of 1970s’ AOR and Eighties’ pop and funk – but whose mordant lyrics are both laugh-out-loud funny and startling in their depiction of his mental illness.

This dark prince has the fills, if not the moves, of his more petite Princely predecessor. While you could almost imagine Prince performing Cemetery Lifestyle at one of his famous after-show parties, he might have played it as an instrumental.

BC Camplight: “An outsize talent and a knack of controlling a stage”

The 15 songs drew on the best parts of his latest record and the previous three. All of his recorded albums are scattered with the most glorious tunes, but each is uneven. In concert, he more successfully levelled out the melodic highs – such as the I’m Ugly (fast becoming a signature song) with the introspective tunes.

The capacity crowd was quiet for one song only, and that was I Want To Be In The Mafia, just Brian, metaphorically naked behind the piano. Life In A Dozen Years contained both the best and the worst; glorious melodic sections jagged by noisy, dark interludes that, while unique, may never sit comfortably with an expanded audience.

For his favourite song, She’s Gone Cold, Camplight stepped away from the clever touches and played it as a straight-up power ballad. I’m Desperate was a frenetic and amazing final song where the roof, quaking but intact previously, finally lifted off. He may not be an overnight sensation but was sensational on this night.

Review by Paul Rhodes

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Elvis Costello to play 60 different songs over four gigs on two September nights with Steve Nieve at Leeds City Varieties

Elvis Costello: 60 songs from 50 years in four shows in two nights at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall in September

ELVIS Costello will bring his new career-spanning presentation, 15 Songs From 50 Years, to Leeds City Varieties on September 2 and 3 for four unique performances over two days.

Walking in the footsteps of Harry Houdini and beyond the long shadow of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Carson and Leonard Sachs at the Swan Street music hall, Costello will be joined at each 75-minute show by keyboard player Steve Nieve, his long-serving, Royal College of Music-trained  cohort in The Attractions and The Imposters.

Each day, the 7pm soiree will feature an entirely different repertoire to the 9.30pm set list, the songs being selected from each of the five decades of Costello’s songwriting, whether solo or in the company of Flip City; American country rock band Clover; The Attractions; Squeeze’s Chris Difford;  The Coward Brothers, with T-Bone Burnett; the Confederates; Paul McCartney; the Brodsky Quartet; The Imposters; Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint or the Roots.

A 15-song programme will be printed in advance of each concert with few, if any repeats anticipated but with the possibility of impromptu choices along the way. Costello. 69, and Nieve, 66, very occasionally take requests but should never be mistaken for a jukebox.

The third and fourth performances, on the second day, will “propose a deuce of delights”: two entirely different 15-song set-lists selected from half a century of popular songwriting craft.

“The four shows are guaranteed to feature 60 different songs, but we suspect this is just the start,” predicts the shows’ publicity machine.

Those who want to attend all four contrasting shows in this exclusive engagement can obtain a special season ticket to include premium seats for each show in the front rows or boxes with exclusive use of the bar in between shows.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (22/3/2024) at 10am at ElvisCostello.com. Don’t dilly dally, advises the press release, lifting a lyric from Costello’s anti-war single Pills And Soap, released under the pseudonym of The Imposter in the run-up to the 1983 General Election.

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Pick Me Up Theatre to perform Stephen Sondheim shows at the double at Theatre@41, Monkgate in March and April

Sam Hird: Singing Sondheim with Pick Me Up Theatre

ROYAL College of Music student Sam Hird returns home to York to join his father Mark Hird in the Pick Me Up Theatre company for Sondheim We Remember at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from March 27 to 30.

Taking part too in this celebration of New York composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim will be director Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer, Susannah Baines, Emma Louise Dickinson, Alexandra Mather, Florence Poskitt, Andrew Roberts, Catherine Foster, Nick Sephton and Matthew Warry.

Planned originally for 2020 before Covid intervened – and Sondheim’s death on November 26 2021 at the age of 91 – Pick Me Up’s show features music from his Broadway shows, film scores and TV specials. Tickets for the 7.30pm evening shows and 2.30pm Saturday matinee are on sale at tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Pick Me Up Theatre’s company of singers for Sondheim We Remember

Pick Me Up will make a swift return to Theatre@41 with a second Sondheim show, his 1984 musical collaboration with playwright and director James Lapine, Sunday In The Park With George, from April 5 to 13.

Inspired by Georges Seurat’s pointillist painting Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte, the musical follows Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of that famous work.

Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate over the next 100 years.

Performances will start at 7.30pm on April 5, 6 and 9 to 13, plus 2.30pm on April 6, 7 and 13. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Picture pose: Pick Me Up Theatre’s Emma-Louise Dickinson, as Celeste, adds to the scene in Georges Seurat’s painting Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte, the inspiration for Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical Sunday In The Park With George
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Micklegate Singers to give first complete performance of A Quaker Trilogy by University of York composers on Saturday

The poster for Micklegate Singers’ Beyond The World concert

MICKLEGATE Singers will give the first complete performance of A Quaker Trilogy, William Penn’s words of comfort, set by three burgeoning York composers at Saturday’s concert at St Lawrence’s Church, Lawrence Street, York.

Those works will be Frederick Viner’s The Truest End, David McGregor’s They That Love and Joe Bates’s Absence.

“Over the last season or so, the Micklegate Singers have been drip-feeding a set of three commissions into our concert programmes by wonderful new composers from the University of York,” says chair Sarah Sketchley.

“These are based on Quaker words of comfort by William Penn, chosen by the commissioner, and are about to be performed as a full set for the first time since being published by University of York Music Press (UYMP).”

Directed by Nicholas Carter, Saturday’s Beyond The World programme also will feature music of mourning by Manuel Cardoso (Et Egressus Est A Filia Sion) and James MacMillan (Who Shall Separate Us?), through music of the light from Ivo Antognini (Lux Aeterna) and James Whitbourn (He Carried Me Away In The Spirit), to the brightness of Herbert Howells’ Haec Dies and William Byrd’s work of the same name.

Matthew Martin’s Mass of St Dominic and Ben Parry: Lighten Our Darkness will be performed too. Tickets for the 7.30pm concert will be available at the door with free admission for anyone in full-time education and accompanied children.

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Shed Seven to finish chart-topping 30th anniversary with November and December tour. When do tickets go on sale?

Shed Seven: 23 dates in November and December, including Sheffield, Halifax, Hull and Leeds. Picture: Barnaby Fairley

YORK chart toppers Shed Seven will conclude their 30th anniversary celebrations with a 23-date tour – their biggest ever – in November and December.

Yorkshire gigs on their now traditional biennial “Shedcember” itinerary will kick off with the tour-opening Sheffield Octagon on November 14, followed by Victoria Theatre, Halifax, November 18, Hull City Hall, November 19, and Leeds O2 Academy, November 30.

The tour’s closing night will take the Sheds to Brixton O2 Academy, London, on December 14. Keeping it Yorkshire, the support band at all shows will be The Sherlocks, Kiaran & Brandon Crook’s indie band from Bolton upon Dearne, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Tickets for the 30th Anniversary Tour will go on general sale on Friday (22/3/2024) at gigst.rs/SS24. Fans who sign up to the Shed Seven mailing list at shedseven.com/signup by 12 noon tomorrow (19/3/2024) can access an exclusive presale on Wednesday.

“The tour promises to be our biggest yet, as we revisit cities and towns that have been instrumental in shaping our journey over the past three decades,” says the Sheds’ website. “Each night will see the band deliver a career-spanning set, as well as featuring tracks from our number one album, A Matter Of Time.”

The poster for Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary tour

“Expect some surprise guest appearances along the way too,” they tease. “This tour will be our way of saying thank-you to our incredible fans, both old and new,” says frontman Rick Witter. “So, whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or are just discovering/re-discovering our music, we would love you to join us for what will be an unforgettable celebration of 30 years of Shed Seven.”

The Sheds now line up with stalwarts Witter on vocals, Paul Banks on guitar and Tom Gladwin on bass, joined by 2022 recruits Tim Wills on keyboards and Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, once a member of Banks’s band The Rising, on drums.  

The Sheds’ 30th anniversary celebrations kicked off with the maximum bang when sixth studio album A Matter Of Time topped the official UK album charts in January, a feat matched by latest single Let’s Go Dancing in the vinyl, seven-inch, and Scottish singles charts.

Should you be wondering why York is absent from this winter’s tour, the Sheds will be playing two sold-out home-city gigs in the York Museum Gardens on July 19 as part of Futuresound’s four-night outdoor festival, bookended by Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti on July 18 and hit-laden London girl band Sugababes on July 21.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond with plenty of Bull and no bull. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 12 for 2024, from The Press, York

Bass player Kai West’s poster for Bull’s two-day album launch for Engines Of Honey at The Crescent

COMEDY legends and Arthurian tales, Welsh rock firebrands and a bullish album launch, an Italian dance champion and spa town illuminations have Charles Hutchinson reaching for his diary.

York album launch of the week: Bull at The Crescent, March 22 and 23, 7.30pm

BULL, York’s “finest purveyors of jangling indie joy”, launch second album Engines Of Honey with a brace of home-city shows, supported by FEET and Vehicle on Friday, then Fat Spatula and Eugene Gorgeous on Saturday.

Vocalist/songwriter Tom Beer, guitarist Dan Lucas, drummer Tom Gabbatiss, keyboard player Holly Beer and bassist Kai West promise entirely different sets for each night with no repeats. What’s more, they are making a day of it on the Saturday with a free daytime jamboree from 2pm, featuring an art fair, Ben Crosthwaite’s music quiz, bingo with Jade Blood, Bull’s homemade curry and a memoraBullia exhibition, plus post-gig DJs. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Rolling out a barrel of laughs: Al Murray at Grand Opera House, York

Comedy at the treble at Grand Opera House, York: Al Murray, Guv Island, Sunday, 7.30pm; An Evening With The Fast Show, Tuesday, 7.30pm; Frank Skinner, 30 Years Of Dirt, Thursday, 7.30pm.

STANDING up so you don’t have to take it lying it down anymore, Al Murray, the Pub Landlord, is back “to make sense of the questions you probably already had the answers to” in Guv Island.

An Evening With The Fast Show sold out suitably fast. Original cast members Simon Day, Charlie Higson, John Thomson, Paul Whitehouse, Mark Williams and Arabella Weir mark their 30th anniversary with behind-the-scenes insights into their television characters and catchphrases, recreating favourite moments too. Two nights later, Brummie comedian and TV and radio presenter Frank Skinner reflects on his own 30-year landmark. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Fast talking: An Evening With The Fast Show at Grand Opera House, York, on Tuesday

Please Please You presents: C Duncan, Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

THE son of two classical musicians, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland-trained multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter C Duncan – ‘C’ stands for Christopher – plays solo at Rise.

The Glaswegian musician will be performing songs from his four albums: 2015’s Mercury Prize-nominated Architect, 2016’s The Midnight Sun, 2019’s Health and 2022’s Alluvium, recorded at his home studio at Helensburgh. He is an artist too, painting all the artwork for his Bella Union releases. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Feeder’s poster for their Black/Red tour, visiting York Barbican on Tuesday

Welsh invaders of the week: Feeder, supported by Girlband!, York Barbican, Tuesday, 8pm

ANTHEMIC Newport rock band Feeder mark their 30th anniversary with a spring tour and the April 5 release of a new studio double album, Black/Red, on Big Teeth Music.

Accruing seven million record sales, Grant Nicholas and Take Hirose’s group chalked up 20 Top 40 hits from 1997’s High to 2008’s We Are The People, and the likes of Just The Way I’m Feeling, Buck Rogers, Feeling A Moment, Tumble And Fall, Just A Day, Fear Of Flying and Lost And Found surely will feature in their set. Leeds Brudenell Social Club awaits on April 7 at 8pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, brudenellsocialclub.co.uk.

Leigh Francis: Leeds comedian heads to York on My First Time tour

Yorkshire comedian of the week: Leigh Francis, My First Time, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.45pm

LEEDS comedian, radio presenter and Bo’ Selecta! sketch show regular Leigh Francis is the scabrous, scatological, sometimes rubber-faced humorist behind the characters Keith Lemon, The Bear, Avid Merrion and Amanda Holden’s ‘gran’, Myrtle, along with celebrity impressions of David Dickinson, Ant and Dec and Louis Theroux.

All feature in Francis’s debut venture into the live environment in a tour show that combines sketches with buckets of audience interaction. “Come see me being other people live for the first time!” he says. Also playing Hull City Hall, March 22; Leeds Grand Theatre, April 6. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Hull, hulltheatres.co.uk; Leeds, leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Giovanni Pernice: Let him entertain you at York Barbican

Dance show of the week: Giovanni Pernice, Let Me Entertain You, York Barbican, Thursday 7.30pm

GIOVANNI Pernice, the Sicilian dancer from Strictly Come Dancing and BAFTA winner, returns to York Barbican on his 2024 tour, Let Me Entertain You.

Pernice, dancer, performer, showman and Guinness World Record holder for jive kicks and flick to boot, will be joined by fellow professional dancers and West End performers in a show of non-stop action. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk. 

Le Navet Bete: History in the re-making in King Arthur at York Theatre Royal

Legend of the week: Le Navet Bete in King Arthur, York Theatre Royal, Thursday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AFTER Treasure Island and Dracula: The Bloody Truth, Le Navet Bete head back to York Theatre Royal for a retelling of the Arthurian legend, King Arthur, in their inimitable comedic style. Camelot is in trouble, and Arthur knows that if he fails to turn things around, this civilisation will be forgotten and be known as nothing more than a rather dull time in British history.

When three hapless squires approach him about changing that legacy, however, a legend is born in a new comedy for the ages, suitable for the whole family. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jamie Cullum: All that jazz at York Barbican in November. Picture: Charles Gall

York gig announcement of the week: Jamie Cullum, York Barbican, November 12

DID you know that Jamie Cullum failed his Grade 4 piano exam and can barely read music? Nevertheless, the Rochford-born pianist, now 44, became the biggest-selling British jazz musician of all time. This autumn he will play 14 British dates, visiting York as his only Yorkshire destination. Tickets will go on sale on March 22 at 10am at axs.com/york.

In Focus: BEAM Light Festival, Harrogate, today, dusk (6.30pm) to 10pm

James Bawn’s light installation at the Cenotaph war memorial in Harrogate for the BEAM Light Festival. Picture: Charlotte Graham

COMMISSIONED by Harrogate International Festivals, Element 3 Design is illuminating Harrogate town centre with a light installation trail of spa-town locations, landmarks and green spaces, some iconic, others unexpected, ten in total.

Visitors and locals alike will see Harrogate in a completely different light in this new festival, as James Bawn follows up his 2019 light show by using lighting beams, projections and soundscapes to animate the likes of the Cenotaph and Crescent Gardens, while Valley Gardens trees will be lit with dancing twinkling lights. No need to book, just show up!

Supported by Future 50, North Yorkshire Council, Visit North Yorkshire and Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID), the Beam Light Festival festival is free: no need to book, just show up!

Business owners and the Harrogate community are encouraged to create their own lights for display in their windows to enhance the trail.

Beam follows on from such Harrogate large-scale outdoor events as the Fire Garden and the post-pandemicFire & Light Festival. Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, says: “Harrogate BID are thrilled to continue our close partnership with Harrogate International Festivals and Beam will be another fantastic occasion to celebrate this further.

“With anticipated increased footfall and spend for our members, a new and unique Harrogate experience delivering our objective of a ‘Vibrant Town’, we cannot wait to see Beam come to fruition and really put Harrogate on the map.”

Councillor Simon Myers, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for culture, arts and housing, says: “Beam demonstrates the importance of free-to-attend events to animate our communities and ensure access to the arts for the widest possible audiences.

“Large events like this are an opportunity to celebrate the spaces which we live and work in and enjoy, and Beam is sure to present the town in a brand new light.”

Fiona Movley, chair of the Future 50 Appeal, says: “Harrogate International Festivals’ Future 50 Appeal was created to ensure the widest possible access to the arts for our community, and to develop artists of the future. We are excited to light up our town and shine a light on the creative talent we have in our region.”

The ten locations for the BEAM Light Fesival


1. Valley Gardens

WORKING with sound artist Dan Fox, the Elgar Walk within the Valley Gardens will be transformed with a Glittering Grove. Thousands of specks of light dance across trees and paths creating a sparkling path as you head towards the sculpture that will have a single light beam hitting the clouds above.

2. Crescent Gardens

USING searchlights to cast patterns across the sky, the lights and soundscape will create a magical spectacle. At the heart of the installation is the iconic Cupid and Psyche statue from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which brings the timeless tale of love and transformation to life.

3. Picture Frame/Montpellier Hill

SEE yourself in a different light as the Picture Frame is picked out in different colours to accentuate the design. Strike a pose!

4. Cenotaph & Field of Light

THE Cenotaph war memorial will be illuminated with narrow beams of light to make a solemn and dignified artwork paying tribute to the sacrifices of those who served.

A field of light created by solar jars will glow in the darkness. As the sun sets and the jars come to life, the area will be transformed into a magical sea of twinkling lights.

5. St Peter’s Church

SUBTLE lighting to highlight the beautiful architecture will provide a serene and contemplative atmosphere for visitors to reflect and find solace in this tranquil space among the illuminated surroundings.

6. Jubilee Memorial

SEE Queen Victoria bathed in colour to accentuate the architecture of this memorial commemorating the 1887 Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

7. Victoria Shopping Centre

A DYNAMIC lighting design, complemented by a carefully curated soundscape, will elevate the architecture of this building inspired by the work of Palladio in Italy 450 years ago.

8. The Exchange Building

THE central stairwell of The Exchange will be illuminated to be seen from miles around. Searchlights on the roof will cast beams of light into the night sky, further accentuating the impact the building has had on the townscape.

9. Library Gardens & Library

THE Library Gardens will be lit carefully, playing with light and shadow, whilst the Carnegie Library will tell stories through light projection on the front of the building.

10. Cedar Court Hotel

A COLOURFUL animated light will wash the building in colour, illuminating the beautiful architecture.

Lit up in words: James Bawn’s Harrogate 1571 sculpture, created in 2019 and now part of the BEAM festival. Picture: Celestine Dubruel
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Moya Brennan , the ‘First Lady of Celtic music’, to showcase Voices & Harps IV album at Pocklington Arts Centre

Moya Brennan: Playing Pocklington Arts Centre for the first time next Tuesday

IN the words of Bono, Moya Brennan has “one of the greatest voices the human ear has ever experienced”.

In the wake of her Celtic family band Clannad calling time on 50 years together in 2023 after a farewell tour spread over two years, the Irish singer is picking up the reins of her solo career once more at 71.

Promoting her new album, Voices & Harps IV, her 12-date English, Welsh and Scottish tour opened last night (14/3/2024), arriving  at Pocklington Arts Centre on March 19 for her only Yorkshire show.

This will be Dubliner Moya’s first appearance in The Press territory since Clannad’s November 3 2021 concert at York Barbican on their valedictory In A Lifetime travels. “That was a great night,” she recalls. “It was fantastic to include York in our farewell tour as we hung up Clannad’s touring boots for good.

“It was nice to finalise everything. I love my brothers to death but when you travel with them for 50 years, it can be trying!  But I like touring and I enjoy doing it under my name, because it’s done on a different level, much more relaxed, without loads of crew and big tour buses. Not that I didn’t enjoy everything with Clannad.”

Joining Moya in Pocklington will be daughter Aisling Jarvis, on guitar, bouzouki and vocals, and son Paul Jarvis, on keyboards, percussion and vocals, after performing on the last Clannad tour.

Alongside them will be fiddler and whistle player Cathal O’Currain and harpist Cormac De Barra, her accompanist on the latest album. “He’s one of the finest harp players in Ireland,” says Moya, who is well placed to make that judgement as a harp player (and pianist) herself.

“We’ve done our own tours together and recorded several albums under the Voices & Harps banner. We have the new one for this tour, recorded as a tribute to the great Mary O’Hara, who was huge in the Fifties and Sixties, playing the Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall in New York.

“The first well-known band to come out of Ireland were The Clancy Brothers, and she was as popular as them, performing these beautiful Irish Gaelic and English songs, with over 20 albums to her name.”

Voices & Harps IV is available on Moya and Cormac’s own label, BEO Records, ‘beo’ being the Gaelic word for ‘alive’. “There were times when I was busy with Clannad so I didn’t have time to record my own albums,” she says. “But Cormac has been playing with me for 19/20 years, so we’ve done four records now – and we have the best of fun on stage together.”

“I feel blessed that I can sing,” says Moya Brennan. Picture: Tim Jarvis

Moya has released nine solo albums in all. “There’ll be a lot of those songs within the show but because people know me as ‘Moya from Clannad’,  there’ll be a couple of well-known Clannad songs, without the big drum sound, but if you like the harp and vocal harmonies, you’ll like it.”

The intimate scale of this month’s shows brings its own pleasure. “People love hearing the different ways you sing, how you share the singing, and they enjoy you telling stories about the songs,” she says.”More and more people are attending concerts again after Covid, and it wasn’t until the lockdowns that they realised how much they’d miss them.”

Moya, native Irish Gaeilge language speaker, ambassador for Irish culture and “the First Lady of Celtic music”, has garnered such honours as the RTE Radio Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement award, presented to her in October 2019 by Irish president Michael D Higgins, who said that “her name would be forever etched in the history of Irish music”.

When she was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from Dublin City University, her citation at the May 2022 award ceremony read: “Moya has an innate ability to find the heart of music, to reach the essence of a song or a tune, and to make the ordinary extraordinary.”

“It was an extraordinary day. Being acknowledged in that way was very humbling. My whole family was there; I’m the eldest of nine siblings, and my mother was able to go too,” she says. “That honour is something you don’t expect because it’s so removed from what you do on stage. I didn’t even go to university, but here I am, a doctor!”

In her 50 years as the voice of Clannad, the band achieved 15 million record sales worldwide and a string of awards, a BAFTA, Ivor Novello, and Grammy among them. And yet… “It took me ages to realise that I enjoyed my own voice, as I’m not really a rock’n’roll singer, which I would have liked to have been,” says Moya.

That voice, “quiet and breathy” in her own description, continues to connect through the years: a magical power that had her thoughts turning to her fellow Dubliner, the late Sinead O’Connor.

“I knew Sinead well,” she says. “She was so shy, but once she was on stage, she could feel the audience’s presence inside her. When you sing, you find you find yourself enjoying giving pleasure – a transcendent feeling, where music makes people feel alive and puts a smile on everyone’s face.

“They leave their troubles at the door, and for two hours you can bring joy to them. I feel blessed that I can sing. Singing makes you feel so well afterwards, it takes ages to come down from that high as it’s such a lovely feeling.”

Long may that feeling continue, as the honours roll on too. Next up, Moya will be attending a gala ball in April to receive the honour of Donegal Person of the Year for 2023. Irish tour dates will follow in the autumn, that voice conjuring magic once more.

Moya Brennan, Pocklington Arts Centre, March 19, 8pm. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.