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Exit York Museums Trust chief executive Reyahn King to be National Trust for Scotland’s director of heritage properties

Reyahn King: Leaving her post as chief executive of York Museums Trust after seven years . Picture: Richard Kearns

REYAHN King is to step down as chief executive officer of York Museums Trust to be the National Trust for Scotland’s director of heritage properties in a summer return to her birthplace.

Reyahn has been in post since September 2015, leading the independent charity that cares for the City of York’s collections and operates York Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum, York Museum Gardens, York Art Gallery and York St Mary’s.

As CEO, she has steered York Museums Trust through one of the toughest periods in its history, when facing the need for lockdowns in the Coronavirus pandemic.

During her seven-year tenure, Reyahn has achieved great change for the trust. Under her leadership, she introduced a new vision and mission that puts audiences and communities at the heart of its work, while strengthening the charity’s fundraising activity and generating increased revenue from commercial activities.

York Art Gallery has presented such public exhibitions as the Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years ceramics and chart-topping Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs’ award-winning fusion of art and sound, When All Is Quiet, as well as championing experimentation in Strata- Rock- Dust- Stars.

Alongside this step change in the public programme, Reyahn oversaw the opening of two new permanent galleries: Jurassic Yorkshire at the Yorkshire Museum and Shaping The Body at York Castle Museum.

Cocktail Party, 1989, from last year’s Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years exhibition at York Art Gallery

Reyahn will leave a lasting legacy for York Museums Trust, having overseen the acquisition of the St Mary’s Abbey 13th-century Limoges Figure of Christ and the Ryedale Roman Bronzes, soon to go on display at the Yorkshire Museum in April 2022. She worked with City of York Council, stakeholders and the public to develop a compelling vision for York Castle Museum.

Reyahn has been a leading figure within the museum sector championing inclusion, diversity and equality. She has championed the inclusion of diverse and underrepresented artists within the public programme, with exhibitions such as Sounds Like Her and The Sea Is The Limit. and has led a significant internal inclusion, diversity and anti-racism culture change programme at York Museums Trust.

As chair of the York Cultural Leaders Group, Reyahn led the development of York’s Culture Strategy, which sets out to “create a more collaborative, higher-profile cultural city that truly benefits residents”.

Reyahn says: “It has been a joy and a privilege to lead the amazing staff at York Museums Trust and to be part of York’s cultural scene. I’m thrilled to be joining National Trust for Scotland at a time when NTS is doing such important work for Scottish culture, heritage and nature.”

James Grierson, York Museums Trust’s chair, says: “Reyahn has been a wonderful chief executive, modernising the organisation and culture of York Museums Trust, bringing in some great new talents, enriching our collections and staging some important and inspiring exhibitions.

“She led the leadership team’s highly professional response to the enormous challenges of the last couple of years and, notwithstanding the shadow the pandemic has caused, leaves the trust in good heart.

“The richness of experience she has had in York will, I am sure, be put to very effective use with the National Trust for Scotland and, while my fellow trustees and I will be sorry to lose her, Reyahn leaves behind a significant legacy, and one of the most exciting jobs in the sector, and I’m confident that her successor will be very well placed to take York Museums Trust on the next stage of its journey.”

Kaiser Chiefs band members at the December 2018 launch of their When All Is Quiet: Kaiser Chiefs In Conversation With York Art Gallery exhibition, winner of the Museums + Heritage Award for Partnership of the Year 

Phil Long, chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland, says: “The National Trust for Scotland’s portfolio of properties is the foundation of all that we do.  Caring for them also means caring for the stories of Scotland and enabling everybody to find out about and be inspired by our shared heritage.

“That’s why Reyahn’s appointment is so important for the trust and, given her track record of success with York Museums Trust and other organisations, we are delighted that she will be joining us to bring to the trust her experience and insight.”

Recruitment for Reyahn King’s successor in York will begin this spring.

Reyahn King: the back story

AS chief executive of York Museums Trust, Reyahn has strategic and operational responsibility for museums, an art gallery, botanic gardens, scheduled monuments and Museums Development Yorkshire.

Before moving to York, Reyahn had been head of the Heritage Lottery Fund West Midlands, director of art galleries at National Museums Liverpool and head of interpretation and exhibitions/masterplan at Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery.

Reyahn is an experienced leader who brings people together to develop new visions for culture and heritage. She is on the board of Culture Perth and Kinross and is thrilled to be returning to work in the country of her birth as the National Trust for Scotland’s director of heritage properties from this summer.

Passionate about diversity and equality, Reyahn began her career as a curator and programmer who produced exhibitions notable for their relevance to a wider, more diverse range of audiences, such as curating the ground-breaking Ignatius Sancho: An African Man Of Letters at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on University of York Chamber Orchestra

John Stringer: “Moulded University of York Chamber Orchestra into a fine ensemble”

University of York Chamber Orchestra/John Stringer, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, February 23

THE big attraction of the evening was Mendelssohn’s Second Piano Concerto, but it was attractively preceded by Kaija Saariaho’s Terra Memoria and Britten’s song-cycle A Charm Of Lullabies, in the version orchestrated by Colin Matthews.

Despite this nicely varied menu, it was a slightly strange choice. The Saariaho is for string orchestra, which left wind and brass on the sidelines. No harm in that, except that the remaining pieces relegated the orchestra to an accompanying role, leaving it little chance to show its full colours. For John Stringer has moulded this orchestra into a fine ensemble – it deserved more exposure here.

Saariaho, who celebrates her 70th birthday in October, has lived in Paris for 40 years, although born in Helsinki. Her outlook is very much pan-European. Terra Memoria, which dates from 2007, is marked “for those departed”.

In under eight minutes, it articulates six different moods. Stealing on the ear as if already underway, it meanders gently, with snippets of solo violin: the string principals are a major feature of the piece.

It becomes a little angrier before calming into a plaintive, slithering motif in the upper strings. Still favouring upper voices, it then gets darker. Now laced with tremolo, it becomes more insistent as it gains in rhythmic momentum and reaches a tutti unison, a most effective climax.

Thereafter it slows into something more diffuse, echoing the opening. Although not specifically in a minor key, it has the feeling of one.  The orchestra approached it tenderly, which made it even more engaging.

Time for another gripe. The printed programme fell a long way short of its usual standard here. The five songs of the Britten were neither numbered nor laid out properly, still less were there any texts, which is de rigueur for a solo vocal work. The concerto movements were not listed either.

This was especially unhelpful for the singer, Ellie Stamp. She was listed as a soprano, although the cycle is written for mezzo-soprano: Stamp’s lower range was not really strong enough, but when given the chance she showed plenty of heft above the stave.

Without the texts, however, it was not immediately obvious to the casual listener where she was, a task not made easier by Matthews running the first three and the last two songs together.

In general, despite the added intensity of the title song, the orchestra was a little too heavy in its accompaniment, with a preponderance of low tone provided by three double basses – at least one too many. Stamp has a good sound and a pleasing personality, but she was not best served here.

John Smith – he might be encouraged to use his middle name, if he has one – was the fluent soloist in the Mendelssohn. He graduated from this department last summer. He frowns a lot, no doubt in pursuit of expression, but otherwise is free of histrionics in what is a free-wheeling technique. The runs in the opening Allegro were admirably clear and he discovered plenty of drama in its development section.

He was inclined to over-romanticise the slow movement, which slowed almost to a halt, but when he increased the tone here it was out of scale with what had preceded it. His best was kept till last. His staccato touch in the finale was excellent; he maintained an exciting pace, injecting sforzandos without mannerisms, and the orchestra caught his enthusiasm.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Perpetuo Trio, British Music Society, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York, February 18

Perpetuo Trio pianist Libby Burgess

THE piano trio called Perpetuo brought Mozart and Mendelssohn to the British Music Society of York’s table, framing a piece by Cheryl Frances-Hoad written in 2005.

The Mozart was run-of-the-mill, the Mendelssohn invigorating, but Frances-Hoad’s ten-minute offering contained much more than its brief length might imply.

My Fleeting Angel was inspired by a Sylvia Plath short story, The Wishing Box, which deals with a married couple’s contrasting dreams. I confess that the story it purported to tell – music cannot describe, only evoke – passed me by, but made no difference to its pleasing effect.

It opened with string harmonics, which did not bode well, but the whirling piano soon shook the others into rhythmic life and all three continued in tight harness. The excitement eventually slowed right down, although the sense of a tonal centre continued.

The concluding Allegretto eleganza delivered an extended wind-up to an abrupt ending. It was a tantalising conclusion, begging the question “What next?”, but none the worse for that.

Cellist Cara Berridge

Mendelssohn’s First Piano Trio, Op 49 in D minor, written in 1839, was acclaimed by Schumann, no less, as “the master trio of our age”. It got off to an expressive start, although Cara Berridge might have made a little more of the cello’s sweeping theme. But all was forgiven in a recapitulation of immense excitement.

Apart from the passionate conversation at its centre, the song-like slow movement made a gentle contrast, with Libby Burgess’s piano setting the tone. It ended in a heavenly hush.

After a neat and light scherzo, which disappeared into the heavens – another trademark Mendelssohn touch – the violin of Jamie Campbell really came into its own in the spirited finale. With the piano cascading up and down, there was still time for a moment to draw in the listener when the strings resorted to pizzicato against the keyboard’s staccato. Best of all, balance remained excellent despite all the exuberance.

Mozart’s G major trio, K.496 of 1786 had not provided the best of starts. The opening Allegro was clear but uninvolving, with more than a touch of caution, and the slow movement was more languid than liquid. There was a certain amount of drama in the final set of variations. But Frances-Hoad livened things up and Mendelssohn did the rest.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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More Things To Do in York and beyond, when Jason’s gig is but one good reason to go out. List No. 71, courtesy of The Press

Michael McIntyre: Road-testing new gags at the Grand Opera House, York

FROM McIntyre to Macbeth, two Aussies to an English celebration, a Ugandan story to a pioneering Welsh icon, Charles Hutchinson spreads his net wide.  

Talking point gig of the week: Michael McIntyre: Work In Progress, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 8pm

COMEDIAN Michael McIntyre will put new material to the test in a “York In Progress” show hastily arranged mid-month for February 28.

Tickets sold out within two hours of going on sale on February 15 for the 45-year-old Londoner’s latest dollops of observational comedy, wherein he turns everyday situations into outpourings of startled exasperation.

The jovial Big Show and The Wheel host previously played a three-night run of Work In Progress gigs at the Grand Opera House in July 2012. For returns only, 0844 871 7615.

Tachia Newall and Jessica Baglow in a masked rehearsal for their roles as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse

Play of the week outside York: Macbeth, Leeds Playhouse, tonight until March 19

DIRECTOR Amy Leach and designer Hayley Grindle have created a vibrant, raw and visceral vision of Shakespeare’s thrilling tragedy, Macbeth.

Tachia Newall plays the ambitious northern warrior, who does whatever it takes to gain power and, ultimately, the throne, propelled further into darkness by his wife, Jessica Baglow’s Lady Macbeth, whose hands bear witness to her own greed and corruption. Look out for York actress Ashleigh Wilder as one of the witches. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or at leedsplayhouse.org.uk.

She Drew The Gun: Songs decrying corruption, abuse and division at The Crescent, York

York indie gig of the week: She Drew The Gun, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm

PASSIONATE, principled, and refreshingly plain-spoken, proud socialist, feminist, bi-sexual mother of one Louisa Roach will not be cowed into silence.

As She Drew The Gun, the Wirral singer-songwriter uses punk-infused psych-pop as a vehicle for exposing injustice and for advocating a fairer and more tolerant society.

Written in lockdown and recorded at McCall Sound Studios in Sheffield, latest album Behave Myself decries corruption, abuse and the continued divisions between rich and poor that have only worsened in the pandemic. Annabel Allum supports. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Jason Donovan: So many reasons to celebrate his York Barbican concert

Third time lucky: Jason Donovan, Even More Good Reasons, York Barbican, Monday, 8pm

AFTER postponements in September 2020 and November 2021, Aussie heartthrob Jason Donovan’s 52-date tour to mark the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Ten Good Reasons, is finally happening. That anniversary actually passed as long ago as May 2019 on a faraway pre-pandemic planet!

“Having not done my own live shows for a while, I can’t wait to get out there again among my fans and deliver a new energetic show that is both personal, creative and reflective – something that is both nostalgic and just a good night out,” says the one-time Neighbours soap pin-up turned star of pop, stage musicals and theatre. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Writer-performer John Rwothomack in his one-man show Far Gone at York Theatre Royal Studio

Solo show of the week, John Rwothomack in Far Gone, York Theatre Royal Studio, Thursday and Friday, 7.45pm

WRITTEN and performed by John Rwothomack, Far Gone is set in northern Uganda, where Okumu’s village is attacked by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), changing Okumu and his brother’s lives forever.

The story of a young boy’s journey from childhood innocence to child soldier is seen through the eyes of those that love him and those that betray him, as presented by Ugandan-born, London-trained and Sheffield-based Rwothomack in his debut play as writer and performer, prompted by himself nearly being kidnapped by the LRA guerrilla rebel group.

He explores complex issues of war, religion and power, drawing on the contrast between his experiences as a child in Uganda and as a young black man in Britain, and how perceptions of “Africa” have affected his own narrative. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Tommy Emmanuel: Playing his best “Tommysongs” at the Grand Opera House, York

Guitar virtuoso of the week: Tommy Emmanuel, Grand Opera House, York, March 6, 8pm

LAST seen in Britain performing on the Transatlantic Sessions Tour, Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel returns for 13 dates in February and March with dobro master Jerry Douglas as his special guest.

Emmanuel, 66, who improvises big chunks of each concert, will be showcasing The Best Of Tommysongs, a double album of re-recordings of his best original songs from the past 30 years with new modern arrangements.

Angelina, Lewis & Clark, It’s Never Too Late, fan favourites Mombasa and Train To Dusseldorf and new compositions Fuel and Song For A Rainy Morning will be aired in York. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.

Simon Wright: Conducting York Guildhall Orchestra’s St George’s Day debut at the JoRo

Bring out the flags: York Guildhall Orchestra, St George’s Day Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 23,7.30pm

YORK Guildhall Orchestra and conductor Simon Wright make their Joseph Rowntree Theatre debut with a celebration of patron saint St George in an evening of light music with the spotlight on English composers.

Expect a variety of favourite pieces alongside some lesser-known gems, but not a dragon in sight in this joyful springtime programme. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Going Underground: Velvet pioneer John Cale to play York Barbican at 80

Gig announcement of the week: John Cale, York Barbican, July 19

VELVET Underground icon John Cale will play York as the only Yorkshire gig of his seven-date summer tour, his first British itinerary in a decade, with tickets going on sale on Wednesday at 10am.

The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, who turns 80 on March 9, will perform songs from a career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965.

Over six pioneering decades, Cale has released 16 solo studio albums, most recently M:Fans in 2016, while also collaborating with Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, Squeeze, Happy Mondays, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preachers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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York Community Choir Festival on song for concert week at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

The Rolling Tones: Performing at York Community Choir Festival on March 5

EIGHT shows, with a different line-up every time, make up the York Community Choir Festival 2022, York’s celebration of choral music from Sunday to March 5.

Taking part will be three primary school choirs (Osbaldwick, Robert Wilkinson and Headlands), Huntington Secondary School gents and ladies’ choirs and 30 adult choirs.

Despite there being close to 200 song choices, in only one concert will the same song be sung by two choirs, in very different styles. Each concert ends with everyone singing I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing. Tickets are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk

The concert line-ups:

Sunday, 4pm

Jubilate, ladies’ choir; Community Chorus, mixed voices; Chechelele, world music a cappella; Singphonia, Don Pears’ new choir.

Monday, 7.30pm

Garrowby Singers, mixed voices; Tadcaster Community Choir, mixed; The Chorus Crew, male shanties and folk song from Harrogate area; Main Street Sound Ladies Barbershop Chorus, ladies’ barbershop.

Tuesday, 7.30pm

Track 29 Ladies Close Harmony Chorus, ladies’ chorus; In Harmony, mixed voices; The Daytones Harmony Chorus, male barbershop, from Clifford; Dunnington Community Choir, mixed voices.

Wednesday, 7.30pm

Sounds Fun Singers, ladies’ choir; York Celebration Singers, mixed voices; Euphonics, ladies’ choir; Stamford Bridge Community Choir, mixed voices.

Thursday, 7.30pm

York Military Wives Choir, ladies’ choir; York Hospital Wellbeing Choir, mixed choir; Easingwold Community Singers, mixed choir; Spirit Of Harmony, male barbershop.

Friday, 7.30pm

Eboraca; Huntington School Choirs; Acomb Community Choir, mixed; York Phoenix Harmonies.

Saturday, March 5, 2.30 pm

Osbaldwick Primary School; Headlands Primary School; The Rolling Tones, seniors’ choir; Three Crown Sound; York Musical Theatre Company.

Saturday, March 5, 7:30 pm
The Abbey Belles, ladies’ choir; Bishopthorpe Community Choir, mixed choir; York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir; Supersingers, mixed choir; Robert Wilkinson Primary School Choir.

Gus, the theatre cat, takes up residence on Joseph Rowntree Theatre frontage to add to York Cat Trail 13/4/2022

Paws for thought: Who’s that climbing the Joseph Rowntree Theatre wall? Meet Gus, the Theatre Cat

THE Joseph Rowntree Theatre has joined the York Cat Trail with the arrival of Gus, the Theatre Cat, on the Art Deco building’s handsome frontage in Haxby Road, York.

Inspiration for the new addition came from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats and T. S. Eliot’s original poems about the Jellicle Cats in Old Possum’s Book Of Cat, whereupon Gus was commissioned from York wood sculptor Jonathan Newdick.

Stan Young, author of The Mystery Cats of York, said: “The Joseph Rowntree Theatre is a very iconic building in York. Not only was it created by the Rowntree family and company, but it’s also York’s only Art Deco theatre. The theatre board made a great decision, leading to Jonathan making the cat!” Gus was duly welcomed to his new home by York’s Town Crier, Ben Fry, in an official ceremony in April.

Theatre trustee and community engagement director Graham Mitchell said: “My colleague Keith Barnes came up with the idea of adding Gus to our frontage as an extra interest for theatregoers, especially the younger ones. We may be a mile away from the nearest York Mystery Cat on Goodramgate, but we hope that people will visit us in the Rowntree/Nestle Conservation Area.

“The Rowntree Society have many Rowntree-related walks that can be found on their website, as well as handy walk guides. The theatre also offers theatre tours – in person and online – for interested groups.”

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on University of York Song Day, 19/2/2022

Christopher Glynn: Put together the University of York Song Day. Picture: Gerard Collett

University of York Song Day, National Centre for Early Music & Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York, February 19

IT fell to Christopher Glynn to put together this year’s University Song Day. He was an excellent choice.

He is of course well known in Yorkshire for his fine stewardship of the Ryedale Festival. But it was also good to have a full-time accompanist of his calibre presiding. His intelligent, always distinctive contributions from the keyboard were the linchpin of the day.

It was in three parts. At lunchtime, A Shakespeare Songbook attracted the talents of soprano Rowan Pierce and tenor Ed Lyon. In the afternoon, outstanding mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge offered advice to five university students in a masterclass.

In the evening, now transplanted to the Lyons, Pierce and Rudge were joined by up-and-coming soprano Siân Dicker in a programme of Richard Strauss lieder stretching over nearly 80 years of his life.

Shakespeare has almost certainly inspired more musical settings than any other poet. Most are taken from the plays, although the sonnets account for a fair number. Here we dipped into five plays and two sonnets, with Shakespeare In Love to start and finish. There were several unexpected delights.

Soprano Rowan Pierce: “Sinister and sprightly in Tippett’s Songs For Ariel”

Arne’s setting of When Daisies Pied (from Love’s Labours Lost) with echoing cuckoo, daintily given by Pierce, was beautifully enhanced by Glynn’s ornamentation. His pacing of the prelude to Haydn’s She Never Told Her Love (Twelfth Night) was tellingly spacious.

Sylvia’s Charms (Two Gentlemen Of Verona), as imagined by Schubert, were boldly extolled by Lyon, before he turned to Julius Harrison’s much less-known setting of Oberon’s I Know A Bank (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), which was complemented by the fairies’ invocation from the same play, You Spotted Snakes, given by Pierce. Both singers proved Harrison an adept watercolourist.

Michael Head is another underestimated song composer, as heard in Pierce’s account of How Sweet The Moonlight Sleeps (Merchant Of Venice), where pianissimo drew in the listener and the piano twinkled with golden sheen.

Lyon brought terrific gusto to Quilter’s setting of Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind (As You Like It), which happened to coincide with snow falling outside, visible through a window of St Margaret’s. We felt the poetry’s chill.

This was signal for a calmer interlude, the duet from Handel’s L’Allegro, As Steals The Morn, which adapts words from The Tempest; it was affectionately delivered. Pierce was both sinister and sprightly in Tippett’s Songs For Ariel, uncovering much of their magic. Similarly, Lyon plumbed the Clown’s infinite sadness in Come Away, Death (Twelfth Night), which was tightly controlled by voice and piano alike.

Tenor Ed Lyon: “Plumbed the Clown’s infinite sadness in Come Away, Death”. Picture: Gerard Collett

Roxanna Panufnik has set three Shakespeare sonnets. Mine Eye treats the words of Sonnet XXIV with utmost care, as did Pierce here. The world premiere of Kim Porter’s duet-setting of Sonnet CXVI made a worthy and equally pleasing companion to it, gentle at its heart, with trickling piano, before building to a triumphal finish.

Both singers relished the challenge of Vaughan Williams’s Fear No More The Heat O’ The Sun (Cymbeline), taking a lead from Glynn’s ever-astute handling of the keyboard. The event was a welcome – and powerful – reminder of the rich treasury that is English song.

Devoted as it was entirely to the songs of Richard Strauss, the evening was almost too much of a good thing. Strauss was virtually besotted with the soprano voice in all its guises – he even married a diva – so the presence here of two sopranos and a mezzo was ideal. They exhibited a contrast in styles which added to the excitement.

Here, more than ever, Christopher Glynn was called upon to exercise his skills to the utmost. He never faltered. Indeed, the powerful, scented aromas that these songs generated owed a huge amount to the colours in his palette.

At every step of the way he simplified the singers’ task. Rowan Pierce opened the evening with the six-year-old Strauss’s cute Weihnachtslied (Christmas Carol), before a peppy, vivid Begegnung (Meeting) and a not quite dreamy enough account of Rote Rosen (Red Roses).

Mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge: “Capturing the nervous essence of young love”

Later there was a lovely transition in Schlechtes Wetter (Filthy Weather), where voice and piano together melted into the waltz, leaving behind the bad mood of wind and rain and conjuring the dance in their place.

Kathryn Rudge began with three songs from Op 10, composed in 1894 and his first to be published. She entered straight into the mood of Zueignung (Dedication), giving its powerful melody a strong line. She never let our attention wander after that either.

Glynn brought bold colourings to Nichts (Nothing), which she amplified, before a wonderfully contemplative Die Nacht (Night), calm, hovering, treasuring the moment. It was a gem.

She later returned with Schlagende Herzen (Beating hearts), capturing the nervous essence of young love with its repeated ‘kling-klangs’. There was no doubt about the depth of her feeling in Sehnsucht (Yearning), and her approach to the final word, Paradise, at the end of Das Rosenband (Rose Garland) was exquisite, once again making time stand still.

These were the work of a singer in her prime, one who knows exactly how to hold an audience in thrall. Spellbinding stuff, the voice beautifully focused throughout its range, right to the very top.

Sian Dicker: “At her best when she did not have to restrain her inner Brunnhilde”. Picture: Benjamin Ealovega 

Sián Dicker’s opening set came from Op 27, composed in 1894. She was at her best when she did not have to restrain her inner Brunnhilde. Ruhe Meine Seele (Rest My Soul) exploded into distress before neatly calming down.

Anticipated ecstasy bubbled through Heimliche Aufforderung (Secret Invitation), before her most controlled singing of the evening in Morgen! (Tomorrow), in which she took inspiration from Glynn’s gently modulated prelude (echoed in his postlude).

She was also given the honour of performing the Four Last Songs, which Strauss wrote in 1948, a year before his death. In Frühling (Spring) she developed terrific resonance at its heart but also revealed a recurring tendency to widen her vibrato when she pushed the tone too hard.

The urgency at the start of the last stanza on Beim Schlafengehen (Going To Sleep) was well judged but it needed to be followed by greater inwardness, the kind she found at the end of the final song. All the while, Glynn was achieving little miracles at the keyboard, larks trilling in the twilight, for example, before another eloquent postlude.

The three singers signed off with the trio from the end of Der Rosenkavalier, Hab’ mir’s Gelobt (I Made A Vow), when the Marschallin bows out, leaving Octavian and Sophie to each other. It was beautifully, even touchingly, done and crystalised the heady perfumes that all four musicians had concocted throughout the evening.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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‘Artists are very difficult to be around,’ says Benjamin Francis Leftwich as he plays homecoming gig at The Citadel tomorrow

Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Looking to a higher power as a conduit for his songwriting. Picture: Harvey Pearson

NOW living in North London, singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich heads back home tomorrow (25/2/2022)  to play The Citadel, his second church gig in York after his sold-out Minster concert in 2019.

The 7.30pm show is part of a 26-date tour from February 1 to March 4, showcasing To Carry A Whale, his fourth album for Dirty Hit Records, released last June.

Recorded over four months in his Tottenham home, at Urchin Studios in Hackney, in a hotel room in Niagara and in a Southend studio owned by Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’s Sam Duckworth, who shared production duties with Adele collaborator Eg White, it was the first record to be made by Ben entirely sober.

He has maintained that state since spending 28 days in rehab in January 2018, and it is reflected in the album title. “To Carry A Whale is an observation on what it’s like to be a sober alcoholic addict several years in,” he says. “A whale is heavy to carry. It’s gonna hurt you to carry it, but it’s also beautiful, and it’s a miracle to be able to carry all that at all.”

Carry it he does, but Ben is thriving on his creativity at 32. “I’m very lucky to do this, to write songs. I’ve been given a gift and I’m the custodian of it for now,” he says.

At the time of this interview – pre-tour in January – he was in a West Hampstead studio. “I’m working with Jimmy Hogarth and Bonnie Kemplay, a new artist with Dirty Hit,” he said. “We’re just jamming, writing a bit with Jimmy, who’s a legendary producer who’s also worked with Sam Griffiths [Ben’s fellow York songwriter and frontman of The Howl & The Hum].”

The artwork for Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s fourth album, To carry A Whale, released last June

Ben is now on the road, playing solo around the country. “That’s been a been a big conversation with my managers and label: should I play with musicians or go it alone – and we decided I’d do it totally solo, with just my tour manager James Kellegher and a sound engineer,” he says.

“I kind of like it this way. It gives me freedom with the set list and logistically it’s easier to tour this way. That’s how my bread is buttered. That’s how I started.”

Add the support acts Elanor Moss and Wounded Bear (alias Josh Finn), and “it will be three musicians singing from the heart and hopefully breaking hearts too,” says Ben.

Expect a few piano-based numbers in an acoustic set where all four albums – 2011’s Top 40 debut Last Smoke Before The Storm, when he was Dirty Hit’s first signing, 2016’s After The Rain, 2019’s Gratitude and last year’s To Carry A Whale – will be represented.

“Of course, I want to do songs from the latest record, but I have four to pick from and I’m under no illusion that people aren’t coming to see me for the songs they first loved,” says Ben.  “If I play songs they don’t know, then the line between disrespect and a musician’s right to autonomy is a fine one, but it should always be an opportunity to play new songs.”

Whereas actors and dancers must be disciplined team players, always on time for rehearsals and performances, rock musicians tend to be born out of rejecting rules, codes of conduct and 9 to 5 rituals.

“I’m very lucky to do this, to write songs,” says Ben. “I’ve been given a gift and I’m the custodian of it for now”

“It’s funny; I’ve got really into musical theatre – randomly but now I love it – and that’s a world where you train hard, you’re on a contract, whereas the life of a musician…you turn up when  you want, you might turn up high, you might be drunk; you might cancel the gig if you don’t feel like playing, but that’s why so many great songs have come out of that madness!” says Ben.

“Artists are very difficult to be around. We’re very prideful; we’re a nightmare to be in a relationship with; we want to be the centre of attention.”

 Yet, for all the baggage that goes with the outsider’s role, at the same time he feels a calling, a responsibility even, to create songs. “I believe that the songs are above us, to reach for, and if we limit a higher power, a god, when we can pluck magic out of nothing, then we limit the potential for beauty,” says Ben.

“For me, I have so many situations where songs come together in different ways. I think it’s like, ‘I’m not God, I can’t do this on my own’, but sometimes songs land on my lap, like when I was writing my first album on my own out of necessity.

“But so many wonderful songs come out of collaborations, though it takes a long time to be open hearted enough to entertain the thought that my ideas might not be my best just on their own.

“Allowing someone like Sam Duckworth to be the co-captain of the ship gave To Carry A Whale a cohesive energy that really benefited it.”

Benjamin Francis Leftwich in contemplative mood at York Minster ahead of playing the Nave in April 2019

Artists are sensitive, says Ben, to the point where “sadly it’s no secret that lots of us decide we don’t want to be alive anymore”, as he struggled after his father, University of York politics professor Dr Adrian Leftwich, died from cancer in April 2013. 

“It’s hard to explain. Single parents, teachers, are the real rock stars, but we do have things we struggle with, and it’s good to talk about it. There’s a lot of witchcraft around, but the only touchstone to spiritual growth that I’ve experienced is suffering.”

From there, as well as “from above”, come the songs of To Carry A Whale. “It was an honest record; I surrendered to it, I said what I wanted to say, people are discovering it, and I’m really looking forward to playing the songs at The Citadel,” he says.

“I last went there for a religious ceremony when I was at school [he attended Bootham School], so I know it’s a magical place to play.”

Looking to the future, Ben already has a producer lined up for his next album. “It’s half written, but whether it’s a year or ten, it will be finished when it is,” he says. “I’ll colour it in as it goes along.”

Benjamin Francis Leftwich plays The Citadel, Gillygate, York, tomorrow (25/2/2022), supported by Elanor Moss and Wounded Bear, at 7.30pm. Box office: thecrescentyork.com. Also playing The Foundry, Sheffield, tonight; The Parish, Huddersfield, Saturday.

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York Early Music Festival rejoices in return to full-strength programme from July 8

Director Harry Christophers (holding rail, sixth from left) with seemingly rather more than 16 in The Sixteen, playing York Early Music Festival on July 9

FOR the first time since 2019, the York Early Music Festival will be at full strength this summer for nine days of concerts, talks and workshops under the theme of Connections.

Highlights during the festival run from July 8 to 16 include The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars and Gabrieli Consort & Players, all at York Minster, and the return of the York International Young Artists Competition.

The programme also features gamba specialists Paolo Pandolfo & Amélie Chemin; The Gonzaga Band; The Rose Consort of Viols; the University of York Baroque Ensemble; Orí Harmelin; Profeti della Quinta; the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and Ensemble Voces Suaves.

Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338, at ncem.co.uk or via email to boxoffice@ncem.co.uk, with discounts available for Friends and under 35s.

“The festival presents a series of concerts linked together through a maze of interconnecting composers, shining a light on the many connections that hold us together in the past and into the future,” says director Delma Tomlin, explaining the festival theme.

“This year’s theme is Connections, connecting and indeed reconnecting music, artists and, of course, our audiences,” says York Early Music Festival director Delma Tomlin

Concerts will be supported by a series of illustrated talks, workshops, opportunities to ‘Come and Sing’ and informal recitals at a festival presented in historical venues such as York Minster, the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, St Lawrence’s Church and the festival headquarters, the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), in the medieval St Margaret’s Church building in Walmgate.

The festival’s grand finale will be the York International Young Artists Competition 2022, wherein ten groups from across Europe will give informal recitals at the NCEM at 10am and 2pm on July 14 and 15 before competing for the prize on July 16. 

The winners will receive a professional CD recording contract from Linn Records, a cheque for £1,000 and opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and the NCEM. Additional prizes will be supported by Cambridge Early Music, the European Union Baroque Orchestra Development Trust and the Friends of York Early Music Festival.

“We are delighted to be presenting a nine-day festival of music in our beautiful city, staged in some of the country’s most architecturally stunning buildings,” says Delma.

“This year’s theme is Connections, connecting and indeed reconnecting music, artists and, of course, our audiences. As always, we’ll be celebrating the glorious music of the past but also looking forward, as we’re able at last, to stage the York International Young Artists Competition, showcasing and nurturing the performers of the future.

The Tallis Scholars: Making Choral Connections at York Minster on July 11

“We’re so pleased to be back at full strength, and we can’t wait to welcome you to York for what promises to be one of the most exciting festivals to date.”

Those unable to attend are advised that the festival will be offering many of the concerts online across the summer. Full details will be available from ncem.co.uk.

Audience safety and comfort is a continuing priority in an ever-changing environment for the NCEM and York Early Music Festival. Check out the full guidance at ncem.co.uk/covid-guidelines.

The 2022 York Early Music Festival programme:

July 8, 7.30pm: Paolo Pandolfo & Amélie Chemin, viola da gamba duo, Heavans Joy, The World of the Virtuoso Viol, at NCEM, York.

July 9, 9.30am: Master And Pupil, workshop led by The Gonzaga Band director Jamie Savan, at Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York. Singers and players of Renaissance wind and string instruments look at the polychoral repertory of Giovanni Gabrieli and Heinrich Schütz.

Ensemble Voces Suaves: Schutz happens at St Lawrence’s Church on July 15

July 9, 12 noon: The Sixteen Insight Day, at NCEM, York. Insight Day explores stories behind The Sixteen’s Choral Pilgrimage repertory. Discover more with singer and practical scholar Sally Dunkley, organist Robert Quinney and a consort of Sixteen singers.

July 9, 7.30pm: The Sixteen, Author Of Light, at York Minster. Harry Christophers directs a choral programme focused on Hubert Parry’s Songs Of Farewell.

July 10, 2pm: The Early Music Show, BBC Radio 3 live broadcast presented by Hannah French with selected festival guests, at NCEM; free to those attending a festival event. Immediately afterwards, violinist Kati Debretzeni presents delayed 2020 York Biennial Lifetime Achievement Award to violinist Catherine Mackintosh.

July 10, 4.45pm: Minster Minstrels, Fairest Isle, directed by Ailsa Batters, at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York. NCEM’s youth instrumental ensemble performs music from the late 17th-century theatre, court and household to demonstrate the influence of the new Italian and French styles in post-Restoration England.

July 10, 7.30pm: The Gonzaga Band, Venice 1629, directed by cornett player Jamie Savan, at NCEM, York. Vocal works by Claudio Monteverdi and Alessandro Grandi and virtuosic Baroque instrumental music by wind player Dario Castello and violinist Biagio Marini feature in a series of snapshots from an extraordinary year in the life of this most musical of cities.

The Gonzaga Band: Snapshots of Venice, 1629 on July 10

July 11, 10.30am: Schutz In Venice, illustrated talk by Jamie Savan, at Bedern Hall, York. On his second visit to Venice in 1628-29, German composer Heinrich Schütz would surely have met Monteverdi, by now maestro di cappella at St Mark’s, but this talk also introduce lesser-known 1620s’ Venetian innovators in modern vocal and instrumental music.

July 11, 1pm: Rose Consort of Viols, with virginals player Steven Devine, Music For Severall Friends, at NCEM, York. Anniversary-marking concert of viol consort works by two British composers, the conservative Thomas Tomkins (born in 1572) and the more radical Matthew Locke (b.1622).

July 11, 7.30pm: The Tallis Scholars, Choral Connections, at York Minster. Director Peter Phillips explores connections between Josquin des Prez and his successor at the Sistine Chapel, Palestrina; Byrd and his English forebear Taverner.  

July 12, 10.30am: An Italian In London, illustrated talk on The Case of Angelo Notari, musician and spy, by Jonathan Wainwright, at Bedern Hall, York. Italian-born Notari moved to England in 1611, making his career as a court musician. Little was known about his time in Italy, until recently, prompting this examination of his  life and (newly attributed) compositions.

July 12, 1pm: La Vaghezza, Sculpting The Fabric, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York.  Stars of the EEEmerging+ programme, this young Italian ensemble presents early-17th century Italian works by Cavalli, Merula, Vitali, Fontana and Rossi from debut album Sculpting The Fabric.

Gabrieli Consort & Players: Re-creating a Venetian Coronation at York Minster on July 13

July 12, 7.30pm: Profeti Della Quinta, Lamento d’Arianna, Italian Renaissance music from Rore to Monteverdi, at NCEM, York. Winners of the 2011 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition take a journey that connects early 16th-century ‘classical’ madrigal to Monteverdi’s ‘operatic’ solo madrigals in 17th-century Mantua. 

July 13, 1pm: University of York Baroque Ensemble, Mannheim Travels To Fife,
Early Symphonists and Two Brothers, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York. Highlighting works by Mannheim symphony kick-starter Johann Stamitz, Italian brothers Giovanni Battista and Giuseppe Sammartini, Johann Christian Bach and Scottish composer Thomas Erskine.

July 13, 7.30pm: Gabrieli Consort & Players, A Venetian Coronation, 1595, directed by Paul McCreesh, at York Minster. Spectacular re-creation of the festive Coronation Mass of the Venetian Doge Marino Grimani at St Mark’s, Venice, in 1595, to mark the Gabrieli Consort’s 40th anniversary.

July 13, 9.45pm: Ori Harmelin, Neshima: The Hebrew For Breath, at Undercroft, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, Fossgate, York. Theorbo specialist explores arrangements of madrigals, motets and chansons by Cipriano de Rore, Josquin des Prez and Thomas Tallis, complemented by Harmelin’s compositions and Irishman Simon McHale’s The Orbo.

July 14 and July 15, 10am and 2pm: International Young Artists Competition Recitals 1 and 2, at NCEM, York. Informal recitals featuring all the ensembles taking part in the 2022 competition, performing music from the Middle Ages to the early Classical period, introduced by master of ceremonies Professor John Bryan.

Ori Harmelin: Theorbo concert at Merchant Adventurers’ Hall on July 13

July 14, 7.30pm: Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, Bach’s Other Leipzig, directed by Peter Lawrence, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York. Not only composing for two churches when in Leipzig, Bach also wrote four ‘Lutheran masses’ in 1738/39 and the Coffee Cantata for Zimmermann’s Caffeehaus, a miniature comic opera on the pressing subject of coffee addiction, featured here.

July 15, 4.30pm: Come and Sing Handel’s Messiah, at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York. Peter Seymour, conductor, and Ben Horden, organ, invite allcomers to Come and Sing a selection of choruses from Handel’s Messiah in a short rehearsal and performance.

July 15, 7.30pm: Ensemble Voces Suaves, Enrico Sagittario: Heinrich Schütz in Italy, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York. Exploration of the Italian side of German composer Heinrich Schutz, putting music from his debut collection alongside madrigals by Gabrieli and Monteverdi that inspired him, plus toccatas for theorbo by Girolamo Kapsberger, an Italian composer with roots in Germany.

July 16, 10am: York International Young Artists Competition, at NCEM, York. 2022 competition, featuring ten groups, will be presented by John Bryan and judged by Edward Blakeman, from BBC Radio 3; Albert Edelman, president of Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne; Linn Records producer and recording engineer Philip Hobbs;  violinist Catherine Mackintosh and harpsichordist and professor Barbara Willi.

Profeti Della Quinta: Italian Renaissance music from Rore to Monteverdi at NCEM on July 12
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Hope springs eternal in jam-packed concert season at National Centre for Early Music

Cantoria: Celebrating Early Music Day with El Jubilate concert on March 18

THE Spring Season is up and running at the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York.

In a busy first week, last Monday, folkloric duo Heal & Harrow’s Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl paid a humanising tribute to those persecuted in the 16th and 17th century Scottish witch trials.

Last Friday, the Grace Smith Trio – Smith on fiddle, Sam Patridge, concertina, and Bevan Morris, double bass – performed with the participants in the National Youth Folk Ensemble (NYFE) programme, under the artistic direction of Partridge. The NCEM hosted the NYFE’s first residency in two years for workshops leading up to the concluding concert.

Saturday’s University of York Song Day took the theme of Shakespeare In Love in a programme devised by pianist and Ryedale Festival director Christopher Glynn, who was joined in a lunchtime concert by soprano Rowan Pierce and tenor Ed Lyon and later by mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge in a masterclass for student singers.

Moishe’s Bagel: Door-to-door delivery of klezmer and folk music on March 9

The University of York Baroque+ Day will follow on June 4 with the theme of 100 Years In Berlin: a day to explore the musical life of the Prussian capital – from the Baroque to the early Romantic period – in three concerts in the company of the University Baroque Ensemble, under the direction of Rachel Gray and guest leader Catherine Martin; pianist and broadcaster David Owen Norris and classical wind specialists Boxwood & Brass.

On Sunday evening, the Songlines Encounters Festival presented Kayhan Kalhor and fellow Iranian, musician and composer Kiya Tabassian, Kalhor’s student of many years, in an evening of exquisite improvisations. Kalhor is a virtuoso of the Persian spiked fiddle, the kamancheh, but here he performed on the setar, a four-stringed lute with 25 movable frets, often associated with Sufism.

“Our spring season is jam-packed with musical delights, welcoming in a new year with more than a little hope that 2022 will be happier and healthier for us all,” says NCEM director Delma Tomlin.

“Guest artists will include some of the finest folk, jazz, global and early music specialists on the circuit today, with highlights including the welcome return of sax virtuoso Snake Davis, the ever-entertaining Moishe’s Bagel and folk legends Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham, whose concert is finally on after repeated postponements in lockdown.

NCEM director Delma Tomlin: “Welcoming in a new year with more than a little hope that 2022 will be happier and healthier for us all”

“As ever, we offer a warm welcome to artists from across the world and are particularly delighted to welcome the vibrant strings of VOŁOSI; qanun specialist Maya Youssef, from Syria, and the sparklingly young vocal ensemble Cantoria from Spain. All are guaranteed to bring warmth, entertainment and joy to our audiences.”

Coming next, on March 9, will be the return of Edinburgh’s Moishe’s Bagel with their cutting-edge klezmer and folk music, combining life-affirming Eastern European dance music, Middle Eastern rhythms and virtuoso improvised performances. Expect new pieces alongside favourites.

On March 11, Scottish folk duo Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham combine humorous banter with heartstring-tugging tunes, joyous reels and melodies aplenty in a partnership that has runs to 30 years now.

Booked for March 17, powerhouse English folk trio Faustus have spent much of the past two years researching and writing new material from the poetry of the 1860s’ Lancashire Cotton Famine, resulting in moving new songs, as heard on the Cotton Lords EP. 

Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham: Playing together for three decades

In the line-up will be Benji Kirkpatrick, from the Seth Lakeman Band, Steeleye Span and Bellowhead; Saul Rose, from Waterson:Carthy, Eliza Carthy’s Wayward Band and Whapweazel, and Paul Sartin, from Bellowhead and Belshazzar’s Feast.

Cantoría celebrate the 2022 Early Music Day with El Jubilate, a March 18 programme drawn from the Spanish songbooks of the Renaissance, brimful of desire, passion and sin, but fiery devotion, love, joy and solitude too.

At 7pm, Cantoria – featuring soprano Inés Alonso, countertenor Oriol Guimera, tenor Jorge Losana and bass Valentin Miralles – explore a world of demons, saints and people that lived with the same complicated emotions that we face today.

This Spanish ensemble gave a performance at the Beverley and East Riding Early Music Festival four years and have participated in the EEEMerging+ programme for two years. They will be in residence at the NCEM in March, leading up to the concert.

Trish Clowes with her My Iris band members: Seeing eye to eye in York on May 3. Picture: Brian Homer

Innovative folk accordionist, vocalist and clog dancer Hannah James, a key figure in the revival of English percussive dance, unites with globetrotting, post-classical, improvisational French cellist Toby Kuhn for Sleeping Spirals, an April 8 concert full of playful chemistry, warmth and soul, as they resume their new project started last autumn.

On April 20, led by British composer and violinist Christian Garrick, Budapest Café Orchestra perform a blistering barrage of traditional folk and gypsy- flavoured music that takes in the Balkans and Russia, Klezmer laments, Romanian doinas, Hungarian czadas and their own re-imaginings of big tunes by classical greats.

Flook, in the NCEM diary for April 27, take inspiration from Irish and English sources, weaving and spinning traditionally rooted tunes over precise acoustic grooves with a bold, adventurous musical imagination, as whistle player Brian Finnegan, flautist Sarah Allen, guitarist Ed Boyd and bodhran player Joihn Joe Kelly have been doing for more than 25 years.

Saxophonist-to-the-stars Snake Davis is welcomed back to the NCEM on April 28, this time in a new venture with arranger, composer and pianist Robin A Smith, musical director for the London Olympics opening ceremony in 2012.

Snake Davis and Robin A Smith: New venture at the NCEM on April 28

Sparring partners for decades, spearheading the Classic Chillout movement 20 years ago, they now team up to celebrate the joy and power of classical, folk, pop and jazz music.

Another saxophonist, Trish Clowes, leads her jazz band My Iris in their York debut on May 3, providing pianist Ross Stanley, guitarist Chris Montague and drummer James Maddren with a high-intensity platform for individual expression and improvisation, delivering driving grooves and lingering melodic lines, as they “seamlessly morph between earthy restlessness and futuristic dreamscapes”.

The Yorkshire Silent Film Festival returns to the NCEM on May 10 to present the 1929 Indian box-office smash A Throw Of The Dice (PG), accompanied by an improvised live score by Utsav Lal, a young Indian pianist noted for his innovative piano renditions of Hindustani ragas.

Based on an episode from The Mahabarata, this lavishly romantic silent film tells the story of rival Indian kings – one good, one bad – who fall in love with the same woman. Filmed in India with 10,000 extras, 1,000 horses, 50 elephants and an all-star Indian cast, it rivals Cecil B De Mille for screen spectacle.

VOŁOSI : Seeking to “exceed the limits of string instruments” on May 23

After 700 concerts in 34 countries, the string-driven VOŁOSI make their NCEM debut on May 23, led by violinist Krzysztof Lasoń and cellist Stanisław Lasoń, who first joined forces with traditional performers deep in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains in 2010. From those roots, the Polish band seek to “exceed the limits of string instruments” with their modern, powerful and emotional playing.

On June 9, Maya Youssef, queen of the qanun, the 78-stringed Middle Eastern plucked zither, showcases Finding Home, an album that takes a journey through memories and the essence of home, both within and without, as she explores the emotional and healing qualities of music.

“It’s about finding that place of peace, that place of softness, comfort and healing, which manifests in everyone in a unique way, from finding home in nature to the people who make us feel that sense of relief and peace,” says Maya, who will be joined by the musicians from the recording sessions that were rooted in the Arabic classical tradition but forged pathways into jazz, Western classical and flamenco styles too.

For Maya, who was born in Damascus, Syria, and has lived in the UK since 2012, the act of playing music is a both a life and hope-affirming act and an antidote to what is happening, not only in Syria, but across the world.

This will be the first of three concerts to be staged at the NCEM under the umbrella of the York Festival of Ideas. In the second, on June 12, guitarist, composer and ukulele virtuoso Richard Durrant at last cycles into York on his Covid-delayed Music For Midsummer musical pilgrimage from Orkney to Brighton Open Air Theatre for the summer solstice.

Maya Youssef: Finding Home at the NCEM on June 9

Expect plenty of tales from the road, as well as original guitar music, British-flavoured folk and Bach on the uke as he celebrates the release of his Rewilding album.

For the third concert, double bassist and composer Alison Rayner leads her vibrant, award-winning quintet through “songs without words” on June 17 in the company of Buster Birch, drums, Deirdre Cartwright, guitar, Diane McLoughlin, saxophones, and Steve Lodder, piano.  

Their music-making combines richly nuanced compositions, rhythmic interplay and folk-infused melodies with a cinematic quality, a love of improvisation and a strong sense of narrative.

Already booked for the autumn are She’koyokh, an international seven-piece klezmer and Balkan band from London, on October 30 (6.30pm) and Scottish fiddler, composer John McCusker, celebrating his 30th anniversary as a professional musician, on November 2.

Performances start at 7.30pm unless stated otherwise. Box office: 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk.

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Marti Pellow talks architecture? Learn more in Two Big Egos In A Small Car episode 78

TWO Big Egos In A Small Car arts podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson compare notes on their separate interviewing experiences with Marti Pellow, smarty fellow of pop, ahead of his York Barbican greatest hits show on May 3.

Prompted by his Wet Wet Wet exit, Chalmers & Hutch then discuss famous bands’ substitute singers, from Genesis to AC/DC, Black Sabbath to Buzzcocks.

Plus why Kenneth Branagh’s second Agatha Christie revamp, Death On The Nile, bristles with much more than Poirot’s monumental moustache; Harry Sword’s deep dive of a book on drone music, Monolithic Undertow – In search Of Sonic Oblivion… and a Sting in the tail end.

To listen, head to: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/10087660