THIS was an all-English evening and the first this year to include a singer. James Gilchrist lent his eloquent tenor to songs by the first great song-writer John Dowland and by Rubbra and Leighton, alongside instrumental works by Bliss and Britten.
It was a smart idea to include the two Dowland songs upon which Britten based his Lachrymae variations. Both were given in ‘consort’ versions, with a string quartet mimicking the sound of viols. It was certainly satisfactory, although we hardly felt the dance rhythms on which they were built.
What madethem a success, however, was Gilchrist’s intensity, allied to excellent diction. A sole example was his spine-tingling sforzando twice on ‘hell’ in the final verse of ‘Flow my tears’. ‘If my complaints’ was the very essence of melancholy, Dowland’s forte.
Britten wrote his Lachrymae, subtitled ‘Reflections on a song of John Dowland’, in 1950 for viola and piano. But this was his Op 48a, that tiny ‘a’ indicating the version he wrote 26 years later for viola and small string orchestra. It was a treat to hear it in this format, which turns the work into a virtual concerto. Simone Gramaglia was the thoughtful soloist, partnered by a star-studded octet.
Essentially this is a theme and variations in reverse, with Dowland’s ‘Flow my tears’ emerging radiantly at its close after a tortuous journey. Gramaglia led from the front, invigorating his posse with his rhythmic verve and insights.
When bold low strings (built on Will Duerden’s double bass) grew urgent, he soared high above, then asserting his authority in the cadenza. His tremolo led into a rushing passage before the calm dénouement.
In a sense we had also been in the Elizabethan era with Rubbra’s Two Sonnets by William Alabaster (1567-1640). These involved the viola of Simone van der Giessen, along with Gilchrist and the piano of Anna Tilbrook.
They were intense and prayerful, with tenor and viola blending especially well. In ‘Upon the Crucifix’ the pleading was mellowed by more positive thoughts, whereas the quite deliberate tempo of ‘On the Reed of Our Lord’s Passion’, with insistently dissonant viola and piano, underlined the agitation involved in Christian belief. Gilchrist’s delivery was a model of dramatic perplexity.
Gilchrist and Tilbrook also presented two movements from Kenneth Leighton’s cantata Earth, Sweet Earth. ‘Prelude’ sets a passage from Ruskin’s autobiography as a dreamscape, finishing high on a pianissimo falsetto. Gilchrist took it in his stride.
The icy terrain of ‘Contemplation’ by Hopkins grew ever more intense, and demanded particular accuracy from Tilbrook. She delivered in spades.
This left Bliss’s Clarinet Quintet, with Matthew Hunt in the leading role. Benjamin Baker led the strings, with the support of Emma Parker, Simone van der Giessen and Rebecca Gilliver. There was a lovely flow to the dialogue at the start, contrasting strongly with the taut, staccato excitement of the Allegro molto which melted into a contemplative mood.
The Adagietto had an elegiac aroma, progressing into a sighing romanticism. The finale was a real caper, leavened by syncopation right from the start. But there was still room for Hunt’s trademark cantabile before an exciting coda. The strings had kept close order with the clarinet, making their presence felt whenever possible. Teamwork was the order the evening.
Abigail McHale as Investigator with members of the Opera North Youth Company in Judith Weir’s The Secret Of The Black Spider. Picture: James Glossop
OPERA North opened its new season with the UK premiere of Judith Weir’s comic thriller in the version first seen at Staatsoper Hamburg in 2008 as Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Spinne.
It features orchestration expanded by Benjamin Gordon from the original 1984 score, which was simply The Black Spider.
It was a bold move by the company to put its youth branch front and centre – and it worked astoundingly well. Weir’s own libretto interweaves two tales, primarily a 19th century novella by the Swiss writer and pastor Jeremias Gotthelf, set in the late 15th century, but also a 1983 report in The Times about excavations at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków.
Ross Ramgobin as Count Heinrich with members of the Opera North Youth Company. Picture: James Glossop
Both stories involve mysterious spiders thought to be lethal. Weir runs them in parallel by inserting five modern interludes, staged as a documentary, into two acts built around the mediaeval fairy-tale.
So we began with journalists interviewing an archaeologist about excavations of King Casimir IV’s tomb in Kraków. By the end we had learnt from a pathologist that a spider had emerged from inside the tomb, followed by the unexplained deaths of several excavators.
Back in 1492, the despotic Count Heinrich’s villagers in the Carpathian mountains are unable to plant a shady grove for his mountain-top castle, but take up the Green Man’s offer to help out. In return, he demands marriage to Christina, who pretends to jilt her fiancé Carl.
Daniel Wright as The Green Man with members of the Opera North Youth Company. Picture: James Glossop
Marrying him anyway, she is punished with a painful hand, from which emerges a plague-bearing spider that crawls inside the Count’s helmet. Driven mad and insensible with drink, he rides to his death. Christina eventually captures the rampaging spider in a trumpet and persuades the sculptors to bury it in the tomb they are preparing for the recently-deceased Casimir IV.
The two stories thus coalesce: cue general rejoicing in the mountains, while a modern-day investigator deduces that “there is a rational answer to everything”.
The score calls for two professional singers. Ross Ramgobin brought a commanding baritone to Heinrich, cleverly blending menace with mirth, while Pasquale Orchard’s vivid soprano allied to her background in dance made for a lively Christina.
Akele Obiang as Caspa. Picture: James Glossop
A variety of cameos were spread throughout the Opera North Youth Chorus and taken with enthusiasm and aplomb. Special mention must go to Daniel Wright who doubled as the Green Man and as a priest attempting to point a final moral, Jeannot Gantier-Hudson as Carl and Akele Obiang as Christina’s visiting cousin Caspa; all three contributed important solos.
Weir’s music, always with tonality not far from the surface, has an irrepressible momentum, which combines tellingly with the wry humour that underlies much of the libretto. It even spoofs operatic conventions. A spider motif dominates the latter stages, and she convincingly interpolates ‘Now thank we all our God’ into the celebrations.
Nicholas Shaw kept a firm hand on the tiller, steering the chamber-sized Opera North Youth Orchestra through tricky rhythmic waters and easily keeping his singers afloat. Chorus discipline under Rosie Kat’s direction was superb, even when tested by the imaginary spider’s rapid reappearances amongst the crowd.
Jeannot Gantier-Houston as Carl, Pasquale Orchard as Christina and Akele Obiang as Caspain The Secret Of The Black Spider. Picture: James Glossop
Zara Mansouri’s set and costumes conjured both period and topography, with Jake Wiltshire’s flexible lighting adding to the mystery but without gloom.
It should be unnecessary to mention that this was the company’s first main-stage opera by a female composer.
All the creative team was at pains to point out that much of the production’s subtlety originated with the performers themselves. It highlighted the vital importance of the whole undertaking: educational outreach is one thing, but putting young performers before the general public quite another. It also offered as powerful a guarantee as can be imagined of the company’s future health.
Review by Martin Dreyer
The Opera North Youth Company in The Secret Of The Black Spider. Picture: James Glossop
The Old Paint Shop, pictured on its inaugural night on October 5 2024, returns to York Theatre Royal Studio tomorrow
THIS autumn, York Theatre Royal Studio is being transformed once again into cabaret club The Old Paint Shop for a season of comedy, live music, burlesque and more, featuring Paint Shop favourites and exciting new acts.
Seating will be cabaret club style and unreserved, offering an intimate theatrical experience where audience members are encouraged to grab a drink at the bar, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Evolution Of Fishermen: Opening new season tomorrow. Picture: Luke Ryan Photography
Evolution Of Fishermen, October 9, 8pm
EVOLUTION Of Fishermen are a contemporary folk band, brought together by a mutual love of storytelling, harmony and original folk songs. Since forming in 2021, they have played Green Note, O2 Academy Islington, Old Blue Last in London and The Crescent in York, plus festival appearances at Wilderness, Deershed, Gate To Southwell, LOOP fest & Sam Lee’s The NEST stage at Medicine Festival.
Nun better than Freida Nipples in the company of The Exhibitionists. Picture: Fake Trash Studio
Freida Nipples presents The Exhibitionists, October 10, 8pm
JOIN York’s international award-winning burlesque artiste Freida Nipples as she welcomes some of her favourite and most fabulous performance artists from across the UK. From burlesque to drag and beyond, be sure to expect the unexpected.
Anna Soden: Talking out of her ass in brain wave of a debut comedy show
Anna Soden: It Comes Out Your Bum, October 11, 8pm
ANNA Soden’s brain is a bum. “Come see all the nice things that come out of it,” says the York-raised, Brighton-based comedian, actor and award-nominated York Theatre Royal pantomime cow.
It Comes Out Your Bum is Anna’s madcap debut comedy hour, full of songs, revenge and talking out your ass. This 2025 Komedia New Comedian semi-finalist has featured on Absolute Radio, iHeart Radio and BBC Upload and attracted more than 11million views on TikTok/Instagram.
Fool(ish) Improv: Talking cobblers
Fool(ish) Improv: Cobbled Together, October 11, 8pm
FOOL(ISH) are delighted to deliver a new kind of improv gig as they return to York Theatre Royal. Inspired by York’s most famous street [Shambles], Cobbled Together is a show where the audience brings its own stories and memories of York to pave the way for some freshly ground comedy.
“All things local are about to get a little bit more ludicrous” say Fool(ish). “Join us for a spontaneous and ‘shambolic’ comedy where everything is made up… apart from the bits that happen to be true!”
Kiki Deville: Amusing tales to heartfelt confessions. Picture: Veronica Vee Marx
An Evening with Kiki Deville, October 17, 8pm
COMBINING a big voice, big humour and an even bigger heart, award-winning cabaret diva Kiki DeVille presents a dazzling night of storytelling, sharp wit and unforgettable moments.
From amusing tales to heartfelt confessions, Kiki serves it all, seasoned with her signature sass and a splash of vintage glam. Expect wonderful songs, side-splitting stories and perhaps a visit from glamorous guests along the way.
The Jazzville Quartet’s singer Raquel Alvaro
The Jazzville Quartet, October 18, 8pm
JOIN York jazz combo The Jazzville Quartet for a joyful celebration of Latin favourites (some sung in the original Portuguese), swing classics and haunting jazz ballads, led fabulous Portuguese jazz songbird Raquel Alvaro.
Accompanying Raquel will be piano maestro, arranger and composer Alec Robinson, saxophone legend Jon Taylor and double bass player Tim Murgatroyd.
Queer Spaces: Imagining a better world through a queer lens
Queer Spaces: Climate Pride, October 22, 7pm
THIS one-off night of sparkling new stories imagines a better world through a queer lens. Written and performed by York LGBTQIA artists trying out new work for the first time, Queer Spaces is presented by Roots in association with York Theatre Royal and the Stephen Joseph Theatre.
Pianist Karl Mullen: Everything from Chopin to Oasis, via Led Zeppelin and Les Dawson
Karl Mullen, October 23, 8pm
KARL Mullen is a familiar sight to York visitors as the busker with an upright piano playing outside York Minster, jazz fixture at The Phoenix Inn, in George Street, and Pub Piano Champion at the Leeds Piano Competition.
Mullen has a huge repertoire and specialises in virtuosic arrangements of material from The Great American Songbook, classic pop and rock, boogie-woogie and blues. Expect a highly entertaining mix of everything from Chopin to Oasis, via Led Zeppelin and Les Dawson, delivered with a large dose of humour and stories.
Jazz singer and pianist Nicki Allan
The Nicki Allan Quartet, October 24, 8pm
LEEDS jazz outfit The Nicki Allan Quartet are headed by jazz singer and pianist Nicki Allan, whose vocal style blends wholesome blues sound with soulful jazz and a hint of R&B. Together, the quartet plays a lively and varied set of up-tempo music with a fresh, modern sound interwoven with bold improvisation, scat and a deliciously driving feel.
The Isolation Creations: Hosting The Haunted Haus Of Games
The Haunted Haus Of Games with The Isolation Creations, October 25, 8pm
EYES down for a full Haus of spooky shenanigans as drag queen comedians The Isolation Creations return to York Theatre Royal with their Halloween show, full of ghosts and ghoulies!
Join Jamie Honeybourne and Alan Gibbons for an evening of bingo, laughter, games, surprises and cheesy prizes. “Dress in your best spooky fancy dress and you might go home with a trick and a treat,” they say.
Tickets for The Old Paint Shop are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York musician Joshua Burnell in the woods. Picture: Frances Sladen
JOSHUA Burnell makes retro folk-pop-rock for the modern world.
Next up for the York keyboard player, guitarist, singer and songwriter – and teacher and cafe pianist to boot – is a sold-out gig with his full band at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, on Saturday night.
Joining Joshua (piano, Hammond organ, guitar and vocals) in the bakery will be Nathan Greaves (electric guitar), Ed Simpson (drums), Olly Whitehouse (bass), Kat Hurdley (violin) and, hopefully, Frances Sladen (vocals).
Expect hooky melodies drenched in warm, retro-synth textures, reverbing guitars, lush harmonies and words that make you think. Imagine The War On Drugs meets Peter Gabriel-era Genesis as 1970s’ glam makes peace with psychedelia.
Through his intricately crafted lyrics, Joshua creates a multiverse of settings, from apocalyptic love songs to re-imagined fairy tales, and introduces otherworldly characters, such as the Glass Knight, resurrected from an old English folk tale to reflect the foibles of today.
“This one’s for fans of Stranger Things, Seventies’ art rock and everything in between,” says Joshua as he answers CharlesHutchPress’s questions ahead of Friday’s gig.
What form will the Rise gig take, Joshua?
“Full band! It’s sold out so should be a great night. We sold out over a year ago so I want to give a huge shout-out to everyone who bought a ticket.”
What is the story behind your decision to revisit your debut album Lend An Ear with an upcoming new audio and book edition?
“In 2013, I recorded an album in a student bedroom with a broken MacBook and a guitar I barely knew how to tune. The songs were strong; the execution wasn’t. I’ve been gradually correcting my mistakes ever since.
“This new album is the story of finishing unfinished business. Of doing something again for the sake of doing it properly. The album contains completely re-arranged and re-imagined versions of the songs, to the standard I’d always intended, now re-recorded partly at Young Thugs Studios [at South Bank Social Club, Ovington Terrace, York] and partly in a cottage in rural Wales.
“At one point last year, everything just got a bit too much and I found myself unable to focus properly. I always loved the mythology of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page hiding away in a cottage in Wales to write Led Zeppelin III, so I decided I should do the same. It was exactly what I needed and most of the album took shape during that time.
“In a quiet rebellion against streaming platforms who have successfully managed to devalue music, I’m releasing this one exclusively on CD. It’ll be heard by fewer people, but if it makes it sustainable, that’s enough for me.
“To make it extra special for those people who do choose to support the project and buy a copy, it will come as a hardback book with the full story behind the album and songs.”
What have you been up to in 2025?
“One of the highlights of my life: my daughter Lyra was born! I’ve become a dad, which is the most beautiful thing but also makes you ask yourself some pretty serious questions.
“I knew I couldn’t sustain teaching and music and be a dad, so I’ve taken a year away from teaching to have a go at supporting my family with music. It’s difficult, but I feel very supported by my friends, family and fans.
“This is also part of the reasoning behind ditching streaming platforms – it seems reckless to release music that way when the stakes are so high.”
Have you ever snuck one of your own songs into your piano playing at Bettys cafe?!
“I actually wrote a song about Bettys – or, rather, a love story that takes place there – so I play that one every time! It’s called The Snow On St Helen’s Square. Lucy and 59 occasionally sneak in there too.”
The long hair has gone… why?!
“I wish there was a more profound explanation… it was for a music video! The song is called 59 and is about the last second in a minute; the last minute in an hour; the moment before something new begins.
“It was released just before Lyra was born and was part of that excitement in the unknown. I wanted it to look quite sharp and Eighties-inspired, and I think the short hair suited it well. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMsziLvQ_BI .
“I’m growing it long again now. I’m an elf at heart.”
How has your songwriting changed down the years?
“I would like to think I’ve started to consider why I am writing a song more: what problem will my songs solve or who will they serve? I’ve also learned to arrange my songs better, which is a difficult skill.
“Because I write in the studio a lot of the time, the arrangement can happen simultaneously. It’s about having the foresight to hear what the finished song will sound like, and making choices accordingly. There was a time I used to throw in everything and the kitchen sink – now I only use the kitchen sink if there needs to be a kitchen sink.”
How is the Road to the Royal Albert Hall campaign progressing, as highlighted on your website?
“It’s always been my dream to perform a headline show there, so shall we try to make it happen? We’ll need at least 4,000 people to sign up, and we’ll have to prove we mean business at the venues we play along the way.
“I’ll keep updating on our progress. Emails will go out on the first day of each month. Be sure to check your junk folder!”
Joshua Burnell with full band, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, October 11, doors, 7.30pm. SOLD OUT. Also playing Howden Live gig at Shire Hall, Howden, with full band, October 18, 8pm. Tickets still available at howden-live.com.
The album cover artwork for Joshua Burnell’s Lend An Ear
Lend An Ear revisited: the back story
“THIS album will only be heard by a finite group of people,” says Joshua. “I’m starting a small, musical rebellion: the album will not be released on streaming platforms. Instead, this album will be limited to a small number of physical copies, beautifully packaged in a hard-back book because I believe the context and stories are as important as the songs themselves.
“To keep the music coming, this needs to be sustainable. A small number of people will own and hear this music. It will be special for them and more than rewarding enough for me.
“The album contains the re-recorded versions followed by the original versions. I hope you enjoy the depth and lived experience in the music and sense of adventure hidden in each layer of every song.”
Lend An Ear (Revisited) contains:
*Re-recorded version of Joshua Burnell’s debut album
*All tracks from the original 2013 release
*Hardback book(lette!) of extensive sleeve notes and stories behind the songs
*7x ‘deep dive’ posters, breaking down the tracks
*The warm feeling that you supported an independent artist to continue making music!
Lend An Ear can be pre-ordered at https://www.joshuaburnell.co.uk/product-page/lend-an-ear-revisited-cd-book.
Griffonage Theatre: Theatre at the intersection of the madcap and the macabre
IRISH village tales, love’s vicissitudes, folk and ceilidh nights and ghost & goblin storytelling bring autumn cheer to Charles Hutchinson.
Time to discover: Griffonage Theatre in FourTold, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK devotees of the madcap, the macabre and making the familiar strange and the strange familiar, Griffonage Theatre transport audiences to the quirky rural town of Baile Aighneas – The Town of Dispute – for FourTold, a quartet of comedies by early 20th century Irish playwright Lady Augusta Gregory, never presented together in the UK until now under Northern Irish director Katie Leckey.
Encounter the bustling market and all its gossip in Spreading The News; the restaurant where newspaper editors wine, dine and mix up their Coats; the post office, where the splendid Hyacinth Halvey has sent word he is coming to town, and the bus stop where strangers such as The Bogie Men can quickly become friends! Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Joe Layton and Hannah Sinclair Robinson in Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Scott Graham
Relationship drama of the week: Frantic Assembly in Lost Atoms, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
FRANTIC Assembly follow up York Theatre Royal visits of Othello and Metamorphosis with their 30th anniversary production, a two-hander memory play by Anna Jordan, directed by physical theatre specialist Scott Graham.
Joe Layton and Hannah Sinclair Robinson play Robbie and Jess, whose chance meeting, disastrous dates and extraordinary transformative love is the stuff of fairy tales. Or is it? Lost Atoms is a wild ride through a life-changing relationship, or Robbie and Jess’s clashing recollections as they relive the beats of connection, the moments of loss, but are their stories the same and can their memories be trusted? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie: Pure entertainment at York Barbican
Oh, lucky you gig of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today, 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, tomorrow, 8pm
NOW in his 36th year of leading Liverpool’s Lightning Seeds, Ian Broudie heads to York on his extended Tomorrow’s Here Today tour. Cue Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions et al. Casino support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jack Fry’s Quasimodo and Ayana Beatrice Poblete’s Esmerelda in Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
Musical of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 10, 11 and 14 to 18, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
BLACK Sheep Theatre Productions bring a cast of five leads, seven ensemble actors and a 23-strong choir to the York company’s larger-than-life staging of Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz’s musical rooted in Disney’s 1996 musical film and Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel.
Combining powerful themes of love, acceptance and the nature of good and evil with a sweeping score, Matthew Peter Clare’s show will be “like nothing you’ve seen before”. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Alex Mitchell: Headlining the Funny Fridays comedy bill at Patch at Bonding Warehouse, York
Comedy gig of the week: Funny Fridays, Patch at Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, Friday, 7.30pm
BRITAIN’S Got Talent star Alex Mitchell headlines October’s Funny Fridays bill at Patch, hosted by promoter and comedy turn Katie Lingo. On the bill too will be Pheebs Stephenson, Jacob Kohn, Lorna Green and Jimmy Johnson.
“As this year’s event falls on World Mental Health Day, we’re raising money for Samaritans with bucket collections, ticket proceeds and a raffle. I’m a volunteer at the York branch and see first-hand the incredible work they do.” Tickets: eventbrite.co.uk or on the door.
Suthering’s Julu Irvine and and Heg Brignall: Playing Helmsley Arts Centre
Folk gig of the week: Suthering, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
ADVOCATES for the LGBTQ+ community and for the rights of women and other marginalised people, Tavistock folk duo Suthering’s Julu Irvine and and Heg Brignall weave harmonies through their original songs, paired with gentle guitar and emotive piano arrangements.
Known for their chemistry, storytelling and humour on stage, they intertwine their messages about the state of our climate, social conscience, the importance of community and connecting with nature, while championing female characters, creating new narratives for women and unearthing the female heroines of the folk tradition, as heard on their second album, 2024’s Leave A Light On. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Ceilidh of the week: Jackhare Ceilidh Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm
RYEDALE Dog Rescue presents the Jackhare Ceilidh Band in an evening of traditional English dance music this weekend. Doors open at 7pm and the Studio Bar will be open. Tickets must be pre-booked by emailing fundraising@ryedaledogrescue.org.uk, phoning 01653 697548, texting 07843 971973 or messaging on the Ryedale Dog Rescue Facebook page.
Robin Simpson: Storyteller and York Theatre Royal pantomime dame
Spooky entertainment of the week: Robin Simpson’s Magic, Monsters And Mayhem!, Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, October 12, doors 4pm
YORK Theatre Royal pantomime dame Robin Simpson – soon to give his Nurse Nellie in Sleeping Beauty this winter – celebrates witches, wizards, ghosts and goblins in his storytelling show.
“The audience is in charge in this interactive performance, ideal for fans of spooky stories and silly songs,” says Robin. “The show is perfect for Years 5 and upwards, but smaller siblings and their grown-ups are very welcome too.” Tickets: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Beverley Knight: Stories and songs at York Barbican. Picture: Lewis Shaw
Concert announcement of the week: Beverly Knight, Born To Perform, York Barbican, June 20 2026
QUEEN of British soul Beverley Knight will share stories from her life on stage, as well as performing her biggest hits, musical theatre favourites and cherished songs that have inspired her.
“I’m excited to get back on the road but with a different kind of show that folk are used to with me,” says Wolverhampton-born Beverley, 52. “Born To Perform is me taking you on a journey through my life on both music and theatre stages, using my memories and of course my songs. I’m stripping back my sound so the audience can lean in a little closer and really hear my soul.” Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/beverley-knight-2026.
Beverley Knight: June 2026 shows at York Barbican and Sheffield City Hall
QUEEN of British soul Beverley Knight will share stories from her life on stage, as well as performing her biggest hits, musical theatre favourites and cherished songs that have inspired her on next year’s 20-date UK tour.
“I’m excited to get back on the road but with a different kind of show that folk are used to with me,” says Wolverhampton-born Beverly, 52.
“Born To Perform is me taking you on a journey through my life on both music and theatre stages, using my memories and of course my songs. I’m stripping back my sound so the audience can lean in a little closer and really hear my soul.”
Knight’s live performances have gained her a legion of famous fans, from David Bowie to Stevie Wonder, and she has collaborated on stage and on record with Prince, Marvin Gaye, Andrea Bocelli, Jamiroquai, Take That and Joss Stone.
Knight has forged a formidable parallel career in theatre. Already a much revered leading lady of West End musicals, now she has been nominated for Best Female Lead Actor at the Black British Theatre Awards for her performance as the trailblazing “Godmother of Rock’n’Roll”, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, in Maria & Rosetta, her first professional role in a play.
The production will transfer to the West End next year, playing Soho Place Theatre from February 28 to April 11.
Her portrayal of Emmeline Pankhurst in Sylvia at The Old Vic won Knight her first Oliver Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical in 2023. She has starred too in The Bodyguard, Sister Act and Memphis The Musical and played Grizabella in Cats, at the request of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the formidable manager of soul group The Drifters in The Drifters Girl. In the Olivier awards, that show was nominated for Best New Musical and Knight for Best Actress.
In 2023, she marked her 50th birthday with the sold-out 50 Tour and her first studio album in seven years, The Fifth Chapter.
Knight has notched hit singles with Made It Black, Greatest Day, Get Up, Shoulda Woulda Coulda, Gold, Come As You Are, Keep This Fire Burning and Piece Of My Heart.
She has sold more than a million albums in the UK, including four gold certificates. Who I Am reached number seven in 2002; Affirmation, number 11, 2004; Music City Soul, number eight, 2007; 100%, number 17, 2009; Soul UK, number 13, 2011; Soulsville, number nine, 2016, and The Fifth Chapter, number 39, 2023. The Voice – The Best Of Beverley Knight peaked at number nine in 2006.
In 2007, Knight was awarded an MBE for services to British music and charity. She has won three MOBO Awards and been nominated for Best Female at the BRIT Awards three times, Best Actress at the Olivier Awards twice and Best Album at the Mercury Music Prize.
Miles & The Chain Gang’s artwork for the Acoustic Autumn EP
YORK band Miles and The Chain Gang are releasing the Acoustic Autumn EP on digital platforms on Friday (10/10/2025).
Five acoustic-tinged songs will be accompanied by one track not released previously. Among the tracks will be A Way Of Being Free, first released in 2007 and now resurfacing in a version recorded in London in 2018.
“When I wrote that song I was aiming for a kind of Dylan-esque universal reflection on the human condition,” says songwriter and band leader Miles Salter. “I’m not sure I succeeded, but I’ve always liked the song and the way it reflects a variety of human experience. As John Lennon said, ‘whatever gets you through the night’…”
On the EP too is Raining Cats And Dogs. “This novelty song from years ago just won’t go away,” says Miles. “A music PR person said it was the best song in our catalogue, although I sort of feel it’s like David Bowie and The Laughing Gnome.”
Further tracks will be Syd Egan’s love song Wildcats And Koalas, the cheeky Love Like A Freight Train and Hold Me Down. “If you like Bob Dylan or acoustic rock’n’roll stuff, you’ll enjoy the EP,” says Miles.
Miles and The Chain Gang’s tracks continue to travel around the world on Spotify. “We’ve been played in 25 countries from Canada to Brazil to Mexico, Argentina and New Zealand, and plays have now topped 35,000,” says Miles.
THE evening belonged to Schubert, but not altogether as you might have expected him.
With his irrepressible desire to push boundaries, baritone Roderick Williams – who is also a composer in his own right – has rewritten the piano accompaniment to Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin, for string quartet. It was an audacious move, which opened up new angles on this much-loved song-cycle.
There is no denying that there were minuses as well as pluses in this approach. Right from the start the piano’s percussiveness was absent. The mill-wheels barely rattled, the stones did not resound and the stream was at times barely a ripple compared to Schubert’s full-blown mill race: the piano does water better than strings.
And yet. There is no decay in string sound. So whenever Schubert put a separate melody alongside the singer’s line, the two voices were generally better balanced. There is also more physical drama in watching four string players in action than one pianist can deliver: the Carduccis certainly let you know when they need to be heard. The tone quality from each instrument is more variegated and thus at times easier to discern.
A few samples must suffice to demonstrate the subtlety of Williams’s orchestration. Where the piano repeats the music for each verse, Williams often writes something different. Thus in ‘Morning Greeting’ we had a touch of tremolo illustrating the little flowers shrinking from the sun, this a song in which voice and strings combined especially well. He had largely omitted the first violin at the start of ‘Thanksgiving to the Brook’, giving a darker texture.
In ‘Curiosity’ (No 6), the pauses between phrases were telling. The word ‘Ja’ here was forceful, but led into a prayerful final verse, where the sustaining power of the strings made the mood altogether more wistful.
Carducci Quartet
The following song, ‘Impatience’ benefited from very light strings, Mendelssohn-style, but the tempo was too fast to allow quite enough breadth on ‘Dein ist mein Herz’.
In the central verses of ‘Shower Of Tears’ (No 10), the legato lines of both voice and strings intermingled delightfully. At the end of ‘Mine!’, Williams stood for effect, where otherwise he remained seated on a piano stool; the quartet had lent urgency to the song.
Staccato strings heightened the vocal anger behind ‘The Huntsman’ (No 14) and, with resentment building, the dark atmosphere of ‘The Good Colour’ made it quite clear that the game was up for our lovelorn lad.
So Williams ended ‘The Wicked Colour’ boldly as the lad said farewell, after which viola and cello pizzicato alone opened ‘Dry Flowers’, typifying the empty moment. Yet that song finished in a blaze, each of the repetitions of the last stanza more intense. The dialogue between lad and (seductive) brook ended with a lovely postlude, before the touching final ‘goodnight’.
It was a treat to hear this version, not least for the way it uncovered new vistas. It was sung in German and, of course, in lower keys than the original tenor. But Williams was immensely alive to Schubert’s nuances – and the Carduccis, to their credit, were with him every step of the way.
They had opened the evening with Schubert’s Tenth Quartet, D.87 in E flat, dating from November 1813, with pronounced shading, especially in the fast outer movements. Some of the accompaniment figures from the 16-year-old composer were a touch rudimentary, but his melodic gift was already blossoming here.
SIX distinguished string players – pairs of violinists, violists and cellists – were joined by the equally eminent pianist Katya Apekisheva in five concerts packed into three days. The highlights of the last four are covered here.
At the National Centre for Early Music (September 19), the vigorous outer movements of Haydn’s Op 76 No 5 in D sandwiched a Largo notable for its delicate shading and a minuet whose trio was eerily mysterious.
The cracking pace of the finale was typical of the sheer enjoyment that these players brought to their task, led by Jonathan Stone.
He exchanged the leader’s chair with Charlotte Scott for Shostakovich’s Eighth, Op 110 in C minor, which erupted into a fiery motor-rhythm after its studied start. There were telling little cadenzas from her and the viola player Gary Pomeroy, but there was no disguising the underlying anger, tinged with sorrow, in this supremely biographical testament.
The original, intimate sextet version of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, vibrantly led by Scott, was notable for the balance between the voices and the transparency of its textures. Richard Dehmel’s poem, on which it is based, speaks of transformation. Here one constantly sensed the ensemble straining at the harmonic leash, reflecting the composer’s enthusiasm for change. There was also special warmth in the quartet of lower voices and a lovely delicacy at the close.
Lunchtime on the Saturday (September 20) in the Unitarian Chapel brought together the viola of Hélène Clément with the piano of Katya Apekisheva. Clément’s usual instrument, once belonging to Frank Bridge, was in for repairs, so she shelved her announced Bridge pieces and Apekisheva inserted Tchaikovsky’s October between the Rebecca Clarke and Shostakovich sonatas instead.
After a forthright opening, Clément made a useful contrast between the themes of Clarke’s first movement, the second decidedly wistful. The twinkling scherzo had a satanic streak. There might have been more restraint at the start of the finale, so as to offer more contrast with the passionate material that follows, but the crescendo on an extended tremolo boiled neatly into a brilliant coda. The duo was thoroughly alive to Clarke’s freewheeling approach.
The Shostakovich sonata is his last, an initially tortured work completed barely a month before he died in August 1975. At its centre we had a catchy scherzo, but with a dark, hypnotic core. The concluding Adagio was a wonderfully calm approach to impending death, framed by very personal cadenzas and helped by the piano’s reminiscence of the ‘Moonlight’ sonata. Apekisheva’s elegiac treatment of October had paved the way ideally.
That evening, at the Lyons Concert Hall, all seven players were on duty. It opened with a beautifully balanced account of Schubert’s Notturno, D.897, written in his final year. It offered a huge contrast between its quiet frame and the dotted rhythms at its centre. Apekisheva’s arpeggios were velvety.
With Jonathan Stone still in the leader’s chair for Schumann’s Piano Quartet, also in E flat, we were swept into an infectiously joyful milieu, reflecting the composer’s recent marriage in 1842. The opening movement’s crisp rhythms, with real drama in its development section, preceded a scherzo that was almost too forceful. Yet the slow movement was milked for every drop of sentimentality (but with an ending without vibrato), until the players let their hair down in a fun-filled finale.
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor brought together violinist Charlotte Scott with cellist Reinoud Ford and the redoubtable, ever-present Apekisheva. Ford had stepped nobly into the shoes of Tim Lowe, the festival director, who was enjoying an introduction to fatherhood.
Essentially in two movements, the trio is an extended elegy for the pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, written in 1882 a year after his death. As one might expect, it demands considerable virtuosity from the pianist. Apekisheva was more than equal to the task, if – rarely for her – a little too forceful in the insistent second theme (although, in her defence, it is marked fortissimo pesante).
The opening movement’s broad sweep was balanced by a theme and variations of extreme subtlety, based on a folk melody. Most memorable were the Chopin-like mazurka and skittish scherzo of the second and third variations.
We also had a touch of sugar-plum fairy and a flippant waltz, both demanding versatility from the ensemble. But mostly it was the bold, busy piano textures that quite properly dominated, with a respectful diminuendo into the final funeral march.
The six strings provided the festival’s afternoon finale, given at St Olave’s Church (September 21). Mozart’s String Quintet, K.515 in C preceded Brahms’s Second String Quintet, Op 111 in G. There was a strong contrast between the two works.
With Charlotte Scott leading and Reinoud Ford seated centrally as cellist, the Mozart was almost free of vibrato, no doubt in an attempt to deliver a ‘period’ sound. But none of the group is much known for early music and the effect was tight and restrained, as if the players felt shackled.
Nevertheless, the quintet’s emotional power was not obscured. The ‘Mannheim skyrocket’ of the opening, a high-rising arpeggio alternating between violin and cello, had its usual uplifting effect. The minuet was less telling and the slow movement can only be described as squeaky. But the final rondo, taken at a splendid clip, offered ample compensation, not least because it highlighted Charlotte Scott’s virtuosity.
For the Brahms, Jonathan Stone took over as leader and Jonathan Aasgaard was in the cello seat, with the admirable Hélène Clément and Gary Pomeroy continuing as violas. There was an immediate sense of abandon as a reasonable modicum of vibrato returned, with plenty of electricity and strong accents. Incidentally, the cello was now on the right-hand edge, reflecting its less pivotal role here.
The minor-key march had an intimate core, before Pomeroy’s viola took off in the pleasing cadenza-like ending. After the easy-going lilt of the scherzo and trio, the finale’s burst of exuberance made the perfect ending, with percussive accents at its centre and accelerating cross-rhythms in its coda.
This was a beautifully constructed festival and never less than stimulating.
Roy Chubby Brown: No offence, but it’s simply comedy, reckons Britain’s stalwart potty-mouthed joker at York Barbican
FROM sacre bleu comedy to a French silent film, Graham Nash and Al Stewart on vintage form to Grayson Perry on good and evil, love’s vicissitudes to the Hunchback musical, October is brewing up a storm of culture, reports Charles Hutchinson.
Blue humour of the week: Roy Chubby Brown, It’s Simply Comedy, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
GRANGETOWN gag veteran Roy Chubby Brown, now 80, forewarns: “Not meant to offend, it’s simply a comedy tour”. After more than 50 years of spicy one-liners and putdowns, he continues to tackle the subjects of sex, celebrities, politics and British culture with a high profanity count and contempt for political correctness. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio
Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre in The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 11am and 2pm
FRESH from an award-winning Edinburgh Fringe run, York company Hoglets Theatre invite primary-age children and families to an exciting adventure packed with beautiful handmade puppets, sea creatures, original songs and audience interaction aplenty.
Performed, crafted and directed by Gemma Curry, The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale celebrates friendship, difference and the beauty of being yourself in Andy Curry’s tale of Whale singing his heart out into the deep blue sea, but nobody singing back until…a mysterious voice echoes through the waves, whereupon Whale embarks on an unforgettable adventure. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Graham Nash: Sixty years of song at York Barbican. Picture: Ralf Louis
Vintage gigs of the week: Graham Nash, An Evening Of Songs And Stories, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm; Al Stewart, The Farewell Tour, York Barbican, October 7, 7.45pm
GRAHAM Nash, 83-year-old two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy award winner, performs songs spanning his 60-year career fromThe Hollies to Crosby, Stills andNash, CSNY (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) to his solo career, joined by Todd Caldwell (keyboards and vocals), Adam Minkoff(bass, drums, guitars and vocals) and Zach Djanikian (guitars, mandolin, drums and vocals). Long-time friend Peter Asher supports.
The poster for Al Stewart’s farewell tour, visiting York Barbican on Tuesday
Glasgow-born folk-rock singer-songwriter Al Stewart marks his 80th birthday (born 5/9/1945) with his UK farewell tour. After relocating to Chandler Arizona from Los Angeles, his home for the past 45 years, he is winding down his touring schedule with his long-running time band The Empty Pockets. Time for the last Year Of The Cat. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jonny Best: Leading Frame Ensemble’s improvised score for The Divine Voyager at the NCEM. Picture: Chris Payne
Film event of the week: Northern Silents presents The Divine Voyager with Frame Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, Monday, 7.30pm
FRAME Ensemble’s spontaneous musicians Jonny Best (piano), Susannah Simmons (violin), Liz Hanks (cello) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion) accompany Julien Duvivier’s lushly photographed, beautifully poetic 1929 French silent film The Divine Voyage with an improvised live score.
In a tale of faith and hope, rapacious businessman Claude Ferjac sends his ship, La Cordillere, on a long trading journey, knowing it is likely to sink after poor repairs. An entire village of sailors, desperate to support their families, has no choice but to set sail. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
James Lee, left, Helen Clarke, front, Wilf Tomlinson, back, and Katie Leckey rehearsing for Griffonage Theatre’s FourTold. Picture: John Stead
Time to discover: Griffonage Theatre in FourTold, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 6 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK devotees of the madcap, the macabre and making the familiar strange and the strange familiar, Griffonage Theatre transport audiences to the quirky rural town of Baile Aighneas – The Town of Dispute – for FourTold, a quartet of comedies by early 20th century Irish playwright Lady Augusta Gregory, never presented together in the UK until now under Northern Irish director Katie Leckey.
Encounter the bustling market and all its gossip in Spreading The News; the restaurant where newspaper editors wine, dine and mix up their Coats; the post office, where the splendid Hyacinth Halvey has sent word he is coming to town, and the bus stop where strangers such as The Bogie Men can quickly become friends! Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Hannah Sinclair Robinson’s Jess and Joe Layton’s Robbie in Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms, on tour at York Theatre Royal next week. Picture: Tristram Kenton
Relationship drama of the week: Frantic Assembly in Lost Atoms, York Theatre Royal, October 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
FRANTIC Assembly follow up York Theatre Royal visits of Othello and Metamorphosis with their 30th anniversary production, a two-hander memory play by Anna Jordan, directed by physical theatre specialist Scott Graham.
Joe Layton and Hannah Sinclair Robinson play Robbie and Jess, whose chance meeting, disastrous dates and extraordinary transformative love is the stuff of fairy tales. Or is it? Lost Atoms is a wild ride through a life-changing relationship, or Robbie and Jess’s clashing recollections as they relive the beats of connection, the moments of loss, but are their stories the same and can their memories be trusted? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Grayson Perry: “Finding out if you really are thoroughly good or maybe quite evil, but in a fun way” at the Grand Opera House
Question of the week: Grayson Perry: Are You Good?, Grand Opera House, October 7, 7.30pm
AFTER A Show For Normal People And A Show All About You, artist, iconoclast, television presenter and Knight Bachelor Grayson Perry asks Are You Good? A question that he thinks is “fundamental to our humanity”.
“In this show I will be helping you, the audience, find out if you really are thoroughly good or maybe quite evil, but in a fun way,” says Sir Grayson. “I always start out with the assumption that people are born good and then life happens. So, let’s pull back the curtain and see where your morals truly lie.” Add audience participation and silly songs, and expect to come out with core values completely in tatters. “Is it more important to be good or to be right? It’s time to update what is a virtue and what is a sin. No biggie.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie: Pure entertainment at York Barbican on Thursday
Oh, lucky you gig of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today, 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, October 9, 8pm
NOW in his 36th year of leading Liverpool’s Lightning Seeds, Ian Broudie heads to York on his extended Tomorrow’s Here Today tour. Cue Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions et al. Casino support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jack Fry’s Quasimodo and Ayana Beatrice Poblete at Black Sheep Theatre Productions’s Selby Abbey photoshoot for The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, opening next week at the JoRo
Musical of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 10, 11 and 14 to 18, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
BLACK Sheep Theatre Productions bring a cast of five leads, seven ensemble actors and a 23-strong choir to the York company’s larger-than-life staging of Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz’s musical rooted in Disney’s 1996 musical film and Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel.
Combining powerful themes of love, acceptance and the nature of good and evil with a sweeping score, Matthew Peter Clare’s show will be “like nothing you’ve seen before”. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
