Tag: Dementia Friendly Tea Concert

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when a snowstorm spells theatrical joy. Hutch’s List No. 49, from The York Press

Slava’s SnowShow: Bringing joy to children and drawing out the inner child in adults at Grand Opera House, York

SNOW storms and Count Arthur Strong’s Scrooge; dancing full of Momentum and Jon Ronson’s latest psychopath tests put the ‘yes’ into November for Charles Hutchinson.

Weather forecast of the week: Slava’s SnowShow, Grand Opera House, York, November 19 to 23, 7.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday; 2.30pm, Thursday and Saturday; Sunday, 2pm and 6pm

ENTER an absurd and surrealistic world of “fools on the loose” in Slava Polunin’s  work of clown art, wherein each scene paints a picture: an unlikely shark swimming in a misty sea; clowns and the audience tangled up in a gigantic spider’s web; heart-breaking goodbyes with a coat rack on a railway platform, and audience members being hypnotised by giant balloons. The finale is an “out-of-this-world snowstorm”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

London City Ballet in Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At An Exhibition at York Theatre Royal

Dance show of the week: London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum, a new repertoire that showcases artists and works rarely seen in the UK.

Here come George Balanchine’s Haieff Divertimento; New York City Ballets artist-in-residence Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At An Exhibition; Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum and Paris Opera Ballet premier danseur and emerging choreographer Florent Melac’s new work. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jason Manford’s show poster for A Manford All Seasons, returning to York Theatre Royal this weekend

Comedy gig of the week: Jason Manford in A Manford All Seasons, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

SALFORD comedian, writer, actor, singer and radio and television presenter Jason Manford makes his second York in his 2025 stand-up show. He cites Billy Connolly as his first inspiration and he cherishes such family-friendly entertainers as Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Les Dawson. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Pictish Trail: Expect psychedelic goo at Rise@Bluebird Bakery on Monday

Rising to the occasion: Blair Dunlop, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tonight, 7.30pm; Pictish Trail, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, November 17, 7pm

CHESTERFIELD folk musician, singer, songwriter, storyteller and actor Blair Dunlop performs traditional and contemporary songs from his five albums, released between 2012 and 2024, this weekend.

Known for his wildly inventive electro-acoustic pysch-pop, crafted on the Isle of Eigg in the Scottish Hebrides, Pictish Trail, alias Johnny Lynch, has completed work on his new album, a sticky, shimmering swirl of sound and slime. To celebrate, he previews songs at Monday’s intimate show, performing in raw, exploratory mode, armed with acoustic guitar, sampler and his warped imagination. Expect tenderness, weirdness and generous dollops of goo. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise. 

Chris Wood: Seeking the truth in song at the NCEM

Folk gig of the week: Chris Wood, National Centre for Early Music, York, Sunday, 6.30pm 

REFLECTIONS on minor league football, empty nest syndrome, learning to swim and the Gecko as a metaphor for contemporary society add up to a typically wise and soulful Chris Wood set. Tom Robinson and Squeeze’s Chris Difford are fans, while The Unthanks look to him as an influence, and he has played with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in The Imagined Village project with Billy Bragg and Eliza Carthy.

In a world of soundbites and distractions, six-time BBC Folk Awards winner Wood is a truth seeker, whose uplifting and challenging writing is permeated with love and wry intelligence as he celebrates “the sheer one-thing-after-anotherness of life”. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

King For A Day: Paying tribute to Nat King Cole at York Theatre Royal

Nostalgia of  the week: King For A Day: The Nat King Cole Story, York Theatre Royal, November 17, 7.30pm

VOCALIST Atila and world-class musicians take a fresh, thoughtful and entertaining look at the life and work of Alabama pianist, singer and actor Nat King Cole, whose jazz and pop vocal styling in songs such as Nature Boy, Unforgettable and When I Fall In Love define a golden era of 20th century American music.

Cole’s most celebrated songs and stylish re-workings of his lesser-known gems are complemented by projections of rare archive images and footage, weaved together by narration. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Kerry Godliman: Welcome to the life of a middle-aged woman who has outsourced her memory to her phone in Bandwidth. Picture: Aemen Sukka, of Jiksaw

Straight talker of the week: Kerry Godliman: Bandwidth, York Theatre Royal, November 19, 7.30pm

WHILE parenting teenagers, bogged down with knicker admin and considering dealing HRT on the black market, Kerry Godliman can’t remember what was in her lost mum bag after outsourcing her memory to her phone. Welcome to the life of a middle-aged woman who lacks the bandwidth ​for any of this.

Godliman, comedian, actor, writer, podcaster and broadcaster, from Afterlife, Taskmaster and Trigger Point, builds her new stand-up show on straight-talking charm and quick wit. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jon Ronson: Hosting Psychopath Night at York Barbican, where he will welcome questions from the audience

Mind-bending insights of the week: Jon Ronson: Psychopath Night, York Barbican, November 18, 7.30pm

WHAT happens when a psychopath is in power? Could you learn to spot a psychopath? Are you working for a psychopath? Is there a little bit of psychopath in all of us? Sixteen years since journalist, filmmaker and author Jon Ronson embarked on The Psychopath Test, he reopens the case.

Expect exclusive anecdotes and fresh reflections in Ronson’s exploration of madness and the elusive psychopathic mind, re-booted with mystery special guests whose tales were not in the original book. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Recommended but sold out already at York Barbican: Adam Ant  in Ant Music, November 19, doors 7pm.

Count Arthur Strong: Telling Ebenezer Scrooge’s tale in Charles Dickens guise at York Barbican

Dickens of a good show: Count Arthur Strong Is Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, York Barbican, November 20, 8pm; Whitby Pavilion Theatre, November 23, 7.30pm; Scarborough Spa Theatre, November 27, 8pm  

IN response to public pressure, doyen of light entertainment and raconteur Count Arthur Strong is extending his fond farewell with new dates aplenty for his one-man interpretation of A Christmas Carol, performing his own festive adaptation in the guise of literary great and travelling showman performer Charles Dickens. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Whitby, whitbypavilion.co.uk; Scarborough, scarboroughspa.co.uk.

Pianist Robert Gammon

Dementia Friendly Tea Concert: Maria Marshall, Jill Shepherd and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, November 20, 2.30pm

IN a change to the advertised programme, unfortunately Billy Marshall is unable to play, prompting cellist Maria Marshall and flautist Jill Shepherd to agree at short notice to join pianist Robert Gammon for Thursday’s concert. Plans are afoot for Billy to play next year instead.

The programme includes music by Mozart, Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, the charming Liebesleid by Fritz Kreisler, an attractive Berceuse by Edward German and a lovely baroque trio sonata by Boismortier. As usual, 45 minutes of music will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved and there is no charge although donations are welcome.

Mexborough poet Ian Parks holding a copy of his new book The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light

Word-and-song gathering of the week: Navigators Art presents An Evening with Ian Parks and Friends, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, November 21, 7.30pm

YORK arts collective Navigators Art plays host to An Evening with Ian Parks and Friends, where Parks reads from his new collection, The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light, and will be in conversation with Crooked Spire Press publisher Tim Fellows.

Joining Parks will be award-winning York novelist and poet Janet Dean, poet and critic Matthew Paul and singer-songwriter Jane Stockdale, from York alt-folk trio White Sail. Tickets: £5 in advance at bit.ly/nav-events or £8 on the door from 7pm.

In Focus: Lesley Birch: Flower Power and Jacqui Atkin: Ceramics, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until mid-January 2026, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm  

Lesley Birch at her Flower Power exhibition opening with Pyramid Gallery owner and curator Terry Brett

YORK artist Lesley Birch is showing 22 paintings from her Flower Power series in an exhibition at Pyramid Gallery that coincides with the blooming of her small art book of the same title.

The book is published by Overt Books, the independent York publisher set up by York Creatives creator Ben Porter.

“I’ve always meant to publish an art book and never quite got around to it, but with Ben’s help, I was able to pull together this small volume,” says Lesley. “There are beautiful photographs of my home studio from Esme Mai Photography, more photos by Eloise Ross, and some of my free verse musings to accompany photographs of the paintings.

Lesley Birch in her studio. Picture: Esme Mai Photography

“There are only 50 copies available at this time. I’m thrilled to say that there is a foreword from my generous PICA Studios studio mate Mark Hearld

Lesley is sharing space at Pyramid Gallery with ceramicist Jacqui Atkin, who works with The Pottery Showdown programme. “I love the combination of my flower paintings with Jacqui’s ceramics,” she says.  “They sit beautifully together and it was lovely to hear her details about making these exquisite pieces.”

Lesley’s Flower Power paintings were painted in response to abundant summer blooms in her garden and from Shambles Market in York.

Lesley Birch’s book cover for Flower Power

Sunflowers, from Lesley Birch’s Sunflower series

“I’m often keen on certain pots and vases too and I like to set up lots of bouquets here and there, playing with colour, texture and shape,” she says.

“I find myself immersed in a world of pure discovery and concentration.  These works I’ve been developing for the past ten months and they’re now finally ready to go out on show.”

The Flower Power book is priced at £12 plus £3 postage and packaging. Contact Lesley via lesleybirch@icloud.com for a copy.

Lesley Birch with summer blooms in her garden

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Flauti Felici to play Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church on July 17

FLAUTI Felici, a regular ensemble at the Dementia Friendly Tea Concerts in York, returns to St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, on July 17 at 2.30pm.

“This well-known York flute group gave us a wonderful recital last time and they will be bringing another interesting selection of music, so there will be something for everyone,” says co-organiser Alison Gammon.

“Please encourage your friends to come too, and as usual, there will be about 45 minutes of music, followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall.”

As well as a small church car park, on-street parking is available along Campleshon Road, but it can be busy, so do allow plenty of time. 

“If you are more mobile, it would really help if you could park on the street to allow for disabled parking in the car park. There is wheelchair access via the church hall,” says Alison.

“The event is a relaxed concert, and ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, so we do not mind if the audience wants to talk or move about!

“Seating is unreserved and there is no charge although donations are welcome. We give a donation to the church to cover heating and the rest goes to Alzheimer’s charities.”

In the tea concert diary for later this year are: August 14, Tina Sanderson and friends (string ensemble); September 18, Robert Gammon, piano; October 16, Giocoso Wind Ensemble; November 20, Billy Marshall, French horn, and Robert Gammon, piano, and December 11, Ripon Resound Choir.

MEANWHILE Bronte House is to hold a series of Welcome To The Bronte Club events, A Brew With Bronte at Middlethorpe Hall, Bishopthorpe Road, York, on July 10, August 7 and September 4 from 2pm to 4pm.

Take the opportunity to unwind in beautiful surroundings; explore the National Trust property’s gardens; chat with the gardening team as well as friends old and new; meet Bronte, the friendly in-house therapy dog, and enjoy a relaxing afternoon of tea, scones, cake and conversation.

Using the motto of “where passion and compassion meet relationship-based care”, the Bronte Club runs a social programme designed to support the wellbeing of older people, those living with dementia, care partners, family and friends.

The events are welcoming, inclusive and relaxed and the programme is open to both those supported by the club and to the wider community. For more details, visit brontehousegroup.co.uk.

To attend A Brew With Bronte, donate what you feel. A suggested minimum donation of £8 per person is advised, with all profits going to a charitable cause. Spaces are limited; booking is required on 01904 236 838 or via email to community@brontehousegroup.co.uk.

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Flautist Jenefer Fraser and pianist Chris Hughes to play Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church on April 17

Flautist Jennifer Fraser

JENEFER Fraser, flute, and Chris Hughes, piano, will perform this month’s Dementia Friendly Tea Concert on Maundy Thursday at St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York.

“I’m really looking forward to this solo flute recital, playing some really lovely and fun repertoire, including La Flute de Pan by Mouquet and Carmen Fantasy by Francis Borne,” says Jenefer, who  is studying for a MMus in Performance at the University of Leeds.

She will be joined by accompanist Hughes for the 2.30pm programme on April 17 that also will feature music by John Rutter and Massanet’s Meditation before concluding with Borne’s Carmen Fantasy, based on tunes from Bizet’s opera.

“It will be a great start to the Easter weekend,” says co-organiser Alison Gammon. “Please encourage your friends to come too! As usual, 45 minutes of music will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall.

“The event is a relaxed concert and ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, so we do not mind if the audience wants to talk or move about.

“Seating is unreserved and there is no charge although donations are welcome. We give a donation to the church to cover heating and the rest goes to Alzheimer’s charities.”

Along with a small car park at the church, on-street parking can be found on Campleshon Road, but it can become busy, so do allow plenty of time. “If you are more mobile, it would really help if you could park on the street to allow for disabled parking in the car park,” advises Alison. Wheelchair access is via the church hall.

Dates for the 2025 diary of Dementia Friendly Tea Concerts are: May 22, York Guitar Quartet; June 19, Patrick Wilson, trumpet, Maria Marshall, cello, and Robert Gammon, piano; July 17, Flauti Felice flute ensemble; Aug 14, Tina Sanderson and friends, string ensemble.

The season will continue on September 18, Robert Gammon, piano; October 16, Giocoso Wind Ensemble; November 20, Billy Marshall, French horn, and Robert Gammon, piano, and December 11, Ripon Resound Choir.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 2 for the road ahead in 2023, apocalyptic art et al, from The Press

John Ledger: Back To Normalism artist at Micklegate Social and Fossgate Social

IT’S time for back-to-normal service to resume as Charles Hutchinson wipes the sleep from the eyes of his diary for 2023. 

Exhibition launch of the week: Back To Normalism, by John Ledger, Micklegate Social, Micklegate, and Fossgate Social, Fossgate, York, January 13 to March 13

ON the portentous Friday the 13th, the preview of Barnsley artist John Ledger’s solo show Back To Normalism begins at 7pm at Micklegate Social. 

Ledger looks at the uncanny reality that has unfolded since the pandemic started, along with the underlying weirdness of trying to patch up the black holes in our collective experience of time, in a show about cultures uprooted and disjointed by a series of disasters and distorted by the consequences of trying to repeatedly return to a “before” moment.

Baaaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhbican frustration! Ricky Gervais’s brace of Armageddon dates at York Barbican sold out in 27 minutes

Apocalypse very soon: Ricky Gervais, Armageddon, York Barbican, Tuesday and Wednesday 7.30pm precisely

ARMAGEDDON is not the end of the world as we know it but the name of grouchy comedian, actor, screenwriter, director, singer, podcaster and awards ceremony host Ricky Gervais’s new tour show.

Gervais, 61, will be torching “woke over-earnestness and the contradictions of modern political correctness while imagining how it all might end for our ‘one species of narcissistic ape’,” according to the Guardian review of his Manchester Apollo gig. Box office? Oh dear, you’re too late for Armageddon; both nights have sold out.

Chris Helme: Revisiting his days in The Seahorses

Love Is The Law unto himself: Chris Helme, solo Do It Yourself 25th Anniversary Tour, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 14, 8pm

YORK singer-songwriter Chris Helme is marking the 25th anniversary of The Seahorses’ only album, Do It Yourself, released on May 26 1997 in guitarist John Squire’s short-lived post-Stone Roses project with Helme and fellow York musician Stuart Fletcher on bass.

Recorded in North Hollywood, California, the album was pipped to the number one spot by Gary Barlow while debut single Love Is The Law reached number three. A further highlight of Helme’s solo acoustic set will be Love Me And Leave Me, Liam Gallagher’s first songwriting credit, no less. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The Lonesome Ace Stringband: Turning bluegrass bluer and grassier at Selby Town Hall

Better late than never: The Lonesome Ace Stringband, Selby Town Hall, January 18, 8pm

RE-SCHEDULED from January 20 2022, The Lonesome Ace Stringband’s gig features righteous folk and country music, played by an old-time band with bluegrass chops and a feel for deep grooves.

Band members Chris Coole, banjo, John Showman, fiddle, and Max Heineman, bass, are three Canadians lost in the weird and wonderful traditional country music of the American South, having served their time in New Country Rehab, The David Francey Band, The Foggy Hogtown Boys and Fiver. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Robert Gammon: Relaxed concert of piano music at St Chad’s

Afternoon entertainment: Robert Gammon, Dementia Friendly Tea Concert, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January 19, 2.30pm

AT the first Dementia Friendly Tea Concert of 2023, pianist Robert Gammon plays J S Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B flat major from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2, Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B flat major K. 570 and Schubert’s serene Impromptu in A flat major, D. 935 No. 2. 

As usual, 45 minutes of music will be followed by tea and homemade cakes in the church hall. Next up will be University of York Students (violin and piano) on February 16. No charge, but donations welcome for church funds and Alzheimer’s charities.

Tales From Acorn Wood: Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s stories take to the York Theatre Royal stage

Children’s show of the month: Tales From Acorn Wood, York Theatre Royal, January 26, 4pm; January 27, 11am and 2pm

NLP’s world premiere staging of Tales From Acorn Wood is based on favourite stories from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s lift-the flap books for pre-school children, featuring the sock-losing old Fox, the tired Rabbit, Postman Bear’s special surprise and Pig and Hen’s game of hide-and-seek.

Suitable for one-year-olds and upwards or anyone who loves books, this 50-minute touring show is full of songs, puppetry, projection and flap-lifting technology. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Rob Auton: Getting mighty Crowded in his new stand-up show

Crowd pleaser: Rob Auton, The Crowd Show, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24, 8pm; Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, February 25, 7.30pm

CHARMINGLY eccentric, uplifting and poetic writer, comedian, actor and podcaster Rob Auton returns home to York on the 2023 leg of The Crowd Show tour.

After his philosophical observations on the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking and time, now he discusses crowds, people and connection in a night of comedy and theatre “suitable for anyone who wants to be in the crowd for this show”. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Leeds, hydeparkbookclub.co.uk.

Stewart Lee: Three nights, fully booked already, at York Theatre Royal in March

Too late for tickets already: Stewart Lee, Basic Lee, York Theatre Royal, March 20 to 22, 7.30pm

AFTER filming last May’s three-night run of his Snowflake/Tornado double bill for broadcast on the BBC, spiky comedian Stewart Lee returns to York with his back-to-basics new show.

Following a decade of ground-breaking high-concept gigs involving overarched interlinked narratives, Lee enters the post-pandemic era in streamlined solo stand-up mode: one man, one microphone, and one microphone in the wings in case the one on stage breaks. Tickets update: Sold out, basically.

Hands up who’s starring in Heathers: The black comedy musical to die for is heading to the Grand Opera House

Too cool for school: Heathers The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, May 9 to 13

WELCOME to Westerberg High, where Veronica Sawyer is just another nobody dreaming of a better day. When she joins the beautiful and impossibly cruel Heathers, however, her craving for popularity may finally come true, whereupon mysterious teen rebel JD teaches her that it might kill to be a nobody, but it is murder being a somebody.

Winner of the What’sOnStage Award for Best New Musical, Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe’s black comedy rock musical, based on the 1988 cult film, makes its York debut,  produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills, directed by Andy Fickman and choreographed by Gary Lloyd. Box office: atgtickets.com/York.

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Julia Elliott and Peter Harrison to perform Hardy poems and Wessex county tunes at Dementia Friendly Tea Concert on June 16

Peter Harrison: Playing Wessex country tunes on boxwood flute

NEXT Thursday’s Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church, York, will be “something a little different”.

“We are exploring the writing of Thomas Hardy and the music that he would have known,” says organiser Alison Gammon. “Julia Elliott will read short extracts from some of Hardy’s well-known books and Peter Harrison will play traditional Wessex country tunes on his boxwood flute.”

Harrison is the director of York early music ensemble Concert Royal and has given recitals in every corner of the UK, in Europe and the USA, as well as for the British Council in South America.

“As usual, the format on June 16 will be a 45-minute concert followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes, with a chance to chat,” says Alison. “The event is a relaxed concert, ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, so we do not mind if the audience wants to talk or move about!

“Seating is unreserved and there is no charge, although donations are welcome. We give the hire cost to the church and the rest goes to Alzheimer’s charities.”

St Chad’s has a small car park and street parking can be found along Campleshon Road. “But it can get busy, so do allow plenty of time,” advises Alison. “Wheelchair access to the church is via the church hall.”

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Violinist Paul Milhau to play relaxed Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s

York violinist Paul Milhau: music, coffee, tea and a chat on a relaxed afternoon

YORK professional violinist Paul Milhau will perform February 20’s Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York.

His 45-minute classical concert of solo violin pieces will be followed by tea, coffee, homemade cakes and a chance to chat.

Milhau’s 2.30pm programme will combine two partitas by J S Bach with Eugène Ysaye’s lovely second sonata in a relaxed atmosphere suitable for anyone who might not feel able to attend a formal classical event.

No admission charge applies but donations are welcome. Please note, there is a small car park at the church, along with street parking on Campleshon Road. Disabled access is via the hall.