What’s in store in National Centre for Early Music’s 25th anniversary spring season?

Cellist Matthew Barley: Telling his Light Stories at the NCEM on May 18

THE National Centre for Early Music’s 25th anniversary spring season at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, is as close to opening as the new chorus of daffodils.

First up on March 4 will be multi-award-winning Portuguese fado singer LINA, who was recommended to NCEM director Delma Tomlin by colleagues at the University of Nottingham.  “It will be a lively and entertaining night, promoting her extraordinary 2024 album, Fado Camões,” says Delma.

The 7.30pm concert will feature the poetry of Portuguese poet Luiz Vaz de Camões, adapted to traditional fado, in a multi-media performance with Ianina Khmelik on piano and synths and Pedro Viana on Portuguese guitar, complemented by videos on the big screen by Collective Of Two, lighting design by Tela Negra and live sound by Marco Silva. “Bring your best dancing feet,” advises Delma.

The University of York Baroque + Day will be held on March 8, presenting Ensemble Hesperi and rising star soprano Claire Ward at 12 noon, Consort Of Viols and SVES’s 2.30pm programme of reflective pavans and sorrowful songs and the University of York Baroque Ensemble & Ensemble Hesperi celebrating the musical tastes and talents of Queen Charlotte, Consort to George III, on International Women’s Day at 7.30pm.

Acoustic and slide folk guitarist Martin Simpson will return to the NCEM on March 22 for a typically intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving solo concert of interpretations of traditional songs, full of passion, sorrow, love, beauty tragedy and majesty. In the 18 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, he has chalked up an unsurpassed 32 nominations, winning numerous awards.

Legendary Italian acoustic guitarist, composer and NCEM favourite Antonio Forcione will team up for the first time with Italian/Sardinian guitarist, composer and educator Giorgio Serci for a melodic 7.30pm programme on March 28.

Guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson: Returning to NCEM on March 22. Picture: Geoff Trinder

“Antonio performing with Giorgio will bring a different flavour,” says Delma. “Be prepared to both laugh and be moved as they celebrate the unexpected elements in life with delicacy, humour and, not least, passion.”

Triptic is the post-Moishe’s Bagel band formed by former members Phil Alexander, Greg Lawson and Mario Caribe, who explore a shared love of folk music in their new project that will head to the NCEM on April 6 at 6.30pm.

Dramatic tango meets joyful klezmer and folk-infused originals, wrapped up in irresistible jazz and Latin grooves, played on violin, piano, bass, mandolin, accordion and guitar, as they seek uncharted musical pathways. Unleashing their energy and passion on a new set of compositions, they also set their sights on music from Armenia to Sao Paolo with many melodic stops along the way.

Seven-piece band Hejira will be celebrating Joni Mitchell’s late-1970s “jazz period” in a return visit to the NCEM on April 10 at 7.30pm. Hattie Whitehead, Ollie Weston, Chris Eldred, Pete Oxley, Dave Jones, Rick Finlay, Marc Cecil and Rob Harbron will focus on the Canadian singer-songwriter’s albums The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Mingus.

Mitchell toured with jazz luminaries Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Michael Brecker, Jaco Pastorius and Don Alias in a brief collaboration that elicited the live album Shadows And Light, the primary source of inspiration for Hejira’s repertoire.

Trumpet player Jay Phelps and his band of supreme British talent will bring together the best of Miles Davis from 1958 and 1959 on April 24 (7.30pm), drawing on material from ’58 Miles and the iconic Kind Of Blue, the ground-breaking, improvisational “world’s greatest jazz album of all time”.

“We’re delighted that Jay also will be working with young jazz players from the York Music Forum Jazz Ensemble, run by Ian Chance,” says Delma.”Ian is building up the ensemble again after the exit of A-level students, and as we continue to develop our relationship with them, we hope they’ll be able to work with jazz guitarist Martin Taylor later in the season. We know the jazz stars so enjoy sharing the stage with these young talents.”

Hejira: Honouring Joni Mitchell’s late-1970s “jazz period” on April 10

Anglo-Irish band Flook are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, touring the NCEM on May 4 at 6.30pm with a line-up of Brian Finnegan, whistles and flutes, Sarah Allen, flutes and accordion, Ed Boyd, guitar, and John Joe Kelly, bodhran.

Silent film pianist Jonny Best will bring Rupert Julian’s 1925 horror movie  Phantom Of The Opera newly alive with a new improvised score as Northern Silents mark the 100th anniversary of one of the silent screen’s most beautiful creations, a dark love story starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin, on May 6 from 7.30pm to 9pm.

Chaney experimented for two years with metal hooks, wax, putty and paint to create the skull-like appearance that terrified audiences a century ago.

The NCEM Young Composers Award 2025, presented by the NCEM in tandem with BBC Radio 3 and The Brook Street Band , will climax with the live final on May 15 at 7pm.

On May 18, Light Stories will tell the story of classical cellist Matthew Barley’s life through music and projected imagery – by video designers Yeast Culture – as he narrates his search for meaning in music-making and how, in time, he came to heal past wounds.

His 6.30pm performance will incorporate pieces by Joby Talbot, Anna Meredith, John Metcalfe and Bach, together with new woks by Barley, connected by moments of improvisation and electronics.

Lon Chaney in Phantom Of The Opera, presented by Northern Silents on May 6. Picture: from Northern Silents

“Matthew has branched out into multi-media, focusing on health and wellbeing and how you can use music to help your recovery,” says Delma. “It’s a performance about his personal issues and how he came out the other side, and a show like this is part of our wider brief.”

The NCEM will present three York Festival of Ideas events: Sam Kelly &The Lost Boys on June 7 at 7.30pm; OAE Tots’ enchanting story of magic spells and much mischief, Spin, Spin A Story on June 8 at 4pm and the Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment’s version of The Fairy Queen: Three Wishes, a huge party in a magical forest, on June 11 at 6pm (at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, please note).

Guitarist Martin Taylor and rising British jazz singer Alison Burns will perform songs from their duo album Songs For Nature, mixing the Great American Songbook with contemporary material, on June 18 at 7.30pm.

The spring season will close with the NCEM debut of husband-and-wife duo Kamaljeet Ahluwalia, on santoor, and Jas Ahluwalia, on tabla, in their Absolute Focus concert on June 22 at 6.30pm, staged in partnership with SAA/UK.

“We have worked with these partners for many years, and this concert makes a very nice conclusion to the season,” says Delma. “It will work very well at the NCEM, where we can accommodate the obligatory large carpet!”

Reflecting on the season as a whole, Delma says: “The diversity of our programme is important to us, in part because we’re always committed to presenting artists from other parts of the world – and our audiences seem to be keen to give music from all over the world a go.”

Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338 and at ncem.co.uk.

Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys, to be found at NCEM on June 7

Tim Murgatroyd to launch silent movie-era novel The Electric with readings, talk on York’s ghost cinemas and Phantom film

The book cover for Tim Murgatroyd’s novel The Electric. Illustration by South Bank architectural artist Elliot Harrison, alias @york.360, who says. “My first book cover, so I’m really pleased it worked out well and totally suited my illustrative style that also matches my other York cinema prints. It was great working with Tim and I wish him success launching this title”

YORK author Tim Murgatroyd is launching his latest novel, The Electric, in a series of events spread over October, starting this evening.

Published by York independent publishers Stairwell Books, this work of historical fiction depicts a young pilot returning from war. Can music, cinema, love – and a curious cat – heal his wounds?

“Each event is very different, with a special focus on the glamorous, lost world of silent cinema,” says Tim, whose writing spans historical novels, a dystopian trilogy and a poetry series, as well as being a former columnist for The Press, York.

Combining romance, tragedy and offbeat comedy, The Electric is set in 1919 when young pilot David Young returns from the First World War, scarred physically and mentally.

A gifted concert violinist, he drifts into a humble job accompanying silent movies at The Electric, a fleapit cinema in provincial York, joining a diverse cast of misfits, each with secrets and tragedies of their own.

A detail from Elliot Harrison’s cover illustration for Tim Murgatroyd’s historical novel The Electric

“These strangers, and a chance meeting, hold the key to regaining his lost hopes as the world of silent cinema meets the glamour of the Downton era in Britain’s most popular tourist city,” reads the publicity blurb.

As part of The Big City Read 2022 collection, Tim’s book will be the subject of an entertaining hour of readings, wine and discussions at York Explore Library and Archive, in Library Square, Museum Street, this evening from 6pm

Tim will explore bringing silent cinema back to life and love, with assistance from award-winning poet Ian Parks. Afterwards, Tim will be hosting drinks in the Eagle & Child on High Petergate.

Tickets are available on the door or by pre-booking at: eventbrite.com/e/book-launch-the-electric-with-tim-murgatroyd-tickets-403289819707?aff=odcleoeventsincollection&keep_tld=1. A Pay What You Can policy offers four options: £0, £2.50, £5 or £7.50.

Pianist Neil Brand: Improvising his piano accompaniment to The Phantom Of The Opera at City Screen Picturehouse on October 28. Picture: Julie Edwards.

On October 26, in An Evening With Tim Murgatroyd at 7pm at Waterstones, in Coney Street, the focus will be on Ghost Cinemas of York: Bringing silent cinemas back to life.

Prepare for surprising facts and stories about the characters and picture palaces of York that brought Hollywood glamour to a city recovering from war. Through images, music and film clips, Tim will show how the ghost cinemas of York haunt us still, and how silent cinema was never really silent at all, as he explores those lost cinemas and their legacy.

In addition, he will explain how he wrote The Electric in an evening led by Dr Rob O’Connor, from York St John University, in association with York Literature Festival.

Tickets are on sale at Waterstones, Coney Street, York or at waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-tim-murgatroyd/york. The £5 admission qualifies buyers for a 20 per cent discount on the book price.

Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin in Rupert Julian’s 152-minute silent classic The Phantom Of The Opera, showing at City Screen Picturehouse later this month

The book launch trilogy will culminate in a night of romance, horror and suspense at a gala performance of the silent classic The Phantom Of The Opera (PG), with live improvised piano accompaniment from Neil Brand, at City Screen Picturehouse, Coney Street, on October 28 at 6pm.

Lon Chaney, “the man of a thousand faces”, gives his most famous performance in this first version of the oft-filmed tale, drawn from Gaston Leroux’s novel. Chaney’s Phantom haunts the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera, where he falls in love with the voice of a young opera singer (Mary Philbin). Infatuated, he kidnaps her, dragging her to the depths below, where she will sing only for him.

Directed by Rupert Julian, this lavish 1925 production launched the Hollywood Gothic style, one that can be appreciated all the more in the British Film Institute (BFI) Photoplay restoration that carefully reinstates the film’s dramatic colour techniques.

The screening will be preceded by a short Q & A with pianist and broadcaster Neil Brand and author Tim Murgatroyd about music in the silent cinema and its impact on audiences. Please note, a British Sign Language signer will be on hand at the Q & A; the BSL accessible viewing seating will be on the left-hand side of the auditorium.

Tickets can be booked at: picturehouses.com/movie-details/000/HO00012085/the-phantom-of-the-opera-1925-with-neil-brand?date=2022-10-28&cinema=018

Tim Murgatroyd: Author of The Electric

The author

TIM Murgatroyd was brought up in Yorkshire. He read English at Hertford College, Oxford University, and now lives with his family in York. He is the author of several novels of historical fiction, a poetry series and a trilogy of dystopian novels.

The verdict on The Electric

“AN evocative, almost poetic, love letter to 1920s’ York and the silent movie era. Poignant, charming and wryly funny, with a cast of beautifully drawn and unforgettable characters. Not to be missed.” Emma Haughton, author of The Dark.

“Fascinating…the ending was a lovely surprise – romantic but in a completely unexpected way.” Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures.

Did you know?

THE Electric Theatre, on the north-east side of Fossgate, was the first purpose-built cinema in York, opening in 1911 and later being renamed the Scala, closing in 1957. Converted into a furnishings store, Macdonalds, that shut in early 2016. Since 2017, it has housed the Cosy Club York bar and restaurant.