York classical pianist Sarah Beth Briggs. Picture: Fritz Curzon
THE 2026 Northern Aldborough Festival will see York pianist Sarah Beth Briggs performing at the prestigious classical event for the first time in what the organisers describe as “her long overdue appearance at our festival”.
For Saturday morning’s concert, at The Old Hall, North Deighton, near Wetherby, Sarah has crafted a programme designed to welcome seasoned concert-goers and newcomers alike, comprising Haydn’s Sonata in C, Hob XVI/50, Mendelssohn’s Variations Sérieuses, Op. 54 and works by Poulenc and Schumann.
What should listeners expect at the 11am performance, Sarah? “Vibrant, infectious classical melodies sit alongside a romantic depiction of a German forest and French music, in turn sunny and zany, and a concluding work where solemn, haunting melodies give way to explosive speed, drama and pure romantic passion,” she says.
Sarah Beth Briggs in Dean’s Park, York Minster. Picture: Marci Stuchlikova
Those infectious classical melodies, specifically the recital-opening first movement of Haydn’s late C major Sonata, have earned it the distinction of being Sarah’s most popular track globally, boasting more than 1.8 million plays on Apple Music, showcasing the timeless appeal of Haydn’s writing.
As ever with Sarah’s recital performances, Saturday’s programme will be introduced from the stage. “Breaking down barriers in the classical music world is something which I see as essential,” she says.
To prove the point, her December 2025 concert at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall was described by the Nottingham Post reviewer as “presenting each piece in ways which both illuminated the music and created just the right sort of rapport with an audience that really does appreciate artists who can manage friendly chat as well as fine playing.”
“Breaking down barriers in the classical music world is something which I see as essential,” says Sarah Beth Briggs. Picture: Fritz Curzon
Newcastle-born Sarah’s career was launched as a child prodigy, performing as the then youngest-ever finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition at the age of 11 in 1984, the year when she gained a Dame Myra Hess Award too. This was followed by international success, winning the International Mozart Competition four years later in Salzburg, aged 15.
Her piano playing has taken her to many of England’s premier venues. “I’ve performed with numerous major orchestras and played in Europe and the USA too, but I’m greatly looking forward to playing for the thriving Yorkshire cultural community this Saturday,” she says.
Sarah Beth Briggs: Heading for Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield, for Piano Classics concert on September 5
Sarah’s next appearance in Yorkshire will be as part of the Piano Classics series at the Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield on Saturday, September 5. Her 2pm programme will feature Beethoven’s Bagatelles Op.126; Clara Schumann’s 4 Pièces Fugitives Op.15; Tailleferre’s Sicilienne; Poulenc’s 3 Novelettes; Robert Schumann’s Waldszenen Op.82 and Brahms’ Piano Pieces Op.119.
Katie Stillman: Directing the Orchestra of Opera North from the violin in tomorrow’s opening concert, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
NORTHERN Aldborough Festival opens tomorrow in the North Yorkshire village near Boroughbridge.
Now in its 32nd year, the festival turns its focus on classical music for ten days, from June 18 to 27, opening with the Orchestra of Opera North performing one of the world’s most-loved works, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, directed from the violin by Katie Stillman, at St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough, at 7.30pm.
Leading British clarinettist Emma Johnson returns to Aldborough on Friday with her star-studded trio, featuring pianist Andrew West and cellist Thomas Carroll, performing masterpieces by Beethoven, Brahms and Shostakovich at St Andrew’s Church at 7.30pm.
Clarinettist Emma Johnson: Performing works by Beethoven, Brahms and Shostakovich at St Andrew’s Church on Friday
Pianist, academic and artistic director Lucy Parham performs her remarkable piece, I, Clara, telling the extraordinary life story of Clara Schumann – musician and composer’s wife – in a blend of words and music, narrated by actress Joanna David, at St Andrew’s Church on June 24 at 7.30pm.
A stalwart of screen and stage, Joanna David is known for her TV roles in Downton Abbey and Inspector Morse and is matriarch of one of Britain’s most acclaimed acting dynasties: married to Edward Fox and mother to Emilia and Freddie.
Pianist Sarah Beth Briggs, the Newcastle-born, York-based former child prodigy, who was the youngest finalist in the history of the BBC Young Musician competition, makes her Aldborough debut at The Old Hall, North Deighton, on Saturday at 11am.
CellistEnjuan Han: Performing in Young Artists’ Showcase on Sunday
Northern Aldborough Festival has built a reputation for supporting the UK’s rising stars with its annual New Voices Singing Competition, now entering its fourth year with semi-finals on June 22 at 4pm and 6pm, followed by the grand final on June 23 at 7pm, all at St Andrew’s Church.
A highlight of the classical calendar, the competition attracts a panel of world-renowned judges. Past judges include luminaries such as Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Thomas Allen, Edward Gardner and Dame Jane Glover. This year’s judging panel comprises conductor and former musical director of Opera North Paul Daniel CBE, soprano Carolyn Sampson OBE, accompanist Anna Tilbrook, festival director Robert Ogden and festival chair Sir Andrew Lawson-Tancred.
Audiences have the rare chance to glimpse tomorrow’s stars compete in the hunt for the UK’s best classical vocal talent, with a prize fund of £7,000 and performances at leading festivals for the winners.
Soprano Rachel Munro and pianist Jia Ning Ng: Recital at St Andrew’s Church on June 23
In addition, the 2025 Winner’s Recital will be performed by soprano Rachel Munro and pianist Jia Ning Ng at St Andrew’s Church on June 23 at 11am.
Festival director Robert Ogden says: “As a charity, the festival’s mission is to bring high-end live music to a rural location. We’re proud to bring the kind of world-leading acts normally seen on cosmopolitan stages to our village church, in a gorgeous countryside setting.
“Nothing beats the truly uplifting and transformative experience this level of artistry and music offers. We really hope those who might be new to – or even feel a bit intimidated about classical music – to come along, experience and fall in love with it.”
Drummer Clark Tracey: Leading his quintet at The Old Hall, North Deighton, on Saturday
Violinist Harriet Mackenzie, leader of the Kosmos Ensemble, and award-winning Mexican guitarist Morgan Szymanski team up for Serenata!, a romantically themed programme of Vivaldi, Piazzolla and Paganini, in the ballroom of HMP Askham Grange, a former private country manor house, on June 24 at 11am.
A sublime blend of voice, double bass and guitar comes in the form of Eleanor Grant and Gus McQuade, performing pieces from Benjamin Britten to Joni Mitchell in the genre-defying Jim Bolland Memorial Concert at Farnley Hall, Otley, on June 25 at 11am.
Wild Arts return to Aldborough after last year’s triumph with another sparkling production, Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro, at St Andrew’s Church on June 26 at 7pm.
Amol Rajan: Sharing perspectives on journalism, media trends and the changing role of news in public life at St Andrew’s Church on June 25
The Jazz Champions concert, featuring drummer and bandleader Clark Tracey’s quintet, at The Old Hall, North Deighton, on Saturday at 7.30pm, has sold out.
Mezzo-soprano Rose Ritson, cellist Enjuan Han, pianist Evie Lu and trumpet player Gabriel Serrano-Medina take part in the Young Artists’ Showcase at St Andrew’s Church on Sunday at 3pm.
An Evening With Amol Rajan, BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter, The Today Podcast podcaster, University Challenge question master and cricket enthusiast, at St Andrew’s Church on June 25 at 6.30pm has sold out.
Eleanor Grant and Gus McQuade: Jim Bolland Memorial Concert at Farnley Hall, Otley, on June 25
Rajan, who edited the Independent at the age of 29, will share his perspectives on journalism, media trends and the changing role of news in public life.
Closing the festival on June 27 will be the sold-out Last Night Outdoor Concert, headlined in the grounds of Aldborough Manor by tribute band Definitely Oasis, supported by singer-songwriter Pearl Natasha & Band.
Audiences are invited to bring a picnic and dance the night away from 6pm, climaxing with a spectacular orchestrated firework display.
Aldborough’s late-night venue, The SHED, returns for concert-goers who want to continue festivities after the evening concerts in a relaxed environment, with a variety of live entertainment and refreshments.
Dame Sarah Connolly and Dame Imogen Cooper: Playing the Olav Arnold Memorial Concert at St Andrew’s Church on June 19
THE 31st edition of the Northern Aldborough Festival, in the North Yorkshire village of Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, opens with this evening’s 6.30pm concert by Fantasia Orchestra, conducted by Tom Fetherstonhaugh, at St Andrew’s Church, fresh from their Proms debut.
Violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen will be the soloist for Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending and other works include Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and Dvorak’s Nocturne and Serenade for Strings.
2025 sees the festival celebrate the artistry and power of the human voice, centred on the annual nationwide hunt for the UK’s best classical singing talent in the New Voices Singing Competition, now in its third year, with a star-studded judging panel of Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Jane Glover, Sholto Kynoch, festival director Robert Ogden and Sir Andrew Lawson-Tancred.
Fantasia Orchestra with conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh: Opening the festival this evening at St Andrew’s Church
Semi-finals take place at St Andrew’s Church at 4pm and 6pm on Sunday, followed by the Monday’s final on Monday at 7pm in the 14th century church with a prize fund of £7,000.
Further highlights include jazz vocalist Jacqui Dankworth & Her Trio, at The Old Hall, North Deighton, tomorrow, 7.30pm; opera company Wild Arts, in a semi-staged performance of Donizetti’s The Elixir Of Love, conducted by Orlando Jopling, at St Andrew’s Church, on Sunday, 7pm, and two musical Dames, mezzo soprano Dame Sarah Connolly with Dame Imogen Cooper on piano, at St Andrew’s Church on June 19, 7.30pm.
French horn player Ben Goldscheider: Playing with The Heath Quartet at St Andrew’s Church on June 17
In the programme too will be the Thanda Gumede Trio, (vocals, piano and bass), at The Old Hall, North Deighton, tomorrow, 11am; French horn player Ben Goldscheider, playing with The Heath Quartet, St Andrew’s Church, June 17, 7.30pm; An Evening With Matthew Parris, the journalist and former MP, St Andrew’s Church, June 18, 7.30pm, and Armonico Consort, playing Rachmaninov’s The Vespers, directed by Christopher Monks, St Andrew’s Church, June 20, 7.30pm.
Mezzo-soprano Judith le Breuilly will be accompanied by pianist George Ireland at St Andrew’s Church on June 16 at 11am; the Young Artists Showcase will be held there on June 18 at 11am, and The Asteria Trio (flute, harp and viola) will be led by Harrogate-born harpist Megan Humphries at Farnley Hall, near Otley, on June 19 at 11am.
Vocalist Thanda Gumede: Leading his trio at The Old Hall, North Deighton, tomorrow morning
Aldborough’s late-night venue, The Shed, returns for concertgoers who want to continue festivities after the evening concerts in a relaxed environment, with a variety of live entertainment and refreshments.
The Last Night Outdoor Concert, in the grounds of Aldborough Manor, features The Killerz Tribute, performing the hits of The Killers, supported by singer-songwriter Pearl Natasha, on June 21 when gates open at 6pm.
Running from today to June 21, the full programme, performance times and booking details can be found at aldboroughfestival.co.uk. Box office enquiries can be made to festival@aldborough.com . Tickets are on sale at 01423 900979 too.
Robert Ogden, director of the 31st Northern Aldborough Festival, outside St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
Sir Tony Robinson: Guest speaker at Northern Aldborough Festival. Picture: Paul Marc Mitchell
THE 30th anniversary Northern Aldborough Festival, in Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, opens tonight.
Sir Tony Robinson, Leeds Piano Competition winner Alim Beisembayev and one of the world’s great violin virtuosos, Viktoria Mullova, will be among the headline acts
Half an hour’s journey from York or Harrogate, opera singers, pianists and jazz ensembles will mingle among the village’s Roman history.
Festival director Robert Ogden says: “Each year we invite a headline speaker. It’s fitting Sir Tony Robinson is this year’s guest, given the setting of our festival and its rich historic and archaeological significance. It promises to be a very special evening.”
Run as a charity, the annual festival’s mission is to bring high-end live music to its rural location, making the “sleepy village” that was once a prosperous Roman capital an unlikely epicentre for classical music.
Mikeleiz-Zucchi Duo: Playing The Chapel, Rudding Park, Harrogate, on June 20
This year, its music programme has a focus on championing young classical talent. The opening night sees 25-year-old Tom Fetherstonehaugh conducting the young musicians of the Fantasia Orchestra, performing Tchaikovsky and Chopin alongside pianist Alim Beisembayev, who at 23 won the last Leeds International Piano Competition.
Further highlights include Armonico Consort with a semi-staged production of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and the rising star of classical guitar, Jack Hancher.
The festival also welcomes an award-winning comedian with an opera degree, Amy Webber, as heard on BBC Radio 4, and the British jazz pianist Julian Joseph, who performs with his trio.
Pan-flute player Adriana Babin, already a bona-fide star at 22 in her home country of Moldova, will head for Aldborough, as will the Mikeleiz-Zucchi Duo, featuring Canadia saxophonist David Zucchi and Spanish accordionist Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade.
The festival’s nationwide hunt for the best vocal talent returns in the annual New Voices Singing Competition, with cash prizes of £7,000 and a live semi-final and grand final.
Adriana Babin: Pan flute concert at St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough, on June 15
The competition was launched in 2023 by festival director Robert Ogden, supported by longstanding sponsors, in response to the funding cuts faced by the classical music sector, to provide a platform for emerging vocal talent.
Robert, who began his career as a countertenor, adds: “We’ll have some world-class musicians once more in Aldborough. It doesn’t matter if you are an aficionado of classical music, or you’re a complete novice, we hope audiences will come and experience these very special performances.
“The rewards of a live concert are so huge, there’s nothing like it; it’s an emotional, visceral experience that you can’t replicate on a screen. It’s a chance to hear remarkable sounds in an intimate and gorgeous countryside setting.”
Aldborough’s late-night venue The Shed also returns for concert-goers who want to continue festivities in a relaxed environment with a variety of live entertainment and refreshments.
The ever-popular Last Night Outdoor Concert will see Queen tribute band Majesty perform to circa 1,000 festival-goers in the grounds of Aldborough Manor. Those attending are invited to bring a picnic and dance the night away, ending with an orchestrated firework display.
Pianist Alim Beisembayev: Performing with Fantasia Orchestra at St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough, on June 13. Picture: Nabin Maharjan
Northern Aldborough Festival 2024 programme
June 13, 6.30pm
Alim Beisembayev (piano) with Fantasia Orchestra, conducted by Tom Fetherstonehaugh, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
Winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition at 23, Kazakstan-born Alim Beisembayev performs the opening concert with the young musicians of Fantasia Orchestra, conducted by Tom Fetherstonehaugh, 25. Programme includes Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings and Chopin’s 1st Piano Concerto.
June 13, 9pm
After the Show in The Shed
Light musical entertainment and something to eat and drink.
Guitarist Jack Hancher: Morning concert at Brockfield Hall, Warthil, on June 14. Picture: Manny Sowicz
June 14, 11am
Jack Hancher, guitar, Brockfield Hall, Warthill, York
ELEGANT, expressive, fiery and passionate, Jack Hancher is a rising star of the classical guitar, whose debut album will be released this year on the Deux-Elles label.
Last year he became one of only three guitarists to win the Gold Medal of the Royal Overseas League Competition.
June 14, 8pm
Amy Webber, The Old Hall, North Deighton
Wry comedian Amy Webber performs her job-hunting one-woman show, No Previous Experience, equipped with a mini electric piano and an opera degree that has never been useful. Winner of Audience Choice Award at Musical Comedy Awards.
June 15, 11am
Adriana Babin, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
At the age of 22, Moldovan musician Adriana Babin already has won major prizes and performed all over the world. The warm, rich, and haunting pan flute is rarely heard in classical music, but she has collaborated with European orchestras, starred on German television and received an award from Moldova’s Minister of Culture.
Comedian Amy Webber: No Previous Experience gig at The Old Hall, North Deighton, on June 14
June 15, 7pm
Julian Joseph Trio, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
Bandleader, pianist, composer, educator and broadcaster Julian Joseph OBE has championed jazz home and abroad for 35 years. He presents originals and classics with his hard-swinging trio.
June 15, 9pm
After the Show in The Shed
Light musical entertainment and something to eat and drink.
June 16, 3pm
Young Artist Showcase, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
Chance to catch upcoming stars as four of Yorkshire’s most talented young musicians perform.
June 17, 12 noon
The New Voices Singing Competition: Semi-final 1, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
After launching national New Voices competition in 2023, the hunt for the year’s best classical vocal talent returns. The first group of semi-finalists battles for a place in the Grand Final. Judging panel includes conductor Edward Gardner OBE and English bass Sir John Tomlinson CBE.
Jazz pianist Julian Joseph: Playing with his trio on June 15 at St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
June 17, 3.30pm
The New Voices Singing Competition: Semi-final 2, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
Second group of semi-finalists.
June 18, 11am
Lea Shaw, mezzo soprano, with Kristina Yorgova, piano
Before the Grand Final of 2024’s New Voices Singing Competition, last year’s victors, Lea Shaw and Kristina Yorgova, return to perform their winners’ recital.
Shaw is a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist and Scottish Opera’s Associate Artist; Bulgarian pianist Kristina Yorgova is a master’s student at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
June 18, 7pm
Grand Final of the New Voices Singing Competition, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
Hundreds of young singers graduate each year with aspirations to become professionals. This competition is a nationwide hunt with four finalists chasing cash prizes of £7,000 in a springboard for UK classical vocal talent.
June 18, 10pm
After the Show in the Shed
Musical entertainment and something to eat and drink.
Violinist Viktoria Mullova: Playing with pianist Alasdair Beatson at St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough, on June 19. Picture: Benjamin Ealovega
June 19, 7.30pm
Viktoria Mullova, violin, with Alasdair Beatson, piano, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
Moscow Conservatoire graduate Viktoria Mullova’s extraordinary violin talent captured the world in the 1980s before her much-publicised defection to the West. She will perform Beethoven and Schubert works with Scotsman Alasdair Beatson, her piano accompanist in a three-year collaboration of concerts and recordings.
June 20, 11am
Mikeleiz-Zucchi Duo, The Chapel, Rudding Park, Harrogate
Forging a partnership in the spirit of curiosity and open-mindedness, Canadia saxophonist David Zucchi and Spanish accordionist Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade sound like an unusual pairing, but this dynamic duo won the Royal Overseas League Annual Music Competition’s Mixed Ensemble Prize. Rooted in jazz and folk, both instruments occupy the fringes of classical music in a dance-themed programme of Praetorius, Ravel and Piazzolla works.
June 20, 7.30pm
An Evening with Sir Tony Robinson, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough
ACTOR, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and political activist Sir Tony Robinson promises a behind-the-scenes insight into his life and career, from playing Baldrick in the BBC comedy Blackadder (1983-1989) to hosting Channel 4’s Time Team, presenting history and archaeology series and writing books on the subject and being active on many charity and political campaigns.
Festival director Robert Ogden by the Aldborough maypole
June 20, 9.30pm
After the Show in the Shed
Light musical entertainment and something to eat and drink.
June 21, 7.30pm
Armonico Consort presents Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, directed by Christopher Monks, St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough. Grounds of Aldborough Manor open for picnics at 5pm.
The Fairy Queen is a musical adaption of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, given an inventive, magical performance on a beautiful midsummer evening.
June 22, gates open at 5.30pm
Majesty – A Tribute to Queen, grounds of Aldborough Manor
Majesty close the festival with their latest Queen show, The Break Free Tour. Bring a picnic; let the orchestrated fireworks begin.
Robert Ogden: the back story
Artistic director of Northern Aldborough Festival.
Runs his family’s flagship jewellery store in James Street, Harrogate, founded by James Robert (JR) Ogden in 1893.
Before taking on Ogden of Harrogate, operatic countertenor Robert sang all over the world. As a boy, he was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral, before training at King’s College, Cambridge, the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and Netherlands Opera Studio.
Box office: 01423 900979 or aldboroughfestival.co.uk
Lesley Garrett: Sold-out concert on Thursday at Northern Aldborough Festival
THE 2021 Northern Aldborough Festival is going ahead as planned, with Covid-secure and social distancing measures, from today until Sunday.
The Haffner Ensemble, with pianist Danny Driver, open the festival tonight at St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, with a 7.30pm programme of Poulenc, Mozart and Beethoven.
The chamber ensemble was founded by oboist Nicholas Daniel, with each member of the quintet being a chamber musician, soloist and principal of the Britten Sinfonia.
In Kindred Spirits, 4 Hands, 1 Piano, alias British Baroque specialist Julian Perkins and Italian pianist Emma Abbate, perform works by Greig, Mozart and Rachmaninov tomorrow, same time, same venue.
Taking part in Wednesday’s 11am Young Artists Showcase at St Andrew’s will be four Yorkshire rising talents, ranging in age from 12 to 17: Emilia Jaques, soprano, Alexander Abrahams, piano, Annabelle Dowell, flute, and Ava Brule-Walker, viola, accompanied by Penny Stirling and William Dore.
Ampleforth College pupil Emilia Jaques won the 2018 BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year and has appeared on BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night Is Music Night Christmas Special with Alfie Boe. Ripon Grammar School pupil Alexander Abrahams won the top prize at the Ripon Young Musicians of the Year awards.
Flautist’s daughter Annabelle Dowell, 14, is a Class A winner at the British Flute Society Competitions. Aba Brule-Walker, Abrahams’ fellow member of the Yorkshire Young Musicians, has won several prizes at the Ripon Young Musicians awards and will attend the Purcell School for Young Musicians, in Bushey, Hertfordshire, from September.
For An Evening With Richard Coles, the parish priest of St Mary’s Church, Finedon, will be swapping one church for another, St Andrew’s, on Wednesday at 7.30pm.
The Rev Richard is a multi-tasking vicar, being a journalist and presenter too, on BBC One’s The Big Painting Challenge and BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, as well as having a pop charts past as the keyboards-playing half of the Eighties’ electronic pop duo The Communards. In 2016, he competed in Celebrity Masterchef; in 2017, he partnered Australian dancer Dianne Buswell to week-two exit in Strictly Come Dancing.
On Thursday, William Bracken gives an 11am piano recital of Franz Liszt’s Ballade No 2 in B Minor and Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit at St Andrew’s.
Viktoria Mullova: Performing with her son, bassist and composer Misha Mullov-Abbado, at St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough, on Friday night
At 22, he has achieved many of his ambitions already, such as performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3 at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall and winning first prize at several international competitions.
Born into a musical family, he began playing piano at four and his studies have taken him to the Royal Northern College of Music and onwards to the Guildhall, where he is studying with Ronan O’Hara and Martin Roscoe. He is a keen jazz performer, composer and arranger too.
South Yorkshire soprano Lesley Garrett appears with her regular accompanist, pianist Anna Tilbrook, a repeat visitor to Northern Aldborough Festival, on Thursday at 7.30pm at St Andrew’s.
Born in the Yorkshire pit village of Thorne in 1955, Garrett studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, won the Kathleen Ferrier Prize and rose to prominence at English National Opera as principal soprano.
She has sung with all Britain’s leading opera companies; performed on the world’s biggest stages and with every leading orchestra; released more than a dozen albums and sung not only opera and “other serious music”, but also light classics and Broadway fare, and made television and radio appearances aplenty as singer and host.
Violin virtuoso Viktoria Mullova and double bass player Misha Mullov-Abbado, combine for Music We Love, same location, same time, on Friday night.
Mullov-Abbado’s compositions Blue Deer, Brazil and Shanti Bell will be complemented by works by J S Bach, Profokiev, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Schumann and Zequinha de Abreu.
Mullova works regularly with period ensembles such as the Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment, Il Giardino and Accademia Bizantina, along with appearing each season with international orchestras and conductors. Jazz bassist, composer and arranger Misha is the son of Viktoria and conductor Claudio Abbado.
In the Last Night Outdoor Concert in the grounds of Aldborough Manor, The Rozzers pay tribute to Sting and The Police on Saturday. From 6pm, guests may bring a picnic and watch the main-stage entertainment, kicking off with support act So 80s and climaxing with an orchestrated firework display.
On Sunday, at 10.45am at St Andrew’s, Northern Aldborough Festival Voices perform moving choral music by English Renaissance composer William Byrd at the closing Festival Eucharist. The celebrant will be the Reverend Karen Gardiner; the preacher, the Reverend Canon Barry Pyke.
The Haffner Ensemble, Julian Perkins & Emma Abbate, Richard Coles, Lesley Garrett, Viktoria Mullova and Last Night Outdoor Concert events have all sold out. Tickets are still available for the Young Musicians and William Bracken at aldboroughfestival.co.uk.
