The City Musick: Twenty, rather than seven, played at York Early Music Festival last Friday in a Renaissance Big Band line-up
York Early Music Festival: The City Musick, The Count and The Duke: A Renaissance Big Band, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, July 7
IN the YEMF brochure, director William Lyons said: “With a band of 20 musicians, The City Musick presents a homage to the iconic recordings made by David Munrow in the 1970s, but with a modern twist”. Which is exactly what we got, with a jazzy title too. The Count and The Duke: A Renaissance Big Band.
Praetorius’s opening rustic welcome was indicative of what was to come: gorgeous sounds, ripples of florid decoration, music of such intimacy and balance. Balance, I think, is key here.
The Renaissance Big Band was arranged into groups of soft instruments: strings (the splendid Monteverdi String Band) and woodwind, plus the (not very) loud instruments – brass, keyboard, lute and theorbo, and percussion.
This also gives us a link to the ‘big band’ set-ups of the great Duke Ellington and Count Basie that were also grouped into instrumental sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and rhythm.
The way the instrumental groups engaged with each other throughout the concert was especially rewarding. Firstly, the alternating loud and soft instrumental groups meant that these contrasting exchanges were inherently employed to gentle dramatic effect.
They also reinforced the Renaissance dance music, adding another (gentle) dramatic layering. For example, the second-half collection of Masque arrangements of Robert Johnson, John Adson and William Brade.
Not only did the opening string section pass on the musical baton to the brass section, but there was also role play involved in these courtly dances. The strings asked the brass players to join the courtly dance; the music was seductive and invitational. And readily accepted.
We were also able to enjoy the musical moment as the individual ensembles embellished their own musical offerings before the exchanges and then collectively signing off. We could also savour the timbres, the instrumental tone colour.
Like the delightful intimacy of strings and theorbo in Praetorius’s Courante, the woodwind and percussion in the Suite des Bransles arrangement and the extraordinary wind sound when joined by the uniquely rasping racket in Susato’s Suite des Rondes.
The arrangement of Thoinot Arbeau’s Suite des Branles was arguably the most memorable contribution of the first set, with its ground-bass ushering in other instrumental players, metric (hemiola), syncopated gear changes and infectious foot-tapping music designed to put a smile on your face. Or as Count Basie put it: “If you play a tune and a person don’t tap their feet, don’t play the tune.”
Then there were the John Skene English Country Dances arrangements. They were performed by bagpipes and a hurdy gurdy. Bagpipes, surely not! But music for the original country dances of the (English) villages were indeed played by a bagpipe. Don’t know about the hurdy gurdy. The pastoral, chocolatey tunes were a delight.
And then we had the promised modern twist, notably in William Lyons’s arrangement of Maurizio Cazzati and Tarquinio Merula’s Ciaccona. Here a simple ground-bass is joined by weaving lines of string variations, then by the other players in a sound world reminiscent of Pachelbel’s Canon. Maybe. There also seemed to be echoes of the Penguin Café Orchestra and minimalism: the signing-off with striking woodblock hits and pizzicato strings recalled music by John Adams. Well, it did for me anyway.
Claire Richards: Taking Steps to headline York Pride’s main stage
PRIDE is loud and proud this weekend in a city full of ideas, heated politics and apocalyptic music, as recommended by Charles Hutchinson.
Diverse celebration of the week: York Pride, city-centre parade at 12 noon, followed by festival until after-hours on Knavesmire
NORTH Yorkshire’s largest LGBT+ celebration sets out on a parade march from Duncombe Place, outside York Minster, processing along Bishopthorpe Road to the festival site on Knavesmire.
Hosted by Sordid Secret and Mamma Bear, the Main Stage welcomes Claire Richards, from Steps, Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, Union J’s Jaymi Hensley and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalist Kitty Scott-Claus. Plenty more acts take to the YOI Radio Stage and Family Area and the new Queer Arts Cabaret Tent (1.30pm to 7pm, headlined by York’s pink-attired Beth McCarthy). Full festival details at: yorkpride.org.uk.
In the pink: Beth McCarthy tops the Queer Arts Cabaret Tent bill at York Pride this evening
Festival of the week and beyond: York Festival of Ideas 2023, until June 15
THIS University of York co-ordinated festival invites you to Rediscover, Reimagine, Rebuild in a programme of more than 150 free in-person and online events designed to educate, entertain and inspire.
Meet world-class speakers, experience performances, join entertaining family activities, explore York on guided tours and more! Topics range from archaeology to art, history to health and politics to psychology. Study the festival programme at yorkfestivalofideas.com.
Ocean-loving Kentviolinist and composer Anna Phoebe performs her Sea Soul album with Klara Schumann and Jacob Kingsbury Downsat the National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight at 7pm as part of the York Festival of Ideas. Picture; Rob Blackham
Don’t myth it: The Flanagan Collective in The Gods The Gods The Gods, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm; Slung Low at Temple, Water Lane, Holbeck, Leeds, tomorrow, 7.30pm (outdoor performance); Hull Truck Theatre, Stage One, June 29,7.30pm
WRIGHT & Grainger’s myth-making The Gods The Gods The Gods is performed as a 12-track album in an exhilarating weave of big beats, heavy basslines, soaring melodies and heart-stopping spoken word. In the absence of co-creators Alexander Flanagan-Wright and Megan Drury in New York and Australia respectively, Easingwold birthday boy Phil Grainger, 34 today, will be joined by Oliver Towse and Lucinda Turner from the West End original cast of Wright’s The Great Gatsby.
The 65-minute performance links stories of two youngsters who meet when out dancing, destined to fall hard; a woman on a beach, alone at night, looking at the stars, and a bloke on a bridge, thinking about jumping, just before dark, all at the crossroads where mythology meets real life. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Leeds, slunglow.org; Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.
Upwards and onwards: Oliver Towse, left, Lucinda Turner and Phil Grainger survey the auditorium ahead of their Harrogate Theatre performance of The God The Gods The Gods. York, Leeds and Hull dates lie ahead
Comedy gig of the week: Patrick Monahan, Classy, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm
IN a world of groups, hierarchies and class systems, everyone tries so hard to fit in. What’s wrong with being a misfit? Be you, be proud!
From the caravan to the middle-class neighbourhood, Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan, 46, has taken four decades to realise this. Time for the Edinburgh Fringe regular to pass on his observations on living his contemporary life alongside stories of his upbringing. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Patrick Monahan: Classy performance at Pocklington Arts Centre
Apocalypse now: Late Music presents Late Music Ensemble, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK Late Music concludes its 2022-23 season on a spectacular – if not entirely optimistic! – note tonight when the Late Music Ensemble, conducted by Nick Williams, opens up the End Of The World Jukebox.
Composers and players re-imagine the pop songs they would like to hear if Armageddon were nigh in arrangements of Imogen Heap’s Hide And Seek, David Bowie’s Warszawa, Cole Porter’s Every Time We Say Goodbye and Bob Dylan’s Cat’s In The Well. The Beatles will be represented by The End from Abbey Road, alongside new works by Christopher Fox and Anthony Adams.
Williams’s nine-strong ensemble promises a broad musical spectrum through the presence of Edwina Smith (flute, piccolo), Jonathan Sage (clarinet, bass clarinet), Iain Harrison and Lucy Havelock (saxophones), Murphy McCaleb (bass trombone), Kate Ledger (piano, toy piano, voice), Tim Brooks (keyboards, piano), Catherine Strachan (cello) and Anna Snow (voice).
Due to unforeseen circumstances, today’s lunchtime concert by Stuart O’Hara has been postponed. It will, however, be rescheduled in the 2023-24 season, whose programme will be announced in the next few months.
While the End of the World cannot be avoided, York Late Music adminstrator Steve Crowther is an optimist who believes that, for now at least, the end is no nigher. A 6.45pm, pre-concert talk by Christopher Fox includes a complimentary glass of wine or fruit juice. Box office: latemusic.org or on the door.
Kate Ledger: Pianist playing in the Late Music Ensemble’s end-is-nigh concert tonight
Folk gig of the week: Spiers & Boden, The Crescent, York, Wednesday, doors 7.30pm
THIS weekend the focus falls on the City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green. Meanwhile, the organisers, the Black Swan Folk Club, have teamed up with The Crescent to present Bellowhead big band cohorts Spiers & Boden in a seated concert next week.
John Spiers and Jon Boden re-formed their instrumental duo in 2021 after a seven-year hiatus to release the album Fallow Ground. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Seated gig: Folk duo Spiers & Boden atThe Crescent on Wednesday
Defiant gig of the week: Mike Peters presents The Alarm (Acoustic), The Crescent, York, Thursday, 7.30pm
AFTER a year of health challenges, The Alarm leader Mike Peters returns to the stage this spring with a new album set for release in the summer.
Co-founder of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, the 64-year-old Welshman will be performing a one-man band electro-acoustic set list of songs from all four decades of The Alarm discography. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Mike Peters: Setting The Alarm songs acoustically at the Crescent on Thursday
Troubadour of the week: Steve Earle, The Alone Again Tour, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm
AS his tour title suggests, legendary Americana singer, songwriter, producer, actor, playwright, novelist, short story writer and radio presenter Steve Earle will be performing solo and acoustic in York: the only Yorkshire gig of a ten-date itinerary without his band The Dukes that will take in the other Barbican, in London, and Glastonbury.
Born in Fort Monroae National Monument, Hampton, Virginia, Earle grew up in Texas and began his songwriting career in Nashville, releasing his first EP in 1982 and debut album Guitar Town in 1986, since when he has branched out from country music into rock, bluegrass, folk music and blues. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
Steve Earle: Heading from New York to York for the opening night of his British solo tour. Picture: Danny Clinch
Brass at full blast: Shepherd Group Brass Band: Stage And Screen, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, June 10, 7pm
SHEPHERD Group Brass Band’s late-spring concert showcases music from across the repertoire of stage and screen, featuring five bands from the York organisation, ranging from beginners to championship groups, culminating with a grand finale from all the bands. Tickets update: only the last few are still available on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Thalissa Teixeira: The Royal Shakespeare Company’s first black female Brutus in Julius Caesar, directed by Atri Banerjee, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Marc Brenner
Power play: Royal Shakespeare Company in Julius Caesar, York Theatre Royal, June 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
ATRI Banerjee directs this fast-paced political thriller on the RSC’s return to York Theatre Royal in a fresh interpretation of Julius Caesar with a female Brutus (Thalissa Teixeira) and non-binary Cassius (Annabel Baldwin) that asks: how far would we go for our principles?
Concerned that divisive leader Julius Caesar (Nigel Barrett) poses a threat to democracy, revolutionaries take the violent decision to murder him but without a plan for what happens next. As the world spins out of control, chaos, horror and superstition rush in to fill the void. Civil war erupts and a new leader must rise, but at what cost? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Ailish Tynan and Christopher Glynn, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, May 3
I ABSOLUTELY love Schumann’s Liederkreiss: a sublime marriage of Eichendorff’s poems.
This performance by Irish soprano Ailish Tynan and pianist Christopher Glynn was simply superb; the songs fresh and full of insight, of rediscovery.
In Der Fremde had that remoteness, palpable longing, a heartfelt intermezzo and the oh-so-delicately delivered Mondnacht, with the delicious, gentle melodic embellishments. And then, not sure when, three things happened to jolt me out of this musical love-in.
A young lady in front decided to check for text messages; this suddenly morphed into a coughing fit by the singer, and the resuming cycle was in English; albeit an impressive translation by Jeremy Sams (commissioned by Christopher Glynn). I was so immersed, captivated by the performance, I hadn’t realised. Some reviewer, eh?
The recital had opened with Grieg’s Sechs Lieder. What was obvious from the outset was the instinctive musical chemistry between the performers. For example, the genuine sense of fun and cheeky exchanges in Lauf der Welt, the quietly driven urgency and touching reflection of Goethe’s Zur Rosenzeit and blending of vocal line and piano accompaniment in the closing Ein Traum.
Much of the second half was dedicated to settings of James Joyce. Bridge’s Goldenhair was fluent and hugely enjoyable, Barber’s Solitary Hotel came across as sultry, smouldering music-making with a passionate tango-influenced accompaniment.
Pianist Christopher Glynn
But the most rewarding was John Cage’s The Wonderful Widow Of Eighteen Springs. Ms Tynan sang the minimalist vocal line without any vibrato; it sounded like an elegant sacred chant.
Christopher Glynn’s percussive commentary – hitting the lid or other parts of the piano in a variety of ways with his fingers and knuckles – was so nuanced, almost ritualistic. The performance had an other-worldly quality, which gently dramatised Joyce’s nocturnal, expressive text.
The sexy, Spanish dancing lady was flirtatiously animated by Ms Tynan in a much-appreciated encore. Personally, I would have left the last word with Joyce and Edmund Pendleton’s Bid Adieu; a moving farewell with a lovely soft landing.
All of which doesn’t lead me to the performance of Strauss’s Four Lieder, op.27, but here we are. The performance was simply sublime. Ruhe, Meine Seele was latent with expectation, simmering with sadness.
In Cäcilie, the floodgates opened in an almost operatic outpouring of emotion. The idiomatic pianism and, at times, telling recitative delivery in Heimliche Aufforderung were really effective.
But it was the performance of Morgen! that moved me to the core, as it always does. A most exquisite piano opening by Christopher Glynn, then the bleeding in of Ms Tynan’s vocal line into the piano narrative producing a deeply touching musical image of lyrical togetherness. Magical. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop at the close.
YORK Late Music pays tribute on Saturday to two British composers: a major name and an unjustly forgotten figure who is surely due for a revival.
The evening concert, A New Matrix, has been planned as a tribute to Sir Harrison Birtwistle, who died in April 2021. Birtwistle was a colossus in contemporary music, especially opera, whose influence was worldwide.
Based around the clarinet, the 7.30pm programme also acknowledges the work of York musician Alan Hacker, who was a long-term friend and musical associate of Birtwistle, and who taught many of those involved in this weekend’s performance.
Alongside Birtwistle’s work, the programme includes pieces by Messaien (whom Birtwistle acknowledged as an influence) and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as a series of short pieces composed following Birtwistle’s death.
Guitarist Federico Pendenza
The lunchtime concert (1pm) celebrates the work of Reginald Smith Brindle, who died in 2003. A Lancastrian, like Birtwistle, Smith Brindle’s eclectic output included two symphonies, although he is now best known for his solo guitar work.
Guitarist Federico Pendenza, from the University of York, will be playing four works by Smith Brindle, pieces by Poulenc and a Chris Gander world premiere.
Both concerts are at Late Music’s usual venue, the Unitarian Chapel in St Saviourgate, York. The evening event will follow a 6.45pm talk by composer David Lancaster, with a complimentary glass of wine or juice.
Lunchtime concert tickets cost £5; evening, £12, students £5, at latemusic.org or on the door
University of York Choir, The 24 and The City Musick, Central Hall, University of York, March 18
WELL, this looked interesting, but then any concert with a strapline “Reining in the Donkey” and curated and conducted by Robert Hollingworth would be.
Last Saturday’s concert was a highly imaginative programme focusing on Orazio Benevoli’s mass, Missa Si Deus Pro Nobis, dovetailed with music by Andrea Gabrieli, Vincenzo Ugolino, Palestrina and Frescobaldi.
The mass was written for eight choirs supported by 15 continuo instrumentalists. These would be placed in stalls above and around the congregation, thus setting up a dramatic, sumptuous surround-sound extravaganza.
In York Minster this would have been a real musical event, but in the Central Hall, with an acoustic as dry as sandpaper, it wasn’t. And nor could it have been. Right from the choral opening of Vincenzo Ugolino’s Quae Est Ista, the university choir sounded cruelly exposed and vulnerable.
With all the forces at play, however, the singers grew in confidence through the Kyrie and Gloria of the Benevoli Mass. The choral exchanges of the lovey suspended sequences in the Credo worked well.
The introduction of the amazing contrabass shawm, played by Nicholas Perry, was quite an experience. I thought it sounded like a musical equivalent of the butler Lurch from The Addams Family but it is probably best described by Paul McCreesh as “the finest fartophone in all music”.
Not all the choral detail was in place; the rhythmic passages in the Credo, for example, were not as crisp or accurate as they should have been, but the extensive tutti sections at the end of each of the movements were confident and satisfying. Indeed, the Agnus Dei conclusion was luxurious, quite delightful.
The instrumental movements performed by The City Musick players were, obviously, imperious. Catherine Pierron’s chamber organ performance of Frescobaldi’s Toccata No.3, weaving webs of magical tapestry, was breathtaking.
There was also a wonderful, confident Agnus Dei by Palestrina (arr. Francesco Soriano) sung by The 24, a choir clearly at the top of their game, with crystal-clear part singing throughout. Very impressive.
Anyway, back to the donkey. The technique is a musical joke where busy antiphonal exchanges (runaway, out-of-control donkeys) combined with long plainchant melodies (hapless, possibly fat, cardinals pulling on the reins). Excellent.
I get the impression that Orazio Benevoli’s Missa Si Deus Pro Nobis is not only a hidden gem, but now a discovered masterpiece. I would love to hear Robert Hollingworth curate and direct another performance. But not here, not at the Central Hall. Please.
Hannah Condliffe: Oboe soloist for BMS York concert
British Music Society York: Hannah Condliffe and Dominic Doutney, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, March 17
HANNAH Condliffe opened this delightful concert with the second of Telemann’s Twelve Fantasias in A Minor.
In terms of productivity, Telemann is hard to beat. But these fantasias for solo flute not only enriched that repertoire in the early part of the 18th century; they were also highly regarded and very influential.
Ms Condliffe’s performance of the oboe transcription demonstrated why. The lyricism and gentle perpetual motion were ever present, and the performance was quite mercurial in this embracing acoustic.
In a change to the original programme, Dominic Doutney performed two of the Rachmaninov Preludes (Op. 32). The first Prelude was memorable for a simple, delicate, floating melody awash with colour underpinned with a whispery mid-range accompaniment. The pianist’s touch was crisp and finely judged. Just as it was in the G# minor Prelude where the ebb and flow, the weaving of textures made it a joy to listen to.
The two Études – Pour les Notes Repetées and Pour les Arpèges Composés reinforced what a very fine pianist Mr Doutney is. Technically the playing was superb, but it was the innate sense of musical architecture in the first Étude and the tender, intimate playing in the latter which impressed.
There was also a shadow of the blues. Maybe this reflected his serious illness, or the fact that it was written in 1915 during the First World War, or then again it could just be me picking up the vibes as there is little doubting the positive energy and indeed the music’s playfulness.
This takes us seamlessly on to the Two Insect Pieces by Benjamin Britten. The Grasshopper dutifully hopped about while The Wasp buzzed around with a menacing sting in its tail. The playing captured the charming imagery.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Deep River (arr. Maud Powell) was as moving as anything in the programme. The music just resonates in the soul – well, it did for me in this utterly immersive performance.
Like the opening Telemann, Britten’s three pieces from Six Metamorphoses after Ovid gave oboist Hannah Condliffe the chance to showcase her remarkable technique and musicianship. Pan’s free spirit is reinforced by the composer’s unmeasured notation and the frequent pauses. The performance captured this spellbinding, hypnotic quality.
By contrast, the musical depiction of the chariot ride of Phaeton in the second metamorphosis – fast and rhythmic – was exhilarating. Arethusa, fleeing the advances of the river god Alpheus and being transformed into a fountain, had both beauty and flow. Impressive.
The two players reunited to perform Poulenc’s homage to Prokofiev, the Oboe Sonata. The opening Elégie is technically demanding, but it was the charming engagement of the duo which was so affecting.
The music of the Scherzo may be described as witty, but it was the bristling vitality with its toccata-like drive to the close which was so thrilling. The final Déploration provided a touching, sober farewell to the great man.
The concert closed with Jeffrey Agrell’s Blues For D.D. The piece itself did not have much to recommend it – very clever, for sure, but cliched and derivative – but the performance did. It was fresh, zingy and utterly confident. Condliffe and Doutney clearly enjoyed performing the piece and the audience, apart from myself evidently, clearly enjoyed it too. So, amen to that.
YORK writer, actress, performance poet, slam champion, theatre maker, workshop leader and university lecturer Hannah Davies will launch her debut poetry collection, Dolls, at York Literature Festival on Saturday night (18/3/2023).
The event will be presented in collaboration with her high-energy York spoken-word compadres Say Owt at The Crescent community event, when Hannah’s readings will be complemented by poetry from team Say Owt, Sylvia Marie and Sally Jenkinson, coming all the way from Brighton, plus live music from Pascallion (Jack Woods) and Hull singer-songwriter Ysabelle Wombwell.
Say Owt artistic director Henry Raby says: “Hannah is Say Owt’s associate artist, running open mic nights and workshops and supporting poets across York. We’re delighted to launch Hannah’s first poetry book. Dolls is a fierce and tender collection about womanhood, motherhood, feminism and survival. Hannah is a spellbinding storyteller and her writing is warm, lyrical and bold.”
Hannah enthuses: “I’m thrilled to be launching my poetry collection as part of York Literature Festival. There are poems in here that I’ve been performing for years, and some that haven’t seen the light of day at all.”
Why is the collection entitled Dolls, Hannah? “Dolls was the first poem I ever performed in a slam: the Say Owt slam,” she says. “That poem talks about how a woman is made up of all the dolls she owned in her childhood.
“Each chapter has a different doll as its title. Baby Doll, Russian Doll, Barbie Doll. It’s a good time for me to take stock, creatively, and having all these pieces in one book feels like the end of an era in a way. I’m in a very different place to when I first dared myself to get on a stage and share my poems seven years ago. Who knows what creative writing adventures await next!”
Grand slam: Hannah Davies, slam champ, with Say Owt cohort Stu Freestone
Hannah has edited her “back catalogue” of poems from poetry evenings and slam nights into themes, rather than compiling “just a scattergun collection”.
“The poems are thematically arranged under each doll title,” she says. “There’s a real split between performance poetry and poetry on the page, and all these poems in the collection were written to be performed, with my background in performing and writing for the theatre.
“Part of the editing process has been about making sure they work on the page, seeing how they unfurl in print, and I feel they work in both senses now, for performance and for reading in a book.
“Probably the book will be bought mostly at gigs when people have heard me perform, though I hope to shift a few copies online as well.”
Most of the poems were written between 2015 and 2022, complemented by a couple of newer pieces and two more that have not been performed but “felt right to fit in”.
“Because of my health, I’ve not been writing much poetry recently, but it was a good time to compile the book. It can be quite difficult to unify them under themes when you’re cutting your teeth with your first poems, spread over time, whereas later collections can be more tightly focused, when you can concentrate on a specific theme, such as ‘skin’,” she says in a reference to her skin condition, as charted in social media posts over the past year and more.
Oxford illustrator Katie Gabriel Allen’s cover artwork for Hannah Davies’s debut poetry collection, Dolls, featuring Hannah’s pink-haired childhood rag doll Polly Dolly. “I still have her, of course,” says Hannah
“There will always be that pressure for all artists to come up with something new, but it’s something I’ve learned in recent years, being ill, that you will have fallow periods where you have to take care of yourself or life takes over.
“I’ve never been a writer who writes every day but I do have periods of doing that. If you sit doing nothing or you say, ‘right, I’m going to write for six hours now’, it’s not going to happen. But if you sit down and write for ten minutes, maybe something will emerge.”
Why write poems, Hannah? “I like how they are short. That’s what drew me to them, having written plays [for Common Ground Theatre] and maybe being frustrated by how long it takes to write a play, whereas you can write a poem and perform it immediately.”
Being a mother (to Max) feeds into her work too. “Motherhood runs throughout the book. Being a mother, having a mother, not having a mother,” says Hannah, whose mother died in a car crash when she was 12. “It all absolutely informs my work.”
As she looks forward to tomorrow’s launch, Hannah admits: “I’m excited, if a little terrified too, but I’ve always wanted a book with my name on it since I was six.”
Say Owt and York Literature Festival present Hannah Davies: Dolls Book Launch, at The Crescent, York, on March 18. Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets: £10 in advance at thecrescent.com; £15 on the door.
Hannah Davies joins Say Owt’s Henry Raby and North Yorkshire cross-country runner, coffee barista and poet Olivia Mulligan for a Poetry Evening at The Courthouse, Thirsk, presented by Rural Arts on May 26 at 7.30pm. Box office: ruralarts.org.
Hannah Davies
Hannah Davies: The back story
SAY Owt associate artist Hannah is a spoken-word slam winner at Great Northern Slam (2016) and Axis Slam (2017) and Word War 4 Champion, plus a finalist at BBC EdFringe Slam and the Hammer & Tongue Nationals.
She has performed at poetry nights across the country (Find The Right Words, Sonnet Youth, Tongue Fu, Evidently, Inua Ellams Rap Party, She Grrrowls and Women Of Words).
She is an experienced theatre-maker and facilitator (Royal Court, York Theatre Royal, Trestle Theatre Company, Guild Of Misrule, Company Of Angels, Pilot Theatre and Arcade).
She lectures in playwriting at the University of York in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies.
In York International Women’s Week 2023 , she gave a writing workshop at York Explore Library on March 12.
She runs the young women’s creative collective for Arcade, the Scarborough and Bridlington community producing company, working in Bridlington with women making their own performance projects. Last July they took part in Arcade and the Collaborative Touring Network’s project with Zimbabwean musician, actor and artist John Pfumojena at St John’s Burlington Methodist Church, Bridlington.
Robert Hollingsworth: Conductor of The 24. Picture: Frances Marshall
YOU would not normally expect a choral concert to consist only of eight Mass sections, four each from the 16th and the 21st centuries.
That thought must have occurred to Robert Hollingworth, conductor of The 24, which is now the University of York’s chamber choir (although with eight more singers than its title suggests).
So he added – on the pretext that this was both St David’s Day and the first official day of spring – six seasonal poems along with extracts of birdsong. Not perhaps what paying customers had hoped to hear, but certainly original.
Equally controversial was the setting of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli, in what was termed an arrangement by Francesco Soriano, a former pupil of the great man and a one-time choirboy at San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome (St John’s Lateran) under his direction.
Soriano’s declared intention is to convert Palestrina’s four-voice setting into a double-choir, eight-voice polychoral one. But at times he departs so far from Palestrina’s original that what he produces is better described as a paraphrase. We would be better off leaving Palestrina’s name out of it altogether.
The 24 tackled it judiciously, if without much variation in tone or dynamics. When upper voices were heard alone during Palestrina’s Benedictus, it was both a welcome relief and beautifully done. The preceding Credo had enjoyed a strong finish, but there was no sign of a piano at the Crucifixion. The most homogeneous tone came in a smooth Agnus Dei.
The Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara completed his Missa A Cappella five years before his death in 2016 aged 87. It derives a certain mysticism from its regular use of a halo of sound around its main melodies, which otherwise appear without much accompaniment.
There was a new urgency in the choir here, which peaked in the rapid chanting at the end of the Credo. The ‘halo’ effect was at its best against the solo in the Sanctus; the otherwise calmer Benedictus closed with an unexpected crescendo.
There was even a glimpse of timelessness in the Agnus Dei, where the layering of the voices was at its clearest. Doubts remained however about how much weight the composer had given to the actual texts, as opposed to merely producing a spiritual aura.
The 24 is obviously a highly competent ensemble. But one could have wished for repertory that had stretched it more and provided contrast with the two masses. The poems were intelligently read but would have benefited from amplification. The birdsong remained, I fear, peripheral. But it was good to be back in a refurbished Guildhall.
Lizzy Whynes, left, Megan Bailey and Paula Clark: The Bolshee trio running the Dancefloor Project for safer spaces for women
NEWSFLASH 8/3/2023: Bolshee Dancefloor Project’s Listening Project session with Pilot Theatre at York Explore Library on March 9 has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
HAVE you ever felt unsafe on the bus? Or walking to work? Or on a night out? If so, Bolshee invite you to join their Dancefloor Project in York.
The York creative projects community interest company ran a pilot session at Brew York, in Walmgate, as part of York Design Week 2022 last October and is now delivering a series of nights around York in March and April on a “pop-up dancefloor where you make the rules”.
“Take up some space, soak up the vibes, bust a move, pick up a pen and tell us your demands,” say Bolshee creative director Paula Clark, associate director Lizzy Whynes and creative producer Megan Bailey. “When women don’t feel safe in so many spaces, what would make you feel safer on the dancefloor?
“The Dancefloor Project brings people together to explore ways we can make everyone feel safe and reduce sexual harm in public spaces – because everyone deserves to be free to be themselves and bust a move without fear.”
The first night, held at The Crescent community venue last Saturday with Lizzy on the decks, will be followed by a Saturday afternoon session at the StreetLife Hub, Coney Street, on April 1 from 1pm to 3pm, while a night at the University of York is being organised, hopefully in May.
Bolshee’s dancefloor for the Dancefloor Project, designed by Megan Bailey. Picture: Emily Richardson
In addition, as part of York International Women’s Week, Bolshee’s Dancefloor Project will be teaming up with York company Pilot Theatre for The Listening Project at York Explore Library and Archive, in Library Square, Museum Street, on March 9 from 5pm to 6.30pm.
Bolshee is running the Dancefloor Project in tandem with York St John University psychology researchers, in association with York St John University Institute for Social Justice, whose community research grant assists the project’s purpose of “creatively and collaboratively exploring prevalence and prevention of sexual harm in public spaces”.
The Dancefloor Project emerged from Megan’s ongoing studies for a Masters in Culture, Creativity and Entrepreneurship at the University of Leeds.
“We had a module where I had to come up with a project,” she recalls. Cue her “interactive pop-up dancefloor with a tiny dancefloor that can fit into the back of a van and Perspex walls that people can write on”.
“They can dress up, request a song, have a dance, chat to us, in a project that’s all about looking at sexual harm against women and girls in public spaces,” says Megan, who has designed the dancefloor space with its flashing walls.
Bolshee’s Lizzy Whynes DJing for the Dancefloor Project
“York St John is leading the research part of the project, under Dr Anna Macklin, which is basically an arts-based method of looking at sexual harm and prevention, where everyone can claim the dancefloor as their own, wear what they want, but also talk about these things that disproportionately affect women and girls in public spaces and nightclubs.
“The next step will be build on the research to work with partners to push for change. That’s what missing; everyone knows about the spiking of drinks and women being injected in nightclubs, but no-one knows what to do about it, so as part of my dissertation, I’m looking at embodied knowledge of women working collectively and individually to employ their own strategies.”
Paula says: “Why is it our responsibility as women? That’s why we want to discuss it. When you go on our dancefloor, you are asked: ‘what would you want in this space?’. Like, ‘don’t touch me’; ‘don’t spike me’, but also ‘can we make it brighter?’.
“The suggestions from what’s being written on the walls are coming in from women and from men too. Women are asking, ‘please give us more space’; ‘please don’t sit next to us when there’s loads of space on the bus’.”
Dotted around the dancefloor is a QR code to facilitate participants to write down their own experience, tell their story, that can then be submitted anonymously online to the project researchers.
Megan Drury and Alexander Flanagan Wright, from At The Mill, Stillington, dancing at the Dancefloor Project pilot session
The Dancefloor Project is methodical in making participants feel at home. “When they come in, we explain what the project is about, and they’re told what will be happening, with no photography allowed,” says Megan.
“Everyone has to consent to enter the space because of it being a research project, so it’s a closed space to anyone who doesn’t agree to provide that consent.”
Bolshee also will provide support on how to report an incident. Paula is a safeguarding lead on the York St John project, and Bolshee work with the York St John All About Respect team, wo train students and the university community to run campaigns on dealing with sexual violence and to signpost the support services that are available.
Among the questions asked most regularly by women relate to how they get home safely from a night out and how do they do so when walking home. “It’s something that tends to be overlooked by men, probably because they don’t experience those problems, but women do,” says Megan.
“Take up some space, soak up the vibes, bust a move, pick up a pen and tell us your demands” on the Dancefloor Project dancefloor. Picture: Emily Richardson
“That’s why we want to keep the Dancefloor Project open to men, so that they can see what’s being written on the walls, think about they can do, how they can contribute to ultimately make the quality of life better for everyone, not just women.”
In turn, the York St John researchers are exploring the psychology of how to make men be part of the conversation and not be mere bystanders.
Already in place nationwide is the Ask For Angela poster and window sticker scheme in bars, where, if someone feels unsafe, they can say that coded phrase to the bar staff to let them know they need help “getting out of their situation”.
Bolshee CIC would be delighted to partner with other organisations in schemes. “We’ve had a meeting with a chain of bars in Yorkshire, who have approached us and want to talk more,” says Paula.
“We’ve also been talking with The Egalitarian, an organisation at the University of Leeds, under the business strategy offices, where they run data-led training for venue and festival staff.”
Bolshee’s Paula Clark, left, Megan Bailey and Lizzy Whynes on hand at the Dancefloor Project
Bolshee noted how “no-one was reporting spiking of drinks because there was no formal information about it or what to do when it happened”. In the absence of such protocols, Bolshee can play their part in addressing such problems.
“Our projects are artistic, and we like to do things that are vibrant and make people talk about things,” says Lizzy.
“That’s why we’ll be taking it to both universities in York, as well as the Saturday late-night event at The Crescent and the afternoon pop-up at the StreetLife Hub.
“It’s not just nightclub culture, but safety for everyone, and this is a really good way to talk about it. It could be on the bus, but we’ve chosen a dancefloor because it should be a fun space.”
One collaboration already set in place is Bolshee’s one-off involvement in Pilot Theatre’s Listening Project on March 9, when the Bolshee dancefloor will be used in a workshop for 18 to 25-year-olds. “We’re doing a mash-up, with dancing, and then they’ll talk about what changes they would like to see in their city,” says Lizzy.
What is Bolshee?“Born out of the frustrations of trying to achieve autonomy and leadership roles in an industry that fears risk and, even more so, bolshie women, we champion women and girls by co-creating and producing projects that elevate the voice of and support those who identify as female,” say Bolshee. “We want to work with people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences, and collaborate with artists to produce vibrant multidisciplinary creative projects”
Bolshee will be receiving funding from the University of Leeds to expand the Dancefloor Project into Leeds as a result of Meghan winning the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Student Award.
“We’ve also been asked to do regular DJing with the Arctic Piranha team of learning-disabled adults at ARC [the arts centre] at Stockton-on-Tees, putting on safe, accessible, fun club nights once a month with a theme, guest DJs, dancers and singers each time and the chance to send in suggestions for the set list,” says Lizzy.
“Again, this has been all about coming together in a safe environment, where people feel included and accepted.”
In a further contribution to York International Women’s Week, Bolshee CIC will be taking over the Golden Ball Open Mic Night at York’s first community pub in Cromwell Road, Bishophill Senior, tonight (6/3/2023) at 8pm.
“Run by Hannah Hutchinson, it’s a very old pub that’s very supportive of York artists, spoken-word performers and musicians, with lots of creative people meeting there; it’s also inter-generational and it’s our local,” says Paula.
“Our projects are artistic, and we like to do things that are vibrant and make people talk about things,” says Lizzy Whynes, left, pictured with Bolshee co-founders Megan Bailey and Paula Clark
“Every week the pub runs an open-mic night, but usually not that many women perform. We wanted to do something for International Women’s Week last year but we’d only just started, and so now we’re doing it for this year’s festival.
“We’re encouraging all self-identifying women and non-binary people to take the mic, and everyone is welcome to join us for a night of music, spoken word, delicious pints and Bolshee women. It’s coming at a really busy time for us and just something we’re doing for everyone to have fun.
Lizzy adds: “It’s great to be part of International Women’s Week, doing things with people we love, and there’s no need to book to perform. You can just come along and sign up on the night to perform.
“It’s a nice way to celebrate female talent, whether they perform for fun, or professionally, or just want to try it out for the first time.” As a further incentive, there will be a free drink for each performer and a Bolshee badge. Entry is free of charge.
Definitely taking part will be women who attended The Bolshee Women autobiographical Perform Yourself course last October to December, now making their Open Mic debut.
Paula Clark: New post in Kirklees
What Paula did next after leaving York Theatre Royal
PAULA Clark has taken on a new full-time post as head of programming at Creative Scene in Kirklees, West Yorkshire.
Based at Brigantia Creative in Dewsbury, this project to “bring arts to the people and make art part of everyday life” commissions and produces arts and cultural activities and events in and around Dewsbury, Batley, Mirfield, Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike.
All the work is shaped by the people that live there, who become involved as co-commissioners, co-producers and participants.
Creative Scene puts on gigs and shows in pubs and libraries, family-friendly performances in community centres and rugby clubs, film screenings in old mills and outdoor arts events in town centres, parks and at festivals.
At the Brigantia creative meeting and making space, Creative Space hosts creative groups and activities and brings people together for creativity and learning, collaboration and conversations.
Creative Scene is a project of Brigantia Creative, a charitable organisation that supports positive social change through arts and culture.
“Spaces may be plentiful around Kirklees but they’re not always accessible or safe because of being left derelict,” says Paula. “We’re doing a learning research project for Arts Council England to see what works where. Already there’s been a load of involvement in Creative Scene projects going into housing estate communities that might otherwise feel excluded.”
Fellow Bolshee founder Megan Bailey is working for Creative Scene too.
Albion Quartet: Ann Beilby, left, Emma Parker, Nathaniel Boyd and Tamsin Waley-Cohen
Albion Quartet, British Music Society of York, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, January 13
ALTHOUGH only in existence for six years, the Albion Quartet has already visited York and North Yorkshire at least four times. Once a slightly cautious, even nervy, group they have matured considerably over that period.
Their appearance here for the British Music Society was ample proof of their progress, with string quartets by Haydn and Dvorak framing a shining piece by Freya Waley-Cohen written only four years ago.
Starting with Haydn is not the piece of cake it may seem. Ensemble needs to be neat and phrasing exact. You cannot get away with anything, the way you might perhaps in a modern, more diffuse work.
His Op 33 No 5 in G has a stop-start scherzo that demands the utmost concentration from the players for its humour to succeed. The Albions were more than up for it: they despatched it with supreme confidence.
They had settled straight into the groove in the opening Vivace and there was a satisfying zest about the closing theme and variations. Only in the slow movement might the leader, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, have been a little less edgy in her cantabile.
Her younger sister Freya’s Dust was written in 2019 after the premature death of Oliver Knussen, who had been her composition teacher. But its three movements are far from merely elegiac. The first, ‘Charlotte’, sounded like fragments of Haydn heard from a distance, stuttering at first but settling into a strong momentum, with the main action in the first violin.
‘Serpent’ was more like a scherzo. Again, its brio brought Haydn to mind, with frenetic, rhythmically exciting activity, first in the upper three voices, then in the lower three. There was anger, too, in its splenetic accents, which finally dissipated and slowed to a halt.
If there was a lament, it came in ‘Dust’, the final movement, which was reflective, lingering nostalgically, with two brief violin cadenzas before the tessitura rose inexorably, spidery at first before disintegrating into the ether. Dust is constantly intriguing and deserves to enter the repertoire permanently.
Dvorak’s first completed work on returning to Bohemia in 1895 after three years in America was his G major string quartet, Op 106. The grateful aromas of his homeland are unmistakeable here. The Albion pointed the contrast nicely between the effervescent opening and its calmer second theme.
The acceleration out of the development section was keenly observed, with Bohemian melodies presaging the sheer excitement of the coda. The slow movement was imbued with serenity, which held good despite the tug-of-war with darker colours at its midst. After a taut scherzo, with its smoother trio, the finale was notable for the way the voices tossed around its main four-note motif.
The finale of Dvorak’s ‘American’ quartet made a lively – and generous – encore. The Albion’s new self-confidence now allows its intelligence to shine through. Its return to Ryedale in the summer festival is an exciting prospect.
