The Yorkshire Fossil Festival Celebrates Its 10th Birthday
The Yorkshire Fossil Festival celebrates its 10th birthday this late May Bank Holiday weekend with its first ever visit to Redcar. The popular festival has had two remarkably successful years post-Covid, with crowds flocking to Scarborough’s Spa in 2022 and Whitby Museum in 2023. This year, the team are heading to the TunedIn!
Poem Of The Week: Great Expectations By Doreen Gurrey
Great Expectations I’m reading it again, struck this time by the names – Pip, a chirrup of a boy, Magwitch mad with hate, and there, between the pages where Pip steals the pie then ferrets a file down his trousers, there’s a note from you to my brother, Tea in oven, Tomo called round, bus back at 6.
In Conversation With Arab Strap
Almost 28 years after their debut, Arab Strap has never sounded more essential, and this new record is a fierce testament to their laser focus on wider horizons. Written and performed exclusively by Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat and finessed with longtime collaborator Paul Savage, the album furthers the band’s transformation from swooning, slow-core romantics to raging, alt-pop chroniclers.
Derrick Santini Comes Home
“From an early age, I was driven to shoot people!” The success he has had has certainly made him a wanted man – among the great portrait photographers of recent times, as Scarborough folk are about to discover in a new exhibition of his work at the Art Gallery.
To Derrick Santini it all feels like a grand homecoming.
Classical Music: A Room Of Her Own
The interaction between each player is impressive; the resonance and tone lift the music, and for a disc of relatively unknown pieces, it is one that anyone who loves the genre will relish.
Albums: Tenille Arts To Be Honest,
However, the record's arrival surpasses all expectations. From the opening moments of the album’s title track to the close of Maddie & Tae's Last Time Last, Arts delivers a faultlessly beautiful, tenderly insightful album that will embellish itself at the core of your heart.
York Theatre Royal Pantomime Stars Nominated In UK Pantomime Awards
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Two of the cast of York Theatre Royal’s 2023-24 production of Jack and the Beanstalk – Anna Soden and Mia Overfield - have been nominated in the 2024 UK Pantomime Awards. Mia is nominated in the Best Early Career Newcomer category. She played heroic Jack in her pantomime debut, a year after leaving drama school.
Albums: Regent – Beggars Belief
At least in terms of apathy and rebellion, the atmosphere here draws heavily from the punk rock era, but Here We Go again takes a different turn, embracing a celebration within the band's confines.
Albums: Rachel Chinouriri What A Devastating Turn Of Events
Ditching the desire to create an earworm and simply show who she is, the brilliant Robbed and Cold Call deliver the album’s strongest moments. They are truly striking musical moments, powerful in their composition and content.
Classical Music: Delius Hassan
Zeb Soames, a former BBC Radio 4 continuity announcer and current presenter of Classic
FM's Smooth Classics, convincingly narrates the entire score. His narration has a wonderful tone, and he fully immerses himself in the text with plenty of vocal modulation.
Silver Screen Weekly - What's Coming Up At The Cinema From Friday 3rd May
Our film critic and media correspondent has been looking and trawling the new releases.
Faith Museum Hosts Event Exploring First Major Art Installation
The Faith Museum presents an evening of conversation with prominent British artist Mat Collishaw and Elizabeth Oldfield, host of The Sacred podcast, in the Throne Room of Auckland Castle on Tuesday 7th May, 7pm – 9pm.
Verve Living Up To Its Name
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Verve is the Northern School of Contemporary Dance's post-graduate touring dance company. The company's dancers are all current NSCD MA students on the verge of their careers as professional artists, and their talent is formidable, as you'd expect from one of the country's leading dance schools.
JM Finn Supports Monet In York
JM Finn is sponsor the National Treasures exhibition at the York Art Gallery featuring Monet’s ‘The Water-Lily Pond.’ National Treasures is a key strand of the National Gallery’s programme celebrating the Gallery’s Bicentenary. Each partner venue will receive a masterpiece from the Gallery’s collection and will curate around it, involving interpretation, community engagement and exhibitions.
The 39 Steps - An Alternative Version
The classic Alfred Hitchcock film derived from John Buchan’s classic spy thriller has been given a what can only be described as a complete overhaul by Patrick Barlow in this amusing adaptation of The 39 Steps.
In Conversation: Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand
'Willson Williams’ witnesses the meeting of two likeminded musicians who’ve built their successful, independent careers on inventive folk instrumentation, reflective and sincere lyricism, and not a small amount of self-deprecation.
Seeing A Familiar Landscape Through Different Eyes
When one of the favourite places to pursue your art is amongst the most filmed, photographed, drawn, painted and written about in the UK, it takes a special talent to create images that bring a different dimension to such a familiar location.
Rotten, My Cup Of Earl Grey
If you had asked for my thoughts ninety seconds into Rotten, I would have said, "Not my cup of Earl Grey." A young woman stands centre stage and apparently harangues the audience for being complacent bourgeoisie, replete with expletives. Later, we find out she has a different target. If you had asked me for my thoughts ninety minutes into Rotten, I would have said, ‘loved it’.
Silver Screen Weekly - What's Coming Up At The Cinema From Friday 26th April
Our film critic and media correspondent has been looking and trawling the new releases. Here's what you can see on the big screen this week. From Friday 26th April I.S.S. (15) This tense and claustrophobic sci-fi thriller comes from director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish) and is breathless in every sense of the word.
Classical Music: Elgar's Dream Of Gerontius 1900
Of course, it's more than that one moment, and there are a plethora of reasons why this historically informed recording stands out. Excellent sound engineers capture McCreesh's musicianship and perceptive interpretation, a trio of stellar soloists, the exciting tempi, the overall tone of the instruments, and Elgar's wonderful dramatic orchestration.
The God Business: Gaslight By Femi Kayode
Whatever the organisation, there is always the possibility of malpractice, of fraud, of people taking the helm who are not as innocent as they should be, and that goes for religious groups as much as anything else.
Albums: UB40 – UB45
The new songs continue the UB40 tradition of addressing hot issues and taking a firm stand against world injustices, all set against a reggae beat
Classical Music: Cantabile - Anthems For Viola
The Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak has already achieved international acclaim for his radiant stage presence, dynamic interpretations and fearless power, and on this release, he demonstrates his various skills and stage presence in captivating performances, whether solo or joined by Richard Uttley on piano.
Celebrated Sitar Player Niladri Kumar To Make His Howard Assembly Room Debut
Audiences will have a rare opportunity to catch sitar maestro and award-winning film composer Niladri Kumar in Leeds on Thursday 16 May, when he brings his immersive musical experience to the Howard Assembly Room for the very first time.
Longlist For Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2024 Revealed
Harrogate International Festivals announced today the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award now in its twentieth year.
BBC Proms Unveils Its 2024 Programme
The BBC Proms will kick off on Friday 19 July and continue through to Saturday 14 September 2024. 73 of the 90 Proms will take place at the Royal Albert Hall and 17 at venues across the UK This season features some of the world’s best international orchestras and their conductors.
First Look: Inside Co-Op Live, Manchester: The UK’s Biggest Indoor Arena
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When looking outside the new Co-op Live Arena, there is no doubt that the 23,500-capacity venue is the country's largest indoor arena. The new arena, situated in the north-east of Manchester, alongside the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City's home, looks set to become the go-to destination when big artists tour.
Internationally Acclaimed Performers Announced For Harrogate Music Festival 2024
Harrogate International Festivals has announced a stellar line-up for the Harrogate Music Festival which is back with a bang this summer. This year’s Festival, which runs from June 8 to July 13, features an array of spectacular musical talent with artists from the worlds of classical, jazz, soul and dance music taking to the stage in Harrogate.
Rare Chance To Bag A Bargain At Opera North’s Costume Sale
Anyone who has ever fancied dressing like an opera diva or adding some drama to their wardrobe will want to head to Opera North in the heart of Leeds next month for the first sale of costumes from the company’s archives since 2005.
Albums: Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department.
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Named after a chat group Joe Alwyn has with Paul Mescal,The Tortured Poets Department is very much a break-up album, yet, in true Swift style, it is difficult to decipher which of the lyrics fully relate to reality and which have been crafted in the realms of storytelling. The album's title track, with its nods to Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas, clearly connects several moments to her and Alwyn.