Our film critic and media correspondent has been looking and trawling the new releases.
The album radiates with sunshine, warmth, and good vibes throughout; why the album is being released in midwinter as opposed to summer, I’m unsure, as the record will sound even better under a summer sun.
Aaron Parsons (Director and Movement) for the RSC First Encounters – The Tempest which is coming to York Theatre Royal later this month, for young people aged 7-13 and their families chats about the production. Can you tell me a little bit about your background and how you got into theatre?
Dewsbury-based global arts organisation, Manasamitra, will open its new exhibition, ‘Waterfall of Kites’, to the public on Thursday 20th February 2025 at Halifax Minster, as part of Calderdale’s 50th anniversary ‘Year of Culture’ celebrations, CultureDale.
This recording stands as both a fitting tribute to Richard Shephard's legacy and a testament to the vibrant state of contemporary British church music.
It is, quite simply, a triumph.
This recording makes a powerful case for Kelly's broader legacy, revealing a composer whose sacred music deserves far wider recognition. The quality of both composition and performance is consistently high. A significant addition to the British choral catalogue that should prompt a broader reassessment of Kelly's contribution to 20th-century sacred music.
The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery were winners at the annual Lancashire Tourism Awards. The annual Lancashire Tourism Awards, organised by Marketing Lancashire, were held in the world-famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom on Tuesday 11 February.
Acclaimed trumpet player Aaron Azunda Akugbo and renowned harpist Milo Harper take to the Harrogate stage next month as part of the Harrogate International Sunday Series concerts. The duo will perform unique arrangements of their favourite duets in a collaboration described by The Arts Desk as “a revelatory pairing of trumpet and harp” at the Old Swan Hotel on March 2.
Mozart’s Magic Flute has returned to Opera North’s schedule. It’s the same production as last year but with a few new cast members, and so we decided to take a fresh look.
Catastrophically ill-equipped though this reviewer is for taking a thorough critical view of a book that is rendered in Gaelic, Glaswegian Scots, French and English, the themes of Govanhill Mythology are so timely and so redolent of the wider zeitgeist that it would seem a dereliction to disengage.
Budding young filmmakers were celebrated at the 11th annual Moving Image Awards ceremony held at the British Film Institute on 10 February. Proud students, parents, and teachers came together across the UK to celebrate the work of young directors, screenwriters, and producers, including a pupil from Wales High School in Sheffield.
Colliderfest, the highly anticipated Science and Arts Festival taking place between Friday 14 and Sunday 16 March celebrating science, technology, and creativity, has announced its packed programme. It features a line-up of science based shows, activities and performances to inspire the next generation.
Scarborough Film Festival, now in its second year, brings alternative and exciting films to the town and runs in partnership with the Stephen Joseph Theatre. This second edition brings something for everyone, with film previews, live music, collaborations, short films, children's events and workshops.
The East Yorkshire venue is set to mark its milestone 25th anniversary with a series of specially curated events, including its first-ever comedy festival on 31 May. This unmissable addition to the Arts Centre’s jam-packed 2025 line-up promises comedy fun for all ages from some of the UK’s top acts.
In all, Collection is a release from a band that has always shone. While KAWALA may have decided it's time to hang up their stockings, this is a set of songs that will stay with their fans for a very long time.
Striking, emotional and rather addictive.
With each subsequent single having proved a little more popular with audiences, the arrival of Polari proves that Dizzy was just a blip, and perhaps an undeserved one.
A new photography exhibition celebrating diversity and individuality in maternity has opened at Thackray Museum of Medicine, in collaboration with the maternity service at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTHT) and Lens Lab Project, a non-profit arts organisation who are based locally in Burmantofts.
The elder Pollini, who passed away in March 2024 at 82, leaves us with a masterful interpretation of the Piano Sonata in G major, D 894, while Daniele takes on the Moments Musicaux, D 780. Together, they perform the haunting Fantasia in F minor for four hands, D 940.
On mute There is a video recording of the incident. Here is a woman on the station platform. She is lying down. Her face is covered. Her face is covered with a rag or it could be clothing. She is lying still. There are people standing around her some with phones. No one is touching her. There is a child holding a corner of her clothing. The child is crying. The tears look real.
The original Black Sabbath – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – will play for the first time in twenty years. The band will take to the stage to headline Back to the Beginning on July 5th at Villa Park, Birmingham.
A nationwide hunt is now on for the best UK classical vocal talent of 2025. Hosted by the prestigious Northern Aldborough Festival in North Yorkshire, with a judging panel consisting of some of the most esteemed figures in classical music, the New Voices Singing Competition is now in its third year.
One of Agatha Christie’s greatest literary achievements is brought to the Sheffield Lyceum stage this week and for ’whodunit’ fans everywhere, this is such a treat! First published in 1934, Murder on the Orient Express remains one of Christie's most popular novels almost 90 years later, probably because it contains everything needed for a good read or film or evening at the theatre.
The National Gallery has announced it will partner with Hull’s Ferens Art Gallery as part of its Masterpiece Tour 2025-27. Ferens will join the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich; South Shields Museum and Art Gallery and Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool as part of the tour, which has been running for over a decade. This marks the first edition of the tour which will work with four partners.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society has announced the appointment of Vanessa Reed as its new Chief Executive. She will take up the position on 2 June 2025.
Hot on the heels of the launch of Bradford 2025 City of Culture comes the Big Creative UK Summit: Investment in West Yorkshire, held in Bradford’s Great Victoria Hotel. The event, which takes place on 6 February, will showcase the region’s most exciting creative and cultural businesses and features a keynote speech from Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire.
How would you describe the Virdee series? Virdee is an elevated thriller set in the city of Bradford which introduces DCI Harry Virdee, a formidable police detective who likes to break the rules, but ultimately, he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of his city and his family.
Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman has set sail at Leeds Grand Theatre with the chorus of Opera North and the Orchestra of Opera North whipping up a storm from the opening bars to the still choppy but slightly calmer waters of the final movement. The Flying Dutchman represented a new beginning for Wagner and his first significant hit.
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. Companion (15) Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid star in this sci-fi-tinged horror from director Drew Hancock, that sees a weekend getaway turn violent when a human companionship android goes wrong.
Roadrunner is a complex, eclectic, and insightful collection. It opens with the faultless tone setter—Use It or Lose It. This is an artist who knows his capabilities and is aware that he needs to showcase all aspects of his musical personality to really shine. Part explosive raw energy and part touching introspection, it is these two components that make the record so compelling.
Wildfires, the sixth studio album from English singer-songwriter Polly Paulusma, is out on February 28th via One Little Independent Records and Wild Sound. The album spans nearly two hours and six sides of vinyl, interspersing folk instrumentation with spoken-word poetry prologues set against the backdrop of caves and rivers.