Bradford Launches New Plan To Champion Its Music Scene And Unlock Future Opportunities
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Bradford’s music sector comes together at Bradford Live to launch a shared strategy for the district’s music future, with support from the BPI and a foreword from Bradford-born artist Nia Archives.
Leeds Song Festival Looks Inward For 2027 – And Finds A World Of Music
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Keenlyside, Hough, Fatma Said and Gareth Malone’s Requiem for all-comers head a week that honours the recital tradition while refusing to keep it under glass, writes Group Editor Andrew Palmer.
A Glorious Christmas Baroque Concert In Newcastle Cathedral
Internationally acclaimed chamber orchestra London Concertante will perform at Newcastle Cathedral on Friday 20th November for a 7:30pm concert celebrating the splendour of the Baroque era and the magic of Christmas. Set amidst the gentle glow of candlelight, the programme features a stunning selection of seasonal masterpieces.
Jerusalem – A Challenging Evening at Harrogate Theatre
Some plays leave you uplifted, others leave you thoughtful, and some leave you wondering quite what to make of what you've just witnessed. For me, Harrogate Dramatic Society's production of Jerusalem fell firmly into the latter category.
Rigoletto Returns With A Vengeance
Why Verdi's 1851 opera, Rigoletto, has always been, and remains to this day, so extraordinarily popular is something of a mystery to me. It is a dark and evil tale with more than a touch of the Epstein about it, with its themes of unchallenged power and rampant misogyny.
Local Artist Unveils Grand Opera House York-Inspired Exhibition
Local artist Beth Elsdon has unveiled three original paintings from her new collection, Interlude, inspired by Grand Opera House York, now on display in the theatre's Box Office space. Following the success of several pieces influenced by the world of musical theatre, Beth was invited to create and exhibit work that celebrates the unique relationship between visual art and live performance.
Live Review: Westlife - Utlilita Arena, Birmingham
Initially known as a sextet called Six As One, then later renamed as IOYO, the Sligo-born boyband Westlife came to the attention of Louis Walsh very quickly. Seeing potential in three of the six members, he quickly decided he needed to audition for a better line-up, and on July 3, 1998, Westside was born.
Traditions, Chainsaws and Bare Feet: Fanny Lumsden Does It Her Way
From the sheep farms of regional Australia to the fields of Glastonbury, Fanny Lumsden has built a career on her own terms, taking country music to places far beyond its traditional boundaries.
Intrepid Stories Of Inspiring Women Brought To The Stage
A legendary queen of the sea, and a time-travelling girl’s search for the first Black Britons are two of the inspiring stories being brought to life as part of Red Ladder Local’s autumn season. Joining this eclectic line-up is an award-winning, queer parody epic where Disney meets Dolly Parton by way of Manchester’s gay village.
Live Review: Vonda Shepard - Huntingdon Hall, Worcester
Vonda Shepard maintains a close bond with her UK audience. Despite having released her eponymous debut album on Reprise Records back in 1989, her status as a mainstream artist on these shores really arrived almost a decade later when she featured prominently on the hit TV series Ally McBeal.
Albums: Mari Wilson - Girl About Town
The album also has room for a few unexpected twists. Spellbound introduces a more atmospheric, psychedelic edge, while We Got Something gets straight to the business of delivering a catchy chorus and an infectious rhythm.
Classical Music: Marcel Dupré
Nestled in Suffolk, Bury St Edmunds is a historic market and cathedral town best known as the final resting place of St Edmund, the Anglo-Saxon patron saint. Its cathedral, St Edmundsbury, is crowned by the Millennium Tower, completed as recently as 2005, and the building is home to a Harrison & Harrison of Durham organ installed in 2010. It is on this instrument that Richard Cook, the cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music, makes his solo recording debut, and he has chosen a formidable calling card.
Classical Music: Schmitt: Orchestral Works
The opening of Florent Schmitt’s Symphonie concertante takes you by the lapels before you have even settled in your chair: a great clenched dissonance that the pianist has to wrestle into place with both hands. There could be few better guides into this uncharted terrain than Peter Donohoe, who joins the BBC Philharmonic and Yan Pascal Tortelier for a first movement of thrilling, untamed energy in music that most concert-goers will never have encountered.
Classical Music: Encores for Mr Scotts
Shortly before his death, Scotts gave his former pupil the scores he had gathered over a lifetime of playing, and nearly every piece here comes from that bequest. That gives the programme its character. Much of this music vanished from publishers’ catalogues long ago, and what survives in the collection tells you as much about Scotts’ personality as about the concerts he gave. Savage wanted the album to bring back the teacher he knew: a player of charm and dazzling technique, quick to laugh and generous to a fault. He makes a pointed case against the familiar myth of the great teacher as a tyrant at the music stand. This is a recording in praise of kindness in the teaching room, and it is all the more appealing for it.
Classical Music: Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
Like him, I have harboured a soft spot for RVW’s choral leviathan ever since. Forty years on, that opening brass fanfare, followed by the chorus flinging its first great cry towards the waves, still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.
When Vaughan Williams completed the work in 1910, no British composer had built an entire symphony around a chorus before. He set Walt Whitman’s prophetic, far-seeing verse adrift on a tide of choral and orchestral sound, and the result is an odyssey on the grandest scale. This release marks the latest port of call in Pappano’s Vaughan Williams cycle with the LSO.
Albums: Bluey - Skint
Known worldwide as the mastermind behind the iconic acid-jazz band Incognito, Bluey turns inward for Skint, delivering an honest, raw and triumphant musical masterpiece. Crafted amidst his personal journey and open diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease, the album transforms struggle into artistic resonance, serving as a powerful testament to vulnerability, strength, and the healing power of the groove.
Albums: Johnny Marr - The Age Of Everything
His fifth solo album is a confident, guitar-driven collection that looks at the confusion of the modern world without losing sight of the irresistible melodies that have always been his calling card.
What Inspires An Artist?
Autumn has finally arrived, but strangely not in its usual dramatic way regarding the weather. The familiar signs are still evident, and they are the reason autumn is my favourite season.
Ben Forster - The Magic Of A Musical Christmas
Ben Forster has performed on some of the biggest stages in the world, but there’s still one theatre that gives him goosebumps every time he steps onto it.
Book Review: Freddie Mercury: My Life In Lyrics By Mary Austin
Freddie Mercury was a master of theatrical excess, a vocalist of extraordinary power and a songwriter capable of turning the most intimate emotions into arena-sized anthems. Yet behind the flamboyant stage persona was a private individual whose thoughts and feelings were often concealed from public view.
Mae Estes: The ’90s Called…
Country music has never been short of nostalgia, but Mae Estes is giving it a fresh spin with her new EP, The 90s Called. Drawing on the voices, stories and unapologetic attitude of country’s golden era, Estes pays tribute to the artists who first inspired her to pick up a microphone.
Live Review: The Hoosiers - o2 Institute 2, Birmingham
It is nearly 20 years since former University of Indianapolis football scholarship students turned colourful pop act The Hoosiers burst into the charts with their #5 charting debut single, Worried About Ray. With the subsequent album, A Trick To Life, claiming the #1 spot on the charts, it seemed certain that global stardom beckoned.
Eddi Reader's Tour Continues
Eddi Reader is bringing her unmistakable voice back to stages across England this October, with a run of intimate performances celebrating a career that has continually bridged folk, pop and traditional Scottish music.
Shed Seven Announce Largest Headline Show Of Their Career
Shed Seven are set to play the biggest headline show of their career next May in what promises to be a defining moment for the band. More than 30 years into their career, the landmark show will see the band headline a special hometown show at York’s LNER Community Stadium on Saturday May 29.
Hugh Cornwell announces farewell tour
An intimate evening of songs and stories, plus an open Q & A session. As lead singer and songwriter of The Stranglers during their golden period, Hugh Cornwell cast a spell mixing fact, history, mythology and ideology within the lyrics of the songs.
Chesney's Christmas Cracker Starring Chesney Hawkes Come To Holmfirth- Pictuerdrome
Get ready to unwrap the ultimate festive night out as Chesney’s Christmas Cracker lands in town! Pop icon Chesney Hawkes headlines a night packed with feel-good hits, festive fun and pure nostalgia. Expect a high-energy live set featuring all the classics, including the massive chart-topper The One and Only, guaranteed to have the whole room singing along.
County Durham Creativity Set To Flourish With New Artistic Commissions
20 creative practitioners from across County Durham have been awarded commissions, bringing a new wave of arts and cultural projects to communities. The successful cohort will share £78,000 after being selected for the 2026/27 Cultivate Commissions, which is a joint partnership between Into the Light and North Heartlands.
Second ‘Pay What You Can’ Opera Launched By Opera North
After its sellout ‘Pay what you can’ performance last year, Opera North has launched a ‘Pay what you can’ Rigoletto, enabling people to enjoy a night at the opera at a price which suits them. Verdi’s popular classic will be performed in full in the stunning surroundings of Leeds Grand Theatre at 6.30pm on Wednesday 28 October.
Live Review: Stevie Wonder at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham
There are artists who the world loves fleetingly and get remembered for a certain song or a certain moment, then there are artists who become icons with back catalogues that don't just form a soundtrack for one generation, but whose music becomes a soundtrack for moments big and small around the world on repeat. Stevie Wonder falls effortlessly into the latter.
Music Sector Among Worst Industries For Supporting Mothers Returning To Work, New Research Reveals
The UK music sector is among the worst of the country’s industries for mothers returning to work after having children, new research reveals. According to data from the Mums in Music campaign spearheaded by international soprano Lola Ganzarolli, only 7% of UK women feel that the music industry good at supporting mothers’ returning to the workplace.