Northern Aldborough Festival Archives

Britain’s best young singers to compete for £7,000 at Northern Aldborough festival tonightHeadline acts announced for Northern Aldborough Festival 2025Northern Aldborough Festival to return next weekHot Seat: The man bringing international artists to a village near Harrogate

In June every year, something close to a miracle occurs in a small village 11 miles from Harrogate.

Major names in the international arts world converge for 10 days on Aldborough — a beautiful and historic place but hardly known for capturing the zeitgeist.

For arts lovers, however, an annual pilgrimage to the Northern Aldborough Festival has become part of the summer arts scene. They park in fields, drink Pimm’s in a churchyard marquee and get to see the kind of names who usually appear in less soulful venues in Leeds or York.

The festival, which grew out of a fundraising initiative to restore the church organ in 1994, consistently attracts major international talent.

This year’s line-up, from June 15 to 24, includes the likes of South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim, TV historian Lucy Worsley, trumpeter Matilda Lloyd and a singing competition judged by a panel that includes Dame Felicity Lott.

Lucy Worsley is among those appearing this year. Credit Hay Festival / Paul Musso

Festival director Robert Ogden, who overseas the programme, is best known locally for running Ogden of Harrogate, the fifth generation family jewellery business on James Street.

But Mr Ogden has strong credentials in the arts world: a former chorister at Westminster Cathedral Choir School in London, he completed a choral scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge before forging a successful career as a countertenor, singing around the world in major productions alongside the likes of Jose Carreras.

Since he became festival director in 2010, the festival line-up has broadened and this year includes spoken word events and jazz as well as classical music and culminates with an outdoor pop music party and fireworks in the grounds of Aldborough Manor.

Mr Ogden says the change reflects his own wide tastes but also acknowledges “we can’t rely on our core audience”.

Robert Ogden

Festival planning is year-round but he takes a two-week break from the jewellery business to focus fully on the festival in the immediate run-up.

He says things are shaping up well this year ahead of Thursday’s opening night. Asked for his personal highlights, he cites Matilda Lloyd, the opening night Haydn opera double bill, Monteverdi’s Vespers and the new £7,000 singing competition. He says:

“Of all the things we have done in the last 15 years this competition is perhaps the most exciting. I’m certain at least one or two of the semi-finalists will be household names in the next few years.

“There’s nothing a festival wants to do more than to unveil and support new talent.”

How does he persuade occasionally temperamental artists to head to the eastern side of Boroughbridge? He says it’s a combination of the festival’s reputation, the St Andrew’s Church acoustics, the setting and the welcome. Aldborough, he says, is the “perfect chamber music space” and there is something undoubtedly magical about it.

St Andrew’s Church in Aldborough

Mr Ogden says he never feels the festival is in competition with the year-round Harrogate International Festivals and thinks there is scope for another local summer arts festival “if it’s marketed well”. Besides Ryedale Festival and Swaledale Festival, competition isn’t fierce.

But it isn’t an easy time in the arts world. Brexit, he says, has denied many emerging artists the opportunities he enjoyed to develop his craft in Europe. The cost of living crisis had had an impact on ticket prices, but Mr Ogden says Aldborough hasn’t made “any major price rises”.

Future festival ideas include live streaming, although digital connectivity in the village isn’t great, and recording music under the Northern Aldborough label.

He plans to stay at the heart of things, reporting to festival chairman Sir Andrew Lawson-Tancred:

“As long as I feel I still have that creative urge and impetus I will aim to do it as long as they allow me to.”

What is his message for anyone thinking of attending, perhaps for the first time?

“Aldborough is not far to drive from Harrogate. It’s an oasis of calm, the acoustics are wonderful and the welcome is wonderful. Try something new.”

Further information on the Northern Aldborough Festival is available here.

Northern Aldborough Festival reveals 2023 line-up

An appearance by TV historian Lucy Worsley will be among the highlights of this year’s Northern Aldborough Festival.

The line-up for the nine-day festival, which is one of the annual highlights of the Harrogate district arts scene, was revealed today.

Ms Worsley will give a talk on crime writer Agatha Christie on June 19.

Trumpeter Matilda Lloyd, pianist Sunwook Kim and the Armonico Consort will also head to the Roman village for the festival, which runs from June 15 to 24.

Now in its 29th year, the event offers audiences the chance to experience performances normally seen in the world’s biggest concert halls in a rural village setting.

Tickets went on sale for Friends of the Festival today and will be available to the wider public on March 27.

Italian opera and Beethoven

BBC Young Musician of the Year brass winner, trumpet-player Matilda Lloyd will perform a programme from Italian Opera.

Matilda Lloyd. Pic credit: Benjamin Ealovega

The first Asian winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition, Sunwook Kim will play Beethoven’s final sonatas in St Andrew’s Church.

There will be a rare double bill of Haydn’s comedies, The Diva and The Apothecary, presented by the nationally-renowned, Bampton Classical Opera company.

This year also includes the inaugural New Voices Competition, a nationwide hunt for the best classical vocal talent.

Festival director Robert Ogden outside St Andrew’s Church

The jazz ensemble, The Tim Kliphuis Sextet, will perform at the Old Hall in North Deighton and the vocal ensemble, Armonico Consort, will perform Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in St Andrew’s Church.

Further details are available here.

Harrogate district festival launches £7,000 search for classical singers

A leading Harrogate district arts festival has launched a nationwide search to find and reward talented young classical singers.

The Northern Aldborough Festival’s New Voices Singing Competition offers a prize fund of £7,000.

The winners will also receive performance opportunities at leading UK music festivals, including Leeds Lieder, Newbury Spring Festival, Ryedale Festival and Music@Malling, as well as the Northern Aldborough Festival itself.

The judging panel includes Dame Felicity Lott, one of Britain’s leading sopranos,

Robert Ogden, the festival’s artistic director, said:

“Hundreds of young singers graduate every year with dreams and aspirations to become professionals, but the majority have to seek temporary work while they build their careers.

“A competition success can be a turning point for a young artist. Our festival has, from its inception, strived to support and nurture young talent.”

The winner will receive The Seastock Trust Prize of £5,000, with a second prize of £1,500 from The Yorkshire Music Future Fund, and a third, audience prize of £500.

St Andrew’s Church in Aldborough hosts many of the festival events.

The competition is open to solo singers and ensembles of up to eight performers, and celebrates classical vocalism in all its forms. It is open to vocalists aged 21-32 years-old. Deadline for entries is Friday 14 April, 2023.

Mr Ogden, who is also an opera singer, said:

“At a time when the arts sector — particularly opera — has faced funding cuts, we feel a competition to help launch singing careers is of its time. What’s more, there are very few significant open vocal competitions north of London.”

The judging panel also includes the artistic director of The Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn, director of Leeds Lieder, Joseph Middleton, and artistic director of the Northern Aldborough Festival, Robert Ogden. The panel is chaired by Sir Andrew Lawson-Tancred, chairman of the Northern Aldborough Festival.

The semi-final and grand-final will be performed live to audiences at the end of this year’s Northern Aldborough Festival, which is hosted in the North Yorkshire village from Thursday 15 to Saturday 24 June 2023.

It will be the 29th festival and highlights include trumpet star and winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year, 26-year-old Matilda Lloyd and the youngest winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition for 40 years, Sunwook Kim.

Northern Aldborough Festivals opens priority ticket booking

Northern Aldborough Festival has opened its priority ticket booking as it prepares to run from June 16.

The two-week festivals hosts some of the best-known names in jazz, classical opera and pop music. But this year it says it is taking on its biggest undertaking in 29 years by performing a semi-staged in-house production of Handel’s Theodora.

Friends of the Festival can get their tickets from today will tickets for the wider public on sale from May 3.

The 40-strong production will be performed in Alborough, near Boroughbridge, in the 14th century St Andrew’s Church. It will include a line-up of soloists, chorus and orchestra under the baton of Baroque specialist, Julian Perkins.

Theodora, played by soprano Fflur Wyn, will be directed by Joe Austin, whose recent credits include Katya Kabanova at the Royal Opera House.

The festival will also include an appearance by the British bass, Sir John Tomlinson, who will star in a new opera by John Casken based on Shakespeare’s King Lear.

There will also be performances from Blur’s Britpop rebel rock star turned cheesemaker, Alex James, and classical guitar player Sean Shibe.

Robert Ogden

The festival is run by a charity with a core mission to bring exceptional music to new audience, in rural locations it wouldn’t normally be heard. Robert Ogden, artistic director, said:

“There really is something for everyone. The festival is a chance to experience something really very special on our doorstep. It’s going to be incredible and a lot of much-needed fun, so we can’t wait to welcome audiences to be entertained, inspired and hopefully discover music they’ll fall in love with this summer.”

Other acts include an evening of jazz by Claire Martin, clarinettists Julian Bliss performing with leading pianist James Baillieu. Clare Hammond, a leading light on the UK piano scene, will play Schubert, Stravinsky and Schumann.

As well as established names, the festival supports young talent. It hosts a Young Artists Showcase, as well as the upcoming harp and saxophone duo, The Polaris Duo.

On the final evening, the grounds of Aldborough Manor will be opened for the festival finale, an outdoor concert with fireworks that often attracts around 1,000 people.

The last night concert features Harrogate-born vocalist Alex Denny of The Big Cheese, with high-voltage pop and rock covers, supported by So 80s, who set a light show to 80s tracks.

Northern Aldborough Festival returns with stellar line-up

Northern Aldborough Festival is making its comeback this year with acts such as Lesley Garrett and the Rev Richard Coles set to draw crowds.

It was cancelled in 2020 but this year organisers are promising a spectacular line-up.

The usual 10-day festival has been reduced to six days and is thought to be one of the first larger events in the district being held after almost all restrictions are lifted. It will begin on June 21 – the day of the government’s anticipated full reopening of society.

Headline performances include an appearance by soprano Lesley Garrett, an evening with the former Communard turned cleric Rev Coles and a performance from the Russian virtuoso violinist Viktoria Mullova, with her son, rising jazz star Misha Mullov-Abbado.

The festival will end with its traditional Last Night outdoor pop concert, which will be 80s themed, at Aldborough Manor on Saturday June 27.

Robert Ogden, festival director, said:

“We have an incredible line-up of artists, including some of the music industry’s biggest names alongside up-and-coming talent from around the region.

“While the quality of the musical offering will be ensured, so will the welfare and comfort of the audience, and therefore numbers will be limited and other measures taken to allow for safe, social distancing. With that in mind we are inviting people to book their places early.”

Since setting up in 1994 the festival has offered a platform for up-and-coming artists. Young talent will have an opportunity to perform on June 23 in a Young Artist’s Showcase.

Some covid restrictions are still expected to be in place, such as a reduced crowd capacity and social distancing measures.

Harrogate district’s arts pay tribute to Dame Fanny Waterman

Dame Fanny Waterman, who founded the world famous Leeds International Piano Competition and was a major figure on the Harrogate arts scene, has died at the age of 100.

Dame Fanny was one of the most influential people in the classical world. She remained active until her final year and regularly attended events in the Harrogate district.

She became honorary president of Harrogate International Festivals, the charity that organises numerous festivals each year, at the age of 89.

Sharon Canavar, chief executive of HIF said:

“When I became chief executive in 2009, I visited Dame Fanny at Woodgarth and she told me, without being asked, that she would be delighted to become our honorary president.

“Her support, enthusiasm for life and music, along with an indomitable networking capacity, meant an incredibly steep learning curve!

“It was a fitting association in the last decade of her life, given her passion for the arts in Yorkshire and we were thrilled to have her input as a friend over the years”

The prestige of the Leeds International Piano Competition, and Dame Fanny’s stature, encouraged many finalists to perform at venues in the Harrogate district.

Dame Fanny was an honorary patron of the Northern Aldborough Festival, near Boroughbridge, and her patronage of the event led to many of the world’s premier pianists regularly performing at this rural festival.

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Italian opera and Beethoven

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