In Conversation: Bird
It had been a few years since Bird and I had last spoken, so when we connected over Zoom, catching up felt wonderfully warm and familiar. Before we even reached the subject of new music, our conversation wandered through life reflections, favourite records, memorable holidays and the simple pleasures that make us who we are.
Why New Writing Is Crucial To Future Of British Theatre
Do you want the good news, or the bad news? Let’s start with the positive. Theatre audiences in the UK are up on pre-Covid levels. The downside is the number of new plays has plummeted. A report published last autumn by the British Theatre Consortium found that attendances were up in 2023 compared to 2019, but there were 30 per cent fewer plays opening during the same period.
In The Dark, Hiding: Love after Love By Ingrid Persaud
This is a beautiful novel which evokes all sorts of emotions. Set in Trinidad and partly in New York City, it is written in a patois which has a musical lilt to it and which quickly becomes familiar. Likewise, although the dialogue is not punctuated, it is laid out in such a way as to make it easily readable.
Classical Music: Live From The Aspen Music Festival And School
She opens with the lyrical and rather lovely Handel Violin Sonata in D major — rhythmical and expressive, with delightful accompaniment from Bai. The playing throughout is perfectly balanced and crisply articulated, the dynamics judged with care, each movement elegantly shaped.
Classical Music: Debussy: Piano Duets, Vol. 2
The disc closes with a winning account of La plus que lente, beautifully turned and rounding off what is, in sum, a most agreeable album. There is creativity and no shortage of skill in these interpretations. Rêverie, in particular, charms from the first bar. Much of that charm comes down to sound as well as substance: the recording was made on a Bösendorfer 280VC concert grand in the Concert Hall at Snape Maltings, Suffolk, and Chandos's engineers have captured its warmth with their customary skill.
Poem Of The Week: Sleeping Through By Faith Lawrence
Sleeping Through He wakes, reaches for my hand and says ‘it’s very morning’, which is true.
Sheffield Teens Scoop Top Honours At BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards
Two young creators from Sheffield have given Yorkshire something to cheer about at this year's BAFTA Young Game Designers competition, taking home half of the four awards on offer.
Bingley Little Theatre Brings Sherlock Holmes Thriller To The Stage
Bingley Little Theatre is set to stage Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's gripping final Holmes novel, in a new adaptation running from Tuesday 30 June to Saturday 4 July.
In Conversation: The Entitled Son
Fresh from a raucous performance at The Great Escape Festival and ahead of the release of their powerful new single Epitaph (Not There), The Entitled Sons are showing no signs of slowing down. The independent five-piece have just announced an intimate record store tour, giving fans the chance to hear new music and get up close with the band.
Leeds Heritage Theatres Partners With Testament
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Following a pilot programme from 2024-25, Leeds Heritage Theatres has announced it is working with acclaimed writer, rapper and beatboxer Testament as Associate Artist – a programme designed to support and champion creative talent across Leeds and the wider region.
Hull And East Riding Museum Of Archaeology Shortlisted For National Award
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‘Ambitious’ And ‘Highly Entertaining’ Storytelling Showcased As Shortlist For Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2026
Harrogate International Festivals today announced the shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 23 July.
In Conversation: Minute Taker
Minute Taker, who has emerged from the underground music scene, has established a reputation for creating deeply emotional, cinematic songs that blend elements of dream-pop, electronica, and alternative storytelling.
This Is Rambert: The Master Of Reinvention’s Centenary
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Far from marking a milestone in a low key manner expected of centenarians, an exhilarating, energetic and explosion of supreme talent is turbocharging Britain’s oldest contemporary dance company’s into the next century.
North Yorkshire Artists pay tribute to David Hockney
As the art world mourns the loss of Britain’s much-loved artist David Hockney, local painters have paid tribute to his influence. David Hockney died last week aged 88 after a career crafting a visual language that was unmistakably his own. And while his influence was global - from California to his native Yorkshire via Europe - his importance will also be greatly missed locally.
Download Festival - Metalheads Unite In The Spiritual Home Of Metal
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Regarded by many as the headbangers' Glastonbury, the 23rd Download Festival returned to Donington Park for three days filled with raw energy, featuring denim, distortion, and dangerously sore ears, all while offering the ultimate in rock music.
Skunk Anansie And Garbage Disturb The Peace In Halifax
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Two bands from the same era came together for what was the most rock-orientated affair so far in the summer series of concerts at the Piece Hall in Halifax. Skunk Anansie and Garbage were two of the biggest rock bands in the late nineties, both offering their take on the alternative side of the genre.
Igor Levit Launches His Own Label With A Defiant Message For Troubled Times
The Russian-born German pianist Igor Levit, one of the most politically outspoken and intellectually restless musicians of his generation, is to launch his own record label — NO SILENCE — with three debut releases due on 23 October 2026 in partnership with Sony Classical.
In Conversation: Sons Of Sevilla's Reuben Vaun Smith And Henry Smith
With their third album It Could Be Today set for release this October, Sons of Sevilla are entering a new creative chapter. The West Yorkshire sibling duo, Reuben Vaun Smith and Henry Smith, have expanded their dreamy blend of psychedelic soul, dream-pop and West Coast influences following a transformative tour across the United States.
In Conversation: Jack And Finlay From Walt Disco
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Fresh from signing with EMI North, Glasgow’s walt disco return with their electrifying new single, Coup de foudre – a bold, dancefloor-ready anthem that signals an exciting new chapter for one of the UK’s most distinctive alternative bands.
Lola Young at Birmingham's O2 Academy
For Lola Young, this tour feels less like a victory lap than a hard-won return. The past year has transformed the South London singer from cult favourite to international star, with Messy becoming an unexpected global phenomenon and catapulting her onto some of the world's biggest stages. Yet the success came at a cost.
Albums: Myles Smith My Mess, My Heart, My Life
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The songs here sound big and bold and connect easily with a euphoric energy and will sound perfect on his upcoming arena tour this autumn.
In Conversation: Micko & The Mellotronics
Following a string of acclaimed singles exploring everything from illicit affairs to the realities of 'proper jobs', Micko & The Mellotronics return with their ambitious third album, The Trinity. Released on 12th June, the record blends sharp songwriting, personal reflection and eclectic musical influences, spanning everything from ’70s new wave to contemporary sounds.
Poem Of The Week: Abra-Cadabra By Grace Nichols
Abra-Cadabra My mother had more magic in her thumb than the length and breadth of any magician Weaving incredible stories around the dark-green senna brew just to make us slake the ritual Sunday purgative Knowing how to place a cochineal poultice on a fevered forehead Knowing how to measure a belly's symmetry kneading the narah pains away Once my baby sister stuffed a split-pea up her no…
From Rugby Pitch To Rock Venue: Jack Cullen's 22-Marathon Mission
Fresh from his first headline European solo tour, Jack Cullen is preparing for his most ambitious challenge yet: running 22 ultramarathons in 22 days from Berlin to London ahead of his biggest headline show to date at Oslo Hackney.
Classical Music: House of Wonder – Sally Beamish Celebrates 70 Years
House of Wonder, assembled to mark Beamish's seventieth birthday, is above all a personal album, and that comes through in every bar. To celebrate the occasion, Beamish has returned to the instrument that first shaped her career as a performer in the 1980s: the viola. Crucially, the instrument she plays throughout is a viola made in 2014 by Stephanie Irvine—a gift that, in Beamish's own account, rekindled her relationship with the instrument entirely. The album gathers works written by Beamish for herself to play alongside new commissions from her three children—all accomplished musicians in their own right—and a circle of close collaborators.
Classical Music: Mel Bonis Orchestral Music
The music is, for the most part, elegantly crafted rather than profoundly searching—these are miniatures that delight in surface and atmosphere rather than structural ambition—and there were moments when the lush, exotic colouring put me in mind of Rimsky-Korsakov, particularly the languorous orientalism of Shéhérazade.
All Singing, All Dancing, All Amber
She's the cabaret siren, bringing a blaze of Broadway glamour, old Hollywood shimmer and flame-haired icons to Ripon – and she cannot, she insists, do a show without funny bones. There is a particular kind of performer who walks into a room and instantly rearranges its atmosphere. Amber Topaz is one of those.
Let Their Broadway Dream Come True
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A prestigious Broadway training organisation has teamed up with Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach Resort to bring professional-level Broadway training to ambitious performers who may otherwise not have access to such opportunities.
Albums: Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love
A devastatingly beautiful release from beginning to end, Olivia Rodrigo’s third album is a triumph of songwriting, performance and emotional storytelling. It is bold, vulnerable and endlessly compelling — the kind of album that deepens with every listen. More importantly, it feels like a defining statement from an artist who continues to surpass even the highest expectations. Her finest moment to date.