Albums: The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues

If that is the case, the band’s 25th studio album is a fine one to end with, coming with a huge dose of blues, rock, attitude and the unmistakable vocals of Mick Jagger; even at the age of 82, he can still rock with swagger and style.

Experimenting Versus Imagination

After the amazing response to the recent children's art competition, I didn't envy the judges’ job of picking a few winners and runners-up. There was an array of styles and mediums from ages four to eighteen. I wanted to show the world all the talented artists, but it would take a whole newspaper to include everyone.

Classical Music: Thème varié

There is a particular pleasure in returning to a recording again and again as a reviewer and finding that it yields something new each time, while one thing remains constant. With this latest Chandos disc from Elena Urioste and Tom Poster, that constant is the sheer beauty of the playing: the balance between soloist and accompanist is judged to perfection, and the engineers have done what Chandos so often manages, capturing the sound with such transparency that the listener seems to be eavesdropping on the duo rather than hearing a recording at all. It is sublime, moving and endlessly captivating.

Poem Of The Week: Marky By Ian Duhig

Marky Is minic do bhris béal duine a shrón. - Irish proverb Watching this cormorant on the Wharfe hold open its wings to the admiring sun, I recall Marky Malone on his stag night removing his silk suit jacket very slowly to show off his Bullworker pecs to us and the man he'd picked out to fight - who smartly coshed him across his beak and swanned out of the silent public bar…

The Graveyard Shift: The Dacre Dilemma By Rebecca Tope

This novel opens in the Henderson household, the everyday ‘chitchat’ establishing the ‘cosy’ genre. Who knew that a small florist’s business in the Lake District could be so busy, but Simmy is rushed off her feet. Husband, Christopher, is just as busy at his auction house in Keswick and between them, they juggle the care of their only son, Robin, who is two.

December 10, Wulfrun Hall

Despite a shaky start, Simon Cowell's December 10 seems to be finally making headway. With the assumption that a Netflix series would propel them to instant international success and huge chart acclaim, they appear to have fallen very far short of those anticipations.

Creation – The Award-Winning North York Moors Chamber Music Festival Celebrates Its 18th Birthday With Six Premieres

The North York Moors Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 18th consecutive year this August with the premieres of six brand new compositions from some of the UK’s finest contemporary composers.

From Solving Crimes To Signing Books: Yorkshire Detective Heads To Glasgow Book Bonanza

Yorkshire crime author Roshan Pitteea will travel to Scotland later this month to meet readers and fellow writers at one of the UK's fastest-growing independent author events.

Cast Announced For The World Premiere Of The Farmer’s Wife At Theatre By The Lake

Theatre by the Lake has announced the cast for the world premiere of The Farmer's Wife, a new play by Hannah Khalil inspired by Helen Rebanks' Sunday Times bestselling memoir of the same name.

Blue Plaque Installed At Liverpool ONE Is Music To Brad’s Ears

A blue plaque has been unveiled at Liverpool ONE to mark the spot where piano star Brad Kella first performed at the centre more than 10 years ago.

Screen Off, Imagination On! Swap Screen Time For Sculpture At The Hepworth Wakefield This Summer

As families prepare for the summer holidays, The Hepworth Wakefield is encouraging parents to press pause on screen time and rediscover the joy of making, exploring and playing together – with all family activities free for kids.

Derren Brown - Only Human

There can only be one word to describe this show – Mesmerizing. Remaining true to my promise to not reveal the show’s content, you may think that perhaps I would struggle to write anything at all, but quite to the contrary, there is much to say and describe. Audience participation is very much the name of the game for Derren Brown’s Only Human show.

In Conversation: Bongeziwe Mabandla

Few artists capture vulnerability with the grace and honesty of Bongeziwe Mabandla. Across his acclaimed catalogue, the South African singer-songwriter has built a reputation for crafting intimate songs that blend folk, electronic textures and Xhosa storytelling into something deeply personal yet universally resonant.

Vasily Petrenko On Nurturing Talent, Broadening Horizons And Lifelong Learning

Following the success of his 2026 Academy for Young Conductors, Vasily Petrenko reflects on what it takes to shape the next generation of conductors – and what he wishes he’d been taught in his early years This week, as I wrapped up the Academy for Young Conductors in the Armenian capital of Yerevan for another year, I was struck by a recurring thought: I wish something…

Billy Ocean - All Plain Sailing In Halifax

They were one of the biggest bands in the late eighties and early nineties, culminating in 1994 when Wet Wet Wet spent fifteen consecutive weeks at Number One with their version of Love Is All Around. The group are still recording and touring, though original frontman Marti Pellow is now a solo artist besides having an acclaimed acting career.

DLA Piper Renews Partnership With CBSO For Fourth Consecutive Year

The CBSO has announced that global law firm DLA Piper’s Birmingham office has renewed its partnership with the orchestra for a fourth consecutive year.

In Conversation With Headwreck

Having earned a reputation as one of Australia's most electrifying new acts, Headwreck already have their sights set on world domination.

ABC And The Human League - Together In Electric Dreams In Leeds

They were two of the biggest pop acts of the early eighties; ABC and The Human League went from the nightclubs of Sheffield to conquer the world with their hit singles and albums. ABC delivered one of the most iconic albums of that period in the shape of The Lexicon of Love.

Voice In The Dark

Ripon Theatre Festival continues to unearth stories that deserve a wider audience, and Down to Chance is one of its finest discoveries yet.

Winterreise In The Ryedale Heatwave: Icy Solitude At The Height Of Summer

Pickering Church, with its striking mediaeval architecture and clear, focused acoustic, provided an ideal setting for the opening Saturday of the Ryedale Festival. Staging Franz Schubert’s deathless Winterreise in the midst of a heatwave created an unintended antipathetic fallacy that worked remarkably well.

In Conversation: MORGXN And JB Somers

With the release of their moving duet version of Real Man, MORGXN and JB Somers have transformed a deeply personal song into a powerful conversation about masculinity, vulnerability, faith, and identity. Originally written from Somers' experience growing up as a pastor's kid in Alabama, the track takes on new resonance with MORGXN's soaring vocals and shared perspective.

Albums: Deep Purple- SPLAT!

Deep Purple return with their 24th studio album and prove that they can still rock with the best. Rather than sounding like old dinosaurs, the songs here fly with melody, diversity and power.

Albums: December 10 On Your Side

While there is no denying that there is amazing kudos in having a Primark range already raising their profile, the lack of single success means December 10 has notches both for and against their enduring success. However, their debut EP speaks volumes about what should be their destiny. Slick production, a strong balance of bops and ballads and, most importantly, striking vocals and an awareness of how to play to each band member's strengths – this is a solid introduction to a group that wishes to be taken credibly as the next big boy band.

Classical Music: Ustvolskaya & Poulenc

Welser-Möst and his orchestra match her at every step, the scoring tracking each swerve of feeling with unusual sensitivity: a trilling xylophone stands in for the ringing telephone with real wit, and the string textures underneath give the whole thing an unexpected warmth even at its bleakest.

Breathless In Ripon: Stephen Smith's One Man Poe Is Gothic Horror At Its Finest.

Andrew Palmer continued his enthusiastic support of Ripon Theatre Festival and found Stephen Smith's virtuoso solo turn as Edgar Allan Poe left him breathless — exhausting, exhilarating and utterly captivating, in a masterclass in gothic horror that stopped his heart. There are shows that entertain, and there are shows that leave you wrung out with admiration.

Classical Music: Sacred Choral Music By Sarah Macdonald

All of which is background; what matters here is the music, and it is a delight. Her own chapel choir of Selwyn College sings with a polish that belies the demands of undergraduate life, recorded in the radiant, spacious acoustic of Ely Cathedral, where MacDonald is also the director of the girl choristers. The ensemble's diction, intonation, and balance are all delectably precise, and the phrasing, dynamic shading, and rhythmic vitality throughout the performance are genuinely impressive.

Deacon Blue Paint The Town Red In Halifax

With the country in World Cup fever, it was only natural that when The Lightning Seeds performed their football-themed track Three Lions when opening up for Deacon Blue at the Piece Hall in Halifax, the response would be jubilant, as the iconic football anthem proved the perfect soundtrack ahead of the finale of the football competition.

The Sound Of An Appreciative Audience

Am I the only person in the known universe to have never seen The Sound of Music? Well, I must be. Or more accurately, I 'was,' for now I have lost my innocence. I have been Rodger and Hammersteined, so to speak.

Ballroom & Sequence Dancing Afternoon – Victoria Hall, Saltaire

On Sunday 2nd August there is a Ballroom & Sequence Dancing Afternoon featuring Phil Kelsall, principal organist at the Tower Ballroom Blackpool, playing the mighty Saltaire Wurlitzer.

A Voice To Make The Heart Ache And Rejoice

The pop music world is quieter today, robbed of one of its most unmistakable and enduring voices. Bonnie Tyler, the powerhouse Welsh singer—for me, the defining sound of the 1980s—who commanded global stages for over five decades, has passed away at the age of 75.

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