Albums: Sarah Jane Morris And Tony Remy - The Sisterhood 2

The album starts off with a folk tune, Longing To Be Free, dedicated to influential American folk singer and activist Peggy Seeger. The emotion in Morris’ voice comes through on the track, she herself sounding like a reformer and aiming to lead the way.

Albums: Melanie C - Sweat

Sweat is an album that lives up to its title. Melanie C has made something of a name for herself with her dance-leaning anthems, and Sweat is chock-a-block full of them. Yet, these aren't just meaningless dance floor anthems with filler lyrics; she has retained the honesty of her lyrical approach that has become something of a signature of her solo releases.

Albums: Kacey Musgraves Middle of Nowhere

From the opening track, there is a sense of ease that runs through the record. Acoustic guitars shimmer instead of twang aggressively, percussion stays loose and organic, and melodies unfold with an inviting softness. But beneath the comfort is sharp craft. Musgraves has always had a talent for writing lines that feel conversational until they suddenly land with a sting, and Middle of Nowhere is full of those moments.

Jazz: There's a Yearnin'

There’s a Yearnin' There’s a Yearnin Music for Winds and Voice Cruxifiction (not a word) (Lederer); Dolphy Wind Sextet; Coleman Forms and Sounds 1,2,3; Nelson/lyric LaRose Images; Lem and Aide; Nocturne; There’s a Yearnin’; Three Seconds Little (i) Music, May 2026 Jeff Lederer's Ther…

Classical Music: Arcadi Volodos Plays Schubert And Schumann

Seven years is a long silence from a pianist of Arcadi Volodos's stature, and the wait for a new recording from the St Petersburg-born musician has been considerable. His return, captured live in the architecturally arresting surroundings of Frank Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, finds him once again in the company of Schubert, to whose music he has devoted some of his most penetrating recorded statements, and turning for the first time on disc to Schumann's Kinderszenen.

Poem Of The Week: Happiness By Blake Morrison

Happiness ...but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain THOMAS HARDY Cloudless skies, old roses coming into flower, a breeze flicking through The Mayor of Casterbridge. Toasted granary bread with damson jam, a pair of goldfinches on the bird-feeder. The whiff of fennel and rosemary, the farmer’s quad bike leaving the field.

Classical Music: French Orchestral Favourites

The programme itself is a familiar parade of favourites — Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice, Debussy's Clair de lune, Chabrier's Marche joyeuse, Ravel's Une barque sur l'océan, Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre and selections from Bizet's Carmen Suites — and the playing is, as one would expect from this hand-picked ensemble, exquisite.

A Century Of The Thistle: Hugh Macdiarmid And Scotland’s Modernist Voice

2026 marks the centenary of a landmark in Scottish literature, though so far little appears to be happening to mark the occasion. Hugh MacDiarmid, whose A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle reshaped Scottish poetry through inventive language and modernist ambition, might not have been surprised by the lack of fanfare.

Percussionist To “Play The Landscape”

Visitors to this year’s Swaledale Festival can expect to experience the Yorkshire Dales in a whole new way, thanks to support from the National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund. From woodland performances to music shaped by the landscape itself, the Fund is helping the festival connect people more deeply with the Dales’ natural environment.

Manic Street Preachers And Suede Announces Co-Headline Tour

Two of the UK’s most pioneering and celebrated bands Manic Street Preachers and Suede have announced a co-headline tour of some of the UK’s biggest arenas for autumn 2026. The tour kicks off at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 28th October, before hitting stages in Leeds, Manchester’s massive new Co-op Live, Cardiff Utilita Arena over two nights, London’s O2, Birmingham, Nottingham and Bournemouth.

York Theatre To Host Bold New Adaptation Of The Great Gatsby By Local Company

From the 14th to 16th May, Theatre@41 in York will host a brand-new production of The Great Gatsby, performed by local repertory company Pop Yer Clogs Theatre.

Ne-Yo And Akon - Having The Time Of Their Lives In Leeds

The idea of having two artists tour together with each taking turns on stage is not an entirely new one: Paul Simon and Sting pulled it off together on tour many years ago. Whilst their own music might have been entirely different from each other, the pairing of Ne-Yo and Akon is a good one – both come from the same pop, soul and R&B backgrounds.

Classical Music: Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Runnicles confidently judges the pace from the stark severity of the opening Trauermarsch, which features well-phrased trumpet solos. Runnicles is a conductor who paints in broad strokes without sacrificing detail, and each section of the orchestra phrases with evident care. The drama is conveyed with real conviction, and he shifts mood with the kind of assurance that comes from long acquaintance with this music.

Louis Tomlinson Takes A New Direction In Leeds

As the former One Direction singer, Louis Tomlinson took to the stage at Leeds First Direct Arena; the confetti cannons exploded in a sea of yellow as he, along with the rest of the band, arrived on stage to perform Lemonade – a track from his latest album, How Did We Get Here. That is a question which finding the answer to is not that easy.

Olivia Dean Sparkles In Manchester

For anyone wishing to know the current health of British soul and pop music, then they need to look no further than the Olivia Dean tour to discover that everything is in top shape. Jalen Ngonda provided the ideal match to open for Dean on the second of two sold-out nights at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.

Kirk Brandon Chats About Spear of Destiny's New Album Janus

Having spent the tail end of 2024 revisiting classic 80s works on tour with The Skids, 2025 & 2026 are the years of Janus for Spear of Destiny.

Longlist For Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2026

Harrogate International Festivals today announced the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, now in its twenty second year.

Britain’s Favourite Clarinettist Heads To Northern Aldborough Festival

Almost ten years since her last appearance in Aldborough, the famed clarinettist Emma Johnson MBE is making a much-anticipated return with her star-studded trio. Described by The Times as ‘Britain's favourite clarinettist’, Emma Johnson is one of the few clarinet players to have made a career as a soloist.

The Red Shoes: When Love And Obsession Step Out Of Kilter

The catastrophic cost of a wrong decision sends a beautiful dancer - with everything to live - for spiralling to her nemesis. While we know the plot is heartbreaking, it is the compelling manner in which it agonisingly plays out step-by-step that renders Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes a masterpiece of storytelling.

Settle Orchestra Seeks New Leader To Shape Next Chapter Of Musical Excellence

Settle Orchestra has announced an exciting opportunity for an accomplished violinist to take on the role of Orchestra Leader from September 2027, as the current postholder prepares to step down after many years of dedicated service.

Spellbound Alex Warren

Alex Warren has had a phenomenal couple of years. The former viral TikTok icon made an initial move towards a career in music back in 2021; however, while achieving international chart success with several of his singles, it was not until 2025's Ordinary that he hit the stratosphere.

Blue - Still In The Pink In York

Twenty-five years ago Blue arrived onto the music world by becoming one of the biggest pop bands of the new millennium. Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Duncan James and Antony Costa were seldom out of the charts with songs that became the soundtrack to the young lives of their fans.

York Opera Celebrate Tits 60th Anniversary With Die Fledermaus

2026 marks a big year for York Opera as they celebrate both their 60th anniversary, and 40 years since their first appearance at York Theatre Royal.

Albums: Zayn’s KONNAKOL

There’s something refreshing about how he leans into his influences here. The album threads together R&B, pop, and rhythmic ideas inspired by South Asian traditions with a light, curious touch. Rather than presenting these elements as statements, he lets them breathe—subtle vocal flourishes, intricate phrasing, and layered harmonies that echo a wider musical heritage without feeling forced. It’s playful in its exploration, as if he’s rediscovering sounds he’s always carried with him.

Albums: Dames Brown - Take Me As I Am

Dames Brown is a three-piece Detroit powerhouse vocal group who bring their version of funk, soul and gospel to the masses on this, their debut album.

Manchester Must Dance - Mike Pickering

As the resident DJ at the famed Hacienda in Manchester, Mike Pickering was there at the forefront of the euphoria of the acid house and dance movements. In his informative and compelling new book,Manchester Must Dance he tells the story of his time at the legendary club and life afterwards when he formed the soul and pop act M People.

Classical Music: Mendelssohn Works For Solo Piano, Vol. 3

The Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6, is virtuosic brilliance of the most demanding sort, bristling with technical complexities that do not for a moment faze Donohoe. The performance is spotless. And then, after all that brilliance, Mendelssohn has a surprise in store: once Donohoe has taken us energetically through the finale, the music returns to the opening allegretto con espressione of the first movement, framing the sonata with quite the loveliest of endings — beautifully captured here by a pianist whose interpretative depth is by now second nature.

Classical Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams Rise, Heart

Founded under the auspices of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, the label has built a catalogue that consistently rescues, restores and reilluminates corners of the RVW repertoire that the bigger labels have long overlooked. Rise, Heart is another exemplary addition to that enterprise and one of the most rewarding Vaughan Williams discs of recent memory. The premise is characteristically thoughtful: every track here is a first recording of the work in the version presented. At its centre stands the Five Mystical Songs, those luminous settings of George Herbert first heard in 1911, given in Vaughan Williams's own arrangement for voice, piano and string quintet, made around 1925 and seldom performed.

Sari Schorr Set To Premiere Her New Studio Album ‘Running Wild’ In Full During Headline UK 2026 Tour

US chart-topping American singer-songwriter Sari Schorr is returning to UK stages to perform twelve headline shows in April and May – and has announced that she will premiere her eagerly anticipated new studio album across the UK dates. Sari has been working across multiple albums, with Running Wild—set for release later in 2026. The album is regarded as her most ambitious to date.

London Concertante Presents: Two Candlelit Concerts At Leeds Minster

This spring and summer, London Concertante brings two candlelit concerts to Leeds Minster, offering audiences the chance to experience four distinct programmes across the season in one of Yorkshire’s most historic spaces.

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