Leeds Lieder announces 2019-20 Concert Series and advance information about 2020 Festival
Supported by Arts Council England, Leeds Lieder ‘has fully realised its potential and become an event of international stature.’ Opera Now
It is delighted to announce details of its 2019-20 Concert Series under the Artistic Directorship of pianist Joseph Middleton.
Following the success of the 2019 Festival – both in terms of critical reception and media coverage, and record-breaking box-office results – Leeds Lieder continues to place song at the centre of the cultural landscape in Leeds, championing the art-form, and growing audiences. In collaboration with partner organisations University of Leeds, Leeds College of Music and Leeds International Concert Series, Leeds Lieder presents the most ambitious season-long programme of song in the region, an annual Festival and a vibrant and growing education programme. In April 2020 the much-loved Leeds Lieder Festival, recently nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award, is staged at the University of Leeds.
Artists appearing in the 2019-20 season include: Sir Thomas Allen, Mary Bevan, Iain Burnside, Tara Erraught, James Gilchrist, Graham Johnson, Hannah Kendall, Anna Lapwood, Dame Felicity Lott, Soraya Mafi, Christopher Maltman, Julien Van Mellaerts, Joseph Middleton, Ann Murray DBE, Ema Nikolovska, Mark Padmore, RAM Song Circle, Ashley Riches, Fatma Said, Carolyn Sampson, Nicky Spence, Siobhan Stagg, Anna Tilbrook, William Thomas, Roderick Williams.
Leeds Lieder at The Venue, Leeds College of Music
- Carolyn Sampson (soprano) and Joseph Middleton (piano), 19th October 2019
There can be few better ways to open a Leeds Lieder season than with Carolyn Sampson performing one of the greatest works in the song repertoire, Strauss’s Four Last Songs. Recently described by MusicWeb International as ‘one of the great singers of our time’ she is joined by Leeds Lieder Director and regular duo-partner pianist Joseph Middleton, in music by Haydn, Mahler, Debussy and Koechlin.
- Christopher Maltman (baritone) and Joseph Middleton (piano), 16th November 2019
Acclaimed British baritone Christopher Maltman is joined by pianist Joseph Middleton for a recital that takes in the highways and byways of the animal kingdom, featuring a selection of music by composers including Poulenc, Schumann, Ravel, Reger, Chabrier, Wolf, and Flanders & Swann.
- Mary Bevan (soprano), Julien Van Mellaerts (baritone) and Joseph Middleton (piano), 29th November 2019
Favourites in Leeds, two young stars of the recital world join forces with Royal Philharmonic Society Award winner Joseph Middleton to perform Wolf’s towering masterpiece made up of 46 miniature songs, his Italienisches Liederbuch.
- Royal Academy of Music Song Circle – Clara Schumann Anniversary Concert, 11th December 2019
The Royal Academy of Music’s most accomplished performers of the song repertoire return to Leeds to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Clara Schumann with a recital of her complete songs.
- Tara Erraught (mezzo-soprano) and Joseph Middleton (piano), 13th February 2020
Described in the New York Times as possessing ‘a beautifully formed mezzo-soprano voice’ Tara Erraught is joined by pianist Joseph Middleton with a programme including works by composers Brahms, Mahler, Strauss and Liszt.
Leeds Lieder at the University of Leeds
- Mark Padmore (tenor) and Joseph Middleton (piano), 10th January 2020
Well-known and well-loved by audiences round the globe, Mark Padmore returns to Leeds on the back of an extraordinary season. Mark is joined by pianist Joseph Middleton in this recital which includes Britten’s rarely performed Scots songs, Who are these children? alongside Mahler’s transcendental Rückert-Lieder and Schumann’s Dichterliebe.
- Fatma Said (soprano) and Joseph Middleton (piano), 27th January 2020
Few artists have captured the hearts of Leeds Lieder audiences quite like Fatma Said, who gave one of the most enthusiastically received recitals of recent years at the 2019 Festival. This season Fatma Said and Joseph Middleton appear together at London’s Wigmore Hall, in Zürich, Germany and for BBC Radio 3. Their Programme includes Falla’s folk songs as well as late Schumann.
- Nicky Spence (tenor) and Joseph Middleton (piano), 7th March 2020
We are thrilled that Nicky Spence returns to Leeds Lieder in repertoire he has very much made his own. There is no other work quite like Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared. Its unorthodox scoring and theatrical features make for an evening that is tender and poignant, urgent and explosive.
Advance notice of 2020 Festival: April 16-19, University of Leeds
More details of the recitals, extensive education projects, and world premieres of specially commissioned song cycles to be announced soon.
Artists include: Sir Thomas Allen, Iain Burnside, James Gilchrist, Graham Johnson, Hannah Kendall, Anna Lapwood, Dame Felicity Lott, Soraya Mafi, Joseph Middleton, Ann Murray DBE, Ema Nikolovska, Ashley Riches, Carolyn Sampson, Siobhan Stagg, Anna Tilbrook, William Thomas and Roderick Williams.
For further information and booking click here.