Arts Diary: Will Marriott

The BBC is on the hunt for lyrics to the rousing tune and is looking for people to put pen to paper. Submissions need to be between eight and 12 lines long, and while it doesn't need to rhyme, it does need to be original.

"We are putting together A Symphony for Yorkshire, which will involve musicians from all over the county getting together to play a new Yorkshire Anthem," says the Beeb's head of Yorkshire Helen Thomas.

"First of all though, we need words for the anthem so we want people to submit poems/lyrics describing what exactly Yorkshire means to them."

The closing date is midday on April 19 and entries should be sent to Yorkshire Poem, BBC Broadcasting Centre, 2 St Peters Square, Leeds, LS9 8AH or email: [email protected]. Please include your name, address, contact number and age.

It's something of a poisoned chalice, but could Simon Armitage be the man to take on the mantle of Oxford professor of poetry?

Last year, the post was mired in controversy after winner Ruth Padel resigned less than two weeks after taking the job after admitting passing on material to journalists alerting them to claims of sexual harassment which had been made against her rival for the post, the Nobel laureate, Derek Walcott.

Now the university is scouting around for this year's nominations, and, Yorkshire's own Simon Armitage has been mentioned among the likely candidates.

YORKSHIRE doesn't get many premieres, so it's good to see the 300-strong Inspiration community choir putting the county on the map. On Sunday, March 28,they will perform with the Orchestra of Opera North, in a varied programme of sacred and generally, yes, inspiring music at Leeds Town Hall. Among the offerings is The Lord's Prayer from David Fanshawe's African Sanctus. "It is a very exciting and moving piece," says musical director Gary Griffiths. "By far the most famous movement is The Lord's Prayer, which was created as a response to an African 'grieving' song. This movement is often sung by choirs as a stand-alone number, and Fanshawe now has a version for choir and full symphony orchestra. He tells me that it will in future be performed by the likes of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, so it's quite a coup to get it first!"