Ryedale Festival 2022: Putting the district on the map for classical music and culture
Now, anticipation is building as the full programme is revealed for Ryedale Festival 2022, featuring global premieres, jazz, folk and more.
The festival, which runs from July 15 to 31, features 52 concerts involving more than 300 performers, and with audiences travelling from as far as America and Europe.
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Hide AdThere will be masterclasses, ensembles and choirs, candlelit concerts and a troubadour trail, alongside internationally renowned cellists and harpists.
In settings from country houses and stately homes to small, historic churches, this year’s festival promises world-class artists and classical performers.
Artistic director Christopher Glynn said this is a celebration of music but also of Ryedale.
“It’s a festival immersed in its local community but of international quality,” he said. “That’s what makes it exciting. People come from all over the world to enjoy it, artists come from all over the world to perform. It’s a way to put Ryedale on the map, drawing people to the region and to Yorkshire.
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Hide Ad“And it’s so much about place – there are so many wonderful places in Ryedale. This is about filling them with music.”
Concerts are to be held at settings from Hovingham Hall to Duncombe Park, Castle Howard, Birdsall House, Ampleforth Abbey, and Scarborough Spa, as well as with daytime recitals across the district’s idyllic and ancient churches.
Already, a community song cycle by Joseph Howard has seen primary school pupils perform with local choirs in performances inspired by the ancient murals of Pickering Church.
Highlights
Now among six global firsts for the festival is a medley of ABBA songs by electric violinist Roberts Balanas, to celebrate the Swedish group’s 50th birthday.
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Hide AdJulian Philips is also to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams with Looking West, inspired by the ancient stories and landscapes of northern England.
The music of Handel is to feature prominently, with a pop-up production of Acis and Galatea to visit three of the region’s churches.
Opera singer Dame Janet Baker is among the highlights, as well as classical pianist Stephen Kovacevich alongside stars of a new generation with the Kanneh-Masons musical family.
And while some such headline events have already sold out, with long waiting lists, there is also the National Youth Choir, and Johan Dalene. Other global firsts include shows from Roxanna Panufnik, Errollyn Wallen and Tarik O’Regan, and Callum Au.
'Magic'
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Hide AdMr Glynn said: “We live in a world where, with the push of a buttom, we can stream any music at any time. This is about live music making, in beautiful places, a one-off performance every time. There’s something about the magic that lives in that moment.”
First formed in 1981, by four musician friends looking to launch a series of small concerts, Ryedale Festival has grown in significance to feature performers from around the world.
Now it holds a reputation as one of Europe’s most enterprising summer festivals, drawing visitors from across Europe. When it went to online platform over the pandemic, its reach only grew – now, that will carry on, with RyeStream used to share performances. Visit the Ryedale Festival website for a full list of events.
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