'We're doing it for ourselves': Yorkshire Day concert is region's answer to Last Night of the Proms
This Yorkshire Day will see a symphonic celebration of northern identity and the region’s musical heritage with the first ever Yorkshire Proms event. Laura Reid reports.
Much of Crick’s work contributes to the cultural wealth of Yorkshire and the north of England, exploring the stories of our landscapes, history and people. He wants that music to be accessible to anyone who’s interested in engaging and so as well as concert halls, he’s put on performances in pubs, shopping centres and train stations. His latest project, however, is taking him to a more traditional venue, one in the heart of Bradford, the district he now calls his home. On Yorkshire Day, August 1, Crick will be conducting the first-ever Yorkshire Proms at St George’s Hall.
“It feeds into a bigger picture of what I try to do with my music making,” says 47-year-old Crick. “There’s a sense of frustration that perhaps the art we make up here doesn’t get the same sort of acknowledgement as what goes on down south. What I’m really keen to do is contribute to the musical voice of the north of England. That’s events here but also programmes of music inspired by and of the north of England.”
The concert, organised by The Yorkshire Society, will bring together Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, Bradford Festival Choral Society and the Bantam of the Opera Choir, which is formed of Bradford City fans and was set up as part of last year’s City of Culture programme. Between them, they will celebrate Yorkshire’s voice, talent, pride and identity whilst exploring stories of the region’s musical heritage. They’ll perform some of the works of North Yorkshire composer Ernest Farrar, whose career was cut short when he lost his life on the Western Front during the First World War, as well as paying tribute to York-born John Barry Prendergast, who composed the scores for a number of the James Bond films.
The event is being billed as the northern answer to the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and aims to build on the legacy of Bradford 2025. Crick, who lives near Keighley, worked on a number of events throughout the year including the opening ceremony and the Yorkshire Calling concert. This year, the Yorkshire Day show “gives us a platform to reflect our stories, told by members of our community, for members of our community,” he says. “We’re doing it for ourselves. We aren’t getting an orchestra up from London, we have an established orchestra already up here.”
“I accept not everyone is going to like classical music but I want it to be there for anyone that wants it,” he continues. “I don’t want money or geography or class or religion to be any sort of barrier that stops people engaging with what I think is the greatest art ever created.”
Crick is perhaps not your usual conductor: a Huddersfield-born, proudly working class son of a council worker and a teacher, and grandson of miners. “I’ve always thought that I’m not posh enough for this, that I don’t come from that background that ends up doing this,” he admits. He’s incredibly grateful for his music education; a cellist performance at his primary school led Crick to give the instrument a try and he later studied at Bretton Hall College as a cellist before moving on to conducting.
With 25 years in the industry now under his belt, Crick has worked with orchestras across the UK and around the world and his pieces have been performed at the likes of the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music and Bridgewater Hall. His Yorkshire roots often shine through – he’s written operas about Luddites and Witch Trials, for example, and is founder and artistic director of Skipton Camerata as well as being a partner in the revitalised Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra.
“It’s not easy making a career up here in classical music but it’s incredibly rewarding,” he reflects. "I have had the good fortune of free music education, some aptitude, some good music teachers along the way and also people have helped me to get to the standard you have to be. I feel very lucky. And it is nice to give that back as much as you can.”
With that in mind, Crick is being joined in conducting the Yorkshire Day concert by Bantam of the Opera member Jake Keating. Known as the Bradford Busker, Keating is a familiar face on the street of many Yorkshire towns and frequently gigs across the region. The 29-year-old will help to lead the choir at the concert, and will also turn his hand to orchestral conducting.
"It’s nice to flex my music muscles a bit in a very different way to what I have done previously,” he says. “It’s quite a big step up as a choir member to front the choir for a bit, to help lead and particularly working with the orchestra is beyond my wildest dreams... It feels like a real honour and privilege to be able to do it in St George’s Hall, such an iconic venue that means such a lot to me as a Bradfordian too.
For all those involved, the first ever Yorkshire Proms is a chance to showcase the musical talent of the region, and to highlight that fans don’t need to turn to London to experience the pomp and scale of a world-class classical gala. There’s high hopes the event will become a key part of the UK's arts calendar and a vehicle for championing the region's music and heritage.
As Philip Bell, Chief Executive of The Yorkshire Society puts it: “To see professional symphonic excellence working hand-in-hand with grassroots community choirs captures the true, generous spirit of contemporary Yorkshire.”
- The Yorkshire Proms takes place from 7pm on August 1 at St George’s Hall, Bradford. For tickets, visit bradford-theatres.co.uk/whats-on/yorkshire-proms