Leeds Lieder 2020 - celebrating 10 years

RVW: A Serenade to Music: - Singers L-R: Carolyn Sampson, Mary Bevan, Kate Royal, Ruby Hughes, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Ema Nikolovska, Kitty Whately, Katarina Karnéus, James Gilchrist, Nicky Spence, David Webb, Kieran Carrel, William Thomas, Marcus Farnsworth, Roderick Williams, Sir Thomas Allen, Pianists F-B: Malcolm Martineau, Joseph Middleton - Leeds Lieder gala at Wigmore Hall

Leeds Lieder's 10th festival takes place from 16 to 19 April 2020, under the theme of Ode to Joy under the artistic directorship of Joseph Middleton, with all the events at The Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall, The School of Music, The University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9JT

The festival opens with a gala which celebrates with an anniversary acrostic of songs, plus RVW's Serenade to Music. Baritone Roderick Williams and soprano Carolyn Sampson will join Joseph Middleton for an exploration of gender politics in song, with new commissions from Roderick Williams and Hannah Kendall. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston and pianist Iain Burnside will be performing Burnside's new theatre-piece which incorporates Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. Tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Anna Tilbrook will perform Jonathan Dove's Under alter'd skies setting poems from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's In memoriam.

There will be recitals from BBC New Generation Artists baritone James Newby, and mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska, and Kathleen Ferrier Award winner William Thomas, plus Graham Johnson and his Songmakers Almanac including soprano Soraya Mafi. The singers and pianists of Leeds Lieder Young Artists will work in masterclasses with Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Thomas Allen, Ann Murray DBE and Ian Burnside. There will also be a chance to hear them in a live-streamed recital.

There will be pre-concert talks from Richard Stokes and composer Hannah Kendall, who is the composer of this year's Leeds Lieder Commission. There will be opportunities for amateur and community based music making and poetry reading. Budding singers can get involved and take part in our Bring and Sing rehearsal and concert, and there is a community performance of English Choral Anthems. Throughout the Spring, composers from leading universities and conservatoires have been collaborating with poets from around Leeds the festival's Composers and Poets Forum, culminating in two public workshops and a showcase. 1000 school children will take part in the festival's award-winning education programmes.

In the last four years the festival has seen a 60% increase in audiences, and was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.

Full details from the Leeds Lieder website.