Opera North and Kirklees Council have announced details of Kirklees Concert Season 2023-24, with a scaled-up programme of orchestral, organ and festive performances in Huddersfield and Dewsbury Town Halls for Kirklees Year of Music 2023, and chamber concerts extending into summer 2024.
Phil Boughton, director of orchestra and chorus, Opera North, said: “We’re pleased to present the full programme for the 2023/24 Kirklees Concert Season, the second season to be part of Kirklees Year of Music.
“Together with our partners at Kirklees Council, Opera North has matched the ambition of the district-wide celebration of our art form with a programme of unprecedented scale and invention.
“Alongside some iconic pieces from the symphonic repertoire performed by our world-class Orchestra and Chorus with international guest artists, we’re renewing our commitment to supporting new music with our five new commissions.
“I’m delighted that the Chorus of Opera North will join us for Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms as well as the annual Christmas Gala.
“David Pipe, too, has pulled out all the stops with another eclectic programme and what’s sure to be an unforgettable evening recital of Messiaen’s magisterial account of the Christmas story.”
Packages for Orchestral, Chamber and Organ concerts are on sale now, offering substantial savings over single tickets. Ticket prices have been maintained from the previous two years, with seats at Orchestral concerts priced from £13 – £27, £4 for under 30s, or £1 for anyone aged 16 and under. Chamber and Organ concert tickets are still only £5. Single tickets are available to book on the www.operanorth.co.uk website.
Joana Carneiro. Image by: Dave Weiland
Monday 11 September 2023, 1pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with David Pipe
David Pipe opens the 23-24 Kirklees Concert Season with Schmidt’s fanfare-like Prelude & Fugue, subtitled ‘Halleluja’. Philip Moore celebrates his 80th birthday this month, and his energetic Sonata is at the programme’s centre. A trio of German jazz preludes precedes a trip to France for Lanquetuit’s jubilant Toccata.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 13 September 2023, 12.30pm – Lunchtime Chamber Concert with Flute and Harp
Two instruments strongly associated with gods and myths provide a divine opening for the chamber season as the Orchestra of Opera North’s Principal Flute Luke O’Toole is joined by Principal Harp Céline Saout.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Thursday 21 September 2023, 7.30pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: The New World
Pre-concert talk at 6.40pm
Opera North Music Director Garry Walker kicks off the season with a colourful programme including the sparkling Overture from Gershwin’s 1930 musical Girl Crazy, Abreu’s exuberant ‘Tico-Tico no fubá’ and Gulda’s flamboyant Cello Concerto featuring award-winning Scandinavian cellist Andreas Brantelid. Completing the programme, Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony is one of the most recognisable melodies in classical music.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £13.00 – £27.00 + concessions / Under 30s £4.00 / 16 and under £1.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Mon 25 September 2023, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Jonathan Scott
Jonathan Scott demonstrates the full capabilities of Huddersfield Town Hall’s magnificent organ in an unmissable programme of orchestral transcriptions and original works for solo organ, including the famous Largo from Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony, and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries!
Kindly sponsored by Mr & Mrs Aldred – dedicated to the Aldred family
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Thursday 12 October 2023, 7.30pm – The Orchestra Opera North: Beethoven and MacMillan
Pre-concert talk at 6.40pm
Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro’s Kirklees Concert Season debut opens with Beethoven’s Coriolanus Overture. James MacMillan’s Scotch Bestiary for organ and orchestra was inspired by personalities he had encountered in his native country; and one of Beethoven’s most popular works, heard in Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech, the Seventh Symphony will send you away uplifted on the whirling currents of its glorious final movement.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £13.00 – £27.00 + concessions / Under 30s £4.00 / 16 and under £1.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 16 October 2023, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Alexander Woodrow
Director of Music at Leeds Minster, Alexander Woodrow puts the organ through its paces. Bach’s dazzling Toccata, Adagio & Fugue is followed by Walton’s whimsical Popular Song and Whitlock’s Plymouth Suite. The recital culminates in Vierne’s tour de force based on the Westminster chimes.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 18 October 2023, 12.30pm – Lunchtime Chamber Concert: We’ll Gather Lilacs
Former Opera North Associate Artist and mainstage favourite Ellie Laugharne (Hansel and Gretel, The Magic Flute, Requiem) is joined by the company’s Head of Music, David Cowan, in a collection of musical settings of poems and texts from around Europe, by composers ranging from Holst to Howells and Dring to Wolf.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 30 October 2023, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Alessandro Bianchi
Alessandro Bianchi visits from Cantù in Italy. A prolific recitalist, he has performed at venues around the world, and acted as a juror for organ competitions. His programme features an arrangement of Gershwin’s ever-popular Rhapsody in Blue, and ends with Sowerby’s fiendishly difficult Pageant.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 13 November 2023, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Martin Baker
Martin Baker is acclaimed not only for his interpretation of repertoire, but as one of the world’s finest improvisers. Two baroque transcriptions open his recital, before romantic works which explore the organ’s wealth of sonorities. Martin will conclude with a stunning improvisation!
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 22 November 2023, 12.30pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: Mahler’s Fourth Symphony
A chamber arrangement of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony offers the composer’s vision of ‘The Heavenly Life’ in ecstatic clarity. Soprano and Opera North Chorister Claire Lees joins the company’s Chamber Ensemble for the climactic song, summing up Mahler’s tapestry of innocence and experience: “We lead angelic lives, yet have a merry time of it besides”.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 27 November 2023, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Gordon Stewart
Gordon Stewart, Organist Emeritus, returns for his second recital during the Year of Music. Hollins’ rousing Concert Overture sets the scene, with Bach’s monumental Fantasia & Fugue in G minor at the heart of this recital. A triptych by the French organist Augustin Barié closes with a flourish.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Thursday 30 November 2023, 7.30pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: The Planets
An evening of big ensembles, pounding rhythms and unforgettable tunes with the Chorus and Orchestra of Opera North, perfect for first-timers! Holst’s celestial masterpiece The Planets inspired soundtracks from Star Wars to Shrek. Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms combine Biblical Hebrew verse with the Christian choral tradition – and a hint of West Side Story.
Pre-concert talk begins at 6.40pm
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £13.00 – £27.00 + concessions / Under 30s £4.00 / 16 and under £1.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 6 December 2023, 12.30pm, Dewsbury Town Hall & Monday 11 December, 1.00pm, Huddersfield Town Hall
University Of Huddersfield Brass Band
The annual festive visit from the students of the University of Huddersfield is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser with its combination of Christmas favourites, solo features and audience carols. Jonathan Beatty, conductor, has maintained the reputation of the band as one of the finest university brass bands in the UK, consistently ranked highly in competitions over recent years.
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Sunday 10 December 2023, 3.30pm – Opera North Youth Orchestra Performs Brahms
The Opera North Youth Orchestra is joined by Bradford-born 2022 BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist and Principal Flugelhorn of the National Youth Brass Band Phoebe Mallinson in Alexander Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto. Brahms’ Second Symphony and Grace Williams’ Fantasy on Welsh Nursery Tunes complete the programme.
The Opera North Youth Orchestra is supported by the Keith Howard Foundation, the Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation and the Whitaker Charitable Trust. Arts scholarships are kindly supported by the Leverhulme Trust.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £13.20, Under 16 £9.90 (including booking fee)
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Tue 12 December 2023, 6.00pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes
Classic fairy tales get some mischievous twists with these two animated films based on Roald Dahl’s hilarious collection of verse tales, soundtracked live by the Orchestra of Opera North. Fun for all the family, this is the perfect opportunity to introduce young children to live orchestral music. Recommended for ages 5+.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £18, Under 16s £9
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Thu 14 December 2023 , 7.30pm – Opera North Christmas Gala
Conducted by Opera North Music Director Garry Walker, the Orchestra, Chorus and Young Voices of Opera North perform a selection of Christmas carols and festive favourites including a jazzy interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and a newly-commissioned Kirklees Carol. Audience participation is encouraged!
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
£14, Under 16s £7 (including booking fee)
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Friday 15 December 2023, 7.30pm – Messiaen’s La Nativité Du Seigneur
David Pipe performs Messiaen’s evocative nine-movement cycle for Christmas. Composed in 1935 when Messiaen was in his mid-twenties, this iconic work includes musical depictions of the shepherds, angels and wise men, before concluding with the dramatic ‘Dieu parmi nous’ toccata.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Thursday 21 December 2023, 1.00pm – Music For Christmas
The Huddersfield Youth Choirs present a selection of Christmas music from round the world, with David Pipe at the organ. Organ solos include works by Leroy Anderson, Richard Elliott and John Rutter. With the hall decorated colourfully, carols for all to sing, and the beautiful voices of the choirs joined by the mighty organ, this will surely get you into the festive spirit!
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Friday 29 December 2023, 3.30pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: Viennese Whirl
Resident Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Mozart Players Jonathan Bloxham takes the Orchestra for a spin in an exuberant finale for Kirklees Year of Music 2023. Soprano Alexandra Lowe joins the ensemble in arias and song ahead of Opera North’s New Year Così fan tutte. A traditional selection of Strauss Family polkas, marches and waltzes is sprinkled with Romantic delights from Dvořák and Brahms, a Gershwin gem to mark the composer’s 125th year, and some treats from the Strausses’ spiritual heir, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The ‘Blue Danube’ and The Radetzky March return to the source to complete an essential new year celebration.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £22.00 / 16 and under £11.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 15 January 2024, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Katelyn Emerson
Trailblazing American organist Katelyn Emerson visits Huddersfield Town Hall for the first time. Her transatlantic programme includes Sowerby’s sparkling Fantasy for Flute Stops and Bossi’s whirling Scherzo, before a complete performance of Widor’s majestic Symphony No.6.
Kindly sponsored by a keen supporter of the Kirklees Organ Concert Season
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Thursday 25 January 2024, 7.30pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: Symphonie Fantastique
Pre-concert talk at 6.40pm
English conductor Julia Jones takes the podium for three heady delights from a century of French music on 25 January. Ravel’s early Rapsodie espagnole was praised by Manuel de Falla for its authentic Spanish colour; Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique portrays the opium dreams of a lovelorn artist; and Saint-Saëns’ greatest piano concerto, the Second, features former Leeds International Piano Competition winner Artur Pizarro.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £13.00 – £27.00 + concessions / Under 30s £4.00 / 16 and under £1.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 29 January 2024 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Carolyn Craig
Prize-winning American organist Carolyn Craig studied at Indiana and Yale, and was one of The Diapason’s ‘20 under 30’ class of 2019. She performs several iconic British works ideally suited to the Willis organ, alongside Nadia Boulanger’s beautiful Trois improvisations and Jehan Alain’s Litanies.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 31 January 2024, 12.30pm – Lunchtime Chamber Concert: Tenor, Soprano & Piano
Two Welsh artists, soprano Elin Pritchard and tenor Dafydd Jones, step out of Opera North productions for a recital of songs and poems set to music accompanied by Opera North’s Assistant Head of Music Annette Saunders.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 12 February 2024, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Hannah Parry
In her first trip to Huddersfield, Hannah Parry includes Bach’s Toccata in F with its dancing pedal solo. Hungarian composer Erzsébet Szőnyi continues the dance theme in her Tänzerische Weise, before Judith Bingham’s evocative Altartavla, inspired by the altarpiece of Västerås Cathedral.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 14 February 2024, 12.30pm – Lunchtime Chamber Concert: Schubert’s Trout Quintet
Based on an earlier song by the composer that pictured ‘lively fish swimming in the clear brook’, Schubert’s magnificent ‘Trout’ Quintet is possibly the best-known chamber piece in the world. Its rippling currents come to joyful life under the bows and fingers of the Opera North Piano Quintet.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Sunday 25 February 2024, 4.00pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade
Pre-concert talk begins at 3.20pm
Steven Osborne OBE joins the Orchestra as soloist in Ravel’s gorgeous Piano Concerto in G major, under the baton of Opera North’s effervescent Principal Guest Conductor Antony Hermus. Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza, written for 2020’s Beethoven 250 celebrations, promises both ‘volcanic eruptions’ and ‘extreme serenity’, according to the South Korean composer; and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade paints dazzling tales and characters from The Thousand and One Nights in sound.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £13.00 – £27.00 + concessions / Under 30s £4.00 / 16 and under £1.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 26 February 2024, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Peter Wright
Peter Wright, formerly Organist and Director of Music of Southwark Cathedral, plays iconic works from continental Europe. Bach’s transcription of Vivaldi’s concerto for two violins sits alongside Lionel Rogg’s ‘neo-baroque’ Partita, before Dupré’s virtuosic Variations provide a whirlwind conclusion.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 11 March 2024, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with Daniel Moult
Daniel Moult, Head of Organ at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, performs a wide-ranging programme to show off the many colours of the Town Hall organ. Elgar’s stirring Imperial March and the opening movement of Widor’s famous Symphony No.5 surround works of brilliance and excitement.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 20 March 2024, 12.30pm – Lunchtime Chamber Concert: Poulenc’s Sonata For Horn, Trumpet And Trombone
Packed with wit, mischief and melody, the 1922 Sonata was an early triumph for Poulenc, completed shortly after the formation of ‘Les Six’. Players from the Orchestra of Opera North perform a programme arranged around this classic of the brass repertoire, its easy charms belying some fearsome technical challenges.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Monday 25 March 2024, 1.00pm – Lunchtime Organ Concert with David Pipe
The season’s final recital opens with Howells’ Psalm Prelude on Psalm 33: ‘Sing unto Him a new song’. Bach’s Prelude & Fugue in A minor is followed by Arno Landmann’s inventive variations on Handel’s famous Sarabande. Ad Wammes’ jazzy Vallée des danses suite closes the recital with a swing!!
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Thursday 11 April 2024, 7.30pm – The Orchestra of Opera North: Mahler & Strauss
Pre-concert talk at 6.40pm
Nigerian-American soprano Francesca Chiejina sees out the Orchestral season with Strauss’ beautiful musical farewell, the Four Last Songs on 11 April. Garry Walker’s programme concludes with Mahler’s First Symphony, depicting life, death and nature from the awakening of spring in the first movement, to the rousing, life-affirming finale.
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA
Tickets: £13.00 – £27.00 + concessions / Under 30s £4.00 / 16 and under £1.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 17 April 2024, 12.30pm – Lunchtime Chamber Concert: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Composed in 1721, Bach’s six works dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg are recognised as the peak of the Baroque concerto. The intimacy of a Dewsbury Lunchtime is a perfect setting for the timeless verve and innovation of the Third, with its revolutionary instrumentation of three violins, three violas, three cellos and harpsichord, performed by the virtuoso musicians of the Orchestra of Opera North.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 15 May 2024, 12.30pm – Lunchtime Chamber Concert: The Romantic Violin
At the heart of this programme by Dewsbury favourite and Acting Co-Leader of the Orchestra of Opera North Andrew Long, Respighi’s Violin Sonata infuses 19th-century Romanticism with glowing turn-of-the-century Impressionist colour.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 19 June 2024, 12.30pm – Brahms’ Clarinet Trio
Brahms was contemplating retirement when a performance by the German clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld renewed his passion for music, and he responded with this Trio. With the introspection and poise of the composer’s later years, its glorious melodic lines and masterly interplay — particularly with the cello — testify to the inspirational power of his muse, whom he called ‘the nightingale of the orchestra’.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
Wednesday 10 July 2024, 12.30pm – Jasdeep Singh Degun
Opera North’s Artist in Residence follows his acclaimed debut album Anomaly and triumphant mainstage opera Orpheus with a return to his roots in Indian classical music. As a soloist, Jasdeep’s extraordinary skill and spontaneity on the sitar are given full rein, underpinned by his mastery of the ancient system of raags, the equivalent of western scales.
Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, WF12 8DG
Tickets: £5.00
Box Office: operanorth.co.uk | 0113 223 3600
