Download Festival brochure here
Download Festival programmes and translations
View Leeds Lieder 2023 Young Artists
Touches of Sweet Harmony
Friday 9 – Saturday 17 June 2023
Welcome to our 2023 Festival, a bold, ambitious, colourful, thoughtful exploration of song in its many guises. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that we have expanded the Festival. The past few years have been hugely rewarding for Leeds Lieder. Our artists, audiences and participants have grown in number and now seems as good a time as any to make a big leap forward and present a nine-day Festival so that we can engage with more people.
From the enriching work we do in schools across the region, through to our vibrant Young Artists Programme, commissioning, ground-breaking Composers & Poets Forum, and showcasing the world’s finest singers and pianists in recital, we want to present as broad a cross-section of society as possible.
Growth is not without its challenges, but I am convinced that following a pandemic, and even in the throes of economic uncertainty there is a visceral need for the best quality live music making. Our audiences have continued to return to our concert halls since lockdowns were lifted, but we still have some way to go until we reach the record-breaking numbers we enjoyed at the 2019 Festival. So, my message is simple: let’s make 2023 the most joyous festival Leeds Lieder has mounted! We haven’t increased any of our ticket prices, despite constantly increasing overheads, so please come in your droves. Buy more tickets than ever before! Support our work by bringing friends and family to our events. Share with them the magic of an un-amplified human voice and piano, mining the depths of what it means to be human, to connect with one another and with nature.
We can only present such an outstanding programme of international quality here in Yorkshire with your support. Thanks to the ongoing generosity of our Friends, major gifts from individuals, and philanthropic support from grants and trusts, we are able to be bold and visionary with our planning. Every gift you make matters, and really does have an impact. We remain immensely grateful for your support. Thank you!
I hope you enjoy looking through the following pages. I am so excited to welcome you to hear great music from the traditional song literature we have programmed, alongside many bold new projects.
Joseph Middleton
Director, Leeds Lieder