Thursday 28 April – Sunday 1 May 2022
Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Leeds Lieder is delighted to welcome an array of outstanding artists to the newly refurbished Howard Assembly Room in Leeds this April for the 2022 Festival, Song Illuminated. Festival Director and pianist, Joseph Middleton, has curated four days of song that explore the beauty of the earth, the environment, nature, rebirth and how song illuminates our lives.
The great poets and composers we celebrate at Leeds Lieder prove themselves to be our wisest companions as they cast light upon what it means to be human. Through them, connections between mankind and nature are shown in radiant relief. The great German soprano, Dorothea Röschmann, opens the Festival with music she has very much made her own, Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Two superstars of the recital platform, Ian Bostridge CBE and Imogen Cooper, perform an all-Schubert recital featuring his late masterpiece, Schwanengesang. Light pours through moonlit scenes by Howells, Lehmann, Brahms and Fauré in a thoughtfully programmed concert of Illuminating Songs from recital partners Robin Tritschler and Christopher Glynn. Bringing the Festival to a close is ‘the brightest lyric soprano of the younger generation’ Louise Alder, who will be joined by Joseph Middleton for a typically wide-ranging recital including delights from Fauré to Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Festival lunchtime recitals include partnerships with Samling Institute, BBC New Generation Artists and Kathleen Ferrier Awards, including a northern debut by rising star baritone, Konstantin Krimmel, and new work by Jonathan Dove. Late night recitals invite artists and audiences alike to step away from the traditional formality of the concert hall. An homage to protest music in the Americas from female artists and composers including Joni Mitchell and Ariel Ramirez will be performed by Wallis Giunta, Sean Shibe and Adam Walker, and soprano, Ruby Hughes, performs the Festival commission by Deborah Pritchard alongside works by Errolyn Wallen and Mahler.
Leeds Lieder 2022 Young Artists will have the opportunity to take part in masterclasses with Ann Murray DBE, Dorothea Röschmann, Graham Johnson OBE and Joan Rodgers CBE. Audiences can take centre stage in the Festival Bring and Sing! with Anna Lapwood and can enjoy pre-concert talks from composers Jonathan Dove and Deborah Pritchard, and song experts, Katy Hamilton, Dr George Kennaway and Richard Stokes.
On 18th April SongPath invites you to join them on one of their outdoor interactive events as they unite professional and amateur musicians, experts on the natural world and mental health professionals in uniquely curated walking trails rooted in our local landscape. A partner recital in the Festival given by Jess Dandy and Martin Roscoe compliments this event.
All of our Festival events (except for masterclasses) will be available to watch via livestream on demand until 31st July 2022.
Tickets go on general sale on Thursday 17 February (Online from 10am; by phone from 12pm)
Priority booking to Friends of Leeds Lieder opens on Thursday 10 February
BOOK AT: 0113 223 3600 / https://www.operanorth.co.uk/leeds-lieder-2022/
The Opera North Box Office is the Festival Box Office for all events other than SongPath which should be booked through the Leeds Lieder website or office on 07425 233 451.
All recitals take place at Howard Assembly Room, 46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU
Supported by Arts Council England, arts@leeds, the Mayfield Valley Arts Trust and the Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation, Leeds Lieder continues to place song at the centre of the cultural landscape in the north of England, championing the art-form, educating and growing audiences and commissioning new works.