The Ryedale Festival is a musical and artistic jewel which began, under very modest circumstances, as the Helmsley Festival in 1981. In the intervening 29 years it has expanded geographically to other venues in Ryedale District and musically with a wide range of artists performing a rich tapestry of pieces – mainly classical but with a smattering of folk and other genres.
The Artistic Director of the Festival is the pianist and accompanist Christopher Glynn , who directed two series of McCann Concerts at the National Portrait Gallery in London and a festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the death of Benjamin Britten at the Royal Academy of Music.
This year’s Ryedale Festival has some stunning performers including Dame Felicity Lott, the Fitzwilliam Quartet and the Northern Sinfonia.
Here’s the full line up (correct at the time of writing):
1) Friday 16th July – 6.00 pm
St Peter’s Church, Norton
Community Opera – Odyssey
2) Friday 16th July – 8.00 pm
The Saloon, Duncombe Park
Opening Gala Concert – Love and Marriage – Dame Felicity Lott
3) Saturday 17th July – 11.00 am
Sheriff Hutton Village Hall
Fell Clarinet Quartet – A Magical Musical Voyage Around the World
4) Saturday 17th July – 5.00 pm
St Peter’s Church, Norton
Community Opera – Odyssey
5) Saturday 17th July – 7.00 pm
All Saints’ Church, Hovingham
Pre-opera talk – John Warrack
6) Saturday 17th July – 8.00 pm
Hovingham Hall
Ryedale Festival Opera – Britten – The Prodigal Son and Mendelssohn – The Homecoming (Heimkehr aus der Fremde)
7) Sunday 18th July – 5.00 pm
All Saints’ Church, Hovingham
Pre-opera talk – John Warrack
8) Sunday 18th July – 6.00 pm
Hovingham Hall
Ryedale Festival Opera (picnic performance) – Britten – The Prodigal Son and Mendelssohn – The Homecoming
9) Monday 19th July – 11.00 am
All Saints’ Church, Hovingham
Coffee Concert – ‘Meet the Fitzwilliam Quartet’
10) Monday 19th July – 12.30 pm
Worsley Arms, Hovingham
Festival Lunch and the Fitzwilliam Quartet in conversation
11) Monday 19th July – 8.00 pm
Sledmere House
Catrin Finch – ‘Remaking the Goldbergs’
Tuesday 20th July -Friday 30th July – 12.00 noon – 3.30 pm
Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale Transport Through the Ages – Photographic Exhibition
12) Tuesday 20th July – 2.00 pm
Pickering Parish Church
Open Rehearsal – The Fitzwilliam Quartet
13) Tuesday 20th July – 3.00 p.m
Ampleforth Abbey
Organ Recital – Robert Sharpe
14) Tuesday 20th July – 5.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Talents Fine Arts Gallery, 7 Market Place, Malton
Festival Exhibition – Private View
15) Tuesday 20th July – 8.00 pm
St Peter’s Church, Norton
Gala Concert
16) Wednesday 21st July – 11.00 am
Malton Methodist Church
Lucy Beckett – Dante: Voyage and Homecoming
Wednesday 21st July – Saturday 24th July – 7.30 pm (all performances)
Helmsley Arts Centre
1812 Production – 84 Charing Cross Road
17) Wednesday 21st July – 8.00 pm
Kirk Theatre, Pickering
‘From Rags to Ryedale’ – A History of Ragtime – Lecture Recital by Helen Crayford (piano)
18) Thursday 22nd July – 3.00 pm
Galtres Centre, Easingwold
Afternoon Concert – La Serenissima – Charlotte Tetley – mezzo soprano, James Baillieu – piano
19) Thursday 22nd July – 8.00 p,m,
St Peter’s Church, Norton
The Naked Violin – Tasmin Little in recital
20) Friday 23rd uly – 3.00 pm
Sheriff Hutton Village Hall
Festival Tea Party – Peter Moore (trombone), Nicholas Oliver (piano) – In association with Chetham’s School
21) Friday 23rd July – 8.00 pm
The Library, Sledmere House
‘Goodbye to all that’ – Marking the 25th anniversary of the poet Robert Graves
22) Saturday 24th July – 11.00 am
The Saloon, Duncombe Park
Coffee Concert – Karen Geoghegan (bassoon), Timothy End (piano)
23) Saturday 24th July – 8.00 pm
The Saloon, Duncombe Park
Fizwilliam quartet and friends with Carolyn Sparey (viola) and Colin Carr (Cello)
24) Sunday 25th July – 10.30 am
Pickering Parish Church
Festival Service – Preacher: The Right Reverend Dr. Martin Warner, Bishop of Whitby – Celebrant: Father Antony Pritchett
25) Sunday 25th July – 3.00
St Mary’s Church, Lastingham
Yorkshire Young Musicians
26) Sunday 25th July – 7.00 pm
Algonquin Room, Ampleforth College
Pre-performance talk – Peter Seymoor – Bach: The Great Communicator
27) Sunday 25th July – 8.00 pm
Ampleforth Abbey
Bach – Mass in B minor
28) Monday 26th July – 11.00 am
All Saints’ Church, Helmsley
Celebrity Coffee Concert – Captain Corelli’s Souvenirs
29) Monday 26th July – 8.00 pm
Helmsley Arts Centre
‘Honey and Broken Glass’ – Poetry and Prose of Philip Larkin combined with Jazz
30) Tuesday 27th July – 11.00 am
Pickering Parish Church
Coffee Concert – Rachel Brown (baroque flute/ recorders), Laurence Cummings (harpsichord)
31) Tuesday 27th July – 11.00 am
Ryedale Show, Welburn Park, near Kirkbymoorside
North Tyneside Steel Band
32) Tuesday 27th July – 3.00 pm
Malton Market Square
North Tyneside Steel Band
33) Tuesday 27th July – 7.00 pm
Castle Howard – The Chapel, The Long Gallery and The Great Hall
Triple Concert: – Consortium – Fitzwilliam Quartet and Christopher Glynn – Craig Ogden, guitar
34) Wednesday 28th July – 11.00 am
Joan of Arc Hall, Botton Village
Family Concert – Michael Hayward and Laura Grime – Scottish Folk Duo
35) Wednesday 28th July – 3.00 pm
Helmsley Arts Centre
Film Premiere – ‘Rainbow Tribe’
36) Wednesday 28th July – 8.00 pm
St Mary’s Priory Church, Old Malton
Candlelit Concert – Alison Stephens (mandolin), Rachel Brown (flute), Peter Seymour (continuo), Fitzwilliam Quartet
37) Thursday 29th July – 11.00 am
St Mary’s Church, Lastingham
Coffee Concert – Rowena Calvert (cello) and Warren Mailley-Smith (piano)
38) Thursday 29th July – 3.00 pm
St Mary’s Church, Lastingham
Performance Workshop – Fitzwilliam Quartet
39) Thursday 29th July – 8.00 pm
Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale Festival Opera – Poulenc – La Voix humaine
40) Friday 30th July – 10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Pickering Parish Church
Schumann Day – Introduced by Richard Wigmore
41) Friday 30th July – 11.00 am
Pickering Parish Church
Schumann Day – ‘Florestan and Eusebius’ – Spring Song
Friday 30th July – Approximately tbc
Pickering Parish Church
Schumann Day – Lunch break
42) Friday 30th July – 2.00 pm
Pickering Parish Church
Schumann Day – Study Session – String Quartet in F major
43) Friday 30th July – 3.00 pm
Pickering Parish Church
Schumann Day – ‘Beloved Clara….’ – Marriage and new horizons
44) Friday 30th July – 6.00 pm
Pickering Parish Church
Schumann Day – Study Session – ‘A poet’s Love’
45) Friday 30th July – 8.00 pm
Pickering Parish Church
Schumann Day – ‘Robert, Clara………and Johannes’
46) Saturday 31st July – 10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Ryecrawl
Mystery tour
47) Sunday 1st August – 10.00 am
Rievaulx Abbey
Festival Eucharist
48) Sunday 1st August – 3.00 pm
Worsley Arms, Hovingham
Kirkbymoorside Brass Band
49) Sunday 1st August – 6.00 pm
Hovingham Hall/Worsley Arms
Final Gala Concert: – Northern Sinfonia – Director Bradly Creswick
You can contact the Festival Box Office on 01751 475777 or via email: info@ryedalefestival.co.uk
For more information visit www.ryedalefestival.co.uk
With so much going on during this 2 week extravaganza of an event, it’s an ideal opportunity to visit this wonderful part of Yorkshire. We’ve got a great selection of Helmsley guest houses, bed and breakfast in Pickering, holiday cottages in Malton, plus a whole host of accommodation near York and the North Yorkshire Moors.
