London Chamber Ensemble
Madeleine Mitchell
Leeds International Concert Season
University of Leeds International Concerts
Sinfonia of Leeds
Leeds Conservatoire
In Harmony Opera North
South Asian Arts
Leeds City Walking Tours
Everyman Cinema
Hobgoblin Violins
Chloë Hanslip
Siân Griffiths
Gordon MacKay Caerus Quartet
Sarah Brandwood-Spencer
David & Tom Greed
Akiko Ono, Shing Hong Chow
Indian and Roma Violin
Red Violin film
I’m thrilled to be staging the Red Violin Festival again, this time throughout Leeds, after five years of planning, in partnership with established organisations. The fiddle crosses all boundaries and is associated with angels and devils alike. ‘Where there are violins there is hope’ (from The Violins of Hope)
I founded the Red Violin with Lord Menuhin on the inspiration of Le Violon Rouge paintings by Dufy (see cover), and others Coincidentally, the film The Red Violin came out the following year, so we showed it at the second festival, again a huge success over 10 days. This time I’m pleased to feature live performances of the Red Violin Caprices taken from Corigliano’s film score, before the two screenings. New this time are walking tours with violin soundtrack and a range of wonderful violin music from folk-andjazz inspired to new works, Indian and Roma violin and classic favourites from Vivaldi to Bruch Something for everyone to discover and enjoy!
I’m very grateful to everyone who has helped make this festival possible.
Madeleine Mitchell
Artistic Director and Violinist
‘I am delighted to be associated with the Red Violin. Madeleine Mitchell has been an intrepid and inspiring music maker, extending the repertoire of her instrument with new
work and exploring the highways and byways of violin writing over the centuries. I am sure that the famous hunger for music in Leeds that I have often experienced as composer and broadcaster will respond to this new initiative and that the Red Violin will become an important part of the musical scene in Yorkshire.’
Lord Michael Berkeley President
‘...the very spirit of enjoyment and creativity’ - The Strad
Madeleine Mitchell has been described by the Chief Music Critic of The Times as 'one of Britain's liveliest musical forces’. She has performed in 50 countries as a soloist in a wide repertoire in . major festivals and venues, most recently in Japan, and frequently broadcasts for television and radio including the BBC Proms. As a recording artist with a wide discography, Madeleine has been nominated for Grammy and BBC Music Magazine Awards. She founded the London Chamber Ensemble and won a Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Award for her programme linking art and music in film with the V&A exhibition Fabergé: Romance to Revolution (on YouTube). She has just been awarded the 2024 Stuart Burrows Prize by the Welsh Music Guild for a singer or instrumentalist who has promoted Welsh music.
Red Violin would like to thank all the participating venues and organisations for their collaboration, and the following for their support:
Michael Beverley, Chairman
Nicholas Snowman OBE (1944-2023) Board Member
Diane B.Wilsey and Gordon Getty whose generous support has made possible the European Première of Intonations
The James L Beverley Charitable Trust
Followed by Leeds Cathedral, LS2 8BE 12pm
Festival Opening Launch Leeds Cathedral 1.15pm
Royal College of Music, Howells Trust, Stanford Society for making possible the London Chamber Ensemble Quartet album
Andrew Malin Founder supporter
Chamber Music Plus
The Red Violin registered charity no.1207515
info@redviolin.co.uk
Leeds Lunchtime Organ Series
Darius Battiwalla – organ
Sarah Brandwood-Spencer – violin
Programme:
Florence Price - Suite No 1: Toccata
JS Bach - Sonata No 4 in C minor for violin & cembalo
Otto Olsen - Romance for violin and organ
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor - Two Pieces: Romance, Cavatina
César Franck - Prelude, Fugue and Variation for Organ
César Franck - Violin Sonata IV
Allegretto poco mosso
Free admission, no booking required, all welcome
PR & Media - info@NickyThomasMedia.com @redviolinfest @RedViolinFest www.facebook.com/redviolinfestival
www.leedsconcertseason.co.uk
15 & 17 October
11am-1pm 15th, 2.30-4.30pm 17th
Leeds City Walking Tour with audio guide
Explore the history of Leeds with expert
Dr Rachael Unsworth whilst listening to a specially curated wonderful mix of eclectic violin music from Victorian
Tickets - £18, scan QR code romantic to South Asian relating to parts of Leeds.
15 October
7.30pm
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD
Leeds International Chamber Series
Tickets: £25.50-27.50 (discounts available)
The Caerus Quartet presents highly contrasting music from France and England. The programme focuses on Benjamin Britten’s epic second string quartet which is paired with Henry Purcell’s Fantasias whose influence can be heard in the Britten.
Caerus Quartet
Jonian Ilias Kadesha - violin
Pablo Hernán Benedí - violin/viola
Lily Francis - viola/violin
Vashti Hunter - cello
Programme: London to Paris – A journey of contrasts
Henry Purcell - Fantasias for String Quartet
Germaine Tailleferre - String Quartet
Gabriel Fauré - String Quartet
Benjamin Britten - String Quartet No 2
1.05pm
16 October
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD
Leeds Lunchtime Chamber Series
Strauss's virtuosic and romantic early work of 1887 is paired with Korngold's incidental music for Shakespeare's comedy, premiered in 1920 in Vienna.
Akiko Ono - violin
Alison Rhind - piano
Programme:
Erich Korngold - Much Ado about Nothing op.11
Richard Strauss - Violin Sonata op.18
Free admission, no booking required
Howard Assembly Room, 32 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU 6pm
Young Violinists In Harmony
In Harmony Opera North, Young Musicians Studio and Youth Orchestra students perform works for young violinists in ‘Celebration of the Violin’ presented by Madeleine Mitchell, with slides of great violin paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Dufy, Chagall and others alongside the performances. Also featuring Royal College of Music violinist Shing Hong Chow performing virtuosic pieces*
Programme:
Peter Maxwell Davies - Sanday Tunes
Malcolm Singer - Shtetlmusik
*Bach - Preludio in E
*Wieniawski - Scherzo Tarantelle
October 7.30pm
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD
Sound Out Leeds
Tickets: £22 (discounts available)
A unique musical partnership between a classical violin virtuoso of Roma (gypsy) background, and a brilliantly talented and thoughtful pianist of Nigerian-Filipino descent, sharing their friendship and heritage through music.
Antal Zalai - violin
Adam Heron - piano
Programme:
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Unpublished Violin Sonatas (selection)
Pablo de Sarasate – Zigeunerweisen
Maurice Ravel – Tzigane
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – Gipsy Suite Op 20: i Gypsy Song, ii Gypsy Dance
Keith Jarrett – Elegy
George Gershwin/Frolov – Concert Fantasy on themes of Porgy and Bess
7.30pm
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire, Quarry Hill, Leeds
The Violins of Hope
Tickets: £10 - 22.50 (discounts available) including livestream 17 October
The well-established London Chamber Ensemble presents an appealing Anglo-American programme, including the haunting song cycle Intonations, with Opera North rising star Siân Griffiths and strings, based on The Violins of Hope - the instruments rescued and restored from the Holocaust. They also launch their new album of quartets by Howells and his teacher Charles Wood for SOMM with the beautiful "In Gloucestershire" (Earlier version 1923, recently discovered).
London Chamber Ensemble
Madeleine Mitchell - violin
Gordon MacKay - violin
Bridget Carey - viola
Joseph Spooner - cello
*Siân Griffiths - mezzo-soprano
*Chloë Hanslip - violin
Programme:
Herbert Howells - String Quartet "In Gloucestershire" (Earlier version 1923)
Herbert Howells - Luchinushka arr. Madeleine Mitchell for string quartet
Vaughan Williams - Folk song for voice and violin
*Jake Heggie & Gene Scheer - Intonations European Première
1.05pm
Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall , Woodhouse, LS2 3AR
University of Leeds International Concert Series
Free admission/Pay as you feel - Booking required
Madeleine Mitchell - violin
Gordon MacKay - violin
Nigel Clayton - piano
Programme:
Brahms - Violin Sonata no.2 in A (Allegro Amabile)
Judith Weir - Atlantic Drift Violin Duos
Béla Bartók - Duos for Two Violins
James B. Wilson - My Love is Sleeping - World Premiere supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation
Rebecca Clarke - Nocturne for 2 violins & piano
Michael Nyman - Taking it as Read composed for the Red Violin festival
Also livestreamed via UoL Concerts on YouTube
2.45 & 6pm The Red Violin film
Everyman Cinema, Level 4, Trinity, Albion St, Leeds LS1 5AT
Both film screenings are preceded by 15' live performance of Corigliano's virtuosic Red Violin Caprices by outstanding young Royal College of Music violinist, Shing Hong Chow.
Leeds Library, 18 Commercial Street, LS1 6AL 5pm
Felix Yaniewicz (1762-1848): A Polish Violin Virtuoso in Britain
Tickets: £10, drinks available afterwards
The recent discovery of a historic instrument has led to new research on a remarkable violinist who changed the course of British musical history. Yaniewicz’s colourful story features a Polish royal patron, encounters with Mozart and Haydn, escape from the French Revolution, a lost Stradivarius, a performance in Leeds in 1807 and co-founding the Edinburgh Festival in 1815. www.ticketsource.co.uk/yaniewicz
7pm
Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, LS7 3PD
South Asian Arts - Raga@Seven
Tickets: £18, £9, £6 for under 30’s
Sri Kamalbir Singh - violin Sir Vijay Venkat - violin
We invite you to ‘Strings Together’ featuring two maestros on North and South Indian Violin: Sri Kamalbir Singh, Hindustani, and Sir Vijay Venkat, Carnatic (South Indian Music). Enjoy a pre-show talk and discover the history behind the Indian Violin, followed by an evening of music synonymous with South and North on the Indian subcontinent as well as a new composition inspired by pioneering composers, Baluswami Dikshitar (1786-1859), who introduced violin into Carnatic music, and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).
9.30am - 1pm A HundRED Violins Workshop at Leeds Conservatoire
9.30-11am a new five minute piece by James Gerrard for violinists of all ages and abilities, followed by three Flashmob performances in Trinity Leeds shopping centre 12 – 1pm.
7.30pm
St. Edmund’s Parish Church, Roundhay, Leeds LS8 1JN
Sinfonia of Leeds Concert
David Greed was leader
a North for 44 years, until last year. Director of Sin , j d by his son Tom Greed in Vivaldi's Double Violin Concerto from L'Estro Harmonico Op. 3, a set of 12 string concertos published in 1711. He then conducts Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, one of the most beloved works in the repertoire and a favourite of tonight's soloist, as a grand finale to the festival.
David Greed - violin, Director
Tom Greed - violin
*Madeleine Mitchell - violin
Anthony Kraus - conductor
Programme:
Vivaldi - Concerto in A minor for Two Violins
*Bruch - Violin Concerto no 1 in G minor
Dvorak - Symphony no 7
The Leeds Violin Shop is a specialist violin, viola, cello and bass sales and restoration centre based alongside the Hobgoblin Music shop in Leeds. Expert restorer Stephen Silcock works on site for repairs and restoration on Thursdays and Fridays.
During the festival we are open every day with a wide range of quality antique and student bowed strings. Come down to the shop for a chat, to see our display, and to try the instruments. No appointment required.
FIND US IN CENTRAL LEEDS NEAR THE HEADROW.
We also stock a huge range of guitars, banjos and ukes, squeezeboxes, celtic musical instruments, accessories, and a big world percussion section.
instagram.com/hobgoblinleeds
facebook.com/HobgoblinLeeds
Monday 14 October
12 noon
1.15pm
Festival Opening Launch
Leeds Lunchtime Organ Series
Tuesday 15 October
11am-1pm 7.30pm
Leeds City Walking Tour
Leeds International Chamber Series
Wednesday 16 October
1.05pm 6-7pm 7.30pm
Leeds Lunchtime Chamber Series
In Harmony Opera North Violinists
Sound Out Leeds - Roma Violin
Thursday 17 October
2.30-4.30pm
7.30pm
Leeds City Walking Tour
London Chamber Ensemble Violins of Hope
Friday 18 October
1.05pm
2.45 & 6pm
5pm
7pm
University of Leeds International Concert Series
The Red Violin film & Caprices
Felix Yaniewicz (1762-1848) Talk
South Asian Arts - Raga@Seven
Saturday 19 October
12 noon-1pm 7.30pm A HundRED violins Flashmob new piece Sinfonia of Leeds Concert
Leeds Cathedral, LS2 8BE
Leeds Cathedral
Leeds City Centre
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire, LS2 7PD
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire, LS2 7PD
Howard Assembly Room, LS1 6NU
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire
Leeds City Centre
The Venue, Leeds Conservatoire, LS2 7PD
Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, LS2 3AR
Everyman Cinema, Trinity Leeds, LS1 5AT
Leeds Library, 18 Commercial Street, LS1 6AL
Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3PD
Trinity Leeds, LS1 5AT
St Edmund’s, Roundhay, LS8 1JN
Leeds Cathedral
TheVenueatLeeds Conservatoire
GreatGeorgeSt, LS28BE 3QuarryHill, LS27PD
Howard Assembly Room
Clothworkers CentenaryConcert Hall
32NewBriggate, LS16NU Woodhouse, LS23AR
SevenArts
HobgoblinMusic 31AHarrogateRoad, ChapelAllerton,LS73PD 13Eastgate,LS27LY
LeedsLibrary
TrinityLeeds 18CommercialSt,LS16AL 27AlbionSt,LS15AT
St.Edmunds Roundhay LidgettParkRd, Roundhay,LeedsLS81JN