In just one month, the New Paths Spring Festival bursts into Beverley with more than 20 exceptional events! Get your tickets and passes while you can. As we look ahead to this sparkling long weekend of music, we share some of the highlights:
Pulling out the stops
We host the final of the Dame Gillian Weir Messiaen Prize: outstanding young organists from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire compete in the Minster. Hear tales from Dame Gillian’s own illustrious career, and catch organ music sprinkled through the festival!
Living music
Contemporary composers featured include Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Amanda Feery, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, James MacMillan, Jacobus Kloppers and Edmund Finnis. Particularly notable is only the second ever performance of Ian Venables’ Portraits of a Mind, an evocative homage to Vaughan Williams.
Westwood
A celebration of Beverley’s iconic and much-loved pastureland, with music under trees and by mills. We also conjure up nature of other sorts – from waves and breezes to mountains and stars.
Sing us a song
Three feted song singers – Harriet Burns, Jess Dandy and Alessandro Fisher – join us for Brahms, Barber, Vaughan Williams, Clarke, Villa-Lobos and more. Five songs by John Joubert, who lived and worked down the road in Hull, published just last year, feature in the opening concert.
Reframing the past
Plainsong, folk tunes and medieval melodies infuse music from Finnis’ first quartet to Vaughan Williams’ string quintet. Meanwhile, Christian Forshaw and Grace Davidson return to Beverley with another magical late-night programme, Sanctuary.
Honorary Associate Artist
In recognition of his major contribution to the musical life of Beverley, we are delighted to name Martin Roscoe our Honorary Associate Artist. Catch him with his chosen collaborators Jess Dandy and Fenella Humphreys.
Hidden names
The festival is peppered with composers whose music is rarely played – Emilie Mayer, Marina Dranishnikova, Grażyna Bacewicz – alongside those whose music has come to be well-known in recent years – Rebecca Clarke and Lili Boulanger.
Anniversaries
We mark anniversary years for Fauré, Poulenc, Dodgson, and Reinecke – best known for his impact as a teacher, with students ranging from Janáček to Albeniz.
Beverley’s venues
Music resounds across the town during the festival: we return to the East Riding Theatre, add Upstairs at the Monks and the Quaker Meeting House to our roster, and delight in the magic of St Mary’s and the Minster. From breakfast time to late night, you’ll find us somewhere!