One hundred of New Paths’ local supporters, volunteers and partners gathered at Sledmere House on 7th February 2018 to celebrate the launch of the festival as a registered charity in the presence of Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the East Riding, the Hon. Mrs. Susan Cunliffe-Lister.  The special event was the culmination of the charity’s ‘roadshow’ which started in London in January.

Click thumbnails to view gallery. Images by Just Beverley.

The evening began in the Main Hall where New Paths’ chairman, Roland Deller, stood on the impressive staircase and told of how the music-making he experienced during his childhood in the East Riding – as a chorister in Beverley Minster and a viola player in the East Riding Youth Orchestra – transformed his life.

“I was surrounded by an abundance of musical mentors who gave so much to so many children in the area. I was a real beneficiary of the rich musical heritage of this place, which has been sustained for a long time by many brilliant people. Not least my choirmaster, the late Alan Spedding MBE, to whom the festival is dedicated. Alan was a distinguished musician who served as Director of Music at Beverley Minster for over 40 years and nurtured generations of choristers – thousands of lives enriched through his kindness, wisdom and patience.”

Mr Deller gave examples of how the county’s musical heritage lives on today. As for New Paths’ recent entrance onto the scene, he said: “We wanted to play our part in ensuring that music in the county flourishes – to help fan the flames of creative endeavour in the area. Because in all of the regions of the UK today, the arts and in particular music face headwinds.”

Mr Deller said that, despite the challenges faced by the arts, “there is nothing inevitable about the decline of music and we do not take the status quo for granted.” Amplifying the message in New Paths’ manifesto (which can be viewed here), he said “We are on a mission to make a positive contribution to the cultural life of the East Riding through the festival”.

Alan Spedding was a fine organist and organ playing is a vital strand of New Paths work. The crowd was treated to a promenade performance on the House’s organ (with its pipes high up in the dome above the Hall) by Christian Wilson. To begin, Christian was joined by Icelandic violinist Eva Thorarinsdottir for a performance of William Lloyd Webber’s beautiful Benedictus. Guests then made their way up to the magnificent Library whilst Christian played the joyous Sinfonia from Bach’s Cantata No. 29.

The full programme for the evening can be viewed here.

Libby Burgess, Artist Director of New Paths, had curated the programme with the artists to showcase the inventive programming of the festival, combining as it does chamber music, song and organ music. In the Library, Libby was first joined by tenor Nicholas Mulroy for a set of songs exploring a journey through the year.

Miss Burgess then spoke of her first encounter of Beverley in 2013 as ‘love at first sight’ and of her passion for making music of the highest quality in the area. She outlined some key aspects of the 2018 festival.

“We are enormously proud of and excited about this year’s festival programme. It contains an array of wonderful, and not necessarily mainstream, repertoire.”  “I have no interest in dumbing down in our choice of music; I believe that good music and quality performance speak for themselves. However, I am hugely interested in presenting that music in fresh ways.”

Miss Burgess highlighted the festival’s flagship ‘Viking Invasion’ theme. “This gives us the opportunity to explore the connections between Yorkshire and the Nordic countries. Viking place names are inescapable around here: Selby, Whitby, Skidby, Wetwang, Kelleythorpe, Lowthorpe, Wilsthorpe, Fraisthorpe, Keldgate, Willerby, Kirk Ella … and that’s without even turning the page of the map. Other connections exist too. The sculpture called ‘Voyage’, by The Deep in Hull, has a partner sculpture in Iceland called ‘For’, in the fishing village of Vik. These mark thousands of years of trade between the two countries; the numbers of Hull trawler-men who’ve headed out into the Humber Estuary and round to Iceland to fish must number in the thousands. And so, in the festival, we have a range of Scandinavian music – Grieg, Sibelius, Halvorsen, Nielsen, and Stenhammar – and we are joined by four wonderful Nordic artists, including Eva.”

She also touched on three other key themes – Folk, Poets’ Corner, and the Musical Takeover of Beverley – explaining that the festival was a celebration of the place it is proud to call home.

Observing the volume of living composers represented in the programme, Miss Burgess said: “Given yesterday’s anniversary of women being given the vote, it seems appropriate particularly to draw attention to the women composers who are taking part in our ‘Conversations with Composers event’: Diana Burrell – who is writing us a brand new piece for the festival – Cheryl Frances-Hoad, and Nicola LeFanu.”  The Burrell commission has been possible thanks to a generous grant from the arts organisation, Finzi Friends, a number of whose members will join festivalgoers in Beverley in the spring.

Eva then played a set of pieces representing a ‘journey through Europe’ – taking its inspiration from the New Paths name. She stunned the audience with her dazzling playing of Solo by contemporary Finnish composer Kalevi Aho.

Mr Deller thanked all of the many partner organisations with whom New Paths is collaborating to present the 2018 festival. He said that one of the highlights of Viking Invasion will be the project in Freddie’s school in Hull for disabled children with profound and multiple special needs. This will see New Paths artists working with the children on a piece which the festival has commissioned from Hollywood film composer, David Buckley, especially for the project. The piece will be performed in the festival, as part of the Musical Takeover of the Beverley, by the children alongside festival artists.

Mr Deller explained that such a project is only economically possible in the context of a festival where the team of musicians has already been fixed.

“The same is true of the free daytime concerts we stage for children and families. We don’t field a ‘B-Team’ for these wonderful educational events. Our main festival artists perform in them and love to do so. Each year we reach hundreds of families in Beverley through these joyous performances.”

He then appealed for help and support with the funds which the charity needs to raise to present the festival (a total of £50,000). “At this early stage we need your help to build up the festival into something we believe will be the envy of other parts of the UK and will attract significant national interest.”

For further information about supporting New Paths please see here.

The performances in the Library closed with a set of music featuring all of the artists. The final piece in the set was the sublime Morgen by Strauss which reduced more than a few members of the audience to tears. As everyone made their way back down to the Main Hall, Christian and Libby played an extract from the William Tell Overture arranged for organ and piano, which raised many a smile!

The registered charity number of New Paths Music Limited is 1176545.

The programme for the 2018 New Paths festival, which opens in two months, can be viewed here.

No charity funds have been spent on any of the launch events.

The launch of New Paths Music as a registered charity was celebrated in London on 16th January 2018.

Click thumbnails to view gallery. Images © Peter Neill.

A group of 80 artists, volunteers and supporters from all over the UK gathered in the capital with the trustees of New Paths to mark the occasion of this young and dynamic festival becoming a registered charity.

The special event was held at The Armourers’ Hall, which lies in the heart of the City – where New Paths Founder, Roland Deller, worked for many years before he established the festival. Mr Deller spoke of New Paths’ commitment to a vigorous presence of music in our culture:

“Standing in this magnificent hall among these impressive and terrifying instruments of killing and of power, it is tempting to think that music and the arts are all about softening the hard edges of this life. Of course, that is one of the comforts and functions of music. But at New Paths we believe that music is a part of life in all its fullness.”

He spoke of his love for his hometown of Beverley and the receptive climate which New Paths has found there for exploring new avenues for music and for nurturing new audiences. Mr Deller explained that after two highly successful initial years, New Paths has set up as a charity to ensure the festival has a sustainable future.

The brand new charity published its manifesto for the launch. It sets out the charity’s bold vision and mission, plus its aims and activities, and can be viewed here.

Mr Deller also talked about the positive impact which the festival has on social cohesion:

“A festival like New Paths seeks to address through music one of the big challenges we face in the world and in the UK today: division and inequality in society. A festival like New Paths can bring a diverse community together and deepen people’s connection to the place in which they live.”

A stellar line-up of nine New Paths artists dazzled the audience with stunning performances of pieces chosen by Artistic Director Libby Burgess to illuminate some of the different strands of New Paths’ work and the vast variety of music which it presents in the festival. The full programme can be viewed here.

Singers Marcus Farnsworth and Aoife Miskelly opened the programme with a musical journey through life, after which Miss Burgess spoke of the ways in which music enriches lives. She spoke of New Paths’ ethos of inclusivity and accessibility, explaining that New Paths brings music of the highest quality to young children through its free concerts for families (which have been consistently over-subscribed) and to the elderly through free performances in nursing homes.

Miss Burgess gave examples of the innovative ways in which New Paths programmes and performs music in order to reach the widest possible audience, noting that all community performances are given by the main festival artists (not a ‘B-team’):

“I have no interest in dumbing down in our choice of music; I believe that good music and quality performance speak for themselves. However, I am hugely interested in presenting that music in fresh ways.”

She described how New Paths’ free, non-traditional performances which celebrate the town of Beverley itself have captured the imagination of the local community. Miss Burgess outlined a flagship project of the 2018 festival: a ‘Musical Takeover of the Town’ – an entire day of free music throughout the town, which is expected to attract large audiences (including people who might not attend a traditional ticketed concert). It will feature performances by children who play brass instruments with the East Riding Schools Music Service and children from Freddie’s, a school in Hull for children with profound and multiple special needs.

There followed a musical journey through history, beginning with the earliest known piece for theorbo by Kapsberger (1604) performed by Matt Wadsworth, through Mozart and Finzi, to a piece by the highly original contemporary American composer Nico Muhly performed by Fenella Humphries (which included audience participation)!

Mr Deller emphasised that promoting the composition and performance of new music is an important part of New Paths’ work:

“Every year since the beginning we have commissioned the composition of a new piece from a leading composer and given its world premiere. So far there have been no riots! And our programmes are replete with music by living composers. Thus, in 2018 we present works by, among others, Judith Weir, Nicola LeFanu, Cheryl Francis-Hoad, Thomas Hyde, Huw Watkins, and Benjamin Rimmer.”

“We’re thrilled that for this festival we have commissioned Diana Burrell – who celebrates her 70th birthday this year – to write a new set of viola songs. The world premiere will be given on the opening night of the festival. This has been made possible by a very generous grant from the Finzi Friends to whom I’d like to express our most sincere thanks.”

He then spoke of the funds which the charity seeks to raise in order to present the 2018 festival:

“The grant from the Finzi Friends got us off to a flying start with the funding we need to raise in order to mount the 2018 festival – a total of £50,000. The money raised will enable us to undertake the 40 events making up the festival.”

Mr Deller summarised the vast array of educational activities in the festival, remarking that:

“In its way the festival also seeks to address one of the other most acute challenges we face in Europe and the world at the moment – education, or rather the lack of it and the need for more of it. The festival has huge potential to make a significant contribution to the musical education of the region and beyond.”

To conclude, Mr Deller reflected on one of the charity’s other aims – to foster awareness and appreciation of music as an international art form and to encourage international musical co-operation.

“Surely music has a role to play in helping to combat the isolationism we see around us today. In our 2018 festival we are excited to be celebrating Nordic music and the links between Scandinavia and Yorkshire. Our team includes four outstanding musicians from Sweden, Norway and Iceland.”

Aptly, the musical culmination of the evening which followed was a whirl-wind journey around the world featuring dazzling virtuosity and breathtaking performances of music from a variety of countries.

New Paths Music Ltd.’s Registered Charity Number is 1176545. The programme for the 2018 New Paths festival can be viewed here.

No charity funds were spent on the London Launch evening.

See how brightly the universe shines in Beverley this spring

New Paths is thrilled to announce the programme for its 2018 festival. Our brochure can be viewed here. A snowfall of printed copies will be covering the nation in the coming days.

With an astonishing roster of artists including some exceptional performers from the Nordic Region and more events than ever before, the festival promises to be an absolute cracker.

Join us in beautiful Beverley this Easter for four days of luminous music making. Look out for more news about the festival in the coming days, weeks and months. Tickets go on sale this Friday.