Press Release

10 October 2014

A NEW SEASON IS COMING TO THE HOWARD ASSEMBLY ROOM

ANNOUNCEMENT

–PLEASE NOTE THAT THE JOHN SMITH GIG ON SAT 27 NOVEMBER 2014 WILL NOW BE POSTPONED AND RESCHEDULED TO SAT 21 FEBRUARY 2015.

–THE FRÀNÇOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS GIG HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES

This Autumn, the Howard Assembly Room presents a packed season of international performance and special one-off events for Leeds including film,jazz, folk, world music, vocal recitals and chamber music. This season, the programme looks at the allure of immorality, inspired by Opera North’s production of The Coronation of Poppea- while the regular ‘Voices’ series focuses on a cappella vocal ensembles in very different contexts.

The Howard Assembly Room brings together new collaborators from both home and abroad. Some of folk’s finest musicianscome together to present a programme of music inspired by storiesand accounts of World War One inA Time and Place(19 Sep).Performed bySam Lee, Rachel Unthank, Becky Unthank and Adrian McNally,A Time and Placeis part of the ImperialWarMuseum’s Centenary Partnership Programme and includes original video design by Matt Watkins.Still Smiling (26 Sep) is a trans-Alpine collaboration between German-born musician andformer member ofNick Cave and the Bad SeedsBlixa Bargeld,and Italian electronic composer Teho Teardo. Thisspecial one-off UK performancewill seeBargeld’s sardonic, poetic lyrics and unmistakable voice combine with a palette of strings, experimentation and a dose of theatrical flair.

The seasonalso features rare UK performances from some of the most interesting globally recognised musicians.Tablamaster Zakir Hussain(17 Oct)is joined by a group of hand-picked musiciansincluding the wonderful bansoor flute player Rakesh Chaurasia,while Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen (Sat 8 Nov) comes to Leeds for a one-off UK date with his ensemble, performing gospel-influenced material from his latest album.

The Howard Assembly Room is programmed by Opera North, and many events link thematically to productions on the main stage.SopranoEmma Kirkby and lutenist Jakob Lindberg present The Golden Age Revived (13 Nov), an early music programme of songs focussing on the heroines of the Classical world. In tribute to Opera North’s production of The Coronation of Poppea,the evening will feature Purcell’s ‘Dido’s Lament’(‘When I am Laid in Earth’), Dowland’s ‘When Phoebus First did Daphne Love’ and Monteverdi’s exquisite ‘Lamento d’Arianna’.

Film screenings include the bittersweet Hollywood tearjerkerLetter from an Unknown Woman(18 Sep) directed by Max Ophuls, which sits alongsideLa Traviata,and Untold Scandal(24 Oct), the 2003 South Korean adaptation of the 18th century French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, programmed alongsideThe Coronation of Poppea.The final film of the season will be the chillingNight of the Hunter(31 Oct), screened on Halloween.

Several acts make welcome returns to the Howard Assembly Room this season including the legendary South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, who plays music from across his vast musical landscape, weaving his own atmospheric spell of heart-stopping melodies and delicately propulsive grooves.

After a five year absence the Tallis Scholars(18 Dec) return, performing an inspired programme of English Renaissance music focusing on composer William Byrd, which promises to be a festive and moving concert for the Christmas period.Bulgarian Voices Angelite (13 Dec) is a wonderful 20 strong ensemble of female singers, formed from the Bulgarian State Television choir. This GrammyAward-nominated group present a blend of classical and folk songs in a special programme for Christmas time. Christmas at Twilight (19 Dec) is a celebration of midwinter festivities through the centuries, featuring cellist Matthew Sharp, the a cappella vocal trio Voice, and a group of musicians drawing together medieval harmonies, festive folk songs and carols for a unique Christmas concert in a holly-decked, candlelit Howard Assembly Room.

Jo Nockels, Opera North Projects Manager comments:

“The Howard Assembly Room brings great performers from across the world and from across musical backgrounds together under one roof. To have the Brodsky Quartet playing Schubert, tabla genius Zakir Hussain, and the Brazilian freedom songs of Mônica Vasconcelos all here in the same week encapsulates the diversity and excitement on offer to audiences in the Autumn season. We hope it’s a season with so many great moments of music, performance and film, that it’s impossible to choose a favourite show!”

More highlights from the Howard Assembly Room Autumn season include:

  • James Yorkston David Thomas Broughton withJuice Vocal Ensemblethis double-bill brings together the original music of Leeds bornDavid Thomas Broughton and Fence Collective singer-songwriter James Yorkston(27 Sep).
  • Scottish folk singer-songwriter King Creosote will perform his powerful and cinematic new album From Scotland with Love(11 Oct).
  • Angels and Maidens the Brodsky Quartet perform Schubert’s Deathand the Maiden alongside George Crumb’s Black Angels using a range of unusual performance techniques including shouting, chanting, whistling, whispering, gongs, maracas, and crystal glasses(15 Oct).
  • Mônica Vasconcelos will perform Brazilian Freedom Songs with a team of top musicians from Brazil and Britain including Brazilian singer and guitarist Ife Tolentino(16 Oct).
  • Strauss: Enoch Ardentells the heart-wrenching story of a shipwrecked sailor who returns home after many years to find that the world, and his loved ones have long given him up for dead(30 Oct).
  • Australian composer and producer Ben Frost performs his new album AURORA which features live manipulation of electronics and guitar noise and drumbeats firing in all directions(15 Nov).
  • Canadian singer-songwriterFrazey Ford from the much-loved Canadian band the Be Good Tanyas makes her debut at the Howard Assembly Room (21 Nov).
  • That Night Follows Dayis a rehearsed reading by Tim Etchells, the Artistic Director of internationally renowned theatre company Forced Entertainment(23 Nov).
  • Jim Whiteand Giorgos Xylourisperform asXylourisWhitebringing together two masters of contemporary music: Jim White, founder of the internationally acclaimed trio Dirty Three, and Giorgos Xylouris (aka Psarogiorgis) the master lutenist(28 Nov).
  • Following the storming sell-out success of the Family Bluegrass and West African Music Interactive Performance, Vocal Harmony is the latest interactive workshop for families to participate in (6 Dec).
  • Violinist Chloë Hanslip and internationally renowned pianist Danny Driver bring together two giants of Russian music - Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev, whose music spans the turn of the 20th century (12 Dec)

Tickets available for all shows from the box office on 0844 848 2727 or

/ENDS

For further information, images or artist interviews please contact:

Molly Fetherston, Communications Assistant, 0113 223 3590

Sian Dudley, Press Officer, 0113 223 3528

Julia Gregg, Press & PR Manager, 0113 223 3526