Leeds Song

12/04/2025

Christoph Prégardien tenor
Joseph Middleton piano

“His lyric tenor voice had a youthful glow, yet he sang with plaintive beauty and piercing insight.” (The New York Times)

Precise vocal control, clear diction, intelligent musicality, and an ability to get to the heart of everything he sings all ensure Christoph Prégardien’s place among the world’s foremost lyric tenors. Especially revered as a Lieder singer he appears in all the most important musical centres, while much of his repertoire has been captured on a discography of over 150 albums a great number of which are award-winners. It is with enormous pleasure that we welcome him to Leeds to close the 2025 Festival performing Schubert’s ever-green cycle with Festival Director, Joseph Middleton.

11/04/2025

Cellist and musicologist Dr George Kennaway, Visiting Research Fellow at Huddersfield and Leeds Universities, returns to Leeds Lieder to give one of his popular pre-concert talks.

11/04/2025

'At the Leeds Lieder festival, reborn this year as Leeds Song, it felt startling, almost subversive to hear songs about the wild emotions and stark realities of pregnancy, baby loss and motherhood from a mother’s point of view.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Tackling themes of pregnancy, baby loss and motherhood, Grime’s new song cycle was sensitively performed by Alder, the British soprano

11/04/2025

At the newly renamed Leeds Song, soprano Louise Alder gave a wonderful rendition of a new four-part piece by Helen Grime ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Giving the London premiere of James MacMillan’s Second Violin Concerto, the Scottish violinist played it like she truly believed in it

10/04/2025

Pre-concert Talk with Helen Grime

We are thrilled to welcome one of the most distinctive compositional voices of our time to Leeds Lieder. She came to public attention in 2003, when her Oboe Concerto won a British Composer Award and between 2011 and 2015 she was Associate Composer to the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. In 2016 she was appointed Composer in Residence at Wigmore Hall in London. Conductors who have performed her works include Sir Simon Rattle, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Harding, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Oliver Knussen and Sir Mark Elder. Helen’s pre-concert talk will illuminate her new song cycle Seasons, which will receive its world première in the concert following this talk.

“Grime has as precise an ear as any contemporary composer I can think of…” (Paul Driver, The Sunday Times)

09/04/2025

Freddie Ballentine tenor
Kunal Lahiry piano

Please note this is a standing event.
Doors and bar open from 7pm. Music starts at 8pm.

This recital is a passion product born out of the strife of the Black Lives Matter movement. While witnessing the outright hatred hurled at BIPOC and LGBT, Freddie and Kunal felt it was time to build something that could celebrate their uniqueness, while still honouring those who fought and came before. The programme is based on four pillars, representing moments in our lives and in history. Isolation, titled “Shut me out” explores our forced separation from the rest of society, but also the peace we’re able to find within that removal. Damnation, titled “Going Up in Smoke” recalls the atrocities surrounding the AIDS Crisis. Remembrance or “Requiem” pays homage to those who did not live to see the progress we’ve made. And finally Revolution, titled “So Loud, So Proud” explores our resilience as a people, and our joy and pride which can never be extinguished. Overall, we wish this recital to leave the audience with feelings and joy and hope for the future.

09/04/2025

“… what do you get if you speed-date composers from northern colleges with local poets? The answer is ‘A Leeds Songbook’, an inspiring portrait of the city and its inhabitants across the centuries. The atmosphere was relaxed but the buzz was electric…” (Clive Paget, ‘The Guardian’, June 2023).

A continuation of the acclaimed 2023 ‘A Leeds Songbook’, the Composers & Poets Forum adds further creative contributions to our song collection. Stories about the people of Leeds, told in poems by the people of Leeds, set to music by composers brought to Leeds and performed by our Leeds Lieder Young Artists. Firmly rooted in the locality, our songbook will draw many threads across disciplines. These Forums have been built on collaborations made over the Spring and workshops during the Festival. Come and hear the fruits of their labours in today’s exciting showcase!

08/04/2025

🎙️ Tune in!

Freddie Ballentine and Kunal Lahiry will be chatting with BBC Radio 3’s In Tune about their powerful upcoming show Our People.

Don’t miss this chance to hear more about the stories, music, and inspiration behind the performance.

📻 Catch it on BBC Radio 3 – and get a glimpse of what’s to come!

Listen live to BBC Radio 3 on BBC Sounds

08/04/2025

Pre-concert Talk with Dr Katy Hamilton

Dr Katy Hamilton has become one of our most popular speakers in recent years. Her engaging and insightful introductions shine a light on repertoire heard at the festival. Tonight she discusses Katharina Konradi and Joseph Middleton’s eclectic programme.

08/04/2025

We are very sorry to announce that Alice Coote is currently indisposed and will be unable to perform on Friday, 11 April. We send her our very best wishes for a swift recovery.

In her place, we are truly delighted to welcome Beth Taylor, a fast-rising star with a dazzling mezzo-soprano and an irresistible stage presence. Beth brings a new programme that weaves together the intimate and the grand: songs by Mahler, Piaf, Schumann, Ivor Novello, Liza Lehmann, and, in a thrilling finale, Elgar’s Sea Pictures.

She’ll be joined by the celebrated pianist Julius Drake. We’re so grateful to Beth for stepping in with such artistry and generosity.

We are sorry to announce that Alice Coote is indisposed and unable to perform her recital at the Leeds Song Festival this Friday evening, 11 April. We are delighted to announce that Beth Taylor has stepped in to give this recital in her place, performing a new programme of works by Mahler, Piaf, Sch...

07/04/2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review from musicOMH
'The singing and playing in ‘Rückblick’ was positively incandescent, with the suppressed rage of the first lines giving way to the transcendent memory of the idyllic past, and the melancholy final line drifting into the air with utter abandon.'

Opera + Classical Music Reviews: Winterreise review – Florian Boesch and Joseph Middleton excel on the first day of Leeds Song 2025

06/04/2025

Pre Concet Talk with Richard Stokes

06/04/2025

Yesterday's recital with Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton was a beautiful start to Leeds Song Festival 2025. Thoughtful, moving performances full of colour and grace :)

📷 Photos by Tom Arben

05/04/2025

Leeds Lieder Patron, and Professor of Lieder at the Royal Academy of Music, Richard Stokes, returns to Leeds Lieder to give one of his typically illuminating talks. As one of the world’s leading authorities on poetry set to music, Richard will shed fresh light on a frequently-discussed masterpiece, Schubert’s Winterreise.

05/04/2025

It's not your average Monday night, admittedly, but this week why not grab a pint while kicking back to some music composed by a medieval nun and brewer!

The Erda Ensemble will celebrate women in music and brewing at the Springwell Taproom on Monday.

03/04/2025

🎶 Evening Post on Leeds Song’s New Chapter 🎶

The Yorkshire Evening Post has featured our exciting transformation as we become Leeds Song! As we mark 20 years of championing art song, this change reflects our commitment to making song accessible to all—honouring tradition while embracing new audiences.

This year’s festival (April 5–12) features world-class performances, bold new commissions, and inspiring community projects.

Join us as we fill Leeds with song! 🎟️ www.leedssong.com

An acclaimed organisation in Leeds that has championed art song for 20 years has changed its name.

03/04/2025

🎶 Leeds Song at 20: New name, new chapter, same mission

Classical Music UK has published a fantastic article about Leeds Song and our journey over the past 20 years! Festival Director Joseph Middleton reflects on our evolution, the decision to rebrand from Leeds Lieder, and what this year’s festival represents for the city and beyond.

Join us this Saturday for a festival that embraces the past, celebrates the present, and looks boldly to the future. Tickets and info: www.leedssong.com

Read the full article here:

As the festival formerly known as Leeds Lieder reveals its new identity, festival director and pianist Joseph Middleton explores the organisation’s impetus for change and reflects on 20 years of music-making in Leeds