Let’s make a Celebration Blissfull!

Let’s make a Celebration Blissfull!

On 27 March 1975, Sir Arthur Bliss died aged 83. Getting on for half-a-century later, the question facing the combined brains of the Bliss Trust (founded in 1986 by the composer’s widow, Lady Trudy Bliss) and the committee members of its supporting organisation, the...
Great Expectations

Great Expectations

Jack Van Zandt explores Walter Goehr’s contributions to British music Hitler’s rise to power in early 1930s Germany and his subsequent chokehold on culture created a wave of émigré refugees of accomplished artists and scientists, many of whom were welcomed to the UK...
Obituary: composer Geoff Cummings-Knight

Obituary: composer Geoff Cummings-Knight

June 1947 – 21 October 2025 The composer Geoff Cummings-Knight died on 21 October following a recent stroke. He had endured nine years of severe health issues (kidney-related) and so this turned out to be a welcome release for him. He was 78. Geoff was born in Colwyn...
A German in Whitchurch

A German in Whitchurch

As the glorious Llangollen Canal meanders through the borders of Cheshire, Shropshire and North Wales it touches the hidden gem of Whitchurch. Up the narrow St.Mary’s Street I was drawn inside the the Old Town Hall Vaults where the enchanting English Folk Group...
Opera North: Black Spider

Opera North: Black Spider

Leeds Grand Theatre 26 September 2025 What more refreshing a way for a opera company to launch its new season than with a British work involving the next generation of singers, musicians, creative technicians and administrators as well as new audiences for opera....
Review: Opera North – Earth & Sky

Review: Opera North – Earth & Sky

A field of butterflies on the Pennine Moors, ethereal poetry and fascinating music in your ears as you explore the wild landscape above Haworth in West Yorkshire.  What’s this got to do with Opera? This is Earth & Sky, Opera North’s extraordinary immersive...