We’re 103 years old!
Last year we expanded to provide three separate events in or year’s calendar. For the 2024/5 season. we have grown yet another!
We have, of course, the main Festival. This year it runs from Saturday 8th March to Saturday 15th March. Like last year, legislation is restricting what we can do during school time, so we will be using the full eight days, probably including Sunday afternood and evening. We are pleased to say that our regular “Final Saturday” is restored to us and so the concert will revert to the Saturday evening. All classes will be held in Christ Church.
Our adjudicator will be Robert Marsh and we’re delighted to welcome back our regular accompanist Tim Kennedy.
As well as the main Festival, we are repeating the hugely successful SongShop in November. This is a day for junior schools to come together and to join into a single choir, under the inspired leadership of Steven Roberts. This will take place on Friday 15th November. Participating schools should have this in their diaries.
Last year’s “PianoShop” is followed this time by a Woodwind Workshop on 22nd September. This is a free Sunday afternoon at Trinity Methodist Church for all teachers and their students, along with parents and children.
It is led by the fabulous Perfect Fourth saxophone quartet who will be giving a recital after we have heard some of our current woodwind performers playing a variety of different Festival pieces. With tea and cake thrown in, what’s not to like?
Last year, on the back of a concert in Skipton by recorder ensemble Palisander, we squeezed in a Recorder Masterclass in the Town Hall in February. This was such a success that (grant applications permitting), we are planning to follow this with a workshop in June 2025 with Piers Adams, the ‘reigning recorder virtuoso in the world today’.
That should be fun!
The syllabus for the March 2025 Festival has been somewhat delayed but when it is ready, you will find the much-requested draft timetable of classes, so you should have some idea of when your entry will take place. We clearly can’t set this in stone. Indeed, we can promise that, once all the entries are in, we will have to move some things about because we do try to create a programme that minimises travel for individual performers and which makes best use of our accompanist and adjudicator.
Booking
You are strongly encouraged to book online – and you can pay online too. When you come to Christ Church in March, we’ll also have a card reader available for all of our Front of House transactions.
Our online booking scheme has proved to be far easier and more intuitive than the old one. You can’t actually make any entries till the Syllabus is finalised but you can make a start! Visit our Bookings page at playandperform.co.uk/skipton where you can register yourself and have a look around.