NORTHERN ALDBOROUGH FESTIVAL 2023

Runs: Thursday 15 to Saturday 24 June

Hosted in the picturesque Roman village of Aldborough, North Yorkshire

A major national singing competition debuts at this year’s Northern Aldborough Festival.

The New Voices Singing Competition begins a nationwide hunt for best classical vocal talent of 2023.

Thanks to the support of anonymous donors and with a judging panel including Dame Felicity Lott, the festival is launching the hugely ambitious annual competition on a UK-wide scale, with a top prize of £5,000.

The semi-final and grand-final will be performed live to audiences at the end of the summer festival, which is hosted in the North Yorkshire village from Thursday 15 to Saturday 24 June.

Now in its 29th year, the Northern Aldborough Festival has become a leading fixture on the classical music calendar. A bucolic British countryside setting, Aldborough is conveniently located just half an hour from the city of York.

Its reputation is built on delivering a high quality of music and talks to rural audiences.

A charity, its core aim is to bring exceptional music to new audiences in rural locations where it would not normally be heard.

This year’s headline guest is Lucy Worsley presenting ‘Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman’. The queen of history delves into the queen of crime as she cracks the Christie code. She’ll share her research into the writer’s personal letter and papers to uncover the real Agatha.

The ten-day festival features the hottest talents from opera and classical music.

Audiences experience performances fit for the world’s biggest concert halls in the intimate settings of St Andrew’s Church in the picturesque village.

Highlights include the fastest-rising trumpet star and winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year, 26-year-old Matilda Lloyd.

The youngest winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition for 40 years, Sunwook Kim, also stars. He claimed the title aged 18 in 2006, and is now considered one of the finest players of his generation. He’ll perform a programme of Beethoven.

Bampton Classical Opera present a double bill of comedies with a rare chance for audiences to experience Haydn’s seductive comedies, The Diva and The Apothecary.

Other headline acts include The Armonico Consort, who will perform the towering musical masterpiece Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, in a spine-tingling performance in Aldborough’s beautiful village church setting.

The Tim Kliphuis Sextet, a virtuosic jazz ensemble who wow audiences across Europe, present a double bill of Brandenburg Revamped and The Five Elements, redefining the music of Bach with their colourful crossover of classical and jazz.

Glastonbury and Womad star, the Senegalese kora-player Jali Fily Cissokho, also descends on the North Yorkshire village, known for his soaring, soulful voice, accompanied by his 21-string harp.

Regular festival favourites include the Young Artists Showcase, profiling Yorkshire’s emerging young talent, and the annual Festival Service.

Aldborough’s late-night venue ‘The Shed’ also returns for concert goers who want to continue festivities in a relaxed environment with a variety of live entertainment and refreshments.

The popular Last Night Outdoor Concert sees the return of the UK’s most dynamic party band, The Big Cheese, after more than 1,000 festival-goers descended on the grounds of Aldborough Manor last year. Audiences are invited to bring a picnic and dance the night away, ending with a spectacular orchestrated firework display.