About Leeds Lieder+

Next festival in 2013

About Leeds Lieder+
7. 10. 2011 - 9. 10. 2011

“… one of the most exuberant and far-reaching festivals of art-song in the UK” The Times

Join us for a weekend celebration of art song from many countries and times and in many languages, but all inspired by the Western classical tradition. We may include music from the troubadours to the most contemporary but with a focus on the great flowering of romantic art-song, performed by some of the world’s finest international artists and some of the superb new and emerging singers and pianists. Our impressive roster of artists since 2005 includes Artistic Directors Iain Burnside, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake and, in 2011, Malcolm Martineau; international stars Florian Boesch, Barbara Bonney, Measha Brueggergosman and Christianne Stotijn; and stars in the ascendant Nicky Spence, Anna Stéphany and Elizabeth Watts. We have been privileged to welcome Elly Ameling, Dame Janet Baker and the late Dame Margaret Price as Guests of Honour.

The weekend includes six gala recitals, a celebrity masterclass, newly commissioned songs, Composers + Poets Forum and Showcase, workshop and concert of song from another culture, and many events to further understanding and appreciation of the genre including short drop-in lecture recitals, poetry readings, pre-concert talks and free fringe concerts. A guided walk led by Dr Kevin Grady, Director of Leeds Civic Trust, offers insights into the rich and varied history of the city. The festival begins with two concerts by and for young people

By establishing Leeds Lieder+ as a biennial festival of national importance we aim to:
 Introduce this music to an ever wider audience
 Inspire successive generations of performers, composers and poets
 Commission more new work and help sustain the tradition of song writing.

The city of Leeds is rich in small performance spaces perfectly suited to the intimacy of the song recital and Leeds Lieder+ audiences enjoy superb concerts in The Venue at Leeds College of Music, the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall at the University of Leeds and the Howard Assembly Room at Opera North.

Leeds Lieder+ also delivers a programme of song projects in primary and secondary schools, enabling hundreds of children to experience at close hand the power of the projected human voice, explore their own creativity by composing their own songs, and sing some of the greatest music ever written for the voice. Created for the 2009 project in secondary schools, the Cool Lieder+ Song Book of ten specially selected songs, newly translated and with simplified accompaniments alongside the originals, together with teaching notes, is available to download from www.leedslieder.org.uk as a free resource for schools. Projects in partnership with Leeds-based Pyramid of Arts involve groups of adults with profound and severe learning disabilities, exploring aspects of song and performance through multisensory sessions using a range of songs and stimuli to evoke mood, emotion and memory.

Between festivals, a lively programme including concerts, Love Your Lieder+ talks on aspects of song and informal afternoons when the Leeds Lieder+ Troubadours, a group of amateur singers and pianists and students from Leeds College of Music, perform to each other, entertains and inspires supporters and whets the appetite for the next festival.

“You have achieved something quite remarkable and I congratulate you… you are helping a supremely important art-form to survive…”
Dame Janet Baker, CH. DBE

www.leedslieder.org.uk