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Books
Poem Of The Week: Happiness By Blake Morrison
Steve Whitaker
Features Writer
Image by Pexels from Pixabay
Happiness ...but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain THOMAS HARDY Cloudless skies, old roses coming into flower, a breeze flicking through The Mayor of Casterbridge. Toasted granary bread with damson jam, a pair of goldfinches on the bird-feeder. The whiff of fennel and rosemary, the farmer’s quad bike leaving the field.
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Books
A Century Of The Thistle: Hugh Macdiarmid And Scotland’s Modernist Voice
Andrew Liddle
Guest Writer
Hugh MacDiarmid. Image provided by Carcanet Press.
2026 marks the centenary of a landmark in Scottish literature, though so far little appears to be happening to mark the occasion. Hugh MacDiarmid, whose A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle reshaped Scottish poetry through inventive language and modernist ambition, might not have been surprised by the lack of fanfare.
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Review
Classical Music: French Orchestral Favourites
Andrew Palmer
Group Editor
The programme itself is a familiar parade of favourites — Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice, Debussy's Clair de lune, Chabrier's Marche joyeuse, Ravel's Une barque sur l'océan, Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre and selections from Bizet's Carmen Suites — and the playing is, as one would expect from this hand-picked ensemble, exquisite.
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Review
Albums: Melanie C - Sweat
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
Sweat is an album that lives up to its title. Melanie C has made something of a name for herself with her dance-leaning anthems, and Sweat is chock-a-block full of them. Yet, these aren't just meaningless dance floor anthems with filler lyrics; she has retained the honesty of her lyrical approach that has become something of a signature of her solo releases.
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Review
Albums: Sarah Jane Morris And Tony Remy - The Sisterhood 2
Graham Clark
Music Correspondent
The album starts off with a folk tune, Longing To Be Free, dedicated to influential American folk singer and activist Peggy Seeger. The emotion in Morris’ voice comes through on the track, she herself sounding like a reformer and aiming to lead the way.
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Music
Classical Music: Arcadi Volodos Plays Schubert And Schumann
Andrew Palmer
Group Editor
Seven years is a long silence from a pianist of Arcadi Volodos's stature, and the wait for a new recording from the St Petersburg-born musician has been considerable. His return, captured live in the architecturally arresting surroundings of Frank Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, finds him once again in the company of Schubert, to whose music he has devoted some of his most penetrating recorded statements, and turning for the first time on disc to Schumann's Kinderszenen.
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Review
Albums: Kacey Musgraves Middle of Nowhere
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
From the opening track, there is a sense of ease that runs through the record. Acoustic guitars shimmer instead of twang aggressively, percussion stays loose and organic, and melodies unfold with an inviting softness. But beneath the comfort is sharp craft. Musgraves has always had a talent for writing lines that feel conversational until they suddenly land with a sting, and Middle of Nowhere is full of those moments.
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Music
Jazz: There's a Yearnin'
Andrew Palmer
Group Editor
There’s a Yearnin' There’s a Yearnin Music for Winds and Voice Cruxifiction (not a word) (Lederer); Dolphy Wind Sextet; Coleman Forms and Sounds 1,2,3; Nelson/lyric LaRose Images; Lem and Aide; Nocturne; There’s a Yearnin’; Three Seconds Little (i) Music, May 2026 Jeff Lederer's Ther…
12:00 AM 2nd May 2026
Festivals
Percussionist To “Play The Landscape”
Delia Stevens 'playing the trees' of Intake Wood near Fremington on 23 April, in advance of her Swaledale Festival performance on 28 May
Visitors to this year’s Swaledale Festival can expect to experience the Yorkshire Dales in a whole new way, thanks to support from the National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund. From woodland performances to music shaped by the landscape itself, the Fund is helping the festival connect people more deeply with the Dales’ natural environment.
P.ublished 1st May 2026
York Theatre To Host Bold New Adaptation Of The Great Gatsby By Local Company
From the 14th to 16th May, Theatre@41 in York will host a brand-new production of The Great Gatsby, performed by local repertory company Pop Yer Clogs Theatre.
P.ublished 1st May 2026
Review
Classical Music: Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Andrew Palmer
Group Editor
Runnicles confidently judges the pace from the stark severity of the opening Trauermarsch, which features well-phrased trumpet solos. Runnicles is a conductor who paints in broad strokes without sacrificing detail, and each section of the orchestra phrases with evident care. The drama is conveyed with real conviction, and he shifts mood with the kind of assurance that comes from long acquaintance with this music.
P.ublished 1st May 2026
Books
Longlist For Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2026
Harrogate International Festivals today announced the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, now in its twenty second year.
P.ublished 30th April 2026
Manic Street Preachers And Suede Announces Co-Headline Tour
Two of the UK’s most pioneering and celebrated bands Manic Street Preachers and Suede have announced a co-headline tour of some of the UK’s biggest arenas for autumn 2026. The tour kicks off at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 28th October, before hitting stages in Leeds, Manchester’s massive new Co-op Live, Cardiff Utilita Arena over two nights, London’s O2, Birmingham, Nottingham and Bournemouth.
P.ublished 1st May 2026
Review
Ne-Yo And Akon - Having The Time Of Their Lives In Leeds
Graham Clark
Music Correspondent
Akon and Ne-Yo All Photos: Graham Clark
The idea of having two artists tour together with each taking turns on stage is not an entirely new one: Paul Simon and Sting pulled it off together on tour many years ago. Whilst their own music might have been entirely different from each other, the pairing of Ne-Yo and Akon is a good one – both come from the same pop, soul and R&B backgrounds.
P.ublished 1st May 2026
Review
Louis Tomlinson Takes A New Direction In Leeds
As the former One Direction singer, Louis Tomlinson took to the stage at Leeds First Direct Arena; the confetti cannons exploded in a sea of yellow as he, along with the rest of the band, arrived on stage to perform Lemonade – a track from his latest album, How Did We Get Here. That is a question which finding the answer to is not that easy.
P.ublished 1st May 2026
Film
British Comedy Hot Flash Goes Into Post-Production
Hot Flash, a comedy feature film which delves into midlife themes such as pursuing long-held ambitions, imposter syndrome, and menopause, is working with York firm Motion Post as it prepares for an autumn release.
P.ublished 1st May 2026
Britain’s Favourite Clarinettist Heads To Northern Aldborough Festival
Almost ten years since her last appearance in Aldborough, the famed clarinettist Emma Johnson MBE is making a much-anticipated return with her star-studded trio. Described by The Times as ‘Britain's favourite clarinettist’, Emma Johnson is one of the few clarinet players to have made a career as a soloist.
P.ublished 30th April 2026
Interview
Kirk Brandon Chats About Spear of Destiny's New Album Janus
Having spent the tail end of 2024 revisiting classic 80s works on tour with The Skids, 2025 & 2026 are the years of Janus for Spear of Destiny.
P.ublished 30th April 2026
Music
Settle Orchestra Seeks New Leader To Shape Next Chapter Of Musical Excellence
Photo: Stephen Garnett
Settle Orchestra has announced an exciting opportunity for an accomplished violinist to take on the role of Orchestra Leader from September 2027, as the current postholder prepares to step down after many years of dedicated service.
P.ublished 29th April 2026
Theatre
Barnum- Roll Up, Roll Up, The Circus Is Coming To Town
Sarah Crown
Theatre Correspondent
The Cast Of Barnum Photo Credit: Pamela Raith Photography
Based upon the life and ambitions of a real-life American showman, Phineas Taylor Barnum, Barnum has been entertaining audiences since the early 1980’s, when the role of Barnum was played by Michael Crawford, of the Some Mothers do have ‘em fame.
P.ublished 29th April 2026
Music
Spellbound Alex Warren
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
Alex Warren Photo: Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Alex Warren has had a phenomenal couple of years. The former viral TikTok icon made an initial move towards a career in music back in 2021; however, while achieving international chart success with several of his singles, it was not until 2025's Ordinary that he hit the stratosphere.
P.ublished 27th April 2026
Music
Blue - Still In The Pink In York
Graham Clark
Music Correspondent
Twenty-five years ago Blue arrived onto the music world by becoming one of the biggest pop bands of the new millennium. Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Duncan James and Antony Costa were seldom out of the charts with songs that became the soundtrack to the young lives of their fans.
P.ublished 27th April 2026
Music
York Opera Celebrate Tits 60th Anniversary With Die Fledermaus
2026 marks a big year for York Opera as they celebrate both their 60th anniversary, and 40 years since their first appearance at York Theatre Royal.
P.ublished 27th April 2026
Review
Manchester Must Dance - Mike Pickering
As the resident DJ at the famed Hacienda in Manchester, Mike Pickering was there at the forefront of the euphoria of the acid house and dance movements. In his informative and compelling new book,Manchester Must Dance he tells the story of his time at the legendary club and life afterwards when he formed the soul and pop act M People.
P.ublished 25th April 2026
Review
Classical Music: Mendelssohn Works For Solo Piano, Vol. 3
The Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6, is virtuosic brilliance of the most demanding sort, bristling with technical complexities that do not for a moment faze Donohoe. The performance is spotless. And then, after all that brilliance, Mendelssohn has a surprise in store: once Donohoe has taken us energetically through the finale, the music returns to the opening allegretto con espressione of the first movement, framing the sonata with quite the loveliest of endings — beautifully captured here by a pianist whose interpretative depth is by now second nature.
P.ublished 25th April 2026
Music
Classical Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams Rise, Heart
Founded under the auspices of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, the label has built a catalogue that consistently rescues, restores and reilluminates corners of the RVW repertoire that the bigger labels have long overlooked. Rise, Heart is another exemplary addition to that enterprise and one of the most rewarding Vaughan Williams discs of recent memory. The premise is characteristically thoughtful: every track here is a first recording of the work in the version presented. At its centre stands the Five Mystical Songs, those luminous settings of George Herbert first heard in 1911, given in Vaughan Williams's own arrangement for voice, piano and string quintet, made around 1925 and seldom performed.
P.ublished 25th April 2026
Review
Albums: Zayn’s KONNAKOL
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
There’s something refreshing about how he leans into his influences here. The album threads together R&B, pop, and rhythmic ideas inspired by South Asian traditions with a light, curious touch. Rather than presenting these elements as statements, he lets them breathe—subtle vocal flourishes, intricate phrasing, and layered harmonies that echo a wider musical heritage without feeling forced. It’s playful in its exploration, as if he’s rediscovering sounds he’s always carried with him.
P.ublished 25th April 2026
Review
Albums: Dames Brown - Take Me As I Am
Graham Clark
Music Correspondent
Dames Brown is a three-piece Detroit powerhouse vocal group who bring their version of funk, soul and gospel to the masses on this, their debut album.
P.ublished 25th April 2026
Music
Sari Schorr Set To Premiere Her New Studio Album ‘Running Wild’ In Full During Headline UK 2026 Tour
Sari Schoor
US chart-topping American singer-songwriter Sari Schorr is returning to UK stages to perform twelve headline shows in April and May – and has announced that she will premiere her eagerly anticipated new studio album across the UK dates. Sari has been working across multiple albums, with Running Wild—set for release later in 2026. The album is regarded as her most ambitious to date.
P.ublished 23rd April 2026
London Concertante Presents: Two Candlelit Concerts At Leeds Minster
This spring and summer, London Concertante brings two candlelit concerts to Leeds Minster, offering audiences the chance to experience four distinct programmes across the season in one of Yorkshire’s most historic spaces.
P.ublished 22nd April 2026
Music
The RPO Celebrates 80 Years Of Music-Making
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has announced its London season for 2026–27, celebrating 80-years of music-making in the capital.
P.ublished 22nd April 2026
Dance
A Decade Of Passion Unsullied By Covid
A Matthew Bourne dance production is best summed up by the lady to my side: “Bourne is for people who think they don’t like ballet!” And whether they came for The Red Shoes, the glorious sets and costumes or Bernard Herrmann’s music, it was clear that there was an air of silent admiration in Bradford’s Alhambra last night, as New Adventures returned in style following their Covid cancell…
P.ublished 22nd April 2026
Shed Seven Announce Autumn Tour
Following a huge run of success that has seen them secure two UK Number 1 albums in 2024 with A Matter Of Time and Liquid Gold, and as they celebrate 30 years of A Maximum High and their defining anthem Chasing Rainbows, Shed Seven have announced. the return of their iconic winter tour, Shedcember X, spanning multiple dates across the UK this November and December.
P.ublished 21st April 2026
Review
Rick Astley At Manchester's Co-Op Arena
Nearly 40 years since his debut single, Never Gonna Give You Up, catapulted him from drummer turned studio 'tea boy' into a #1 charting international pop star, Rick Astley is the first act to ever return to headline a show at the UK's largest indoor arena, Manchester's Co-Op Arena.
P.ublished 20th April 2026
Books
Poet Laureate Marks ZSL’s 200th Anniversary With New Nature Poem
Simon Armitage’s ‘The Moon and the Zoo’ explores the enduring connection between wildlife and people in honour of conservation charity’s anniversary British Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has written a major new poem celebrating wildlife - and the responsibility we all have to protect it - to mark the 200th anniversary of international conservation charity ZSL.
P.ublished 20th April 2026
Review
Albums: Jessie Ware Superbloom
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
There’s also a sense of lived-in joy running through the album. Snippets of everyday life and understated details give it a human touch, grounding the polished production in something real. It makes the listening experience feel less like a performance and more like an invitation into her world.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Interview
Eurovision26: Monroe
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
Monroe
With five wins under their belt, France is pretty high up on the leaderboard of Eurovision winners. However, their last win was nearly 50 years ago – when, in 1977, Marie Maryam took home the trophy for the iconic L'Oiseau et l'Enfant.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Music
Fast Money Music
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
Fast Money Music is the guest-packed, nostalgic hit from the alias of Nick Hinman. Written across a decade, Fast Money Music explores longing, identity, rejection, and, above all, how timing is everything. "It’s part novel, part autobiography, part love story, part tragedy, and part comedy: life on life’s terms" says Nick.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Review
Albums: T'Pau Be Wonderful
Rather than revisiting past glories, T’Pau has created something that feels relevant in 2026. It’s an album that respects their legacy while refusing to be confined by it.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Books
The Danger Of Secrets: A Dark Death By Alice Fitzpatrick
A cosy crime, this novel is set on a suitably isolated, fictitious Welsh island which is inhabited by a close-knit population who look out for each other and don’t seek publicity.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Books
Poem Of The Week: In Passing By Lisel Mueller
In Passing How swiftly the strained honey of afternoon light flows into darkness and the closed bud shrugs off its special mystery in order to break into blossom: as if what exists, exists so that it can be lost and become precious Lisel Mueller’s poem of natural evanescence is rendered with a delicacy that befits a barely perceptible transitioning of forms.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Review
Albums: Skindred - You Got This
Whilst in the past Skindred have sometimes been seen as the perfect festival band to get the crowd energised, You Got This sees the band come firmly into the spotlight with a set of songs that takes the band up into a higher league.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Review
Classical Music: Arvo Pärt: The Complete Symphonies
Andrew Palmer
Group Editor
Chandos has performed a genuine service in assembling all four of Arvo Pärt's symphonies on a single disc. Complete recordings of Pärt's symphonies are rare, and the works themselves bear little relationship to one another, each representing a distinct phase of a restless and searching creative life.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Review
Classical Music: Prokofiev Symphony 7
Andrew Palmer
Group Editor
The Andante espressivo slow movement is especially well-handled, the LSO responding to Noseda's direction with playing of real tenderness, while the finale is simply terrific — exhilarating in its forward drive before the symphony subsides into stillness following some lovely harp glissandos. A thrilling release, and one that brings a satisfying conclusion to what has been a distinguished Prokofiev symphony cycle.
P.ublished 18th April 2026
Review
Mamas Gun - Reliving The Golden Days In Leeds
Graham Clark
Music Correspondent
Photo: Graham Clark
Masters of modern soul, Mamas Gun have surprisingly never played a concert in Leeds – that is, until the soulful outfit arrived at the Brudenell Social Club as part of their current European tour.
P.ublished 17th April 2026
Music
Blackpool Tower's Former Boy Wonder Brings Theatre Organ Magic To Saltaire
One of Britain's best-loved theatre organists is coming to Saltaire this May for what promises to be a gloriously entertaining Sunday afternoon.
P.ublished 16th April 2026
Interview
From Raglan To The World: Muroki Brings His Sun-Soaked Sound To The Great Escape
Raglan’s Muroki arrives at The Great Escape with serious momentum behind him. Since his self-released debut caught the attention of Benee and earned spins from Elton John on his Rocket Hour show, the Kenyan–Kiwi artist has been quietly stacking a catalogue of sun-soaked, genre-blurring gems—including the platinum hit Wavy.
P.ublished 16th April 2026
Theatre
TakeOver Festival Returns To York Theatre Royal From 26–30 May
The week-long festival features student-led performances alongside professional shows, workshops and community activities. Student showcases include murder mystery, verbatim theatre on sex work, a period musical set in 1923 Soho, and a convict ship drama — with age guidance of 16+ on some productions.
P.ublished 15th April 2026
Festivals
Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Returns For Biggest Year Ever
Harrogate International Festivals has revealed the full programme for the 2026 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, the world’s largest and most prestigious celebration of crime fiction, at a special reception at Hachette, Carmelite House in London. This year marks Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival’s twenty-third year.
P.ublished 15th April 2026
Interview
In Conversation With Blue
The last twelve months have seen the return of many boy bands who first scored success in the late nineties and early noughties. Whilst many have ridden their return on live shows performing their big hits, none have actually gone back into the recording studio to make a new album – with one exception, Blue.
P.ublished 15th April 2026
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