Recitals
9 May Benjamin Saunders
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our opening weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is Benjamin Saunders, Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds. His programme includes music for both organ and accordion, with works by Bach, Scarlatti and Herschel.
Bach: Sinfonia from Cantata 29
Satie: Je te veux
Scarlatti: Sonata in E, K.380
Lebeau: Aubade
Trad.: Reel à Phylias
Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G major (BWV 572 & 577)
Warren and Matthews: I only have eyes for you
Herschel: Sonata in F
Willis: Florita: A Tango
15 May Thomas Leech
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is Thomas Leech, Director of the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme, and his programme includes works by Bach, Errollyn Wallen and Dupré.
Buxtehude: Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 149
Bach: Trio in G, BWV 1027a
Buxtehude: Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin/Klag-Lied, BuxWV 76
Pachelbel: Arietta
Whitlock: Impromptu and Fanfare
Wallen: Tiger
Tailleferre: Nocturne
Dupré: Prelude & Fugue in G minor
22 May Carlos Paterson (Spain)
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is Carlos Paterson from Spain, and his programme includes works by Narvajas, Franck and Guilmant.
Nebra: Batalla de Clarines
López: Pastoral
Narvajas: 4 Versos
Franck: Choral no.3 in A minor
Guilmant: Élévation
Tournemire: Choral-Improvisation sur ‘Victimae paschali laudes’
5 June Valerie Barr and Djordje Gajic [Accordion]
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
This week is Accordion week at the Festival and we’re delighted to be joined by Djordje Gajic, Head of Accordion at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Valerie Barr, Accordion Tutor for the Diocese of Leeds. They will present a collection of solo and duet pieces, including organ classics arranged for the accordion.
Victor Vlasov: I. Walk of the Prisoners, II. Criminals and III. Wood Cutting
Gioachino Rossini: Figaro’s Aria (The Barber of Seville)
Astor Piazzolla: Bandoneon Concerto ‘Aconcagua’
Giacomo Puccini: Crisantemi
7 June Triskelion [Clarinet, Saxophone and Accordion Trio]
Leeds Cathedral: 7.00 pm–8.00 pm
Triskelion is a new collaboration between Valerie Barr (accordion), Richard Scholfield (saxophone) and Cathal Killeen (clarinet). As a trio, they aim to present new and reimagined music to communities throughout the UK via innovative programming, new transcriptions and original compositions. Drawing on the shared cultural history of Ireland and Scotland, along with their own classical training, the trio present their home traditions of music and contrast this proud heritage with original arrangements of classical favourites and new music, including works by J.S. Bach, Astor Piazzolla and James MacMillan.
Saint-Saëns: Tarantella for Flute, Clarinet and Piano
Warren Benson: Aeolian Song
Malcolm Arnold, arr. R. Scholfield: Four Scottish Dances
Graham Fitkin: Braemar
J.S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor BWV 1043
James MacMillan: After the Tryst
Astor Piazzolla, arr. R. Scholfield: Escualo
12 June David Bendix Nielsen (Denmark)
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is David Bendix Nielsen from Denmark, and his programme includes music by Widor, Stanley and Stanford.
Widor: Allegro (Symph no.6, op.42 no.2)
Thierry Escaich: Cinq versets sur le ‘Victimae Paschali’
Stanley: Voluntary in D, op.6 no.6
Stanford: Fantasia & Toccata, op.57
14 June Kit Downes
Leeds Cathedral: 7.00–8.30 pm
Join BBC Jazz Award-winning and Mercury Music Award-nominated Kit Downes for a special performance at Leeds Cathedral. Spend an evening with one of the most creative jazz musicians of his generation, as he explores the kaleidoscopic soundscape of the Cathedral organ in this unique event.
Programme TBC
19 June Frederick Hohman (USA)
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is Frederick Hohman from the USA, and his programme includes Bach alongside transcriptions by Tchaikovsky and Wagner.
Harry Rowe Shelly: Fanfare d’Orgue (Étude de Concert) [1904]
Jean Sibelius: Finlandia
Johann Sebastian Bach (arr. Hohman): Arioso from Orchestral Suite #3 in D, BWV 1068
Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata in F major, BWV 540
Charles-Marie Widor: Allegro vivace from Organ Symphony No. 5 in F, Opus 42 #1
Thomas Arne (arr. Hawke): Flute Solo
Frederick Hohman: The Homecoming [1989]
Henri Mulet: Tu es petra from Byzantine Sketches
Jeremiah Clarke: Festive Trumpet Voluntary in E
26 June Darius Battiwalla
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is Darius Battiwalla, Leeds City Organist, and his programme includes works by Mendelssohn, Bach and Reubke.
Mendelssohn: Sonata IV
Bach: Prelude & Fugue in F min, BWV 534
Reubke: Sonata on the 94th Psalm
2 July Keyboard Studies Programme Celebratory Concert
Leeds Cathedral: 3.00–4.00 pm
Now an annual feature, we're thrilled that young students from the Diocese of Leeds Keyboard Studies Programme will have the opportunity to play in this celebratory concert at Leeds Cathedral, featuring accordionists, pianists and organists.
Programme TBC
3 July Angela Metzger (Germany)
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is renowned German concert organist Angela Metzger, and her programme includes works by Reger, Mamlok and Vierne.
Reger: Toccata & Fugue in D major, op.69 nr. 6 & 7
Demessieux: from Sept Méditations sur le Saint-Esprit“, op.6:
No.6 Paix (Peace)
No.7 Lumière (Light)
Schumann: from Sechs Stücke in kanonischer Form, op.56:
No.3: Etwas schneller
No.4: Innig
No.5: Nicht zu schnell
Ursula Mamlok: Festive Sounds: (1995)
Prelude
Interlude I
Capriccio
Interlude II
Postlude
Vierne: Final (Symphony no.1, op.14)
Kindly supported by the Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Foundation
10 July David Grealy
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for our weekly recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is David Grealy, Assistant Organist at Leeds Cathedral, and his programme includes music by Bach and Franck.
Vierne: Allegro risoluto; Cantabile (Symphony no.2)
Franck: Choral no.1 in E
Guilmant: Pastorale (Symphony no.1)
Bach: Prelude & Fugue in E minor, BWV 548
17 July David Pipe
Leeds Cathedral: 1.15–2.00 pm
Join us for the final recital at Leeds Cathedral as together we celebrate Leeds International Organ Festival, in partnership with Leeds City of Culture 2023. This week’s recitalist is David Pipe, the Festival’s Artistic Director and Organist at Leeds Cathedral. His programme includes Coates, Bruhns and Florence Price.
Smart: Postlude in D
Bruhns: Praeludium in E minor
Cecilia McDowall: Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt
Coates: Knightsbridge March
Krebs: Fantasia in F minor
Britton: Variations on ‘I got rhythm’