2017 Harrogate International Festivals Newsletter

HARROGATE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS

Welcome...

A very Merry Christmas from all at the Harrogate International Festivals

We hope you’ve had an enjoyable year with the Harrogate International Festivals.

2017 saw a busy and engaging year of events, with our first event taking place in January and the last in December; it has truly been a full twelve months in the life of the Festivals. We have worked with a huge range of audiences and participants bringing the arts to life and creating memories throughout the town.

In a year of exclusives, premieres and ‘firsts’ we have been able to celebrate Harrogate being at the centre of the arts scene in the North of England. Illustrating the prowess of Harrogate as a literary town, we hosted two UK exclusive book launches in 2017 for best-selling authors Paula Hawkins and Dan Brown. These launches, based here in Harrogate have been the starting point for two of the most successful novels of the year.

In another first we hosted an exclusive Agatha Christie exhibition in July. This exhibition, situated in Harrogate featured archive letters and works by the author that have never been seen in public before in a unique partnership between The Christie Estate and Harrogate International Festivals.

We were delighted to be able to premiere two new commissions as part of the Harrogate Music Festival with the Gould Piano Trio performing ‘After Avedon’ by Mark Simpson and ‘Blush’ by Gareth Williams: co-commissioned by Harrogate International Festivals and Belfast Music Society. We were the venue of premieres of many other events, including Oz and Armonico Drink to Music Again with the fabulous Armonico Consort and were delighted to utilise the Royal Hall in different ways with Alex Mendham and his Orchestra and the House of Burlesque and Silent Disco.

In June, we were thrilled to win the Arts Festival of the Year Award at the inaugural Northern Soul Awards. These awards celebrate exceptional culture and enterprise in the North of England and the Festival was chosen from amongst stiff competition.

Of course, there are many other highlights of 2017 from big name stars, sell out concerts and intimate events, but The Big Write, where over 600 children from 25 schools joined us, our education partner Pobble and the inspiring poet Ian McMillan for the biggest literary session in the UK (with over 300,000 words being written) was a special day in the Festival calendar.

The Festival goes from strength to strength and works tirelessly to bring high quality arts and engagement opportunities to the town. Thank you for your support. Harrogate International Festivals simply could not exist without it. No matter how many tickets are sold, the reality is that sponsorship and personal giving remain our lifeblood. By helping to support the Festival you are continuing the rich history of the arts within Harrogate and are welcomed into the ‘Home of Festivals’.

2018

Box Office: 01423 562 303

www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com Harrogate International Festivals is a registered charity no. 244861.

music

Our Harrogate Music Festival programme was designed to celebrate music passed down, honoured or reinvented through the generations, whilst our Young Musicians Series provided a platform for the next generation of performers. Our opening weekend featured Armonico Consort as Artist in Residence. The ensemble presented three events, including a Big Sing community project and the sequel to their Drink to Music programme with wine critic Oz Clarke. Festival favourites the John Wilson Orchestra returned once again to perform their sell-out show of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Rodgers & Hart show tunes. The Kamus String Quartet explored multiple generations of Finnish composers in a bespoke programme, whilst the European Union Chamber Orchestra explored the Musical Dynasties of the Haydn and Mozart families, with BBC Young Musician of the Year Finalist Benjamin Goldscheider. Alex Mendham & His Orchestra brought a new, youthful energy to the jazz and swing music from the 1920s & 1940s and Joshua Ellicott presented an emotional programme dedicated to his Great-Uncle who fought in WWI. Oddsocks’ outdoor production of Romeo & Juliet proved as popular as ever with picnic laden audiences flocking to Harrogate. Our Festival was brought to a close with an intimate recital from world renowned operatic star, Sir Bryn Terfel, in the beautiful setting of the Royal Hall.

We look forward to the 2018 Harrogate International Sunday Series where we will welcome internationally acclaimed artist Nicola Benedetti in a rare and intimate solo recital. The series features a selection of the world’s finest chamber musicians, pianist Steven Osborne and cellist Benedict Kloeckner to name but a few. We close our Sunday Series in April 2018 with BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014 Martin James Bartlett.

For our Music Festival in 2018 we look towards themes of Isolation, Independence, Individuality and Identity to create a programme of exciting events which will run throughout the month of July.

Major Supporter

Premier Partners

literature Our year round literary offer for 2017 included the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival, and Berwins Salon North series, with over 18,000 tickets sold to literature lovers throughout the year.

We have been particularly delighted with the calibre of literary giants that have joined us this year and have been honoured to welcome inspirational politicians, historians, authors and academics to our stage throughout 2017.

The 16th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival was held in July 2017; this festival continues to grow year on year. In fact, we sold just over 16,500 tickets and programmed more than 80 authors across the four days. Our audience and the industry have come to expect high profile authors and they weren’t disappointed with the programme which featured a wide range of bestselling international authors including Lee Child, Kathy Reichs, Ian Rankin, Dennis Lehane and Stuart MacBride all attending as Special Guests. The Festival also plays a vital role in discovering up and coming authors through the Creative Thursday writing programme and our debut author panel New Blood. We also celebrated the genre through a number of prestigious awards including the coveted 13th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award which was won by Chris Brookmyre for his novel Black Widow. Lee Child received the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction accolade. For the first time ever, a third award was given to Jane Gregory for Outstanding Contribution to the Festival in recognition of her support for the work of the Festivals as co-founder of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. We are already in the throes of planning for 2018 and with Lee Child at the helm as Programming Chair, it’s one not to miss.

The Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival enjoyed its most successful year to date, welcoming an outstanding line-up of names from the worlds of politics, history, stage and screen to the Crown Hotel. The crowds gathered to hear from Joan Bakewell, Victoria Hislop and Dame Jenni Murray, alongside Jonathan Aitken, Martin Sixsmith, Peter Snow & Ann MacMillan, Amanda Owen and Ann Widecombe. Events sparked conversations across the weekend, exploring important topics from our times. Politically, this included a very current debate on Europe and its place in the world, insights into Russia with Angus Roxburgh and an account of the Rise of the Outsiders with Steve Richards. The Festival also approached personal subjects with warmth and sensitivity, hosting intimate talks on autism, loneliness and grief that were both moving and uplifting with authors including, Keith Stuart, Jem Lester, Cathy Rentzenbrink and Gail Honeyman. With a programme designed to delight and inspire, and a move to a new Autumn slot in October, ticket sales were up 20% from 2016.

The Yorkshire Post Literary Lunch with Sir Chris Bonington was extremely well received on the opening day, and an evening of Gin Tasting with connoisseur Ian Buxton was both informative and a lot of fun for the attendees, and also the HIF staff, who managed to serve over 400 gins in under one hour! From the deeply moving to the laugh-out-loud entertaining, the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival once again demonstrated the power of great stories to bring people together. Don’t forget to save the date for this year’s Festival which will take place from 18-21st October.

The Berwins Salon North series’ are TED-style talks which take place throughout the year. Each event has three expert speakers covering the most stimulating ideas in art, science and psychology, designed to change your life for the better. With topics ranging from Sharing, Caring, Daring, AI, DIY, ISPY and Revolution, Evolution and Constitution, 2017 saw some remarkable speakers, captivating the thousand-strong audience who attended across the year. It’s a night out with a difference so keep your eye out for the 2018 line-up if you’re looking for a fun evening mixed with some though-provoking conversation.

We also hosted exclusive events with Paula Hawkins, who launched her second novel Into The Water here in Harrogate, and Dan Brown, who gave his one and only UK appearance to launch his new book Origin at the Royal Hall. Both events were a resounding success with both books amongst the bestsellers of the year.

Community Partners

Regular Funder

HIF+ | reaching out Our HIF+ Education and Outreach work seeks to influence lives through the arts by taking the arts out to communities.

Our flagship education project Musical Mums continued in 2017, with the group featuring in the Harrogate Advertiser’s ‘Ending Loneliness’ campaign. We continue to work alongside youth music development charity NYMAZ to deliver this project.

In July we delivered a free workshop to launch the newly commissioned NYMAZ Early Years Songbook. In February we delivered three free Global Villages workshops in Spofforth, Pateley Bridge and Ripon for children aged seven to 13.

Multi-instrumentalist and bilingual duo Vocal Global delivered each workshop, drawing on songs from around the world.

During our Summer Music Festival in July we engaged audiences

young and old with interactive and accessible performances and events Songs & Scones and The King, The Cat & The Fiddle.

Alongside Harrogate Symphony Orchestra we presented a Family Concert, which exposed children of all ages to a wealth of instruments.

Following the success of The Big Write in 2016, this year saw an even more successful writing workshop. Over 700 participants had the opportunity to write and be inspired by teaching partners Pobble with the workshop also including a guest appearance for northern poet Ian McMillan.

HARROGATE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS

Make a Will Month - February 2018.

27 million adults in the UK do not have a Will Have your Will written in exchange for a donation to Harrogate International Festivals To book an appointment call 01423 530 630 Supported by

Call 01423 562 303 for more details or visit: harrogateinternationalfestivals.com Harrogate International Festivals is a registered charity no. 244861.

volunteers

As ever, we are incredibly grateful for the on-going support of our dedicated team of Festival volunteers.

Whether stuffing envelopes, stewarding events or helping in the office, Harrogate International Festivals relies on the hard worl and enthusiam of our supporters year round to deliver our acclaimed programme.

If you interested in being involved please do contact Beth at the Festivals office on 01423 562303.