Ryedale Festival Announces Festival 2022 Programme; Anniversary Celebration of Ralph Vaughan Williams Amongst Six World Premieres

Ryedale Festival returns in July 2022 for a season of inspiring, world-class performances in beautiful and historic locations across North Yorkshire.

The summer festival programme features an exciting line up of artists-in-residence, world premieres and legendary performers. Audiences will explore one of the most beautiful areas in the UK as they move from venue to venue, from idyllic small village churches to stunning country houses and stately homes.

The festival finds a special place for the music of Handel, including a pop-up production of his magical opera Acis and Galatea that will visit three of the region's most attractive and ancient churches. The music and legacy of Vaughan Williams will also be In Focus this 150th anniversary year, as will the genre-blending brilliance of Errollyn Wallen, and the 50th birthday of Swedish supergroup ABBA.

Kicking off Ryedale Festival's 5th decade, the Kanneh-Mason family opens the Festival on Friday 15 July with a concert from the seven brothers and sisters from Nottingham, aged between 11 and 24 years old. On Saturday 16 July Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason will be in conversation with Edward Seckerson in House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons, a joyful celebration of the extraordinary story of the Kanneh-Masons.

Six world premieres take centre stage at the festival. Julian Philips marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams with Looking West, a major new work inspired by the ancient stories and landscapes of northern England. Roxanna Panufnik's Babylonia goes on an imaginative journey to the Middle East, while Errollyn Wallen and Tarik O'Regan explore the myth of creation in their co-composed work Ancestor, which will be premiered by Philharmonia Baroque. Joseph Howard's community song cycle Seven Mercies celebrates the heritage and local talent of Pickering, Robert Balanas will be debuting an ABBA medley for solo violin, and Callum Au is bringing a new work co-commissioned with Spitalfields Festival.

A strong line up of Artists in Residence will be delighting audiences throughout the festival. Roderick Williams leads two of the four concerts marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams with Christopher Glynn and fellow artists in residence the Maxwell Quartet, and will also lead a singing masterclass with talented young artists. The Gesualdo Six will perform two vibrant programmes in Ampleforth Abbey and Castle Howard.

An unmissable collaboration between the festival's two ensembles in residence, National Youth Choir of Great Britain and San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque (in their first UK tour for over a decade) will present one of Handel's Dixit Dominus, a tour-de-force of vocal and instrumental virtuosity that bubbles with the energy and exuberance of youth.

There is also a strong focus on Ryedale Festival Young Artists. Violinist Roberts Balanas performs a late-night candlelit concert, while the spellbinding Scottish accordionist Ryan Corbett sets out on a 'troubadour trail' across Ryedale, bringing music - from the grandeur of Bach to the romance of Tchaikovsky - to beautiful and little-known churches across the region. Siân Dicker, soprano, and Krystal Tunnicliffe, pianist, create a relaxed, informal and interactive concert for people living with dementia, their friends, family and carers - and anyone else who would like to attend. And bassoonist Ashby Mayes collaborates with Krystal Tunnicliffe in an enterprising programme performed at one of the festival's many Coffee Concerts.

Other highlights include the London Mozart Players with pianist/conductor Martin James Bartlett, The National Youth Choir of Great Britain performing a captivating programme on the theme of environment, Pete Long and Friends performing 100 Years of Jazz in 99 Minutes, and some of today's fastest-rising soloists, including violinist Johan Dalene, cellist Bruno Phillipe, trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary, harpsichordist Richard Egarr, and pianists Rebeca Omordia and Alim Beisembayev.

Festival Masterclasses include a singing masterclass from Roderick Williams and a brass masterclass from Lucienne Renaudin Vary.

Dame Janet Baker is in conversation with Edward Seckerson and literary events include a visit from the poet and author Lemn Sissay. Family concerts include a musical version of the modern children's classic Izzy Gizmo.

For the final gala concert, captivating trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary joins the Royal Northern Sinfonia for a sunny-spirited concerto at the heart of an eclectic programme that also takes in the lyricism of two English romantics, a Bach-inspired work by Errollyn Wallen, and one of Haydn's most rousing and witty symphonies.

A new partnership with the Richard Shephard Foundation is working in primary schools to is transform the festival's engagement with children across Yorkshire and supports Seven Mercies, a new Community Song Cycle by Joseph Howard and Emma Harding, inspired by the famous murals of Pickering Church. A celebration of local heritage and talent, about countering difficult times through small acts of kindness, Seven Mercies will be performed on 21 May at the Church of St Peter and St Paul Pickering, and is one of two major elements of the festival taking place outside the main festival period in July.

Post Festival, on 29 October, the Hallé Orchestra and Chorus, Natalya Romaniw, Alice Coote, Thomas Atkins and James Platt with conductor Sir Mark Elder come together to perform Verdi's mighty and dramatic Requiem in the stunning York Minster.

First-time ticket-buyers can come to selected events for only £10. Under 18s for only £5.. And all are invited to enjoy the additional content that will be shared free-to-view on the Festival's digital platform RyeStream.

Christopher Glynn, Artistic Director of the Ryedale Festival, said:

"From legendary artists like Dame Janet Baker to stars of the new generation like the Kanneh-Masons, we've brought together a line-up of international quality to perform in stunning locations across the beautiful area of Ryedale in North Yorkshire, from historic old churches to magnificent stately homes.

As always, the festival is a celebration of music and place, and how they can enhance each other. I'm especially pleased that we are working with the Richard Shephard Music Foundation to bring musical opportunities to primary school children across Yorkshire and that hundreds of tickets will be available from as little as £5 for Under 18s and first-time attenders. We look forward to welcoming music-lovers from far and wide to Ryedale this summer.'

Learn more at https://ryedalefestival.com.

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