Leeds Song

30/05/2025

Join Our Board as Treasurer

Leeds Song is entering an exciting new chapter after our 20th anniversary festival, and we’re looking for a passionate and experienced Treasurer to join our Board of Trustees.

Whatever your background, if you bring relevant experience to enhance the makeup of our Board and are interested in helping to shape the future of Leeds Song, we want to hear from you. All we ask is that you are enthusiastic about our shared vision of the power of transforming lives through bringing song to a wide and diverse audience.

📅 Apply by: 27 July 2025
📍 Find out more and apply via the link in our bio
📧 Questions? Email: [email protected]

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11/04/2025

'At the Leeds Lieder festival, reborn this year as Leeds Song, it felt startling, almost subversive to hear songs about the wild emotions and stark realities of pregnancy, baby loss and motherhood from a mother’s point of view.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Tackling themes of pregnancy, baby loss and motherhood, Grime’s new song cycle was sensitively performed by Alder, the British soprano

11/04/2025

At the newly renamed Leeds Song, soprano Louise Alder gave a wonderful rendition of a new four-part piece by Helen Grime ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Giving the London premiere of James MacMillan’s Second Violin Concerto, the Scottish violinist played it like she truly believed in it

08/04/2025

🎙️ Tune in!

Freddie Ballentine and Kunal Lahiry will be chatting with BBC Radio 3’s In Tune about their powerful upcoming show Our People.

Don’t miss this chance to hear more about the stories, music, and inspiration behind the performance.

📻 Catch it on BBC Radio 3 – and get a glimpse of what’s to come!

Listen live to BBC Radio 3 on BBC Sounds

08/04/2025

We are very sorry to announce that Alice Coote is currently indisposed and will be unable to perform on Friday, 11 April. We send her our very best wishes for a swift recovery.

In her place, we are truly delighted to welcome Beth Taylor, a fast-rising star with a dazzling mezzo-soprano and an irresistible stage presence. Beth brings a new programme that weaves together the intimate and the grand: songs by Mahler, Piaf, Schumann, Ivor Novello, Liza Lehmann, and, in a thrilling finale, Elgar’s Sea Pictures.

She’ll be joined by the celebrated pianist Julius Drake. We’re so grateful to Beth for stepping in with such artistry and generosity.

We are sorry to announce that Alice Coote is indisposed and unable to perform her recital at the Leeds Song Festival this Friday evening, 11 April. We are delighted to announce that Beth Taylor has stepped in to give this recital in her place, performing a new programme of works by Mahler, Piaf, Sch...

07/04/2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review from musicOMH
'The singing and playing in ‘Rückblick’ was positively incandescent, with the suppressed rage of the first lines giving way to the transcendent memory of the idyllic past, and the melancholy final line drifting into the air with utter abandon.'

Opera + Classical Music Reviews: Winterreise review – Florian Boesch and Joseph Middleton excel on the first day of Leeds Song 2025

06/04/2025

Yesterday's recital with Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton was a beautiful start to Leeds Song Festival 2025. Thoughtful, moving performances full of colour and grace :)

📷 Photos by Tom Arben

05/04/2025

It's not your average Monday night, admittedly, but this week why not grab a pint while kicking back to some music composed by a medieval nun and brewer!

The Erda Ensemble will celebrate women in music and brewing at the Springwell Taproom on Monday.

03/04/2025

🎶 Evening Post on Leeds Song’s New Chapter 🎶

The Yorkshire Evening Post has featured our exciting transformation as we become Leeds Song! As we mark 20 years of championing art song, this change reflects our commitment to making song accessible to all—honouring tradition while embracing new audiences.

This year’s festival (April 5–12) features world-class performances, bold new commissions, and inspiring community projects.

Join us as we fill Leeds with song! 🎟️ www.leedssong.com

An acclaimed organisation in Leeds that has championed art song for 20 years has changed its name.

03/04/2025

🎶 Leeds Song at 20: New name, new chapter, same mission

Classical Music UK has published a fantastic article about Leeds Song and our journey over the past 20 years! Festival Director Joseph Middleton reflects on our evolution, the decision to rebrand from Leeds Lieder, and what this year’s festival represents for the city and beyond.

Join us this Saturday for a festival that embraces the past, celebrates the present, and looks boldly to the future. Tickets and info: www.leedssong.com

Read the full article here:

As the festival formerly known as Leeds Lieder reveals its new identity, festival director and pianist Joseph Middleton explores the organisation’s impetus for change and reflects on 20 years of music-making in Leeds