Leeds Lieder is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

organisation based in the city of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, UK. It was established as a registered

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

in 2004 in order to create a new platform for

Lieder In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

and other forms of

art song An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...

. Its founder and first director was Jane Anthony. Following Anthony's death in 2014, she was succeeded as director by the pianist

Joseph Middleton Joseph Middleton (born 10 January 1981) is a British classical pianist and lied accompanist. Biography Middleton was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. At school he played piano, violin, flute and organ. He read music at the University of B ...

. Leeds Lieder's President is

Elly Ameling Elisabeth Sara "Elly" Ameling (born 8 February 1933) is a Dutch soprano, who is particularly known for lieder recitals and for performing works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Performing with distinguished pianists and ensembles around the globe, she w ...

. Leeds Lieder conducts its work through the promotion of concerts and through a range of education and outreach activity. Described in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

as 'one of the most exuberant and far-reaching festivals of art-song in the UK', and by the Austrian Cultural Forum as 'a superb weekend of song', it is best known for its festivals, which have taken place in Leeds since 2005. These were biennial until 2016; since then they have become annual events. Many distinguished singers have appeared at the festivals, including Sir

Thomas Allen Thomas Allen may refer to: Clergy *Thomas Allen (nonconformist) (1608–1673), Anglican/nonconformist priest in England and New England *Thomas Allen (dean of Chester) (died 1732) *Thomas Allen (scholar) (1681–1755), Anglican priest in England * ...

, Dame Margaret Price,

Florian Boesch Florian Boesch (born 17 May 1971) is an Austrian bass-baritone, voice teacher and opera singer, who is especially known as a Lieder interpreter. Life Boesch was born in Saarbrücken, West Germany, and is the son of Christian Boesch.Barbara Bo ...

, Robert Holl,

Barbara Bonney Barbara Bonney (born April 14, 1956) is an American soprano. She is associated with lyric soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Richard Strauss as well as lieder performances. Early life Bonney was born in Montclair, New Jersey. As a child she p ...

Christiane Karg Christiane Karg (born 6 August 1980) is a German operatic soprano. The award-winning singer became known for performing Mozart roles at the Salzburg Festival, and made an international career. Career Born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, Karg studied ...

, Dame

Felicity Lott Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, (born 8 May 1947) is an English soprano. Education Lott was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. From her earliest years she was musical, having started studying piano at age 5. She also played violin and bega ...

Mark Padmore Mark Padmore (born 8 March 1961) is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera. Early life He was born in London on 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent, England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gainin ...

Carolyn Sampson Carolyn Margaret Sampson (born 18 May 1974) is an English soprano in opera and concert. Specialising in historically informed performance, she has sung in Masaaki Suzuki's recording project of Bach cantatas and has appeared at the English Natio ...

Angelika Kirchschlager Angelika Kirchschlager (born 24 November 1965, Salzburg) is an Austrian mezzo-soprano opera and lieder singer. Career Kirchschlager began her musical training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she studied percussion and piano. In 1984, she w ...

, Dame

Sarah Connolly Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly (born 13 June 1963) is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century ...

and James Gilchrist. Until 2016 each festival was curated by a different guest artistic director. These included pianists

Iain Burnside Iain Burnside is a Scottish classical pianist and accompanist, and an occasional presenter on BBC Radio 3. Following study at Merton College, Oxford, the Royal Academy of Music and the Chopin Academy, in Warsaw he became a freelance pianist, sp ...

(2005),

Roger Vignoles Roger Vignoles (born 12 July 1945), is a British pianist and accompanist. He regularly performs with the world's leading singers, including Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Allen, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Hampson, Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Sarah Walker, ...

(2007),

Julius Drake Julius Drake (born 5 April 1959) is an English pianist who works as a song recital accompanist and chamber musician. Biography Drake was educated at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music; he made his professional debut at the Purcell ...

(2009),

Malcolm Martineau Malcolm Martineau, OBE (born 3 February 1960) is a Scottish pianist who is particularly noted as an accompanist. Life Martineau was born to the pianist Hester Dickson Martineau and Canon George Martineau in 1960. He was an only child but he had ...

(2011), Graham Johnson (2013), and baritone

Roderick Williams Roderick Gregory Coleman Williams OBE (born 1965) is a British baritone and composer. Biography Williams was born in North London to a Welsh father and a Jamaican mother. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford and Haberdashers' ...

(2016). From 2017 the artistic direction has been undertaken by Leeds Lieder Director Joseph Middleton. Leeds Lieder is committed to new music, and has commissioned works from a number of eminent composers, including

Sally Beamish Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for ch ...

Judith Bingham Judith Bingham (born 21 June 1952) is an English composer and mezzo-soprano singer. She was a member of the BBC Singers from 1983 to 1995. She is a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music. Bingham won the 1977 BBC Young Composer Award, an ...

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, Musical historicism, historicism, Avant-garde music, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early lif ...

, Mark Simpson,

Cheryl Frances-Hoad Cheryl Ann Frances-Hoad (born 1980) is a British composer. Early life Frances-Hoad began composing at the age of eight while studying cello and piano at the Yehudi Menuhin School. She graduated from Gonville and Caius College (Cambridge Universi ...

and

Gabriel Jackson Gabriel Jackson may refer to: * Gabriel Jackson (composer) Gabriel Jackson (born 1962 in Hamilton, Bermuda) is an English people, English composer. He is a three-time winner of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors British Comp ...

. Until 2019, Leeds Lieder's principal partner was

Leeds College of Music Leeds Conservatoire (formerly known as The Leeds Music Centre, the City of Leeds College of Music, and Leeds College of Music) is a higher education music conservatoire based in the Quarry Hill district of Leeds, England. It was founded in 19 ...

, where the festival took place, with concerts also held throughout the year in the Howard Assembly Rooms at Leeds Grand Theatre, and at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. The 2020 festival was held at the

Awards

* Nominated for a

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

Award * Winner of J.M.Barrie Award fro
Action for Children’s Arts
ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

Leeds Lieder website
Classical music festivals in England Organisations based in Leeds Music festivals in Leeds Music festival organizations