JOANNA MacGregor, one of the world’s most innovative and creative pianists, will present a musical sketch of her life in her Cross Border concert at the National Centre for Early Music in York on April 24.

The 7.30pm programme will cross borders “from the Bach preludes and gospel songs I played as a child, through to my first jazz love, Thelonious Monk, and my first difficult composer, Charles Ives; from my travels across the Deep South of the United States, to my first journeys in Latin America”, says Joanna.

Head of Piano at the Royal Academy and artistic director of Dartington International Summer School, Joanna will play works by not only Bach, Monk and Ives but also by Shostakovich, Chopin and Professor Longhair and Six Tangos co-written by Piazzolla and MacGregor, as she straddles classical and jazz music.

The all-female folk group The Poozies first formed in 1980 and the NCEM will welcome the latest incarnation on March 24, led by founder members Mary Macmaster and Sally Barker, who was a finalist on BBC1’s The Voice last year but turned down a major record deal to continue working with the band. Mary and Sally are joined by Eilidh Shaw and Mairearad Green, and together they combine rhythmic acoustic guitar, growling electro-harp, fiddle and accordion with four-part vocal harmonies.

Original songs, traditional Scottish and Gaelic pieces and contemporary folk and pop all will feature in a concert promoted in association with the Black Swan Folk Club in York.

The 2015 York Literature Festival presents Letting Off Steam on March 26 in an evening of rhythms, rhymes and rants performed by York folk duo Union Jill and satirical Yorkshire poet and comedian Kate Fox. Kate is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4 shows such as Saturday Live and The Wondermentalist.

Steeleye Span vocalist Maddy Prior has formed a new partnership with The Carnival Band’s Giles Lewin and young accordion player Hannah James for her latest album, 3 For Joy. The trio will explore the traditional music of England, the British Isles and Eastern Europe on April 21 at 7.30pm, and Hannah will make a second NCEM appearance this season, this time with Hazel Askew and Rowan Rheingans in the folk trio Lady Maisery on May 5 in a Black Swan co-promotion. Watch out for Hannah’s clog-dancing that night.

 

York Press:

Lady Maisery

Four influential British guitarists, Raymond Burley, Clive Carroll, John Etheridge and Gordon Giltrap, team up in 4 Parts Guitar, who will bring their individual styles to the mix when they perform alone and together on May 3.

The York International Shakespeare Festival will present Pyramus And Thisbe, John Fredrick Lampe’s comic opera based on Ovid’s story, performed on May 10 at 4pm by early opera specialists Opera Restor’d in association with Hand Made Opera.

The Cloudmakers Trio of London vibraphone player Jim Hart, double bass player Michael Janisch and drummer Dave Smith will play original, improvised contemporary jazz music, pitched between New York’s “downtown” sound and the modern European tradition, in their May 16 concert.

NCEM regular Emily Smith, the Scottish folk singer, will be joined by multi-instrumentalists Jamie McLennanand Mathieu Watson, while switching between accordion and keyboard herself when showcasing her latest album, Echoes, on May 22 in another night co-hosted by the Black Swan Folk Club.

 

York Press:

Emily Smith

Powerhouse folk duo Tim Eriksen and Eliza Carthy will visit York on May 31 to promote their humorous, heartbreaking, intense and joyful album Bottle, whose unique sound mixes hardcore Americana with hardcore Anglicana in traditional material from both sides of the pond. Fiddle, electric guitar, banjo and bass drum will all come into play.

As part of the 2015 York Festival of Ideas, running from June 9 to 21, the NCEM will play host to the University of York Jazz Orchestra on June 10. The orchestra’s new ensemble, The Dedication Orchestra, will play new arrangements of the music of The Blue Notes, a 1960s group of South African musical exiles that relocated to London.

Alan Barnes, saxophone and clarinet, and David Newton, piano, have been playing duets together for more than 37 years and will do so again on June 19.

Expect a night of straight-ahead jazz, ranging from Louis Armstrong and Chick Corea, interspersed with anecdotes.

All concerts will start at 7.30pm unless stated otherwise. Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk