Summer has arrived at Halifax Minster as it prepares for a festival of music, art, poetry, and tours set to bring sunshine to the town. The popular Minster Summer Festival will run from Thursday, June 25, to Sunday, July 5, offering something for everyone, including many free events.
Opening Organ Recital
The festival begins with an organ recital at 1pm by international organist and conductor Gordon Stewart, returning for the fourth year by popular acclaim. Stewart, formerly organist at Huddersfield Town Hall and a regular conductor on BBC's Songs of Praise, will perform a lively programme on the Minster's 1929 Harrison and Harrison organ. Lunch will be served from 12.15pm.
Theatre and Choral Performances
On Saturday, June 27, Calderdale Theatre School presents a playful version of The Tempest, featuring rough seas, magic, and fantastical characters. This all-age performance includes original storytelling with movement, music, and Shakespearean language. Sunday features the Minster choir at the Festival Eucharist with the Bishop of Wakefield, followed by a 'Strawberries and Fizz' concert.
Monday's lunchtime concert with Halifax Choral Society is inspired by love, life, and beauty, centred on newly composed settings of Anne Lister's diaries by Halifax composer Debra Page. The programme explores love, identity, reflection, and beauty through vocal works by contemporary composers including Anthony Gray, Ed Jones, Niki Zohdi, Greg Drott, Philip Moore, and Matthew Coleridge.
Halifax Choral Society returns with 'The Breath of Life – Music for an English Summer', featuring Elgar, Finzi, Chilcott, and a new cantata by Matthew Coleridge, performed with Halifax Minster Choir under principal conductor Anthony Gray.
Family Film and School Initiative
On Thursday, July 2, Elland Silver Band will perform the soundtrack to Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out, following the success of The Snowman screening in December. The festival also launches a Schools' Choir Festival, bringing primary school choirs into the Minster for a day of music making, and offers opportunities to sing with the Minster Choir.
Canon Hilary Barber, vicar of Halifax Minster, said: "We are preparing to welcome hundreds of people back to the Minster for this year's Summer Festival, which has a great mixture of music with brass bands, orchestras, and choirs. The Minster has some of the best acoustics in Yorkshire, and musicians love to perform here time after time, while audiences flock to hear them. We are thrilled to host the festival, featuring 11 days of incredible summer activities and events that make full use of what the Minster can offer the town. The festival is the perfect opportunity to welcome visitors for both performing and visual arts, and we are pleased to offer many free events. Come and join us!"
A full programme with times and ticket prices is available from the Minster or at www.halifaxminster.org.uk.
