Sage Gateshead Brings Renowned International and National Performers to the Middlesbrough Town Hall Classics 22/23 Season
Middlesbrough Town Hall and Sage Gateshead are delighted to announce the Middlesbrough Town Hall Classics 22/23 season. This exciting series of concerts, which will take place between October 2022 and May 2023, will see orchestras from around the UK and across the globe, as well as leading chamber orchestra Royal Northern Sinfonia, bringing amazing music to Middlesbrough. This is the result of a new partnership which sees Sage Gateshead take over the curation of the classical season at Middlesbrough Town Hall.
The season opens with the spectacular Brno Philharmonic on Tuesday 11 October, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies and featuring cellist and former BBC Young Musician Laura van der Heijden. Coming all the way from the Czech Republic, the Brno Philharmonic is set to play some of the most enthralling Czech music, including the best-loved of all Czech symphonies, Dvořák’s No. 9, famous to many as the Hovis advert.
Travelling a shorter distance but equally renowned, The Hallé presents a performance full of emotion and unforgettable tunes on Thursday 13 April. Promising young conductor Delyana Lazarova joins violinist Callum Smart to deliver a truly varied programme of music, from the effervescence of Debussy, to the French flair of Saint-Saën, and the romanticism of Tchaikovsky.
Royal Northern Sinfonia performs regularly at Middlesbrough Town Hall, and this season will deliver a series of four unforgettable performances, as well as a special concert of music by Holst, Bliss, Arnold, and Smyth performed by their Wind Quintet. The first of the four performances is European Dances, conducted by Nil Venditti and featuring violinist Eldbjorg Hemsing in Tchaikovsky’s ever-popular Violin Concerto.
The orchestra’s popular New Year Concert comes to Middlesbrough for the first time to help audiences celebrate the dawn of 2023, featuring conductor and violinist Christoph Koncz and including music that is both elegant and indulgent from the likes of Brahms, Liszt, and Strauss.
Conductor Dinis Sousa and cellist Steffan Morris join forces for a truly spectacular performance in Schnittke, Haydn and Mendelssohn, which perfectly balances Mendelssohn’s joyful Italian symphony, Haydn’s elegant Cello Concert, and Schnittke’s acclaimed Moz-Art à la Haydn
Closing the Middlesbrough Town Hall Classics 22/23 season in magnificent fashion on Thursday 25 May, Nordic Symphonies features conductor and pianist Olly Mustonen and includes the majestic display of nature’s indomitable power that is the Seventh Symphony by Sibelius.
Patrick Ratliff, Head of Classical Marketing at Sage Gateshead, said: “We are delighted to embark upon this new partnership with Middlesbrough Town Hall and curate a season which sees national and international classical music stars come to Middlesbrough. From Gateshead’s Royal Northern Sinfonia to the Czech Republic’s Brno Philharmonic, there’s something for everyone in the Middlesbrough Town Hall Classics 22/23 season.”
Tickets can be purchased at https://www.middlesbroughtownhall.co.uk/ and £5 tickets are available for under 30’s.
ENDS/
Media enquiries: Susie Gray, susie@thecornershoppr.com 07834 073795
Images available here
Listings information:
Brno Philharmonic
Tuesday 11 October 2022 | 7.30pm
Brno Philharmonic
Dennis Russell Davies conductor
Laura van der Heijden cello
Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Bohuslav Martinů Cello Concerto
Leoš Janáček Jealousy
Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’
Royal Northern Sinfonia: European Dances
Wednesday 9 November 2022 | 7.30pm
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Nil Venditti conductor
Eldbjorg Hemsing violin
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Béla Bartók Roumanian Dances
Fazil Say Symphonic Dances
Johannes Brahms Hungarian Dances No. 1, 6 & 10
Royal Northern Sinfonia: New Year Concert
Tuesday 2 January 2023 | 3pm
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Christoph Koncz conductor/violin
programme to include:
Johannes Brahms
Josef Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Fritz Kreisler
Franz Liszt
Royal Northern Sinfonia: Lars Vogt’s Dvořák
Thursday 26 January 2023 | 7.30pm
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Adagio and Fugue in C minor
Antonin Dvořák Serenade for Strings
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23
Antonin Dvořák Czech Suite
Royal Northern Sinfonia Wind Quintet
Thursday 9 February 2023 | 7.30pm
Royal Northern Sinfonia Wind QuintetGustav Holst Wind Quintet in A flat major, Op.14
Arthur Bliss Quintet for Clarinet and Strings
Malcolm Arnold Wind Quintet
Ethel Smyth String Quintet
Royal Northern Sinfonia: Schnittke, Haydn, Mendelssohn
Thursday 23 March 2023 | 19:30
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Dinis Sousa conductor
Steffan Morris cello
Alfred Schnittke Moz-Art à la Haydn
Joseph Haydn Cello Concerto
Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 ‘Italian‘
The Hallé
Thursday 13 April 2023 | 7.30pm
The Hallé
Delyana Lazarova conductor
Callum Smart violin
Claude Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Camille Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
Royal Northern Sinfonia: Nordic Symphonies
Thursday 25 May 2023 | 7.30pm
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Olli Mustonen conductor/piano
Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 7
Edvard Grieg Piano Concerto
Carl Nielsen Symphony No. 1
About Sage Gateshead
- Sage Gateshead is an international music centre for the North East and wider North. Through music, creative learning and artist development, the organisation demonstrates what music can achieve for communities.
- Since opening in 2004, Sage Gateshead has worked side by side with partners and the wider community to help address the complex blend of social and economic challenges the region faces.
- Sage Gateshead continues to be a major employer bringing investment and tourism into the region. We’ve generated a c. £500 million contribution to the local economy.
- Sage Gateshead has brought social, cultural and educational value to over 10 million people and millions more via digital and broadcast activity. The scale of its artistic, learning and artist development activity places Sage Gateshead amongst the UK’s largest cultural organisations, while reaching a substantially more socially and economically diverse audience.
- Pre-pandemic Sage Gateshead attracted 2 million visitors; 5,000 people took part in weekly music classes; 17,854 school children experienced live orchestral music and we worked with a further 2,418 vulnerable young people; more than 2,000 adults a week took part in music making designed to tackle social isolation.
- The North East region is one of the worst affected by Covid-19. The region will be one where the recovery is slow and hard. Arts and culture have a pivotal role to play in regional and nation-wide recovery.
- Covid-19 presents a major financial challenge to Sage Gateshead. 80% of its income has been affected, and in 2020/21 £10 million in revenue was lost. The organisation has taken swift action to overcome this crisis. 90% of the workforce was placed on furlough, significant cost savings have been sought and found, and it launched a fundraising campaign to raise £3 million to help secure the organisation during the next three years. Further challenges lie ahead; in 2021/22, Sage Gateshead estimates box office and trading income to be less than half of what would be expected in a normal year.
- Sage Gateshead temporarily closed to the public on 17 March 2020, five days ahead of the announcement of the national lockdown. Performances recommenced in October 2020 with a season of socially distanced concerts featuring Royal Northern Sinfonia and artists across types of music, made available by live stream. Audiences were able to be present in the hall for two weekends of those performances.
- In 2020 Sage Gateshead received a grant of £2.8 million from the Culture Recovery Fund Round One to help it through the pandemic and associated financial crisis. In 2021 the charity received a loan of £3m from the Culture Recovery Fund Round Two to support recovery. It has thanked the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Arts Council England for this vital support.