Whatever you do, don't miss the Sacconi Quartet!

Performing at Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday 27th March at 7.30pm

They will play the String Quartet in D, opus 76 no. 5 by Haydn, the No 2 in D by Borodin and Dvorak’s opus 96 in F, the “American”.

"This young quartet is a revelation, playing with a mastery which is quite stunning. These three quartets are superbly performed and brilliantly recorded. They are amongst the best ever recordings of Haydn Quartets."
RECORDING OF THE MONTH - MusicWeb International

Read the full review of their Haydn CD

The Quartet is the New Generation Scheme Ensemble at the Royal College of Music and is Quartet in residence at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre. Their outreach programme takes music out of the concert hall and into the community – playing to prisoners, refugees and the physically disabled.

Listen to excerpts from their CDs

BOOK NOW

"The Wreckers" - back at Helmsley on March 6th

Tom Needham's new play, The Wreckers, played to a full house at Helmsley Arts Centre on February 20th and has held audiences in its grip at other venues before then and since.

It was a masterly bit of storytelling, as each character was laid bare and the desire to know what happens grew. This is a ghost story but we are never sure if there is really a ghost or if it is an elaborate game or simply hallucinatory. We never see one but.....

The play was well served by the actors, who conveyed the see-sawing emotions and unravelling relationships with an intense restraint.

The play was a good example of how little technical trickery one actually needs to grip the imagination. The art of suggestion, good timing and richly suggestive language. Well, that's quite a lot really.

The really, really good news is that we have another chance to see this play at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday March 6th at 7.30pm

Better still from our point of view, Clap Trap Productions has offered to donate all ticket receipts for that performance to the Arts Centre. An offer we accepeted with gratitude. Thanks CTP.

So do make sure you come to see it if you missed it first time round. To support them and the Centre and to have an excellent night out.

Here's what some people said about it:

"Very atmospheric, a great story and, as always, great acting"

"Absolutely riveting"

"Terrific piece of writing"

"It was like being in the same room as the four characters: almost feeling you shouldn’t be there, but not wanting to leave..."

"Everyone hurried back after the interval, we all couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen"

"It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck"

"The woman in front of me leapt out of her chair!"

"far exceeded our already high expectations"

Book now.

'The Wreckers' coming back for a second night

Following on from the hugely successful performance to a packed house on Saturday night, Clap Trap Productions will be returning with their show 'The Wreckers' on Sat. March 6th.

All proceeds will go the Helmsley Arts Centre so if you haven't seen the show do try and make it - you'll both have a great night out and support your local arts venue.

For tickets - call 01439 771 700 or buy online.

Interview with Tom Needham

Find out more about the forthcoming production of 'The Wreckers' by watching this interview with author Tom Needham talking about his new play specially commissioned by Clap Trap Productions and touring in 2010. The story, located in a cottage built from the wood of a ship lured onto the rocks by wreckers, is haunted by the ghost of a child who drowned on that night. She’s been waiting over a hundred and fifty years for her revenge. And now, finally, the time has come.

Tom's numerous television credits include Cold Blood, Silent Witness, Dalziel & Pascoe, and The Bill.

The production features the acting talents of Cal Stockbridge, Chris Laishley, Katie Turner and Simon Waley and is directed by Gareth Jenkins.

Tour dates:

Fri 19th Feb 7:30pm Kirkbymoorside Methodist Chapel 01653 669554
Sat 20th Feb 7:30pm Helmsley Arts Centre 01439 771700 or online.
Fri 5th Mar 7:30pm Kirk Theatre, Pickering 01653 669554
Sat 6th Mar 7:30pm Helmsley Arts Centre 01439 771 700 or online.
Sun 14th Mar 7:30pm Galtres Centre, Easingwold 01347 822472
Sat 20th Mar 7:30pm Georgian Theatre, Richmond 01748 825252

A Grand Auction Of Art Work

Friday 26 February 7.30pm

Ever since the Arts Centre reopened in 2001 - after the fire the previous year - we have been collecting works of art, donated by artists who have exhibited in the foyer and the Studio Bar, with the intention of auctioning them in due course to raise additional funds. We now have some 40 paintings and drawings in hand, many by well-known local artists - and we also have pressing demands to fund improvements to the Arts Centre's facilities and equipment.

So the long awaited auction will be held in the Arts Centre on Friday 26 February from 7.30pm.

Artists include Sir David Goodall, Jim Wright, June Emerson, Anne Lang, Bridget Gillespie and many more.

Admission will be by catalogue - one per person - now available. You can buy them at the Box Office, by telephone or online but will receive a catalogue instead of a ticket.

The catalogue also entitles you to canapés and your first drink at the social gathering at 7.30pm before the auction itself starts at 8.00pm.

Auctioneer: the former Director of Helmsley Arts Centre, Martin Vander Weyer

Tel: 01439 771700

www.helmsleyarts.co.uk

£5 admittance by brochure (includes canapés and first drink) .

More good news for Folk at Helmsley!

We said we'd get another Folk Weekend up and running for September, 2010, and that's what we've done - thanks to Kate Bramley.

We are delighted to welcome some wonderful artists to the folk weekend this year- SONY Radio Academy Award Winning songwriter Jez Lowe, 2008 Scots Singer of the Year Emily Smith and 2006 Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year Shona Mooney, as well as from Canada, Juno Award Winning Songwriter James Keelaghan, and BBC Young Folk Finalists 2009 The Carrivick Sisters.

Add to that the soft spoken 'Whisky Bard' songwriter Robin Laing, the delightful Edwina Hayes, the great traditional singer and song collector Steve Gardham and many more wonderful Yorkshire artists, as well as the beautiful setting of the North York Moors, and you'll find it to be an unmissable weekend.

Bring your instruments and voices, walking boots and dancing shoes and join us for a spectacular Helmsley Folk Weekend 2010!

Keep in touch with details on the Helmsley Folk Weekend website.

Ryedale Young and Live!

Helmsley Arts Centre Studio Bar - Friday 22 January 2010

Ryedale Live is launching a new series of performance evenings at Helmsley Arts Centre, specifically aimed at teenagers within the area. Called “Ryedale Young and Live!”, they are designed to give young singers, songwriters and musicians of all levels the opportunity to perform to an attentive audience, but in a relaxed and non-threatening environment.

The first of the series is scheduled for Friday 22^nd January from 7.30pm and will take place in the Studio Bar. To support the evening there will be performances by two of the region’s most talented youngsters, Amaya and Alastair James.

Commenting on this new development for Ryedale Live! Rob Davies said: “We have felt for some time that there is little or no opportunity for Ryedale’s talented youngsters to perform, other than at school or in their bedrooms! This will allow them to sing or play 2 or 3 songs amongst their peer group and thus to raise their bar a little and gain valuable performance experience. We have been using Helmsley Arts Centre for quite sometime now for our Ryedale Live! Songwriters Circle concerts and we felt that the Studio Bar is the perfect location for this exciting new series.”

If you would like to participate in this or any future evening, please send your details to mail@ryedalelive.co.uk or call Rob Davies on 01653 690503.

Good news for the Helmsley Folk Weekend

The Arts Centre Management has regular meetings to discuss how the programmes we present have been going and what we can learn from experience about what to do next.

Recently we shone the spotlight on our (for us) ambitious weekend of folk music in September. We had three nights of events and two whole days' worth of music in the Centre, the town square, the Town Hall and in various local pubs.

For those who came, the weekend was a great success. There was an exciting "buzz" in the air, they said. But, alas, not enough people came and we lost £2,200. And we had no sponsors to help us out. Not good news. So should we give up on an event we've been developing over the past three years?

The answer is a resounding "NO!"

OK, so we've been a bit over ambitious. And there's no doubt the recession is biting us and our customers harder. But the good news is that a couple of people, very experienced in the world of folk events, has offered to help us build the event more solidly in the future.

The Management of the Arts Centre voted unanimously to learn from the experience and get on with organising next year's Weekend of Folk. Which is also a firm endorsement of all the hard work our Deputy Director, Jean Kershaw, has put into organising this event for the past three years. Thank you, Jean.

And a big "thank you" for all those supportive comments we've received from people who enjoyed the weekend this year.....

From Kate Bramley : "The success of the folk weekend in previous years has proved that there is an interest in the music, and the huge amount of local support from musicians and other organisers shows their partner commitment to slowly growing an annual folk event in Helmsley The theatre and town have such a great potential as a host venue and our focus for the future is to make sure the theatre is at the hub of the action, drawing people in to the venue across the weekend for session and concerts as well as general 'bonhomie'."

From Linda Hencher:
"The ceilidh was much enjoyed by all those who attended and everyone was keen to dance. The Town Hall is a really good venue for it. The selection of dances was good and the Jellybeans band was easy to dance to and had an excellent caller. The simple pie and pea supper worked well."

From Richard Abrahall:

"I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Folk Festival, although you must be a little disappointed at the turnout to some of the daytime events.

I went to nearly everything and it was so intimate we got to know each other quite well by the Sunday evening concert.

I do hope that you can do it again next year, but thanks for doing so this autumn."

From Ray Padgett:

"Very many thanks for all your work at Helmsley this year. as organiser. It is not easy getting these things up and running. I wouldn’t bother too much about the ‘fringe’ pub events – use the Arts Centre and use the café bar all to maximum to create revenue and as a stage for musicians and a singaround area………lots of potential here."

From Christine Bishop – Acorn Morris Dancers:

"I would like to say what a good dance spot you gave us as part of the folk weekend (courtesy of RDC!) This spot allowed us to dance properly and safely and also gave the spectators a better view."

A special evening of music

Susan Allen from Cawton sent us this:

I am writing to say how much I enjoyed the violin and piano recital on 17th October at the Helmsley Arts Centre (see picture left). It was a very special evening and I think many in the audience felt as I did, that we were privileged to be there.

Once again I drove home thinking how extremely fortunate we are to have music of such quality on our doorstep. It helps to make Helmsley and the wider area such a very special place to live in.

I am looking forward to the Cello and Piano Recital in November and to Michael Lunts as Rachmaninov (see picture right) in A Meeting of Minds. Many thanks to the Arts Centre for providing so many wonderful evenings.

Current Exhibition: Chris Ware

Chris Ware has a secret. The country's only professional Artist in Residence on a heritage railway sometimes deserts the precision of railway art for the world of flowing colour without a train in sight. Loved landscapes describing, in watercolour, emotion and form are, for this Kirkbymoorside painter, 'Along Different Lines'.

Come and see Chris at the Arts Centre every Sunday working on his 'Turner' painting - for more details watch the video.

Tue 27 Oct - Fri 20 Nov - Helmsley Arts Centre, North Yorkshire

Are you aged between 13–21 and interested in theatre?

Do you want to be part of the most dynamic national theatre company for young people? Do you want to make great new friends across the UK? Do you want to do something exciting? Do you want your voice to be heard?

If the answer is "YES!" to any of these questions and you are aged between 13 and 21, the National Youth Theatre, Britain's Premiere youth theatre company is just the place for you!

National Youth Theatre members get to work with some of the best professional writers, directors, designers and technicians from the UK theatre industry so why not join them?

Whether you want to pursue a professional career in the entertainment business or not, the National Youth Theatre can offer you many exciting opportunities to learn new skills, develop your own talents and to have great fun, all of which can be applied to whatever you choose to do in later life.

Why not take this chance to flex your acting or technical muscles and give it a try?

The 2010 Intake Acting and Technical Auditions will take place in February at the Yorkshire Artspace. We are however, open to applications at present, and wish to spread the word about these auditions in Yorkshire.

Applications are now being accepted and the closing date is January 8th (but we do advise individuals to send off applications as early as possible).

WANT TO AUDITION OR INTERVIEW?

Don't worry, it's straightforward, painless and a bit fun.

If you're successful you get invited on a course. After the course you can audition for our productions or join the production team.

Auditions take place up and down the country in local centres in February. But you have to apply NOW!

Nice people run them; it's nothing like X Factor.

Find out more about the National Youth Theatre and apply here.

Skylight - a tour de force

If you haven't managed to get to the Arts Centre for the 1812 Theatre Company's production of David Hare's "Skylight", then please do catch up with it on its short local tour. It's a tour de force of a production.

Here's where you'll find it : Friday 30 October at 7.30pm at Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall, for which you can book your tickets online through the Helmsley Arts Centre or by telephone on 01439 771700

Or Saturday 31 October at 7.30pm at Easingwold Galtres Centre, for which you can book tickets at Easingwold on 01347 822472

Kyra is surprised to see the son of her former lover at her apartment in a London slum; he hopes she will be reconciled with his distraught, now widowed father. Tom, a restless, self-made restaurant tycoon, arrives later that evening, unaware of his son's visit and aghast at Kyra's new vocation teaching underprivileged children. Is the gap between Tom and Kyra unbridgeable, or can they resurrect their once passionate relationship?

Skylight premiered at the National Theatre and won the Guardian's coveted Best New Play award.

'Luminously beautiful and wildly truthful, Skylight is deeply and truly about people... it is a fascinating play'. N.Y. Post
'Undogmatic and unafraid, unforgiving but compassionate'. Sunday Times

Buy 'Skylight' by David Hare from Amazon.