Leeds Lieder has announced a series of recitals that it will be present this spring in anticipation of its festival, which is set to take place between June 9-17, 2023.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston and pianist and Festival Director Joseph Middleton, will showcase music from 20^th and 21^st century British and American composers. Audiences will hear music by Jonathan Dove, Benjamin Britten, Joseph Horovitz, Ned Rorem, Samuel Barber, and Cheryl Frances-Hoad.

“It’s 12 years since I sat having lunch with Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Sophie Hannah in Cambridge, discussing what we thought a song cycle about the life of a woman in the 21st century should look like, and a decade since Joseph Middleton and I premiered One Life Stand at Opera North.  Much has changed in the world since then, but the universal themes of love and loss remain consistent, and it’s a great pleasure for us to perform it again at Leeds Lieder,” Johnston said in an official press statement.

Performance Date: Feb. 10, 2023

Next up, audiences will see Miah Persson and Joseph Middelton take on music by Grieg, Nystroem, Sibelius, and Strauss.

Performance Date: Feb. 15, 2023 

Next up is a concert headlined by Mary Bevan and Nicky Spence. Joseph Middleton will accompany them in a performance featuring music by Coward, Weill, Novello, Berg, Messager, Rorem, Lehar, Sullivan, Oscar Strauss, Satie, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern, and Brecht.

Performance Date: March 4, 2023

The series comes to a close with a concert starring Roderick Williams and Joseph Middleton as they take on music by Schubert.

Performance Date: April 20, 2023