News
Leeds International Organ Festival to feature accordion for the first time in 2020
Jun
ACCORDION CONCERT AND PODCAST TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN THE LEEDS INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL 2020
Leeds International Organ Festival welcomes the Classical Accordion to its 2020 Festival with a special podcast and concert.
The Podcast with Professor Owen Murray of the Royal Academy of Music is available from 1pm onward on Friday 19 June at www.anchor.fm/leedsiof and the concert by his student Qianyu Zhang is available from 1.15pm onward on Monday 22 June at www.lioflive.org.uk
The Leeds International Organ Festival is part of Diocese of Leeds Music, the largest choral and keyboard teaching programme in England for children and young people. Its particular focus is on areas of social marginalisation and economic deprivation, striving to offer the best possible musical opportunities in communities which are least likely to encounter them, but where hearts and minds are at their most open. Each week 4,500 children from across the region meet together in around 100 choral groups, and since the pandemic, these groups continue to meet online. These include the six choirs of Leeds Cathedral and are amongst the most broadcast and recorded in the UK.
Diocese of Leeds Music began an organ teaching programme in 2016 under the direction of David Pipe, previously the organist of York Minster. This now has 60 children from deprived backgrounds, with a large number of boys and girls from a rich diversity of ethnic heritages learning the instrument. In the near future we plan to extend our teaching offer to include the Classical Accordion, with a three year target of 60 students from economically deprived backgrounds taking free lessons in schools to build our programme of excellence and social responsibility through music.
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www.schoolssingingprogramme.org.uk
Benjamin Saunders
Director of Music
Diocese of Leeds
www.dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk
