THE concert season for most local societies is about to begin but there are a few not so far covered that will offer a mix of formats and ensembles and a wide range of music, writes Peter Bevan.

Ripon’s Cathedral Concerts Society starts on Monday with the highly regarded Sacconi String Quartet and an almost classic programme of Haydn’s definitive Op. 20, No. 5, Janacek’s 1st Quartet (the Kreutzer Sonata) and the magnificent Beethoven Quartet in A minor, Op. 132.

On Monday, November 10, the day after Remembrance Sunday and as part of Ripon's First World War commemorations, tenor Andrew Kennedy and accompanist supreme Julius Drake are joined by actor Matthew Cammelle in The Dark Pastoral. This includes songs by Ivor Gurney and Eugene Goosens and poems by Vera Brittan, Thomas Hardy and others from the early 20th century.

Both these are in cathedral, but a recital by guitarist Manus Noble on Sunday, December 7 (3pm) will be given in Ripon Spa Hotel. It is a family concert with guitar classics by Piazzolla and Leo Brouwer and music from Japan to Spain and from France to the US.

The new year brings the Primrose Piano Quartet (January 12), pianist Ivana Gavri? (February 9) and the cello/piano duet of Ariana Kashefi and Timothy End (March 9).

Tickets are £17, £5 for students, under-16s free. Season tickets are £80 (less for some); details are available at riponconcerts.co.uk or 01765 690498.

Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, given in Richmond’s Influence Church, begin on Saturday, October 18, with Tim Jackson conducting Cleveland Chamber Orchestra in a programme including Bizet’s Jeux d’enfants and Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony. The big draw for many, though, will be Rodrigo’s Concierto d’Aranjuez with Carl Herring as guitar soloist.

On Saturday, November 29, the Carducci Quartet performs Mozart’s String Quartet No. 15, K421, Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 3 – one of his more approachable pieces – and Beethoven’s Quartet, Op. 132 (it may be interesting to compare this with the Sacconi’s performance in Ripon).

New year concerts include Bradley Creswick, Margaret Fingerhut and Jessica Duchen in Hungarian Dances, with music by Dohnányi, Debussy, Brahms and Bartók (January 24), Dante Quartet (February 14), the eight-piece Cellophony plus soprano Jennifer Witton (March 21) and the Chanterlands Players – flute, oboe and piano – (April 11).

Single tickets are £13, full-time students £1, season tickets £39; details at rsconcerts.org. Boo online via the website or reserve by calling Doug Waugh on 01748 822001.

Having celebrated its 300th concert in July – detailed incidentally in a book available from the society – Sowerby Music’s season has started but continues on Saturday, October 18, when pianist Alexandra Dariescu returns with a particularly attractive programme consisting of a Chopin Scherzo, an arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and Preludes by Szymanowski and Shostakovich.

On Saturday, November 15, the Sacconi Quartet returns to the area somewhat expanded to offer Mendelssohn’s Viola Quintet No. 1, Richard Strauss’s String Sextet from "Capriccio" and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence.

Then, on Saturday, December 13, in a first for Sowerby and maybe our other societies, Roddy MacLeod, director of the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, presents Scots wahae! The Pipes are Coming. As one of the world’s most accomplished solo pipers, his recital will include demonstrations on the history and development of the bagpipes.

Future recitals feature a guitar recital by Jonathan Parkin on January 18 and A Celebration of John Ireland by the Albion Chamber Ensemble on February 15.

Concerts are given in St Oswald’s Church in Sowerby; the first two are at 7.30pm and from December they switch to 3pm.

Tickets cost between £10 and £16 in advance, an extra £1 at the door, season tickets £56; details at sowerbymusic.org.uk.