THE two Swaledale Festival appearances by the world-renowned Skampa Quartet in June 2011 packed Grinton church to the rafters and raised hopes for a return visit. 

Patience pays off this year with St Gregory’s Church, Bedale (May 26) lined up for a performance as well as St Andrew’s Church, Grinton (May 27), writes Janet Hall.

In addition to voice ensembles, already previewed, audiences will be keen to catch the many superb instrumental offerings.

Swaledale Festival: A celebration of the Human Voice

Virtuoso bass player Leon Bosch returns to St Oswald’s Church, Askrigg (4pm, May 27), with pianist Sung-Suk Kang and the first of several world premieres during the festival. 

Shosholza, written by the British composer, Roxanna Panufnik, builds on the traditional songs of South African miners which inspired Nelson Mandela during his imprisonment on Robben Island. The work is a co-commission by Swaledale Festival and the composer, who is expected to attend. It is also always fascinating to see and hear the double bass played as a virtuosic solo instrument. 

Pianist and composer Michael Brough returns (St Oswald’s, Askrigg, May 31) to play works by Schumann and Rachmaninoff and another festival commission, 24+1 Picture Preludes, Op.19. This is a set of preludes, one in each of the 24 major and minor keys plus one in no particular key. 

The new Garden Rooms at Tennants, in Leyburn, will accommodate the mighty Black Dyke Band, conducted by the renowned Dr Nicholas Childs (May 30) playing music suited to brass band treatment such as Elgar’s Nimrod and Respighi’s March from the Pines of Rome, plus another world premiere – Five Rivers, A Pastorale Symphony.

Commissioned by the band, rather than the festival, it is fortuitous that the first performance is in the Dales as the rivers are the Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe and Aire. The work is by the Yorkshire composer Philip Wilby, the latest of several he has written for Black Dyke. Images of the rivers taken by landscape photographer David Tarn will be projected on to a large screen above the band during the concert. 

The following Thursday (June 4) the acclaimed Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain comes to the Garden Rooms during its 30th anniversary year – a real coup for Swaledale Festival.

Reeth Brass Band (St Mary’s Church, Richmond, May 26), Leyburn Band (St Andrew’s, Aysgarth, May 27) and Muker Silver Band (Muker Public Hall, June1) are festival regulars and always well received.

The Young Artists Platform (YAP) supports talented young performers. Appearing for the third time is Polish violinist Magdalena Filipczak, this time with New York pianist Adam Golka (St Oswald’s Church, Askrigg, May 23). Regular festival-goers still talk about her previous visits.

Another YAP performer is viola player Rosalind Ventris, this time playing with Spanish cellist Pau Codina (St Mary’s Church, Arkengarthdale, May 28). There’s also classical guitarist Sean Shibe (Holy Trinity, Low Row, May 29), who has been heard several times on BBC Radio 3 in recent few months, a rare accolade for a guitarist. 

Project Jam Sandwich, five graduates of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, bring different styles and repertoire (Reeth Memorial Hall, June 2) influenced by music from eastern Europe, the Caribbean, Celtic folk and pretty well everywhere else. They will give workshops in secondary schools as part of the festival’s educational and community work.

Different again is the Meridiem Duo (St Mary’s, Muker, June 3). Sarah Miller (flute) and Elinor Nicholson (harp) also met at RNCM. They will play music by J S Bach, William Alwyn and Debussy. The final YAP artist is guitarist Stuart Masters who is also influenced by different musical cultures (Buck Hotel, Reeth, June 4). 

The Hut People give their seventh consecutive festival appearance with two performances at Gayle Mill (May 23). Kit Downes (church organ) and Tomas Challenger (saxophone) perform Wedding Music – probably the last music most brides would expect to hear – playing a work chosen for the opening of refurbished organ at the Royal Festival Hall a year ago. It promises to be “ethereal and strangely beautiful” (St Matthew’s, Leyburn, May 26). 

Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes hosts the Urban Folk Quartet (June 2), a fiddle-led mainly instrumental group. A prize-winning pair, violinist Harriet Mackenzie and accordionist Milos Milivojevic, play music by Bach, Mendelssohn, Bartok and Sarasate (St Agatha’s, Easby, June 5). 

A rumbustious finale is promised by ZRI presenting Brahms and the Gypsy (St Andrew’s, Grinton, June 6). The acronym is short for Zum roten Igel – the red hedgehog – a tavern in Vienna frequented by Brahms and where Gypsy musicians played. ZRI has taken the tunes, styles and rhythms and applied them to music by Brahms for what should be a lively “let your hair down” ending to two weeks of music making. For full details, visit swalefest.org.