Looking back Rattle says, 'I felt that I was finding my voice on that day'. Mahler’s multifaceted work is again on the programme when Sir Simon appears for the last time as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Sir Simon Rattle’s Farewell Concert will be broadcast live to cinemas on 20th June, with exclusive interviews and programme insights featured as part of this historic event.
One of today’s greatest conductors   Gramophone on Sir Simon Rattle
Broadcast live from Berlin Philharmonie
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 6 conducted by Sir Simon Rattle
Total Running time: 120 minutes (no interval).

Bursting with exotic colour and memorable melodies, Puccini’s seductive score conceals a dramatic blade that cuts to the heart. Blending authentic Japanese music with luscious European harmonies and orchestration, the opera is an irresistible fusion of East and West.
Praised by critics as a ‘thoughtful, provocative staging’ and a ‘scathing study of exploitation’, Annilese Miskimmon’s production updates the action to the 1950s. This post-war setting brings to the fore the darker elements of Puccini’s story. Little wonder that this opera has inspired numerous contemporary adaptations and reimaginings, including the hit musical Miss Saigon.
The emotional impact of the piece is devastating  ★★★★  Stage
Composed by Giacomo Puccini, sung in Italian with English subtitles.
Broadcast live from Glyndebourne, with Conductor Omer Meir Wellber, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and The Glyndebourne Chorus.

This breathtakingly beautiful Tony® Award-winning Broadway musical, inspired by the Oscar® winning MGM film, tells the impassioned story of discovering love in the ‘City of Light’.

Featuring the gorgeous music and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin (including the classic hits ‘S Wonderful and I Got Rhythm), stunning designs, and show-stopping choreography. With a record-setting 28 five-star reviews from critics, An American in Paris is coming from London’s West End to a cinema near you.

Jerry Mulligan is an American GI striving to make it as a painter in a city suddenly bursting with hope and possibility. Following a chance encounter with a beautiful young dancer named Lise, the streets of Paris become the backdrop to a sensuous, modern romance of art, friendship and love in the aftermath of war...

Experience this “truly ravishing” (The Guardian) production in the comfort of The Witham.

Join us at The Witham for some of Barnard Castle's 1940s' weekend and learn some basic ballroom! The Glitterball awaits!

Come along with a dance partner or meet one at the class! Whirl away the hour learning the basic moves to the classic ballroom styles including Waltz, Quickstep, Foxtrot and Tango.

Suitable for ages 9 - 99!

If this class fills, we will look to hold a second class from 14:00 to 15:00.

The East Pointers write about real life, sketching out its joys and sorrows in vivid strokes.  The East Pointers - fiddler/singer Tim Chaisson, banjoist Koady Chaisson and guitarist Jake Charron – have spent the last two years touring Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia in support of their JUNO Award winning album, Secret Victory.
In 2016, they won ‘Touring Artist of the Year’ at the Music PEI Awards and ‘Ensemble of the Year’ at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Their sophomore album, What We Leave Behind, produced by songwriter/producer Gordie Sampson, will be released in September 2017.

What We Leave Behind carves a new path for The East Pointers, as they continue to blur the lines between traditional and popular music and develop a devoted fan base around the globe.

The ruined aftermath of a bloody civil war. Ruthlessly fighting to survive, the Macbeths are propelled towards the crown by forces of elemental darkness. 

Directed by Rufus Norris

Shakespeare’s most intense and terrifying tragedy, directed by Rufus Norris (The Threepenny Opera, London Road), will see Rory Kinnear (Young Marx, Othello) and Anne-Marie Duff (Oil, Suffragette) return to the National Theatre to play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Of Life & Land is a captivating, contemporary, photographic exhibition chronicling life in the Yorkshire village of Ampleforth. 

Featuring residents, both old and young, going about their everyday lives and work, the photographs are raw, honest and exceptionally beautiful.

In his foreword to the accompanying exhibition book, Ian McMillan says:

“These wonderful photographs are poems and short stories; they are miniatures and epics; they are tiny movements at the edge of the folding map and huge gestures at the vortex of the turning world. Once seen, they cannot be unseen. They hang around in the viewers mind, returning in the moments before sleep or on train journeys through the afternoon.

Lucy Saggers’ images have the timelessness of cave paintings but, somehow, the modernity of Instagram. Here is a man following a flock of geese; here is someone standing by an empty bier. Here is a woman baking, and we know that the recipe is not in a book but in her head in the voice of her grandma. Here they are: they are us. We share their humanity and they amplify ours.Lucy has captured a place that moves to ancient and unspoken rhythms of sunrise and sunset, of birth and death and the unending dance of the seasons.”  Ian McMillan (2017)
Lucy has previously been shortlisted for several awards and in 2015 made the second round of the prestigious National Portrait Gallery Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Award.

The exhibition is curated by Andrew Dalton and printed by Joe Cornish on paper provided by Fotospeed. The accompanying exhibition book is funded by Ryedale District Council.

Exhibition usually closed Sundays and Mondays

Inspired by a true story, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is the new award-winning five-star hit musical for today. Jamie New is sixteen and lives on a council estate in Sheffield. Jamie doesn’t quite fit in. Jamie is terrified about the future. He is going to be a sensation.  Supported by his brilliant loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight. Winner of 3 WhatsOnStage Awards including Best New Musical and nominated for 5 Olivier Awards.

To celebrate our new Hay Meadow interpretation trail, we are working with the wonderful Neil 'Mr Hayrake' Diment. He will be in the meadow from 11am giving talks and scything demonstrations.

Minibeast Adventure

Explore the world beneath your feet with Ecologist Rachel Clarke – learn more about the minibeast and enjoy a craft inspired by what we can find in the Meadow.

This workshop is aimed at age 4+ and their families, but all ages are welcome.

You can also enjoy a free guided walk from 2 - 4pm and can then head to the Dispensary Café to purchase your Hay Meadow tea!

Minibeast Adventure 4+

Explore the world beneath your feet with Ecologist Rachel Clarke – learn more about the minibeast and enjoy a craft inspired by what we can find in the Meadow.

This workshop is aimed at age 4+ and their families, but all ages are welcome.

Explore the world beneath your feet with Ecologist Rachel Clarke – learn more about the minibeast and enjoy a craft inspired by what we can find in the Meadow.

This workshop is aimed at age 4+ and their families, but all ages are welcome.

The Drystones are a young (just 21) lively folk duo from Priddy in Somerset playing violin, guitar and whistle, who have made a big splash since they formed in July 11.  The Drystones have played festivals all over the West Country (including Larmer Tree, Sidmouth, Broadstairs, Purbeck and Folk East), and at their 2013 Glastonbury Festival performance they were highlighted by Steve Lamacq on Radio 2 as his "recommendation of the day". According to Living Tradition “to describe their instrumental style as spirited and animated would be akin to asserting that Bellowhead can be quite an energetic band”!
Photo credit:  Kate Griffin

What if your first true love was someone you’d been told you must hate? 

Set in a world very like our own, this Romeo and Juliet is about a generation of young people born into violence and ripped apart by the bitter divisions of their parents.

The most famous story of love at first sight explodes with intense passion and an irresistible desire for change, but leads all too quickly to heartbreaking consequences.

An Oscar winning performance from Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in this retelling of his early days as Prime Minister. This epic drama will transport you to the early days of World War II.

Music Director John Butt conducts the Dunedin Consort—one of the UK’s leading Baroque ensembles—in Samling Academy Opera’s production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Henry Purcell’s Come, ye Sons of Art.

Featuring Samling Artist Tim Morgan as Cupid and Samling Academy Singers, this production is directed by Samling Artist Miranda Wright and choreographed by Mandy Demetriou.

Don’t miss the chance to witness this double-bill of Blow’s masterpiece, considered the first English opera, and Purcell’s much loved Baroque ode dedicated to Queen Mary.

Samling Academy Opera is generously supported by The Shears Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, Sir James Knott Trust, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, The Barbour Foundation, Newcastle University, Durham University, Sage Gateshead, The Joicey Trust

Photo credit: Samling Academy singers Rachel Bird and Peter Dunn © Jen Hart, 2017

If you were an elf, what would you grow? Join the wonderful Gemma McColl from Suitcase Studios and be part of this magically creative workshop. All you need to bring is your creativity and Gemma will have everything else you need to create your very own elf garden to take come and watch grow!

This workshop is aimed at age 4-11 year olds and their families, but all ages are welcome.

November Club performing arts company bring their storytelling rabble to weave a tale about the residents of their village P L A C E.

Inspired by folk, traditional music and including Teesdale stories, this is an award-winning show exploring rural life. Performed by a professional cast and musicians, with special appearances from local talent.

Ceilidh following the performance is included in the ticket price.
In partnership with Northern Heartlands, one of sixteen Great Place Schemes in the UK funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.

‘Amore, My Tribute to Love’, is the renowned violinists tribute to his love for music, and his love for both of his families; his wife and children, and of course for his Johann Strauss Orchestra, who he has performed with for over 30 years. Book yourself an Afternoon Tea at The Witham before the show!

This concert follows on from the release of his album ‘Amore’ last year, which features his own versions of classic love songs, from the worlds of popular and classical music.

For this very special concert, André will be offering a lucky winner the ultimate musical love dedication; all cinema-goers will be invited to dedicate one of André’s waltz’s to their loved ones. André will personally select a dedication and he will announce the winner during the concert on both nights.
The unforgettable concerts that take place in André’s hometown of Maastricht in the Netherlands are a sight to behold. Set against the incredible backdrop of the medieval town square, fans flock annually from all corners of the world to watch André perform with his 60-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra, as well as sopranos, tenors, and some very special guests. The concerts are packed full of humour, fun and emotion for all ages.

This annual celebration of music that is like no other is also experienced every year in full by hundreds of thousands of fans across the world from the comfort of their local cinema, also treated to some very special behind the scenes extras.

Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins hosts the presentation, interviewing fans and soaking up the joyous atmosphere that bursts right through the cinema screen – as well as catching an exclusive chat with André the moment he steps off stage!

You can also book a delicious Afternoon Tea, 1.30pm - enjoy a scrumptious a selection of scones, cakes and sandwiches with Rington's loose leaf tea and Rounton's Coffee.

The D Project Dance Company offer a wonderful dance workshop for 4+ years

Play with scale through movement and dance, interacting with props and letting your imagination run wild as we delve into a world where anything is possible!
Explore and all things LITTLE, small, intricate and interesting, through movement! All good things come in small parcels. How small can we be? The littlest movement can tell the largest stories and provoke BIG thoughts!

This workshop is aimed at age 4+ and their families, but all ages are welcome.

Jealous of the young warrior, King Saul turns against him, descending into violent, destructive madness that forces his children to choose between loyalty and love, tearing both a family and a nation apart.
Handel’s vision of a Lear-like king is astonishing in its psychological complexity, offering a musical portrait of mental collapse few have since matched. Combined with thrilling choruses that exploit the virtuosic potential of their singers, exquisite arias and bold orchestration filled with unusual instruments, it creates a Biblical drama of truly Shakespearean scope.
Barrie Kosky’s blazingly original and visually spectacular staging of Handel’s oratorio pairs baroque music with contemporary choreography and lavish designs to create an enthralling theatrical fusion of old and new.

‘This magical, mesmerising new production of [Handel’s] Old Testament-inspired oratorio has the wow factor in spades – music-theatre at its knockout best.’ ★★★★★ Daily Mail
Composed by George Frideric Handel, sung in English with English subtitles, recorded live at Glyndebourne in 2015.

Conductor, Laurence Cummings
Director, Barrie Kosky
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Glyndebourne Chorus

Ever wandered into a Giant's garden?

Well, this is your chance to come and grow one at The Witham, working as a team, paint and create a Giant's Garden!

Join the wonderful Gemma McColl from Suitcase Studios and be part of this magically creative workshop.
This workshop is aimed at age 4-11 year olds and their families, but all ages are welcome.

Marvel’s most radical superhero movie and a watershed moment in film making. Thrilling and action packed with stunning performances and score.

Dive into the fun world of the clown where anything is possible.

Presented by Fun in the Oven theatre company, this workshop is open to those aged from 5 to 105 years.

Dive into the fun world of the clown where anything is possible.

A fun family workshop exploring imagination, silliness and play!

A rare opportunity to see Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work – opera from the age of Hitchcock, with an atmospheric score and tense, psychological twists.

Abandoned by her lover Anatol, Vanessa retreats from the world, waiting and hoping with only her mother and her niece Erika for company. But when, 20 years later, Anatol’s handsome young son arrives unexpectedly, he shatters the calm of this shuttered household of women. Past and present love collides, and the aftershocks threaten to destroy them all.

An operatic thriller from the age of Hitchcock, Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning first opera boasts one of the 20th century’s most beautiful scores. Poised constantly on the edge of song, Vanessa unfolds in generous swathes of melody, rich in filmic strings and soaring brass, with echoes of Puccini, Berg and Strauss. It climaxes in a final quintet of Mozartean poignancy – one of the great ensembles of the contemporary repertoire.
Seldom performed in the UK, this is a rare opportunity to see Barber’s heart-breaking domestic drama. Olivier Award-winning director Keith Warner makes his much-anticipated Glyndebourne debut with this production, which promises to bring out the psychological tensions that sit just below the surface of this charged work.
Composed by Samuel Barber, sung in English with English subtitles.
Broadcast live from Glyndebourne, with Conductor Jakub Hrůša, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and The Glyndebourne Chorus

The D Project Dance Company offer a wonderful dance workshop for 4+ years inspired by all things BIG!

Play with scale through movement and dance, interacting with props and letting your imagination run wild as we delve into a world where anything is possible!
Explore all things BIG, grand and spectacular through movement! How can we make ourselves large, how big can we make things collectively. This fun workshop will help build the confidence to be bigger in more ways than one.

This workshop is aimed at age 4+ and their families, but all ages are welcome.

Regarded as one of the world’s greatest tenors, Jonas Kaufmann has captivated audiences across the globe with his incredible voice.

Join Jonas Kaufmann this summer for a spectacular outdoor concert, captured live at Berlin’s iconic Waldbühne amphitheatre. The star tenor will perform famous arias and timeless Italian songs from his bestselling album Dolce Vita, in what promises to be a magical night of music under the stars.

120 Mins (including 20 minute interval)

Sheelanagig for over a decade have brought their array of foot-stomping folk tunes to audiences across the globe.

A quintet with a well-stocked armoury of stringed instruments – guitar, fiddle, double bass – added with the rhythmic energy of flute and drums and a bagful of joint-jumping tunes, these boys from the South-West of England create a real dynamic which is inherent in both their furious dance medleys as well as their interestingly arranged original pieces.
Putting the groove into a selection of traditional and original European Folk music dating from the medieval times to present day, it’s difficult – nay, impossible – for your limbs to remain stationary when you’re within earshot of them in full flight. The fact that they often play with a knowing wink shouldn’t obscure their impeccable technique, and outstanding musicianship that raises the roof in every place they play.
2018 sees an exciting brand new line up including flautist Luke Phillips-Griffiths fresh from the Newcastle Folk Music circuit, and Alex Bishop – acclaimed folk guitarist and luthier, who both bring an exciting new direction and energy to the groups much loved sound. Busying themselves this spring the band are preparing to hit the road to tour across France, Switzerland and Australia and will return for the summer festival season and a UK tour in November.
A completely top night out – Mike Harding, BBC Radio 2
The musicianship is tight and intense – Songlines

Winners of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Original Track .

The Rheingans Sisters make playful, powerful and richly connecting music that is wholly contemporary while deeply anchored in folk traditions. Drawing on their pan-European musical scholarship (having studied extensively in France, Sweden and Norway) and their spirited mission to make connections between the music of different geographical roots, they have developed a rich artistic approach to the deconstruction and reimagining of traditional music alongside their own beguiling compositions. Since the release of their award-winning album Already Home (2015) audiences across the UK, Europe and Australia have been captivated by their live performances; as full-hearted performers and on-stage improvisors - via the adventurous use of fiddles, voices, banjo, bansitar, tambourin à cordes, poetry and percussion - The Rheingans Sisters are a unique and unmissable act on the folk and world music stage today. Their hotly anticipated third album 'Bright Field' is released in March 2018.

"Superb" - The Independent

“Magnificent… music you wish to return to again and again” ★★★★★ - Songlines

“The Rheingans Sisters enchanted one and all with their reverie on stage” - The Canberra Times

“Quite simply extraordinary”- fRoots

Troilus and Cressida swear they will always be true to one another. But in the seventh year of the siege of Troy their innocence is tested, and exposed to the savage corrupting influence of war, with tragic consequences.

Virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie collaborates with RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran to create a satirical futuristic vision of a world resounding with the rhythm of battle, broadcast live to cinemas from Shakespeare's home town.

The Greek army is encamped under the walls of Troy and, at the point at which the play begins, the war has reached stalemate. The Greeks are quarrelling amongst themselves. Achilles, their greatest champion, refuses to fight and has withdrawn to his tent with his lover, Patroclus. Equally at odds with themselves, the Trojans are debating the value of continuing the war merely for the sake of keeping Helen.

Troilus is much distracted from these military concerns by his love for Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan who has defected to the Greek camp. The young lovers are eagerly assisted by Cressida's uncle Pandarus, who acts as their go-between. However, after only one night together they are parted when Cressida is sent to join her father in the Greek camp. Almost immediately she betrays Troilus with the Greek Diomedes and, discovering this, Troilus is plunged into despair.

With the fall of Troy certain, Troilus vows revenge on Achilles.

A beautiful blend of original and traditional songs drawn from her folk background combine to inspire and celebrate the festive season.  From humble beginnings in a rural farm shop in 2012 Emily has honed a unique, family friendly Christmas night out. In 2016 she released the accompanying album from which her song ‘Find Hope’ was play-listed on BBC Radio 2. Her material has also been featured on BBC Songs of Praise Christmas special.

Sing along with traditional carols, tap your toes to upbeat instrumentals or simply close your eyes and let Emily’s evocative voice help you dwell on the joy and peace that Christmas can bring.

Joined by her band on guitars, fiddles & vocals.

Beautiful…my new favourite Christmas song  Clare Balding, BBC Radio 2
The freshest sounding folk album in an age  Sunday Express ****