Pilot Event: Live at Leeds Town Hall

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Coronavirus update:

Due to current restrictions in light of rising infection rates and in order to protect the safety of artists and staff we are now unable to livestream Monday and Wednesday lunchtime concerts from Leeds Town Hall as previously advertised. Lunchtime audio streams are cancelled until 22 Feb at the earliest. We will review the situation regularly and ask that you check our websites and social media for further updates. In the meantime stay safe and well.

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Pilot Event: Live at Leeds Town Hall

Mon 1 January 0001 - Fri 28 August 2020
Leeds Town Hall

Orchestra of Opera North
David Greed – director
Nicholas Watts – tenor
David Cowan – piano

Mendelssohn – Octet
Schubert – Songs from Die schöne Müllerin
Mozart – Symphony No 29

Programme duration approximately 75 mins. Please note there will be no interval.

A milestone for the city’s return from lockdown and the resumption of performance nationwide, the first concert of live music at Leeds Town Hall will be a programme of Mendelssohn, Schubert and Mozart, performed by the Orchestra of Opera North and tenor Nicholas Watts.

Leeds Arts, Events & Venues’ first pilot indoor concert will be a crucial stage in the process of helping live music performances return safely for both artists and audiences following the coronavirus lockdown.

Measures to ensure the safety and comfort of the audience at Leeds Town Hall will include the recording of contact details for NHS Test and Trace; a reduced venue capacity with socially distanced seating arrangements and toilet facilities; a one-way system; and hand sanitising stations on entry and around the venue. Anyone attending will be expected to wear a face covering, unless excused for reasons of age, health or disability.

‘Everything is new and strange', wrote Fanny Mendelssohn of her sixteen year-old brother's Octet, 'yet at the same time utterly persuasive and enchanting'. Scored for a chamber ensemble but played, at its young composer's insistence, 'by all the instruments in symphonic orchestral style', it's a fitting curtain-raiser for both venue and ensemble after five months of lockdown.

Tenor and former Opera North Chorister Nicholas Watts was most recently seen on the Opera North stage as Peter Quint in Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw, an acclaimed production that was enjoyed by thousands more on YouTube after the company's tour was cut short by lockdown. He will be joined by Opera North's Head of Music David Cowan at the piano for a selection of Schubert's songs.

To close the concert, Mozart's brilliantly inventive 29th Symphony is an opportunity for the violas, cellos and basses to get reacquainted, followed by a socially distanced outing for the wind and brass sections.

Image credit: Justin Slee.

Coronavirus information

This indoor concert pilot is a crucial part of the process in helping live music performances return safely for both artists and audiences. The following measures are now in place at Leeds Town Hall to ensure the safety and comfort of the audience during their visit:

- Hand sanitising stations on entry and around the venue
- Clearly marked one-way system around the venue
- Socially distanced seating arrangements with predetermined entrance times
- Socially distanced toilet facilities. We ask that customers access the toilet facilities before the concert as re-entrance during the performance may not be possible.

Face Coverings: everyone is expected to wear a face covering unless excused for reasons of age, health or disability.

If you are feeling unwell (or suspect you have coronavirus) please do not attend the concert.

Latecomers cannot be admitted.

Lift access to the stalls and gallery areas is available through the Box Office entrance. This is limited to one person/one family unit or for accessibility access.

Photography is not permitted during the event.

Customers are kindly requested to stay seated during the performance and remain seated at the end of the concert until staff advise you of your exit route.

Please be aware that there will be no bars/refreshment stations open before or after the concert and there is no interval.

NHS Test and Trace

Customer contact details and the time you are present in our building will be recorded for NHS Test and Trace purposes. In accordance with NHS requirements this information will be held for 21 days and, if asked, we will provide them to NHS Test and Trace.

Please be reassured that your information will be stored securely, in line with data protection laws, and will not be shared with anyone else. We will also not use your data for anything else like marketing. We are doing this to help reduce the risk of any local outbreak - by sharing your information NHS Test and Trace can quickly identify people who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and ask them to take the necessary precautions.

PRICES:

Standard: £20
Under 18s/students/unwaged: £10
(prices include 10% booking fee)