ABOUT RIPON INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Trustees John B. Rankin (Chairman) Diana Brass Michael E. D. Brook James Rydge

History of the Festival

Ripon International Festival was founded in 1997 by international pianist and conductor Janusz Piotrowicz and classical music promoter Susan Goldsbrough, who, with the encouragement of local and national sponsors and a team of dedicated volunteers, brought to fruition plans they had nurtured for some time to create an annual arts festival of the highest standard in the City of Ripon.                            


The inaugural festival took place in September 1998. The programme included a  Symphony Concert by Manchester Camerata, the world-famous Lindsay Quartet, the Yorkshire Building Society Band - reigning European Champions, a piano recital by Janusz, recitals, poetry and puppetry. The Festival made an immediate impact on the city and the surrounding area and drew unanimous appreciation for its quality and variety, generating eager expectation of further festivals.                           

Ripon Cathedral is its focal point, providing the magnificent setting, warm ambience and kind acoustic loved by musicians and audiences. Its cornerstones are the symphony concerts conducted by Janusz Piotrowicz, whose profound musical insight and energy produces revelatory performances. These concerts attract sell-out attendances with demand for tickets growing each year.                             

Janusz has invited some of the finest orchestras in the country to Ripon to perform the great symphonic repertoire of Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert, Sibelius, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky as well as other works from Bach to Arvo Pärt, with choral contributions from Leeds Philharmonic Chorus and the Rodolfus Choir.  The London Bach Orchestra, Goldberg Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Northern Sinfonia and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have all graced the festival with their fine musicianship. Performances of particular note include Miklos Perenyi in the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Northern Sinfonia; Tchaikovsky 6 and Sibelius 1 with Opera North; Mahler 1 and Shostakovich 5 with the RLPO “ it [Shostakovich 5] was given a superb performance … though our lasting memory will be of the sheer power Janusz unleashed” Yorkshire Post 2005                        

Another major achievement was to secure one of the finest choirs in Europe for the 2004 festival. The thirty-eight members of the St. Nikolai Church Choir of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow – “astonishingly young, but their voices are as old as time” (The Times) - gave a breathtaking performance of the Rachmaninov Vespers in the year which marked the 400^th Anniversary of the City’s Royal Charter granted by King James I.                                                                                      

A stream of stage and literary celebrities has also run through the programme: Sir Derek Jacobi (the Festival’s President), Geraldine McEwan, Michael Pennington, Richard Pasco, Barbara Jefford, Rohan McCullough, Liverpool Poet Adrian Henri, Michael Holroyd, Wendy Cope and Simon Armitage  are among those who have appeared in Ripon. Other popular events have included Spanish flamenco, Japanese Taiko drummers, puppet theatre, Zulu dance, song and drums, jazz and folk concerts.    

The Festival also reaches out into rural areas, staging events in ancient village churches and great houses up to twenty miles distant, such as St. Mary’s Nun Monkton, one of Yorkshire’s architectural jewels, and Markenfield Hall, the superbly restored fortified medieval manor.                                                 

Over the years the Festival has steadily developed the scope of its programme and built a strong following from throughout the northern region and from as far afield as the South of England and the North of Scotland with occasional visitors from overseas. Spring concerts were added in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 attracting capacity audiences.                                                         

The part played by local companies and individuals continues to be a vital factor in its success: thirteen years on many of its Founder Sponsors are still involved, others have come forward, and many more people have joined the team of volunteers.