'Proud' director of acclaimed Harrogate village arts festival announces first acts for 2026 line-up
The first acts for the 2026 edition of one of the UK’s best small festivals just 11 miles from Harrogate have now been revealed including a Downton Abbey star.
Now in its 32nd year, the Northern Aldborough Festival will once again put the beautiful North Yorkshire village at the epicentre of classical music for ten days in the summer.
Running from June 18-27, 2026, the high-quality event is widely regarded as one of the leading classical music festivals in Yorkshire, if not nationally.
Festival director Robert Ogden said: “As a charity, the festival’s mission is to bring high-end live music to a rural location.
"We’re proud to bring the kind of world-leading acts normally seen on cosmopolitan stages to our village church, in a gorgeous countryside setting.
"Nothing beats the truly uplifting experience this level of artistry and music offers.
"We hope those who might be new to, or even feel a bit intimidated about, classical music, come along, experience, and fall in love, with it.”
Next year's festival will open in style with The Orchestra of Opera North performing one of the world’s most-loved works, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
It will then welcome a series of world-class acts, including:
Britain’s favourite clarinettist, Emma Johnson with her star-studded trio, featuring pianist Andrew West and cellist Thomas Carroll, who will perform masterpieces by Beethoven, Brahms, and Shostakovich.
The academic, pianist and artistic director Lucy Parham, who will performs her remarkable piece, I, Clara, telling the extraordinary story of Clara Schumann in words and music, narrated by acclaimed actress, Joanna David, best known for her TV roles in Downton Abbey and Inspector Morse.
Dubbed by the Daily Telegraph as “an artist of extraordinary magnetism”, pianist Sarah Beth Briggs, the Newcastle-born former child prodigy who was the youngest finalist in the history of the BBC Young Musician competition, will makes her debut at Aldborough.
In recent years, Northern Aldborough Festival has built a reputation for supporting the UK’s rising stars with its annual New Voices Singing Competition and that will return for its fourth year.
Tickets will go on sale in the Spring.