ILKLEY Concert Club has announced details of its 74th season of concerts in the King’s Hall, running from October 2019 to May 2020.

Eight concerts with internationally-renowned artists will present music from Bach to Boulanger and from Muffat to Mendelssohn and beyond.

One of the highlights will be the return of popular guitarist, Craig Ogden who endeared himself to the Ilkley audience in 2016: his November recital will also introduce a new solo instrument as he is partnered with Serbian-born accordionist, Miloš Milivojević.

In January the Concert Club will welcome leading violinist, Tasmin Little, with Martin Roscoe at the piano, returning to Ilkley in her retirement year to play two established favourites – Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ sonata and the Franck A major sonata.

Also returning for a final performance at the club in March will be the Endellion String Quartet, well-known for their long annual residency in Leeds. They will play quartets by Mendelssohn and Beethoven as well as the early quartet by Ravel.

The first concert on October 9 features the polished playing of the Benyounes Quartet with French viola player, Hélène Clément, in a programme of string quintets by Bruckner, Dvořák and Mozart. The Dvořák is the least-known of the three major works, which include the ‘New World’ symphony, and which are influenced by the indigenous music of America.

This is followed on November 6 by the Craig Ogden - Miloš Milivojević duo with a varied programme which runs from works by Vivaldi and Scarlatti to modern works for accordion, including Piazzolla’s popular Libertango.

The last recital of 2019 on December 4 is given by the pianist, Leon McCawley, whose ‘mercurial virtuosity’ will light up piano sonatas by Haydn and Schubert as well as works by Schumann and Brahms before the programme culminates in Chopin’s majestic Polonaise-Fantasie.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020 is the date for Tasmin Little’s programme, in which she will also play works by Brahms and Lili Boulanger. Relative newcomers, the clarinet, piano and viola trio, Metamorphoses, who have received rapturous notices for their debut CD, are our players on February 12 with a programme of works by Jean Françaix, Mozart, Schumann and Leo Smit. Then follows the Endellion Quartet on March 4, starting with Mendelssohn’s fourth quartet and Beethoven’s op. 95 before finishing with the Ravel quartet.

The current ‘front-runner in the new generation of Lieder singers’, Benjamin Appl is the guest on April 1. His recital, accompanied by Simon Lepper, features lieder by Mahler and Schubert followed by a second half of English song by Vaughan Williams and others, all focussing on the theme of ‘the Wanderer’.

Our final concert of the season is given by the Brook Street Band, whose eleven players will be the largest group the Concert Club has heard since 2013. Their programme will feature music for strings, with violin and flute soloists by Handel and Geminiani, rounding off with a performance of Bach’s Brandenburg concerto no. 5.

All Concert Club concerts are held in the King’s Hall on Wednesdays at 8pm.

The brochure and application form for the 74th season is now available from local libraries, Ilkley Tourist Information Office and, until July 7, at Booth’s Store Ilkley; or you can call 01943 608585 for a copy. Season tickets are in high demand so you are advised to get your application in quickly. However there are always a few tickets available for individual concerts which can be reserved in the month before each concert.