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Jul 20, 2025

🎶 Yorkshire Calling: Bradford Live Reopens with a Historic Concert of Music, Poetry & Pride

On Friday 1st August, the newly refurbished Bradford Live will open its doors for the first time as a concert venue in over five decades — and it’s set to reopen in style.

Titled “Yorkshire Calling”, this landmark concert celebrates the spirit of Yorkshire through music, poetry, and storytelling. It marks the first performance at Bradford Live since Sir Tom Jones took the stage in 1968, and promises to be a moment of cultural rebirth for the city.

🎹 A Yorkshire World Premiere

Leading the programme is award-winning pianist and composer Yuanfan Yang, who will perform his own Piano Concerto No. 4 “Ode to the Jing River” with the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ben Crick.

The evening will also feature the world premiere of Poem for Piano and Orchestra by William Baines — a forgotten yet remarkable young composer from Wakefield who died shortly after World War I. This powerful, long-lost work has never been performed in public until now, making its debut in the county where Baines was born.

The Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, recently revived as a full-time professional ensemble, is the only such orchestra in the region aside from Opera North.

🌟 A Star-Studded Yorkshire Line-Up

• Aled Jones — beloved Welsh singer, famous for Walking in the Air from The Snowman
• Ian McMillan — renowned Barnsley-born poet and broadcaster
• The Bantam of the Opera — a football choir blending sporting passion with vocal power

📺 Broadcast Coverage

The event will also be featured on BBC One’s The One Show, shining a national spotlight on this momentous occasion for Bradford and Yorkshire's cultural scene.

🎟 Tickets Available Now

This historic night promises an uplifting blend of new music, rediscovered voices, and Yorkshire pride — a celebration of the region’s past, present, and future.

Book Tickets

With music, poetry, and powerful storytelling at its core, Yorkshire Calling invites audiences to witness not just a performance — but a cultural moment in the making.