Academy of St. Olave's (York)

01/05/2026

It's the bank holiday weekend and what better way to start than by booking your tickets for the next Academy of St Olave's concert on Saturday 20th June!

We'll be performing wonderful music by Schumann, Dag Wirén and Beethoven at St Olave's church. Tickets are on sale now from www.academyofstolaves.org.uk!

05/03/2026

There's a concert at York's Unitarian Chapel this Saturday 7th March which sounds fascinating, with contemporary works alongside Schubert's Death and the Maiden string quartet. Follow the link below for more information! 👇

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/189tzHXJeo/

Saturday 7th March, 7:30pm - Exploring themes of transformation, the first of two concerts celebrating artists from the North of England

31/01/2026

Thanks to everyone who came to our concert last Saturday - it was a great evening of music-making!

Thanks also to Steve Crowther for his concert review, linked below 👇

St Olave’s Church, Saturday 24 January 2026Semi-interesting fact: The overture to Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek’s 1894 comic opera, Donna Diana, later enjoyed a second life as the signature tune for the BBC’s Children’s Hour in the 1950s — in an era when children were apparently trusted with ...

24/01/2026

Returning to Reznicek, this rare footage shows the composer himself conducting part of the overture to his opera Donna Diana.

Come tonight to hear the full thing!

Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek conducting his Ouverture from Donna Diana.Emil Nikolaus von Renzicek dirigiert seine Overtüre aus Donna Diana.Seltene Filmaufnahme.

24/01/2026

Our Winter Concert is TONIGHT! We will conclude with Schubert's "Tragic" Symphony No. 4 in C minor.

The symphony dates from 1816 when Schubert was just 19 (younger than Weber!). He was working as an all-purpose music teacher at his father's school in Vienna but was becoming frustrated and impatient to move on to greater things. Perhaps this fed into the agitated "Sturm und Drang" feel of the symphony's outer movements?

Nevertheless, and despite the "Tragic" nickname bestowed by the composer himself, the symphony contains music of warmth and grace, particularly in the radiant second movement, featuring one of Schubert's most beautiful melodies.

Sadly, and in common with most of Schubert's orchestral works, it was never performed in his lifetime, with the premiere coming in 1849, 21 years after his death.

Come to St Olave's tonight to hear Schubert's youthful masterpiece! Tickets (£16/£5) are available on the door from 6.45pm.

22/01/2026

2026 marks 200 years since the death of Carl Maria von Weber, a German composer best known for his operas such as Der Freischütz and Oberon.

Weber's output of purely orchestral music is modest but includes two symphonies, composed when he was 20 and serving a brief stint (1806-7) as Kapellmeister for Duke Eugen of Württemberg in Silesia. We will be performing the second of these symphonies in our concert on Saturday. The symphony has a prominent oboe part - apparently this was the instrument the duke himself liked to play!

Sadly Weber's time at Duke Eugen's court was cut short by the Napoleonic wars, which forced the duke to close his theatre. Weber was dismissed and moved on... to another Duke of Württemberg! Sadly this move was to prove disastrous, but that's another story...

We hope you'll come to hear us perform Weber's Symphony No. 2 on Saturday evening, 7.30pm at St Olave's - tickets available on the door.

20/01/2026

Today, Frederick Delius (1862-1934) is often remembered as a master of the short tone poem, particularly "Summer Night on the River" and "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring". On Saturday we will be performing one of these works which is perhaps less familiar: "A Song Before Sunrise".

Delius wrote the piece in 1918 but it didn't receive its British premiere until five years later, conducted by Sir Henry Wood. "A Song Before Sunrise" evokes the anticipation of a new day through a pastoral dance meter. Birdcalls can be heard throughout; the composer marks for the piece to played "freshly", looking forward to the possibilities that the dawn may bring.

Come and hear us play one of Delius' perfect miniature tone poems on Saturday, 7.30pm at St Olave's!

18/01/2026

There's less than a week to go until our Winter Concert next Saturday!

We'll start the concert with the overture to Emil von Reznicek's comic opera "Donna Diana". First performed in Prague in 1894, this was the Austrian composer's only internationally successful work. Fans of old-time radio programmes may recognise the overture as the theme tune to the adventure series "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" as well as BBC's Children's Hour in the 1950s.

Reznicek himself had a long and respectable career as a composer and conductor, but with a sad end. Based in Berlin, from the mid 1930s he and his family suffered under N**i Germany due to his wife's Jewish heritage, and his resistance to the N**i takeover of the international society of composers he founded with Richard Strauss led to the suppression of his music. He suffered a stroke in 1942 and died a tragic death in 1945, succumbing to hunger-related typhoid amid the rubble of bombed-out Berlin, aged 85.

Dating from a happier period in Reznicek's life, we hope you'll join us to hear his cheerful and uplifting overture next Saturday, 7.30pm at St Olave's! Tickets available on the door.

28/12/2025

Merry Christmas from the Academy of St Olave's! 🎄🎅🌟🌨️☃️🎁🦌👼

We're looking forward to starting rehearsals for our Winter Concert, coming up soon on Saturday 24th January. Please put the date in your diaries! Unfortunately we are only able to sell tickets on the door for this concert due to an issue with our usual ticket-selling website.

The banners are already up outside St Olave's church!

29/11/2025

We're excited to share the poster for our next concert on Saturday 24th January, in aid of Martin House Children's Hospice.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside the orchestra's control, we are unable to take advance online bookings for this concert. Tickets will be available to purchase on the door or through members of the orchestra.

We look forward to seeing you all in the new year!

25/09/2025

Many thanks to Steve Crowther for his excellent review of our concert last Saturday! Link below 👇

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Charles HutchinsonREVIEW: Steve Crowther’s verdict on The Academy of St Olave’s, St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York, September 20 Conductor Alan George and the Academy of St Olave’s at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York A MUSICAL heart attack announced the All...

21/09/2025

Thank you to the many many people who battled through the torrential rain to attend our concert last night in aid of York Mind! It was wonderful to play to a packed church.

Special congratulations to our soloist Becky Jobling for her spellbinding performance of Nielsen's fiendish flute concerto! 🪈

The orchestra now takes a break until our next concert on Saturday 24th January 2026, when we'll be performing music by Reznicek, Delius, Weber and Schubert - it's not to be missed!