We are delighted to announce our 2025 / 2026 season, welcoming conductor Andre Chan to the podium and the continued leadership of Anne Heaton. Across three exciting concerts, from romantic masterpieces and evocative symphonic works to a powerful choral collaboration, the season promises a diverse and uplifting musical journey through the orchestral and vocal repertoire.
Introducing Andre Chan
This season’s baton is passed to a rising conductor committed to uncovering and championing the music of composers whose voices were suppressed by history. In Autumn 2024 Andre began his Master’s in Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, studying with Mark Heron, Clark Rundell, and David Hill.
Prior to this, Andre completed an MSt in Musicology at the University of Oxford, following undergraduate studies in Music and Philosophy at Columbia University, USA, where he served as Artistic Director of the Columbia Bach Society. His academic research focused on the music of Hans Gál, a Viennese-Jewish composer whose career was disrupted by the rise of Nazism. Andre’s passion for historically overlooked composers like Gál shapes his artistic mission: to revive their music and share the human stories embedded within the classical tradition.
Andre has participated in masterclasses with distinguished conductors including Jorma Panula, Sian Edwards, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Krystian Järvi, Leonid Grin, Simon Carrington, Larry Rachleff, and Yip Wing-sie. He has conducted orchestras such as the MÁV Symphony Orchestra (Budapest), Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Lviv National Philharmonic, and Kecskemét Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, he was one of only 16 young conductors selected to take part in the prestigious Järvi Academy at the Pärnu Music Festival in Estonia.
With an eye on the future and a reverence for the past, Andre aims to move audiences through the emotional depth, historical context, and narrative power of the music he conducts. Join us for what promises to be another inspiring season of live performances.
🎵 Autumn Concert 2025
The season opens with an atmospheric programme blending drama, lyricism and folk character. Bruckner’s bold Overture in G and Sibelius’ shimmering Spring Song set the tone, followed by Dvořák’s charming Legends (Nos. 9 & 10). The centrepiece is Dvořák’s deeply expressive Cello Concerto, performed by our own lead cellist and soloist Bob Buller.
Performed on:
Saturday 22 November, Settle Parish Church, 3.30pm
Saturday 29 November, Christ Church, Skipton, 3.30pm
🎵 Spring Concert 2026 – Joint Concert with Langcliffe Singers
A grand collaboration with the Langcliffe Singers brings choral and orchestral forces together for a programme of depth and passion. Beethoven’s Egmont Overture sets the dramatic stage, followed by Mendelssohn’s poignant chorale O Haupt voll Blut and Beethoven’s glorious Mass in C.
Performed on:
Saturday 21 March, Settle Parish Church, 3.30pm
Sunday 29 March, Christ Church, Skipton – Please note: this is a Sunday (time TBC)
🎵 Summer Concert 2026
A vibrant programme of French elegance and classical clarity closes the season. Debussy’s Sarabande (arr. Ravel) opens with delicate impressionism, followed by Mozart’s exuberant Paris Symphony. Ravel’s Pavane and Poulenc’s effervescent Sinfonietta round off a summer celebration of colour, charm, and wit.
Performed on:
Saturday 20 June, Christ Church, Skipton, 3.30pm
Saturday 27 June, Settle Parish Church, 3.30pm
Please note: venues are reversed for the summer concerts
We invite audiences old and new to join us for another season of inspiring live music in the Yorkshire Dales.