ON SONG: Deborah Thorne and Nicholas Butters kick-off a trio of musical shows at The Witham this month
ON SONG: Deborah Thorne and Nicholas Butters kick-off a trio of musical shows at The Witham this month

IF music really is the food of love, then you’re in for a feast in the coming weeks at Barnard Castle’s arts centre.

First up, on Sunday, May 15, is the latest in The Witham's popular Sunday classics performances.

Rescheduled from earlier this year, when bad weather forced its postponement, the show features Deborah Thorne on cello, and pianist Nicholas Butters, who will present works by Beethoven, Debussy, Cassado and Franck.

Ms Thorne joined the Northern Sinfonia in 1986 and has extensive experience playing baroque cello, most recently in the Avison ensemble and Haydn Festival Orchestra.

She enjoys a wide-ranging musical career as player, teacher and chamber music coach.

Mr Butters teaches and is an accompanist at the Centre for Advanced Training, at the Sage, Gateshead, and has just retired as a lecturer and musical director at the Institute of the Arts, University of Cumbria.

Tickets are £12/£10 U16s and the show starts at 2pm.

If folk is more to your liking, the critically acclaimed Sam Sweeney Band will take to the stage on Thursday, May 19. Following Covid and the lockdowns, he is finally able to showcase his 2020 album Unearth Repeat in front of a live audience. Tickets are £18 in advance and £20 on the door.

Finally for May, contemporary jazz comes to town in the form of the Fergus McCreadie Trio.

Their newly-released third album, Forest Floor, has topped the jazz charts and impressed the critics.

They will perform at The Witham on Friday, May 27. Tickets are £15/£10 U16s.

For full details on all forthcoming musical performances go to www.thewitham.org.uk.