Many years ago, I was lucky enough to hear the Black Dyke Mills Band play in Bradford Cathedral.

Although I cannot recall what they played, I remember leaving that ancient interior thinking what a wonderful concert venue it was for music that was intimate, grave or grandly uplifting.

This impression was reinforced one January night in 1994 when an ex-T&A colleague and I went there for a concert by the Brodsky Quartet. The pieces they played by Frank Bridge, Shostakovich, and Ravel dissolved the trials and tribulations of the working week, restoring to my friend and I a sense of timelessness and the urge to rejoice.

Hopefully this experience will be repeated many times during the Cathedral's forthcoming Chamber Concert season, the 11th, which runs from October to April.

Moscow-born virtuoso pianist Boris Berezovsky opens the season on October 23 with a programme of Beethoven, Rachmaninov, and Chopin. He first established his name eight years ago by winning the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Since then he has played with some of the world's finest orchestras. His recording repertoire includes pieces by Mussorgsky, Ravel, Chopin, Rachmaninov, and the complete Liszt Transcendental Studies.

Leaping ahead, the penultimate concert on March 19 features honorary Bradfordian violinist Tasmin Little, whose world-wide reputation has been reinforced by the critical acclaim given to her 15 recordings.

Tasmin's father, the actor George Little, was born in Bradford. Although she was born in London, she told the T&A last year that she had always regarded the city as her second home. The city is fond of her too: in 1996 the University of Bradford awarded her an Honorary Doctorate.

Her programme includes Beethoven, Bach, and the Violin Sonata No 1 by Bradford-born Frederick Delius. Tasmin will be accompanied by Martin Roscoe, who enjoys a popular reputation as both a soloist and a chamber musician at Bradford Chamber Concerts.

Jim Greenhalf

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