Experience two richly inventive works for strings composed nearly 150 years apart: Johannes Brahms’ Sextet in G Major Op. 36 (1864), and American composer Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte (2011).

For this intimate and beautifully presented concert, Opera North’s sextet is led from the violin by the Orchestra’s newly appointed leader, Katie Stillman.

Sirocco is a thrilling collaboration between Manchester Collective and Guest Director, Abel Selaocoe. A maverick on the cello and a long-time friend of the Collective, he’s a star performer as an instrumentalist, singer, and composer.

Expect the unexpected: original South African folk, old Western classics given new life and outrageous solos from across the ensemble. Classical strings dance to the beat of African drums and electric bass guitar.

Renowned Kora virtuoso Seckou Keita stands as a luminary amongst African traditional musicians.

Dubbed “the Hendrix of the Kora”, Seckou’s innovative approach and exceptional skill pushes the boundaries of what the instrument can achieve. With 14 critically-acclaimed albums cumulating over 25 million streams on Spotify alone, and a collection of prestigious awards, including multiple BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, he has left an indelible mark on the music scene.

Critically acclaimed composer, Rushil Ranjan partners with veena and vocal virtuoso, Abi Sampa and the pioneering Manchester Camerata to explore Carnatic music in a vibrant, contemporary reimagining.

Carnatic music is widely considered to be the most ancient and pure form of music from the Indian subcontinent. With roots that lie in deeply spiritual and vedic traditions it incorporates mathematical, rhythmic complexity and raga to beautifully illustrate tales from Hindu mythology.

Join Leeds’ City Organist, and HAR-favourite Darius Battiwalla, for a Halloween double-bill of silent film classics, underscored by his signature spooky organ stylings.

Masterpiece of German expressionist silent film, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919) follows the mysterious Dr Caligari who enthrals and terrifies villagers with his fairground sideshow, a sleeping man in a box who wakes only to answer people’s questions. When murders and terror seep through the town, all is not as it seems…

It’s a voice that soars – pure, clear and true — above infectious Mandé guitar grooves. A stop-you-in-your-tracks voice instantly familiar to anyone in Mali, West Africa: Rokia Koné, aka the Rose of Bamako.

One of Mali’s most beloved and dynamic artists, Koné is a force to be reckoned with. Her captivating performances in the city’s local maquis clubs very often last for hours, as Koné runs the gamut of emotion from joy to despair, fury to tenderness, wielding that astounding voice with grace and power.

Irish soprano Maìre Flavin, recently in the title role of Opera North’s Alcina, will be heard here in more intimate surroundings, alongside Opera North’s Head of Music David Cowan.

Together, they will treat us to some of their favourite songs, from composers such as Dowland, Purcell and Schubert. At the heart of the programme is Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, five songs based on poems by Friedrich Rückert, including the haunting ‘At midnight’ and the beautiful song of farewell, ‘I am lost to the world’, whose closing lines are ‘I live alone in my heaven, in my love, in my song’.

Jasper Høiby, the founding member of Phronesis, one of the most talked about and acclaimed European bands of the last decade, returns with his new piano trio 3Elements.

Leeds-born composer, arranger and improviser; consummate soloist and generous collaborator; custodian of tradition and restless innovator, multi-award winning sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun takes to the Howard Assembly Room stage once more, this time for classical story telling.

Promising to be a very memorable night, twice Grammy nominated Iarla Ó Lionáird – vocalist with critically-acclaimed band The Gloaming – joins forces with renowned pianist/composer Cormac McCarthy and acclaimed clarinet maestro Matthew Berrill. Expect an intimate evening of spellbinding song, performed with great delicacy by these superb musicians.