• Date and time: Wednesday 5 November 2025, 7.30pm
  • Location: In-person only
    Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, Campus West, University of York (Map)
  • Admission: Tickets: £7 to £25, booking required

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Event details

Kathryn Tickell  northumbrian smallpipes, fiddle, vocals
Amy Thatcher  accordion, synth, clogs, vocals
Kieran Szifris  octave mandolin
Joe Truswell  drums, percussion
with Stef Conner  vocals, lyres

Named after the old Northumbrian word for twilight, The Darkening comprises four musicians from the North East of England, joined for this performance by former member of The Unthanks, Stef Conner. Together, these dazzling musicians create musical magic – dynamic and unique ‘Ancient Northumbrian Futurism’!

Based in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall yet reaching out to the wider world, Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening explore the connecting threads of music, landscape and people over a period of almost 2000 years. Songs range from themes of freedom, nature and venturing out into the world after times of darkness to a Roman inscription with links to Libya and Syria, magnetically pulled into the twenty-first century with glorious vocal harmonies and the wildest of piping.

‘Wildly thrilling’ (The Guardian)

‘Dynamic and breathless jigs and spins … this is the energy we want!’ (The List)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HntoxQyuFDU