Leeds Song appoints Michael Chance CBE as Chair Designate
Leeds Song has announced the appointment of Michael Chance CBE as a new Trustee and Chair Designate of the charity. Chance will succeed Kathleen Evans BEM as Chair after the 2026 festival comes to a close. Evan's tenure as chair is marked by a new commission by David Matthews, premiered in the 2026 Festival.
One of the most respected figures in British vocal music, Michael Chance is internationally celebrated for his career as a countertenor and for his wide-ranging work as a conductor, educator and advocate for young artists. His appointment marks an exciting new chapter for Leeds Song as it continues to expand its artistic ambition.
“An offer to a performer is always a good moment. This one, to be the next Chair of Leeds Song, was unfamiliar to me but no less enticing,” says Chance. “After having learnt a lot about this wonderful festival, and what it achieves, it became clear that this was not one to turn down. Leeds Song is a regional centre of international excellence. It celebrates in a wide variety of locations and on a broad canvas the power and joy of song and singing, in which I have enjoyed a lifetime of immersion. It has a passionate and committed audience, and a lot of performers of many sorts who will drop everything to be involved. I look forward immensely to working with Joseph and the team to ensure that Leeds Song continues to thrive and sustain its undoubted distinctiveness and distinction for a long time to come.”
Kathleen Evans BEM has been at the heart of Leeds Song since 2008, when she joined the organisation as Festival Administrator, and has served as Chair of the Board since 2017. She has played a central role in the Festival’s growth, overseeing a period in which Leeds Song has flourished and achieved record-breaking box office success.
To celebrate Evans’s longstanding commitment to Leeds Song, the festival has commissioned a major new song cycle by David Matthews, Three Hopkins Sonnets, Op. 180, setting sonnets by the Jesuit priest poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. The work will receive its world premiere at the Festival’s closing recital, Kathleen’s Songbook (Sat 18 April at Leeds Conservatoire), which sees Leeds Song Patron Dame Sarah Connolly and Festival Director Joseph Middleton perform music that has inspired, comforted and sustained Kathleen’s lifelong devotion to song.
Reflecting on her tenure, Evans says: “When Jane Anthony and her friends founded Leeds Lieder in 2004, they could hardly have imagined it would grow into the internationally renowned organisation it is today. That success is due to the dedication of a small management team, my fellow trustees, the inspirational leadership of our Director, Joseph Middleton, and the generosity of our artists, audiences and funders. My heartfelt thanks to you all – it has been a privilege.
I am especially proud of our support for emerging artists, our commissioning of new work through the Composers & Poets Forum, and the opportunities we offer children and young people through Learning and Participation. Song is not only about the past; it is a living, evolving art form that expresses our shared humanity.
I am deeply touched that Dame Sarah Connolly and Joseph asked me to suggest the programme for this year’s closing recital. Every piece has special meaning for me, and the addition of David Matthews’s settings of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins will make the evening one to savour.
I am most grateful to Michael Chance CBE for agreeing to take over as Chair. He and Joseph will be a formidable partnership, and I am confident Leeds Song will go from strength to strength. If he enjoys the role even half as much as I have, he will be very fortunate indeed.”