About us

Under the enthusiastic and expert guidance of founder Andrew Hitchen, Wesley Concerts have been delighting classical music audiences in Harrogate for over 30 years.

In 1995 the generosity of longstanding Wesley chapel and choir member Olive Dobson led to the venue buying a Yamaha concert grand piano. Since then world renowned pianists including Sir Stephen Hough, Angela Hewitt, Steven Osborne, Marc-André Hamelin and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet have enjoyed performing on this beautiful instrument, as have dozens of duos and chamber groups.

Every concert is a warm and welcoming occasion, with the Monday lunchtime recital series and the annual concert in memory of Olive Dobson attracting large audiences from a wide area.

Andrew was awarded a British Empire Medal in 2019 for services to music in Harrogate, and his life for the last 30 years has been one of voluntary dedication to the job of booking international musicians, looking after them on their visit to Harrogate and making sure every detail of concert planning is carried out. Together with his wife Ulrike and a small team of volunteers Andrew has built Wesley Concerts Harrogate into a series with a fine reputation amongst not only audiences, but also the classical musicians themselves. Once an artist has played here, they want to come back!

In 2019, after a 35 year career as a BBC Radio 3 producer and oboist, Sarah Devonald returned to Yorkshire with her husband Tim Swanwick, and is now directing Wesley Concerts alongside Andrew. Tim has also joined the team, introducing online and card ticket payments and launching a new Wesley Concerts website.

Mike and Maureen Greenberg, Philip and Jenny Goodwin, Jenny Wilman and Paul Everest are also key members of the Wesley Concerts team who you will see on recital days at the Centre, making things run smoothly both front of house, and behind the scenes.

If you would like to help Wesley Concerts go from strength to strength in the future, we’d love to hear from you. Information about our Patron's scheme can be found here. And practical help is also always welcome.