The next performance of Art Sung – Edith Sitwell will be in York as part of the York Late Music series on Saturday 7th December which nearly coincides exactly with Edith’s death, 60 years ago, on 9th December 1964. York Late Music has been championing new music for over 20 years and they organise a very creative and diverse series of concerts throughout the year.Our semi-dramatized recital Art Sung – Edith Sitwell, Behind her Façade is a celebration of the legendary 20th century poet Dame Edith Sitwell. Settings of her poetry by Benjamin Britten, William Walton, Michael Head, Ned Rorem, and Robert Marchant are at the core of this semi-dramatized recital as well as music by Erik Satie, Leonard Bernstein, and specially commissioned songs by Hayley Jenkins and Dominique le Gendre. Woven through are excerpts from “Façade”, the extraordinary musical entertainment she created with composer William Walton. The narrative, drawn from her letters and autobiography, together with bespoke visual images inspired by her fantastical, whimsical poetry experiments, the Façade curtain backdrops, and the many portraits of Sitwell by artists including Wyndham Lewis, Roger Fry and the Russian painter Pavel Tchelitchew, reveal the private Edith behind her façade.