Special Mozart Effect concert at Harrogate

A Mental Health Awareness concert, using the Mozart Effect, to help everything from a teenager’s concentration to Dementia sufferers, will take place at the Royal Hall, as part of the Harrogate International Festivals' 50th anniversary celebrations.

The Wednesday, June 1, event features one of Europe’s leading chamber orchestras, Manchester Camerata, playing a very special all-Mozart programme with 28-year-old violinist Nicola Benedetti,

She is one of the world’s foremost violinists, praised for her passion, complexity, sensuality and beauty. Nicola says: “I think many things of beauty in life can go some way to helping with our mental health and general well-being. Classical music, no doubt, can be enormously helpful.”

Teaching children to play is one of her driving ambitions; she was awarded an MBE for her services to music and charity in 2013.

“Music helps us deal with all the invisible things in life – to communicate with each other, listen to each other, feel each other’s feelings and empathise. Music, if taught well, can help us deal with this complex part of human interaction in a very painless way.”

The night also features a pre-concert lecture on Mozart and his own mental health, which Nicola believes will "enhance the experience" of the concert.

Nicola doesn’t believe it’s a problem the music is predominantly enjoyed by an older audience: “I think classical music can take patience and is a type of music a lot of people grow into. I’ve never ever experienced playing for a younger audience and them not enjoying it.”

* The concert starts at 7.30pm, pre-concert talk 6.30pm. Box Office: harrogateinternationalfestivals.com or 01423-562-303

Viv Hardwick