Favourite Things: 'I couldn’t believe how much music there was in Sheffield'

Horn player Jo Towler felt instantly in tune with Sheffield when she arrived in the city.

The Yorkshire-born musician came back up north to interview for her current role as Chief Executive of Sheffield charitable organisation Music in the Round.

Jo said: “I remember coming out of the railway station when I arrived off the train and thinking ‘hello Sheffield.’

“It didn’t look like it does now when I was growing up in Pudsey and used to visit!

“The first thing I did in Sheffield was go to a Music in the Round concert at The Crucible before my interview. Everyone was so welcoming, it felt like everything was slotting into place.”

That was in the summer of 2018.Jo was - clearly - successful at the interview, left her contemporary dance job in London and has now settled in the vibrant community of Crookes with fiancée Kate plus their two cats, Socks and Smudge. The couple will marry in February 2023.

As well as leading Music in the Round, which is the leading national promoter of chamber music, Jo is the Chair of Classical Sheffield.Here she shares some of her Favourite Things about Sheffield.

Music everywhere

Soon after joining Music in the Round I was handed a classical music report and after reading it I couldn’t believe how much music there was in Sheffield.There are something like 36 choirs alone here, that’s more than Manchester and Leeds.

And that’s without getting into ensembles, orchestras and the carol groups and brass bands that are performing in pubs now in the run up to Christmas.In London there is still more of a scene where you can perform every day if you want to, but Sheffield has an awful lot going on. It is very much somewhere you can celebrate being a musician, that was really important to me as a horn player.I wear a lot of professional hats, from Music in the Round to Classical Sheffield and I’m also on the advisory board of Sheffield Music Hub.But when I’m playing my horn and that’s all, I’m not wearing any of those other hats, it is really special.Sheffield is a place where you can do that. I’ve met so many other lovely musicians who enjoy making music for the joy of it.

That back home feeling

There’s something about being back in Yorkshire, it does feel like home.It is such a cliché to say but it really is a place where you can have a good conversation at the bus stop, people are so friendly.I went to university in Edinburgh so I was able to walk everywhere as a student there, here in Sheffield you can do the same.Plus the fact we can be out walking in the Peak District in just a few minutes never gets old.

CrookesCrookes has it all. We have so many pubs and restaurants, independent shops and a pharmacy, everything you need.

One of our favourite places to go is the Two Sheds pub in Crookes. We actually had two engagement parties as both Kate and I still have friends in London, but the one at Two Sheds was definitely the best.If you haven’t been then Two Sheds is all about, very simply, going for a drink. It’s not highfalutin at all but a great place where you can have a brilliant pint, and I love that.

The view from Bole Hills Park is also one of the best views in Sheffield.Everybody who comes to visit us and sees it for the first time says words to the effect of ‘oh my God.’ We appreciate it every day.

The CrucibleWe have a great relationship with The Crucible at Music In The Round.A lot of our events, including concerts that form part of our Sheffield Chamber Music Festival each year, take place in The Playhouse.In there the audience is so close to the musicians that they both respond to each other through the performance and there is a real buzz in the room.It fires everybody up and makes for an energetic show. It’s a very unique venue to experience in that respect.

Tickets have just gone on sale for our next Sheffield Chamber Music Festival in May 2023.We have some incredible musicians from across the world taking part - it’s going to be spectacular.

Festival tickets are on sale at musicintheround.co.uk or from the Sheffield Theatres box office on 0114 2496000.Prices start at £5 for students or under 35s.