The Influence of Music on Edward Burra

Tuesday 7 July 2026 at 2.00 pm at the Lowther Pavilion. Guests may attend the lecture – £10 pp (pay on door)

Lecturer: Catherine Tackley

Professor Catherine Tackley (née Parsonage) is an internationally recognised musicologist, specialising in jazz. The lectures that Catherine offers for The Arts Society are all based on her original scholarship and informed by her teaching experience at Leeds Conservatoire, The Open University and now at the University of Liverpool (where she was Head of the Music Department from 2016-2022), as well as numerous high-profile public talks and media appearances (BBC Radio 3 and 4; BBC television) over more than two decades. Catherine has written two books – ‘The Evolution of Jazz in Britain: c.1880-1935‘ and ‘Benny Goodman’s Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert‘ – and co-edited ‘Black British Jazz: Routes, Ownership and Performance‘. In 2018, Catherine curated ‘Rhythm and Reaction: The Age of Jazz in Britain for The Arts Society‘, an acclaimed exhibition in London based on her research. In recognition of this and her work with many other organisations, Catherine won ‘Outstanding Contribution to Public Engagement’ in the University of Liverpool’s Staff Awards in 2019. She is active as a musician, including directing Dr Jazz and the Cheshire Cats Big Band. More information is available here.

The Lecture:

Music played an important if perhaps underappreciated role in Edward Burra’s life and work. Although the impact of Burra’s visits to Harlem and Boston where he encountered African American music first-hand has an obvious correlation with his artistic output, this talk also explores his record collection, held in the Tate’s archives, which is perhaps uniquely revealing not only of his musical preferences but also aspects of his personality.

Caption: Skull in a Landscape by Edward Burra. This photograph comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums and is in the Public domain