In 1903 Elgar declared that 'the living centre of music is not in London but somewhere further north.' Elgar had become friends with Nicholas Kilburn (q.v.) of Bishop Auckland and frequently visited him there at his house 'Ninefields' (now demolished). He also conducted concerts of his own music in Bishop Auckland, Newcastle and Sunderland. In a letter to Mrs Kilburn, Elgar refers to a London Symphony concert in 1905 and goes on:

'No - really the tea at Newcastle was not good and purveyed by no angel but an evil spirit; there was coal in it and sulphur dioxide and I said things, well which I did not say or feel constrained to say at Episcopal Auckland.'

Elgar dedicated 'The Music Makers' to Kilburn and conducted it himself at the Town Hall in Bishop Auckland, with the Leeds Symphony Orchestra on 2 December 1919. Other works on the programme included the Cockaigne Overture, 'The Torch' and 'The River'. A pleasant letter was written years later by a member of the chorus that night, Mrs Mildred Caswell:

'I remember the night so well - we had been coached and coached, but at one point he always 'dragged' - this happened on that night too.
It was a cold night and when I left the Town Hall it was snowing. We soon clip-clopped up Princes Street into Etherley Lane where the lamps shone and the snow was falling - my head full of the beauty of the music , and humming I let myself into the digs where I lived - supperless to bed because the landlady did not approve of young girls going out late at night even to a choral concert.'