“I’m delighted to be joining this fabulous organisation as artistic adviser and working with this talented team in the beautiful city of York,” says Mark Seow
VIOLINIST, musicologist , writer and broadcaster Mark Seow is the new addition to York Early Music Festival’s team of artistic advisers.
He joins mezzo-soprano and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Helen Charlston, music writer and producer Lindsay Kemp, University of York Emeritus Professor of Music and Yorkshire Baroque Soloists & Choir director Peter Seymour and University of Huddersfield Emeritus Professor of Music and Rose Consort of Viols member John Bryan.
“I’m delighted to be joining this fabulous organisation as artistic adviser and working with this talented team in the beautiful city of York,” says Mark. “I’ve always been a huge admirer of the world-class York Early Music Festival, which continues to go from strength to strength, attracting the finest musicians to the city.”
Festival director Dr Delma Tomlin says: “We’re very pleased to welcome Mark to York Early Music Festival’s talented team, whose input is so important to the development and profile of this hugely popular annual celebration of early music.
“I’m sure that Mark’s wealth of experience and enthusiasm will be invaluable assets and I’m sure he will enjoy his time in this beautiful city.”
After studying Baroque violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Seow received his doctorate in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach from the University of Cambridge.
He has performed at the Wigmore Hall (London), St Thomas Church (Leipzig), Philharmonie (Berlin) and Palais Garnier (Paris), working with directors such as John Eliot Gardiner, Masaaki Suzuki, Rachel Podger, Harry Bicket and Trevor Pinnock. He has even performed with the Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment in the Royal Albert Hall and a pub!
Seow has been a broadcaster for BBC Radio 3 since 2021, presenting more than 50 editions of The Early Music News. His documentary for BBC Radio 4, Eastern Classical, was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2024. He has worked for Decca Classics, Bach Network and Bärenreiter and has been a critic for Gramophone magazine since 2019.
He taught at the University of Cambridge, where in 2023 he was AHRC DTP Fellow in Music, and now holds a position in the University for Music and Performing Arts department of musicology in Vienna.
His recordings include Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Handel’s Messiah and he premiered the electronic-choral work Lark Ascending Remixed at London’s Southbank Centre.
National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award winners Ryan Collis, left, and Charlotte Robertson, seated, at the NCEM
RYAN Collis and Charlotte Robertson are the winners of the 2024 National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Awards.
Ryan won the age 19 to 25 years category with Lux Divinae; Charlotte, the 18 years and under category with A Wonderous Mystery.
Presented in partnership with BBC Radio 3, the final of the 17th NCEM Young Composers Awards took place at the NCEM, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, on May 16.
This year, the NCEM and BBC Radio 3 invited aspiring young composers to create a new work for The Tallis Scholars. Composers were asked to write for unaccompanied voices, setting the 16th century text Mirabile Mysterium (A Wondrous Mystery) either in the original Latin or the English translation.
Composers were encouraged to create music that responds to the imagery of the words and, like the polyphonic vocal music of the European Renaissance, has a sense of melodic direction.
Compositions by the eight young finalists were workshopped during the day by composer Professor Christopher Fox, professional singers from York ensemble Ex Corde and their director Paul Gameson, in the presence of Peter Phillips, director of The Tallis Scholars.
In the evening, Ex Corde and Paul Gameson gave a public performance, live streamed to ensure that friends and families from across the United Kingdom were able to join in.
Thomas Shorthouse, Mirabile Mysterium;Tingshuo Yang, Mirabile Mysterium; Ryan Collis, Lux Divinae; Reese Carly Manglicmot, Mirabile Mysterium.
18 and under
Matty Oxtoby, Mirabile Mysterium; Charlotte Robertson, A Wondrous Mystery; Jamaal Kashim, Mutationem ac Stabilitatem; Selina Cetin, Nativitas Salvatoris Nostri.
“It was wonderful to welcome these talented young people to York for a day sharing music and ideas,” said NCEM director Delma Tomlin
The 2024 panel of judges were BBC Radio 3 producer Les Pratt, NCEM director Delma Tomlin and Tallis Scholars director Peter Phillips.
Ryan Collis and Charlotte Robertson’s winning works will be premiered by The Tallis Scholars in a public concert at Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, on Sunday, October 20, when the performance will be recorded for later broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.
Delma Tomlin said: “We are delighted to welcome back the internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble The Tallis Scholars, directed by our good friend Peter Phillips, as the partners for 2024.
“An annual event on the NCEM’s busy calendar, the Young Composers Award is becoming increasingly popular with aspiring young composers and recognised as an important landmark in their careers.
“It was wonderful to welcome these talented young people to York for a day sharing music and ideas at the NCEM’s home, St Margaret’s Church. I’d like to say a special thank-you to Dr Christopher Fox, Peter Phillips, Paul Gameson and Ex Corde, for their inspiration, hard work and invaluable support, and of course to my fellow judges.
“We’re looking forward to hearing the winning compositions performed by The Tallis Scholars in Saffron Walden in the autumn and broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.”
Les Pratt said: “Radio 3 prides itself on being the home of classical music that is known to many, as well as a place where audiences can discover the latest trends and creations.
“Through our support for young composers, thanks to our partnership with NCEM, we are making sure that the art form is kept alive, and always looks to the future. That’s why we can’t wait to share these wonderful new compositions with listeners at home on the Early Music Show and on BBC Sounds.”
The Tallis Scholars said: “Commissioning and performing the works of living composers has been an important part of the long life of The Tallis Scholars, alongside our performances of Renaissance sacred polyphony. To be able to work with young composers is a great privilege and to see how they respond to ancient texts and renaissance settings of those texts is endlessly fascinating.”
Protean Quartet: Winners of the 2022 York International Young Artists Competition, pictured at the NCEM
APPLICATIONS from ensembles across the world are invited for next year’s York International Young Artists Competition. The closing date is January 15 2024.
This longstanding competition for young ensembles will take place from July 10 to 13 at the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, as part of York Early Music Festival 2024.
The final will take place on Saturday, July 13 with a day of public performances at the NCEM. The first prize includes a recording contract from Linn Records; a £1,000 prize; opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and a concert at the 2025 York Early Music Festival.
Further prizes on offer include: the Friends of York Early Music Festival Prize, the Cambridge Early Music Prize and one for The Most Promising Young Artist/s, endorsed by the EUBO Development Trust.
The competition is open to early music ensembles with a minimum of three members and an average age of 32 years or under and a maximum age of 36 for individuals.
The ensembles must demonstrate historically informed performance practice and play repertory spanning the Middle Ages to the 19th century on period instruments.
The competition is recognised as a major international platform for emerging talent in the world of early music. Attracting musicians from all over the globe, it offers a major boost to young professional careers with opportunities for performance, recording and broadcasting, plus international exposure.
Festival director and NCEM founder Delma Tomlin says: “We’re delighted to be staging the Young Artists competition once again in 2024. One of the highlights of our festival, the competition takes place every two years and fills every corner of the NCEM with music and laughter.
“We believe it is extremely important to nurture and develop young talent, and the competition provides an important opportunity for young artists and musicians not just from the UK but from all over the world.”
Last year’s winners, Protean Quartet, say: “We were delighted and honoured to win the main prize in 2022. Taking part in the competition was an amazing experience. It was wonderful performing at the NCEM’s home, the beautiful St Margaret’s Church, and meeting the other ensemble who were taking part. The prize provides a real boost to our confidence, profile and careers.”
Protean Quartet performed at last summer’s festival, as did 2019 winners L’Apothéose, who say: “Winning the York competition was an extremely important and prestigious recognition of our career. It was wonderful to return to York for the recording of our CD with Linn Records and to appear at the York Early Music Festival last July.”
Ensemble Moliere: Premiering Sarah Cattley’s Rossignolet on International Women’s Day
THE National Centre for Early Music, in York, is celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8 – and throughout the year.
A new composition, Rossignolet, by 2019 NCEM Composer Award joint winner Sarah Cattley, commissioned by BBC Radio 3, will be presented by the all-female instrumentalists Ensemble Moliere in a broadcast at 1.30pm on Wednesday.
Looking ahead, women composers will be highlighted within this summer’s York Early Music Festival, led off by a new work by Lithuanian composer and NCEM alumna Juta Pranulyte, commissioned jointly by NCEM, The Marian Consort and the Rose Consort of Viols.
Three miniature operas by the late-17th century French composer Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, telling the heartrending stories of three Biblical women, will be sung by Carolyn Sampson, RPS Vocal Award 2023 winner Anna Dennis and Alys Mererid Roberts. BBC New Generation Artist Helen Charlston will present her award-winning Battle Cry!.
York Early Music Festival 2023 will run from July 7 to 14 with a theme of Smoke & Mirrors. Tickets will go on sale on March 6 at ncem.co.uk and on 01904 658338.
Solomon’s Knot: Premiering Johann Kuhnau’s Christmas Cantatas on December 16. Picture: Dan Joy
YORK Early Music Christmas Festival 2022’s combination of music, minstrels, merriment, mulled wine and mince pies can be savoured from December 8 to 17.
The live festival will be complemented by a festive online box set, comprising highlights of seven concerts available to watch on demand from 12 noon on December 19 to January 31 2023.
Run by the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, the 2022 festival features both Early and folk music performed by an array of artists from Great Britain, Europe and York itself.
“The NCEM welcomes old friends and new faces for this musical celebration of Christmas,” says director Dr Delma Tomlin. “As well as concerts from some of the world’s foremost exponents of Early Music, this year’s Christmas programme brings you festive cheer from The Furrow Collective, Green Matthews and The York Waits, thanks to a special Events and Festivals Grant from Make It York.
“This is the perfect choice for an atmospheric Yuletide evening away from the crowds as the York Early Music Christmas Festival transports you to a magical Christmas past, with mice pies and mulled wine available at most concerts.”
La Palatine: Opening York Early Music Christmas Festival 2022with Fiesta Galante concert
Returning after their sparkling debut in York last year, French baroque ensemble La Palatine open the festival on December 8 at 7pm at the NCEM with Fiesta Galante, a festive and colourful spread of different musical genres marking the accession of the Bourbons to the Spanish throne in 1700.
These rising stars of Creative Europe’s EEEmerging+ programme – to support the development of young professional ensembles – will be performing acrobatic sonatas, dancing cantatas and guitar pieces, capturing how the new Italianate spirit spread through Spain. Led by soprano Marie Théoleyre, the highlight will be Nebra’s sacred cantatas.
“The relationship with Europe (through EEEmerging) has been fabulous, allowing us to share these wonderful musicians’ skills,” says Delma. “Post-Brexit, the bridges will still be there; they still want to collaborate, and so do I.
“Last December, La Palatine made the audience cry…in a very positive way with the beauty of their music, especially the last song. Marie Théoleyre is such an engaging singer. People were still not getting out to many concerts, and there was such a sense of joy in being there.
“La Palatine will be here for a few days, and as part of their residency, for Restoration, a UK network of Early Music promoters, they will be presenting a private concert to be shared online, giving the promoters the chance to talk to the artists with a view to further engagements.”
Ensemble Augelletti: Invitation to Pick A Card! Picture: Luke Avery
Expect to hear fantasias as they have never been played before when improvising violinist Nina Kumin gives an illustrated concert as part of this University of York PhD student’s doctorate in Telemann’s Fantasy: The Genius Behind The Music (NCEM, December 9, 12.30pm, free admission).
Looking at how fantasias capture the style and the spirit of the Baroque, this Peter Seymour pupil will open with Telemann’s fantasias for solo violin, then will address two questions: how did baroque musicians create fantasias, and from where did they gain inspiration?
Kumin, by the way, has taken over as the director of the Minster Minstrels, the NCEM’s Early Music ensemble for school-age musicians.
In Pick A Card! (NCEM, December 9, 7pm), London’s Ensemble Augelletti explore playing card designs from the 14th century to the present day, connecting each card to a different piece of music to tell seasonal stories of people, places and animals in winter.
Olwen Foulkes, recorders, Ellen Bundy, violin, Carina Drury, cello, Toby Carr, lutes, and Benedict Willliams, keyboards, play music by Handel, Corelli, Rossi, Purcell and Ucellini to conjure up cosy evenings of playing cards around a fire, an ancient pastime for family celebrations and gatherings.
Clowning around in Ensemble Molière’s Good Soup performance on December 12
Audiences can enjoy a brace of intimate yet extrovert celebrations of JS Bach’s music in solo violin lunchtime concerts over the festival’s two weekends. Festival favourite Bojan Čičić returns to the NCEM to interpret Bach’s Sonatas (December 10, 1pm) and Partitas (December 17, 1pm), ahead of the release of his latest recording with Delphian.
York’s Yorkshire Bach Choir and the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists return to the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York (December 10, 7pm to 10pm), with soprano Bethany Seymour and Hannah Morrison, tenor James Gilchrist and bass Johnny Herford as the soloists for Handel’s Brockes Passion.
After languishing in the margins of musical history, Handel’s only Passion setting – first performed in Hamburg in 1719 – receives its debut performance in the North of England, with its vivid mixture of chorales, choruses and emotive recitatives, under conductor Peter Seymour.
Baroque ensemble Spiritato and York vocal group The Marian Consort join forces at the NCEM (December 11, 5pm) to present Inspiring Bach, an exciting, moving and profound performance featuring music and composers admired by Johann Sebastian Bach: Pachelbel, JC Bach, Knupfer and Buxtehude.
“These large-scale, uplifting works, composed after the trauma of the Thirty Years War, have a remarkable resonance today,” says Delma. “Featuring composers you might surmise were inspired by Bach or inspired the man himself, this is music form the very soul of the 17th century, crowned with soaring melodies and the glorious sound of trumpets and drums.
Ensemble Molière: NCEM’s New Generation Baroque Ensemble
“We’re delighted Spiritato are returning to York; they’re an absolutely smashing young ensemble, working incredibly hard to present unfamiliar repertoire and making a real go of it.”
To celebrate French playwright Molière’s 400th anniversary, Ensemble Molière, the first NCEM/BBC Radio 3/Royal College of Music New Generation Baroque Ensemble, re-create a time of environmental catastrophe, war and pestilence set around the table of the Sun King, Louis XIV, in Good Soup at the NCEM (December 12, 7.30pm).
“Very different from a normal baroque programme”, the evening of music, absurdist theatre, slapstick and puppetry features works by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Couperin, Marais, Dumont, Charpentier and Jean Chardevoine, complemented by clowns and performers James Oldham and Lizzy Shakespeare. Klara Kofen is the dramaturg and puppeteer; Rachel Wise, the movement director and fellow puppeteer.
The NCEM and partners will be seeking a new New Generation ensemble from next September. In the meantime, Ensemble Molière will record their debut album at the NCEM next spring, on top of their work for BBC Radio 3.
The Orlando Consort’s Matthew Venner (countertenor), Mark Dobell (tenor), Angus Smith (tenor) and Donald Greig (baritone) mark their final year of performing and recording together with Adieu, presenting a selection of pieces they have particularly enjoyed singing over the past 35 years, at the NCEM (December 15, 6.30pm, moved from 7.30pm).
The Orlando Consort: Saying goodbye with Adieu, an evening of music and conversation on December 15
The mellifluous sequence of music from across Europe ranges from the hypnotic beauty of 1,000-year-old polyphony, through the Medieval age, and onwards to the early Renaissance.
In addition, Consort members will be sharing reflections on their musical journey in a handful of behind-the-scenes touring anecdotes. That journey included a commission from Gabriel Jackson to mark the opening of the NCEM in 2000.
The main festival concludes with Solomon’s Knot’s focus on Johann Kuhnau’s Christmas Cantatas, directed by Jonathan Sells, now at the NCEM, rather than the Lyons (December 16, 6.30pm).
“Three hundred years after his death, it must be high time to bring Johann Kuhnau – the 16th cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig – out of the eclipsing shadow of his well-known successor, JS Bach,” says Delma.
The Furrow Collective: Opening their winter tour at the NCEM on December 2
“Thanks to the pioneering work of scholar and countertenor David Erler, his sparkling works are ever more widely available. Solomon’s Knot return to the festival to give three of them their UK premiere in York, to be followed by a second performance at Wigmore Hall, in London, the next day.
“Featuring full choir and orchestra – 25 performers in all – these cantatas will ‘raise the roof’ of our 2022 Christmas celebrations, with festive trumpets, horns, and drums providing the perfect soundtrack for Christmas and New Year.”
In further festive concerts at the NCEM, English/Scottish band The Furrow Collective present We Know By The Moon, a spine-tingling evening of storytelling and harmony, bringing light into the wintry gloom (December 2, 7.30pm), while modern-day balladeers Green Matthews evoke the spirit of Christmas past, bringing600 years of music to life in a riot of sound and colour (December 17, 7.30pm).
In the NCEM’s last Christmas concert, the stalwart York Waits celebrate the 45th anniversary of their re-creation of York’s historic city band with The Waits’ Wassail in Music for Advent and Christmas, exploring festive music from the 14th to the 17th century (December 20, 7.30pm).
For full programme details, go to ncem.co.uk. Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338, at ncem.co.uk or in person from the NCEM.
El Gran Teatro Del Mundo: Part of the NCEM’s online box set
FOR the festive online box set, the NCEM concerts by La Palatine, Bojan Čičić, Spiritato & The Marian Consort, The Orlando Consort and Solomon’s Knot will be filmed and recorded by Ben Pugh and Tim Archer, formerly of the BBC’s Manchester studios, to enjoy from the comfort of home.
The set will be completed by El Gran Teatro Del Mundo’s concert, The Art Of Conversation, filmed on November 20. A festival pass costs £45 for the seven concerts; individual concerts, £10, at ncem.co.uk, and the concerts may be watched any number of times.
NCEM director Dr Delma Tomlin says: “York Early Music Festival is one of the highlights of the city’s Christmas calendar and the online programme offers the chance for everyone to enjoy these glorious concerts wherever they are in the world, giving access to people unable to go out or attend.
“As always, we’re welcoming old friends and new to the festival, which features an extraordinary wealth of music associated with Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Our programme is the perfect accompaniment to Yuletide festivities and can be streamed well beyond Twelfth Night, so if you can’t join us in York this year, you can celebrate with us at home from December 19 to January 31.”
York Early Music Christmas Festival director Dr Delma Tomlin: “Welcoming old friends and new”
Wind-blown: The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble members Adrian France, Tom Lees, Gawain Glenton, Conor Hastings, Andy Harwood-White and Emily White
ENTRIES are sought for the NCEM Young Composers Award 2023.
Each year the award is presented by the National Centre for Early Music, York, in association with BBC Radio 3, who welcome the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble as partners for next year.
Young composers are invited to write a new piece for this virtuoso period instrument group based on a popular tune from the Spanish “Golden Age” of the 16th and 17th centuries, creating their composition in the same spirit by using the melody as a starting point for musical ideas.
The award is open to young composers resident in Great Britain up to the age of 25 and is judged in two age categories: 18 and under and 19 to 25.
NCEM director Dr Delma Tomlin says: “The Young Composers Award continues to be one of the highlights on the NCEM’s calendar and is an extremely important part of the organisation’s work.
“For the 2023 awards, we are delighted to be working with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, an award-winning group with a host of distinguished recordings to its name.
“The winning compositions will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show, a wonderful way to launch the careers of aspiring young composers.”
NCEM direcor Dr Delma Tomlin: “The Young Composers Award continues to be one of the highlights on the NCEM’s calendar”
BBC Radio 3 controller Alan Davey says: “Here at Radio 3, we believe that it is vital to encourage and support creative exploration, as this is the only way to keep classical music alive with the idea of an ever-growing canon, attracting new audiences with a sense of exploration and discovery.
“That is why we are so proud to partner with the National Centre for Early Music once more for its 2023 Young Composers Award. This collaboration enables us to expose our audiences at home to some of the brightest talents in Early Music practice, broadcasting their works on our Early Music Show.”
Gawain Glenton, the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble’s co-director, says: “A key part of our mission as an ensemble is to expand the horizons of our beautiful instruments.
“We’re therefore thrilled to return as the ensemble-in-residence and can’t wait to see what the young composers write for us. Pieces from our last appearance in 2018 have since become part of our core repertoire. We’re looking forward to once again showcasing the work of the UK’s wonderful young artistic voices.”
Composers must register their interest by 12 noon on February 17 and scores should be submitted by March 17 2023. Full details, including the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble’s guide on how to write for their instruments, can be found at: https://www.youngcomposersaward.co.uk/
The shortlisted composers will be invited to a collaborative workshop at the NCEM, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, led by composer Christopher Fox and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble. In the evening, the shortlisted pieces will be performed with the judges present, when the two winning compositions will be announced. The NCEM will meet all travel and accommodation costs for those selected to attend.
The winning works will be premiered in a public performance at the Stoller Hall in Manchester on November 9 2023, when the concert will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.
Protean Quartet: First prize winners at York Early Music International Young Artists Competition
PROTEAN Quartet, from Germany, have won first prize at the 2022 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition.
“We are so proud to receive this wonderful prize which will widen the opportunity for us to share our music far and wide,” they said afterwards. “We were competing against some amazingly talented musicians and we are privileged to receive this great honour.”
They overcame fierce competition from six highly talented international ensembles in the biennial competition, organised by the National Centre for Early Music, York, in a day-long series of performances by the competitors on July 16.
Protean Quartet – Javier Aguilar, Edi Kotler, violins, Ricardo Gil, viola, and Clara Rada, cello – receive a professional recording contract from Linn Records, £1,000 cash prize and opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and the NCEM.
Under the title Tempus Omnia Vincit, they performed Josquin des Prez’s Mille Regretz and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (Rosamunde), Allegro ma non troppo and Andante.
After Inflammabile and Ensemble L’Aminta, both from Austria, and Fair Oriana, from Great Britain, had to withdraw due to unforeseen circumstances, the final featured Protean Quartet; ApotropaïK, from France; Ensemble Augelletti, from GB; Harmos Winds, from the Netherlands; Liturina, from GB; Palisander, from GB, and UnderStories, from Italy.
Triple success: ApotropaïK, from France, won the EEEmerging+ Prize, Friends of York Early Music Prize and Cambridge Music Prize
During the two days before the weekend competition, each ensemble presented an informal recital under the guidance of York Early Music Festival artistic advisors John Bryan and Steven Devine.
The aim of these recitals was to give finalists the opportunity to adapt to the performance space and become familiar with the York audience in advance of the competition.
Each group then gave their final recital to a distinguished judging panel at the NCEM, comprising: Edward Blakeman, from BBC Radio 3; Albert Edelman, president of Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne, 2019-2022; Philip Hobbs, Linn Records producer and recording engineer; violinist Catherine Mackintosh and harpsichordist Professor Barbara Willi.
The 2022 competition was presented by John Bryan, Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Huddersfield and a member of the Rose Consort of Viols.
At the end of the competition, judging panel chair Philip Hobbs said: “The last three years have been extraordinary and extremely challenging for all young musicians. The calibre of musicianship we have seen is a tribute to their tenacity and dedication. The standard we see keeps going up and up and I would like to applaud all those who have taken part in this incredible day.”
Story of success: UnderStories, from Italy, won the Most Promising Young Artist prize
NCEM director and festival administrative director Delma Tomlin said: “It was wonderful to see the return of the competition and share the joy of being together again.
“The performances from these seven ensembles were of the highest calibre – congratulations to all. I would like to thank them and extend special thanks to our panel of judges for their hard work and support and to John Bryan and Steven Devine for their expertise and invaluable help.”
The EEEmerging+ Prize, Friends of York Early Music Prize and Cambridge Music Prize were all scooped by ApotropaïK, who performed Bella Donna, music from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.
A cash prize of £1,000 for the Most Promising Young Artist – individual instrumentalist or ensemble specialising in baroque repertoire – was awarded to UnderStories, whose performance featured works by Benedetto Marcello, Antonio Caldara and Antonio Vivaldi.
The competition provided a spectacular finale to the ten-day festival in a return to a full-scale live event that connected friends old and new through concerts, recitals and workshops staged in historic venues around York.
Competition highlights and music from the winning recital will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show later this year.
Winners Adam Possener, left, and Christopher Churcher at the National Centre for Early Music
ADAM Possener and Christopher Churcher have won the 2022 National Centre for Early Music Composers Awards.
Possener was victorious in the age 19 to 25 category with his composition 52°N 20.5° E; Churcher, the 18-and-under age group with Arborescent.
The final of the 15th annual competition, presented in partnership with BBC Radio 3, was live-streamed last Thursday (19/5/2022) from the NCEM, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York.
Compositions by the eight finalists were played for the first time by former BBC Radio 3 New Generation artists Consone Quartet, who specialise in performances with period instruments using gut strings. Their concert programme also included Franz Josef Haydn’s String Quartet in D, Opus 71 No. 2.
Dr Christopher Fox: Leading the workshop with young composers at the NCEM
The event followed a day-long workshop with the young composers at the NCEM, led by Dr Christopher Fox, Emeritus Professor of Music at Brunel University, and Consone Quartet, where the finalists – all based in the UK – were invited to enter into the musical sound world of one of the quartet’s favourite composers, Fanny Mendelssohn.
The 2022 panel of judges were: BBC Radio 3 producer Les Pratt, NCEM director Dr Delma Tomlin and Consone Quartet.
Churcher’s Arborescent and Possener’s 52°N 20.5° E will be premiered by Consone Quartet at Stour Music Festival on June 24, when it will be recorded for broadcast later in the year on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show,the weekly programme that airs every Sunday from 2pm to 3pm and on BBC Sounds.
Consone Quartet with winners Adam Possener, third from left, and Christopher Churcher
Delma Tomlin says: “Once again, we enjoyed an array of outstanding music at the NCEM, and I’d like to congratulate all our composers for their outstanding work. It was an absolute joy to welcome them to our home at St Margaret’s Church for an incredible day of exploring the world of composition.
“I’d also like to say a massive thank-you to my fellow judges and to BBC Radio 3; their continued support is invaluable and enables us to continue to stage this major annual award.”
Alan Davey says: “Music will only exist as long as young people keep putting their minds and spirits to it and feel compelled to keep creating it – breathing new life into the art form and bringing their own personal insights and approaches.
NCEM Composers Awards finalists with Dr Christopher Fox and Consone Quartet
“That’s why supporting young composers is one of Radio 3’s main missions, and we can’t wait to share these wonderful new compositions with our listeners on the Early Music Show and on BBC Sounds.”
The live streamed performance is available on Facebook.com/yorkearlymusic @yorkearlymusic.
Director Harry Christophers (holding rail, sixth from left) with seemingly rather more than 16 in The Sixteen, playing York Early Music Festival on July 9
FOR the first time since 2019, the York Early Music Festival will be at full strength this summer for nine days of concerts, talks and workshops under the theme of Connections.
Highlights during the festival run from July 8 to 16 include The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars and Gabrieli Consort & Players, all at York Minster, and the return of the York International Young Artists Competition.
The programme also features gamba specialists Paolo Pandolfo & Amélie Chemin; The Gonzaga Band; The Rose Consort of Viols; the University of York Baroque Ensemble; Orí Harmelin; Profeti della Quinta; the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and Ensemble Voces Suaves.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338, at ncem.co.uk or via email to boxoffice@ncem.co.uk, with discounts available for Friends and under 35s.
“The festival presents a series of concerts linked together through a maze of interconnecting composers, shining a light on the many connections that hold us together in the past and into the future,” says director Delma Tomlin, explaining the festival theme.
“This year’s theme is Connections, connecting and indeed reconnecting music, artists and, of course, our audiences,” says York Early Music Festival director Delma Tomlin
Concerts will be supported by a series of illustrated talks, workshops, opportunities to ‘Come and Sing’ and informal recitals at a festival presented in historical venues such as York Minster, the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, St Lawrence’s Church and the festival headquarters, the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), in the medieval St Margaret’s Church building in Walmgate.
The festival’s grand finale will be the York International Young Artists Competition 2022, wherein ten groups from across Europe will give informal recitals at the NCEM at 10am and 2pm on July 14 and 15 before competing for the prize on July 16.
The winners will receive a professional CD recording contract from Linn Records, a cheque for £1,000 and opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and the NCEM. Additional prizes will be supported by Cambridge Early Music, the European Union Baroque Orchestra Development Trust and the Friends of York Early Music Festival.
“We are delighted to be presenting a nine-day festival of music in our beautiful city, staged in some of the country’s most architecturally stunning buildings,” says Delma.
“This year’s theme is Connections, connecting and indeed reconnecting music, artists and, of course, our audiences. As always, we’ll be celebrating the glorious music of the past but also looking forward, as we’re able at last, to stage the York International Young Artists Competition, showcasing and nurturing the performers of the future.
The Tallis Scholars: Making Choral Connections at York Minster on July 11
“We’re so pleased to be back at full strength, and we can’t wait to welcome you to York for what promises to be one of the most exciting festivals to date.”
Those unable to attend are advised that the festival will be offering many of the concerts online across the summer. Full details will be available from ncem.co.uk.
Audience safety and comfort is a continuing priority in an ever-changing environment for the NCEM and York Early Music Festival. Check out the full guidance at ncem.co.uk/covid-guidelines.
The 2022 York Early Music Festival programme:
July 8, 7.30pm: Paolo Pandolfo & Amélie Chemin, viola da gamba duo, Heavans Joy, The World of the Virtuoso Viol, at NCEM, York.
July 9, 9.30am: Master And Pupil, workshop led by The Gonzaga Band director Jamie Savan, at Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York. Singers and players of Renaissance wind and string instruments look at the polychoral repertory of Giovanni Gabrieli and Heinrich Schütz.
Ensemble Voces Suaves: Schutz happens at St Lawrence’s Church on July 15
July 9, 12 noon: The Sixteen Insight Day, at NCEM, York. Insight Day explores stories behind The Sixteen’s Choral Pilgrimage repertory. Discover more with singer and practical scholar Sally Dunkley, organist Robert Quinney and a consort of Sixteen singers.
July 9, 7.30pm: The Sixteen, Author Of Light, at York Minster. Harry Christophers directs a choral programme focused on Hubert Parry’s Songs Of Farewell.
July 10, 2pm: The Early Music Show, BBC Radio 3 live broadcast presented by Hannah French with selected festival guests, at NCEM; free to those attending a festival event. Immediately afterwards, violinist Kati Debretzeni presents delayed 2020 York Biennial Lifetime Achievement Award to violinist Catherine Mackintosh.
July 10, 4.45pm: Minster Minstrels, Fairest Isle, directed by Ailsa Batters, at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York. NCEM’s youth instrumental ensemble performs music from the late 17th-century theatre, court and household to demonstrate the influence of the new Italian and French styles in post-Restoration England.
July 10, 7.30pm: The Gonzaga Band, Venice 1629, directed by cornett player Jamie Savan, at NCEM, York. Vocal works by Claudio Monteverdi and Alessandro Grandi and virtuosic Baroque instrumental music by wind player Dario Castello and violinist Biagio Marini feature in a series of snapshots from an extraordinary year in the life of this most musical of cities.
The Gonzaga Band: Snapshots of Venice, 1629 on July 10
July 11, 10.30am: Schutz In Venice, illustrated talk by Jamie Savan, at Bedern Hall, York. On his second visit to Venice in 1628-29, German composer Heinrich Schütz would surely have met Monteverdi, by now maestro di cappella at St Mark’s, but this talk also introduce lesser-known 1620s’ Venetian innovators in modern vocal and instrumental music.
July 11, 1pm: Rose Consort of Viols, with virginals player Steven Devine, Music For Severall Friends, at NCEM, York. Anniversary-marking concert of viol consort works by two British composers, the conservative Thomas Tomkins (born in 1572) and the more radical Matthew Locke (b.1622).
July 11, 7.30pm: The Tallis Scholars, Choral Connections, at York Minster. Director Peter Phillips explores connections between Josquin des Prez and his successor at the Sistine Chapel, Palestrina; Byrd and his English forebear Taverner.
July 12, 10.30am: An Italian In London, illustrated talk on The Case of Angelo Notari, musician and spy, by Jonathan Wainwright, at Bedern Hall, York. Italian-born Notari moved to England in 1611, making his career as a court musician. Little was known about his time in Italy, until recently, prompting this examination of his life and (newly attributed) compositions.
July 12, 1pm: La Vaghezza, Sculpting The Fabric, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York. Stars of the EEEmerging+ programme, this young Italian ensemble presents early-17th century Italian works by Cavalli, Merula, Vitali, Fontana and Rossi from debut album Sculpting The Fabric.
Gabrieli Consort & Players: Re-creating a Venetian Coronation at York Minster on July 13
July 12, 7.30pm: Profeti Della Quinta, Lamento d’Arianna, Italian Renaissance music from Rore to Monteverdi, at NCEM, York. Winners of the 2011 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition take a journey that connects early 16th-century ‘classical’ madrigal to Monteverdi’s ‘operatic’ solo madrigals in 17th-century Mantua.
July 13, 1pm: University of York Baroque Ensemble, Mannheim Travels To Fife, Early Symphonists and Two Brothers, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York. Highlighting works by Mannheim symphony kick-starter Johann Stamitz, Italian brothers Giovanni Battista and Giuseppe Sammartini, Johann Christian Bach and Scottish composer Thomas Erskine.
July 13, 7.30pm: Gabrieli Consort & Players, A Venetian Coronation, 1595, directed by Paul McCreesh, at York Minster. Spectacular re-creation of the festive Coronation Mass of the Venetian Doge Marino Grimani at St Mark’s, Venice, in 1595, to mark the Gabrieli Consort’s 40th anniversary.
July 13, 9.45pm: Ori Harmelin, Neshima: The Hebrew For Breath, at Undercroft, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, Fossgate, York. Theorbo specialist explores arrangements of madrigals, motets and chansons by Cipriano de Rore, Josquin des Prez and Thomas Tallis, complemented by Harmelin’s compositions and Irishman Simon McHale’s The Orbo.
July 14 and July 15, 10am and 2pm: International Young Artists Competition Recitals 1 and 2, at NCEM, York. Informal recitals featuring all the ensembles taking part in the 2022 competition, performing music from the Middle Ages to the early Classical period, introduced by master of ceremonies Professor John Bryan.
Ori Harmelin: Theorbo concert at Merchant Adventurers’ Hall on July 13
July 14, 7.30pm: Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, Bach’s Other Leipzig, directed by Peter Lawrence, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York. Not only composing for two churches when in Leipzig, Bach also wrote four ‘Lutheran masses’ in 1738/39 and the Coffee Cantata for Zimmermann’s Caffeehaus, a miniature comic opera on the pressing subject of coffee addiction, featured here.
July 15, 4.30pm: Come and Sing Handel’s Messiah, at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York. Peter Seymour, conductor, and Ben Horden, organ, invite allcomers to Come and Sing a selection of choruses from Handel’s Messiah in a short rehearsal and performance.
July 15, 7.30pm: Ensemble Voces Suaves, Enrico Sagittario: Heinrich Schütz in Italy, at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, York. Exploration of the Italian side of German composer Heinrich Schutz, putting music from his debut collection alongside madrigals by Gabrieli and Monteverdi that inspired him, plus toccatas for theorbo by Girolamo Kapsberger, an Italian composer with roots in Germany.
July 16, 10am: York International Young Artists Competition, at NCEM, York. 2022 competition, featuring ten groups, will be presented by John Bryan and judged by Edward Blakeman, from BBC Radio 3; Albert Edelman, president of Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne; Linn Records producer and recording engineer Philip Hobbs; violinist Catherine Mackintosh and harpsichordist and professor Barbara Willi.
Profeti Della Quinta: Italian Renaissance music from Rore to Monteverdi at NCEM on July 12
Consone Quartet: Partners in the NCEM Young Composers Award 2022
COMPOSERS aged 25 and under are invited to write a new work for string quartet for the NCEM Young Composers Award 2022.
Each year, the award is presented by the National Centre for Early Music, in York, in association with BBC Radio 3. For 2022, they are delighted to welcome the Consone Quartet, the BBC New Generation Artists, as creative partners, as announced on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show on November 21.
Composers are asked to write a new piece – three to four minutes in length – for string quartet, working alongside the Consone Quartet’s Agata Daraškaite, Magdalena Loth-Hill, Elitsa Bogdanova and George Ross, who play ‘period’ instruments using gut strings.
For next year’s award entries, they invite young composers to learn about the musical sound world of one of their favourite composers, Fanny Mendelssohn, a talented pianist who wrote 400 works but never enjoyed the acclaim that brother Felix received. “This is the opportunity to create a new piece which explores this fascinating time in musical history,” they say.
Shortlisted composers will be invited to the Award Day at the NCEM, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, when the shortlisted compositions will be presented by the Consone Quartet in a workshop led by composer Professor Christopher Fox. In the evening, the Consone Quartet will perform each of the pieces for a panel of judges.
The two winning pieces, one from each age category (see below), will be premiered by the Consone Quartet at Stour Music Festival on June 26 2022, when the performance will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.
This major national annual award is open to young composers up to the age of 25, resident in the UK, and is divided into two categories: 18 and under and 19 to 25.
NCEM director Delma Tomlin says: “The Young Composers Award is one of the most important dates in the NCEM’s calendar and gives us a vital opportunity to work with the wider community. Last year, we received an astonishing number of applications from all over the UK and we’re sure that enthusiasm to take part will just keep on growing.
NCEM director Delma Tomlin: “Thrilled to be working with the Consone Quartet”
“For 2022, we’re thrilled to be working with the Consone Quartet, who will be guiding the shortlisted composers and performing their pieces. They’ll be joined in York by composer Professor Christopher Fox to host a day of workshops with the shortlisted candidates before the public performance in the evening.
“This year, the compositions will be performed at the prestigious Stour Music Festival and, of course, broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show – a brilliant beginning for any young composer.”
Alan Davey, controller of BBC Radio 3 and classical music, says: “As Covid restrictions lift and we are able to celebrate the return of live music to UK stages, BBC Radio 3 believes it is vital to give appreciation and encouragement to young composers and performers who represent the future of music in this country.
“That is why we are so proud to partner with the National Centre for Early Music’s 2022 Young Composer Award. Each year, it enables us to help audiences at home discover the brightest talents in Early Music practice, broadcasting their works on our Early Music Show.”
Consone Quartet are “thrilled to be joining forces” with the NCEM for the Young Composers Award. “Having competed in the NCEM’s International Young Artists Competition, we appreciate how much these sorts of opportunities can help to kickstart a young musician’s career,” they say. “We cannot wait to hear what the shortlisted composers have written, to work in more detail with them and eventually to perform their works.”
The Young Composers Award is an integral part of the NCEM’s work, with comments from the 2021 awards illustrating the impact and importance of the experience. Witness: “I have gained confidence in myself. Hearing my piece come to life was an incredible experience,” said one. “Great contacts and lots of fun!” said another. “Christopher Fox’s insightful comments, always thinking outside the box,” enthused a third.
The deadline for registration is 12 noon on Friday, February 18 2022; the deadline for submission of scores is 12 noon, Friday, March 18. Shortlisted candidates will be informed by April 8 and will be invited to attend the Award Day in York on May 19.
L’Apothéose in the grounds of the National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, York, after winning the York International Young Artists Competition in 2019. Picture: Jim Poyner
YOUNG ENSEMBLES SOUGHT FOR YORK INTERNATIONAL YOUNG ARTISTS COMPETITION 2022
CALLING young ensembles of the world: the deadline for applications for next year’s York International Young Artists Competition is January 14 2022.
This prestigious longstanding competition for young ensembles will take place on Saturday, July 16 at the National Centre for Early Music as part of next summer’s York Early Music Festival.
The first prize includes a recording contract from Linn Records: a £1,000 prize; opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and a concert at the 2023 York Early Music Festival.
Other prizes include: the Friends of York Early Music Festival Prize; the Cambridge Early Music Prize and a prize for The Most Promising Young Artist/s endowed by the EUBO Development Trust.
The competition is open to Early Music ensembles with a minimum of three members; ensembles must have an average age of 33 years or under, with a maximum age of 37 years for individuals.
The ensembles must demonstrate historically informed performance practice and play repertory from any period, spanning the Middle Ages to the 19th century, on period instruments.
Sollazzo Ensemble: “Winning the competition was a turning point in our career”
The competition is recognised as a major international platform for emerging talent in the world of early music. Attracting musicians from all over the globe, it offers a boost to young professional careers with opportunities for performance, recording and broadcasting and international exposure.
NCEM director Delma Tomlin says: “We are so pleased to be staging the 2022 competition, which brings together young musicians of the highest calibre from the UK and all over the world.
“This is one of highlights of the York Early Music Festival and we are always overwhelmed by the superb quality of the performances from these fantastically talented young artists. The competition provides a joyous, optimistic finale to our festival and we are delighted to be able give these rising stars many exciting future opportunities.”
2019 winners L’Apothéose say: “Winning the York competition was an extremely important and prestigious recognition of our career, and taking part was an immensely joyful experience.”
Fellow former winners Sollazzo Ensemble enthuse: “Winning the competition was a turning point in our career, bringing us to the attention of both a wider audience and professionals throughout Europe.”
Details of how to apply can be found at yorkcomp.ncem.co.uk; alternatively, send an email to yorkcomp@ncem.co.uk.
