Kristin Hersh on stage at St Margaret’s Church, the home of the National Centre for Early Music in York. Picture: Paul Rhodes
IT was a night of contrasts under a warm and still October sky. Outside, York city centre seemed intent on consuming itself. Inside the wonderful, sacred space of the National Centre for Early Music, a full house sat rapt, listening to Kristin Hersh perform her extraordinary songs.
Hersh has always occupied a musical world of her own. Drawing mostly on her two most recent albums, 2023’s Clear Pond Road and the newly released Sugar on Blackstone, alongside older solo and Throwing Muses material, she showed why she doesn’t need a band, even if you could imagine some songs gaining still greater power with a fuller sound.
This reviewer first saw Hersh in the late Noughties, heavily made up and seemingly gripped by stage fright. The contrast couldn’t have been greater. Playing solo, she has the wiry, lean frame of a runner, and she was relaxed, comfortable and wonderfully engaging.
Living a colourful life has always been an asset for Hersh. Her life becomes her songs. From her children catching fireflies in jars with Amish children to stepping on cockroaches, Hersh has a very distinctive way of turning experience into something unique.
Kristin Hersh acknowledging the crowd’s response at the NCEM. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Her stories between songs were funny, sometimes surreal, and added enormously to the evening. The rapport between audience and performer never felt forced.
With only an acoustic and electric guitar, Hersh coaxed a remarkable variety of sounds from her instruments so the tunes were never samey. Strumming, thrumming, buzzing and delicate fingerpicking sat alongside moments of lovely, spaghetti Western sparseness. Her distinctive voice could be fragile one moment, fierce and unsettling the next.
There were plenty of highlights, with Samson (from Sugar On Blackstone) the standout. The songs moved between quiet beauty and unpredictability, with the older material offering a reminder of Hersh’s longevity.
For all the power a full band might bring, there was something special about hearing these songs stripped back to their essentials, creating memories that will last far longer than a night on the tiles.
The Portrait Players: Playing four Baroque Around The Books concerts in York on November 7 and 8
THE National Centre for Early Music, York, is to receive a three-year funding package from the John Feldberg Foundation to ensure the continuation of the Baroque Around The Books community concert series that will expand into the East Riding Libraries too.
Baroque Around the Books presents free, informal and accessible performances in York’s community libraries, bringing high-quality Early Music to audiences across the city in a familiar community setting. Funding is now in place until the end of 2028.
Since 2024, Baroque Around The Books has featured musicians of the highest calibre who also perform on stage at the National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate.
Taking part so far have been Dowland’s Foundry, featuring lutenist Sam Brown and tenor Daniel Thomson, setting Shakespeare to music by Elizabethan composers; Intesa, European musicians Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti, who combine the sound of the viol with the voice, and Flutes and Frets, who performed at the first series in March 2024.
Dowland’s Foundry lutenist Sam Brown with audience members at Baroque Around The Books. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
The concerts have played to enthusiastic audiences and become an important part of the libraries’ work, providing both a community cultural experience and a development opportunity for the NCEM’s emerging ensembles to learn new skills in engaging with audiences in a celebration and discovery of Early Music.
This year’s concerts will be performed by the all-female British ensemble The Portrait Players, bringing 17th and 18th century music to modern audiences, as they will be too at the York Early Music Christmas Festival when performing À la Venue de Noël: As Christmas Approaches at Bedern Hall, Bedern, on December 6 at 2pm.
For Baroque Around The Books, Emilia Agajew, harp, Miriam Nohl, viola da gamba, Claire Ward, soprano, and Kristiina Watt, theorbo and soprano, will visit Acomb Explore (11am) and Clifton Explore (2pm) on December 7, then Tang Hall Explore (11am) and York Explore (2pm) on December 8, to share the music and poetry of 17th century women in a programme entitled The New Lyre. Entry is free with no booking required.
Welcoming the funding for this NCEM cultural wellbeing initiative, NCEM executive director Cherry Fricker said: “We are very grateful to the John Feldberg Foundation for providing the funding to deliver this wonderful community experience in partnership with Explore York Libraries and Archives.
Intesa’s Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti performing at Baroque Around The Books. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“This three-year support enables the National Centre for Early Music to continue sharing the extraordinary array of talent within the UK’s vibrant Early Music scene with communities across York, while reinforcing our ongoing commitment to supporting, encouraging and nurturing the skills of emerging artists in the UK and beyond.”
The John Feldberg Foundation said: “The foundation is delighted to be part of this innovative and ground-breaking project, which gives everyone the chance to experience the excitement of Early Music in their local community library.”
Dave Fleming, creative producer for Explore York, said: “Baroque Around The Books demonstrates the vital role libraries play as community and cultural spaces. These performances bring high-quality live music into welcoming, accessible settings, creating memorable experiences for our communities.
“One of the joys of the programme is seeing people call in to borrow a book and leave having discovered an exceptional live performance. We’re delighted that this successful partnership will continue for another three years.”
Intesa’sLucine Musaelian entertaining a child at Baroque Around The Books. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
In the spotlight: Frankie Bounds’ Jamie New, front, in York Stage’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
FROM added grit in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie to a piratical twist on The Comedy Of Errors, Brandon Flowers in full bloom at York Barbican to drag diva Velma Celli rocking out, Charles Hutchinson spots pearls aplenty.
Bold and unapologetic musical of the week: York Stage in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grand Opera House, York, until October 24; 7.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinees and 4pm Sunday
TOM MacRae and Dan Gillespie’s Sheffield musical plays the Grand Opera House for the first time in Nik Briggs’s production for York Stage that restores the grit to both complement and counter the glitz in the uplifting underdog story of Jamie New (Frankie Bounds), a 16-year-old schoolboy from a Steel City council estate with big dreams and the courage to stand out when it would be easier to stay quiet.
Equipped with the strength to face the world head on, Jamie fights prejudice, finds his voice and discovers the freedom of stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope comes face to face with Charlie Russell’s Odysseus in The Penelopiad. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
Greek tragedy twist of the week: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, Odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, until October 31
BOOKER Prize winner Margaret Atwood revisits Homer’s The Odyssey in an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous retelling where she gives voice to Odysseus’s silenced wife, Penelope – still awaiting his return 20 years after the Trojan War – and her chorus of maids in a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge that exposes the truth behind the myth. Creative director Juliet Forster’s cast is led by Happy Valley and Riot Women star Amelia Bullmore. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Kristin Hersh: Queen of the alternative scene
Recommended but sold out already: An Evening With Kristin Hersh, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight,7.30pm
OVER three decades, Atlanta, Georgia singer, songwriter and guitarist Kristin Hersh, 60, has been heralded queen of the alternative scene with Throwing Muses, 50Foot Wave and on her own, releasing her latest 12th solo album, Sugar On Blackstone, on Fire Records on September 18. Recorded at Stable Sound Studio in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, with Steve Rizzo, it features Rob Ahlers on drums and Pete Harvey on cello.
Since signing to Fire Records in 2018, the prolific Hersh has released tenth studio album Possible Dust Clouds, Throwing Muses’ Sun Racket in 2020, 50Foot Wave’s Black Pearl in 2022, her book Seeing Sideways in 2022 and self-produced 11th solo album, the cinematic road trip and personal vignettes of Clear Pond Road, in September 2023.
Velma Celli: Drag diva delights…including a tribute to Dolly Parton RIP
Drag delights of the week: The Velma Celli Show, with special guest Jessica Steel and guitarists Stuart Allan and Olly Chilton, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 6pm
YORK vocal drag act deluxe and international cabaret superstar Velma Cell moves to a new location for her camp, spectacular song and comedy home-city performances. “My last two shows at York Theatre Royal – Snow Queen and Rock Queen – had been among my favourites, so this one will be a mixture of Snow Queen and Rock Queen and musical theatre material,” says Velma’s creator, actor and West End star Ian Stroughair.
“The first set will be musical theatre favourites, songs from my career in West End musicals – Cats, Fame, Chicago and Rent – and an homage to Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. In the second set we’ll rock out with York. There’ll be songs by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Bryan Adams, Bonnie Tyler, Guns N’ Roses, Roxette, Alanis Morissette, Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game – and I’ll do a Dolly Parton section too. There has to be!” Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Imperial Classical Ballet in Swan Lake
Ballet of the week: Imperial Classical Ballet presents Swan Lake, York Barbican, October 19, 7.30pm
IMPERIAL Classical Ballet performs Swan Lake, the powerful tale of Princess Odette, cursed to live as a swan by day and a woman by night. When Prince Siegfried discovers her under the moonlight, he vows to break the spell, yet the evil sorcerer Rothbart and his daughter Odile plot a deception that threatens them both.
From the haunting beauty of the lakeside scenes to the electrifying Black Swan pas de deux, Swan Lake is a visual delight, performed to Tchaikovsky’s soaring score, played live by an orchestra. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Brandon Flowers: In full bloom at York Barbican. Picture: Chris Phelps
Gig of the week: Brandon Flowers, York Barbican, October 21, 7.30pm
THE Killers’ frontman, Brandon Flowers, plays York Barbican as the only Yorkshire venue on his nine-date UK and Ireland tour, promoting Thrasher, his third solo album and first since 2015, which peaked at number three on release in August.
Fans can look forward to hearing songs from Thrasher, played live for the first time, alongside highlights from his British chart-topping solo albums, 2010’s Flamingo and 2015’s The Desired Effect, as well as beloved tracks from The Killers’ catalogue. No support. Ticket update: Sold out; for returns only, go to https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/brandon-flowers.
Pirate reboot ahoy: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors. Picture: John Stead
Shakespeare shake-up of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 21 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart co-direct York Shakespeare Project in “ an exciting take on Shakespeare’s shortest and possibly funniest play”, giving a piratical, gender-swapping twist to The Comedy Of Errors in a convergence of the original text with slapstick, farce and physical comedy and a “celebration of relationships of many kinds, platonic, familial and romantic”.
“The morally questionable, yet still comedic, nature of many (if not all) of the characters put us in mind of some of our favourite piratical anti-heroes,” they say. “We felt like the framing device of piracy gave us the chance to include slapstick violence between ‘masters and servants’ in a way that wouldn’t seem too brutal or alien to a modern audience.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The poster for the Amy Winehouse Band’s Back To Black 20th Anniversary Tour, visiting York Barbican
Going back to Back To Black: The Amy Winehouse Band, York Barbican, October 22, 7.30pm
AMY Winehouse’s original band, who played with her from the very start, are marking the 20th anniversary of her iconic second album, Back To Black, the one that brought her five awards at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Performing with Amy that evening, as these musicians had done since her earliest gigs in London pubs, was her band.
Led by Amy’s long-time musical director and bass player, The Amy Winehouse Band features members who both toured and recorded with her throughout her career. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
A Fate Worse Than Death: Premiering at Everyman Harrogate on Thursday
In Focus: Film premiere of the week: A Fate Worse Than Death, Everyman Harrogate, Harrogate, October 22, 7.30pm
AFTER three years of production, Abraham Fieldsend will premiere his feature film A Fate Worse Than Death at Everyman Harrogate on Thursday.
Made in North and West Yorkshire for £12,000, this 70-minute psychological horror-drama was produced independently by Wayside Trinity, using primarily local cast, crew and locations.
Written by co-producers Zachary Fieldsend, Steve Jones-Robertson and Abraham Fieldsend, the story explores the effects of grief through a couple struggling to cope with the loss of their child. As the mother’s debilitating headaches intensify, they are forced to confront the possibility that the darkness consuming their home is more than grief alone.
A Fate Worse Than Death’s production team
“A bold title, a tragic story, a horrifying series of events, A Fate Worse Than Death promises to be a horror film of different forms, assaulting your comfort, scarring your emotions, and engaging your mind when the credits roll,” says Fieldsend. “Our first foray into the world of feature film-making will be sure to shock even the most hardened horror fans.”
The cast comprises Susan Fieldsend as Elizabeth; Lyndsey Craine, Doctor Kent; Jake Fireman, Group Therapy Speaker; Kay Gartland, Doctor Armstrong; Martin Turner, Keith; Evan “T-Rex” Singleton, Paramedic 1; Zachary Fieldsend, Paramedic 2; Natalie Fieldsend, Pyschologists’ Receptionist (voice); Neil Fieldsend, Unnamed Doctor; Mike Blackburn, The Figure and Burn Victim, and Matthew Chan, James’s Work Colleague.
Thursday’s running order will be: 7:30pm, complimentary drink on arrival; 8pm, short introduction in Screen 2; 8:15pm, film screening; 9.3pm, screening ends, followed by drinks and a chance to mingle in the bar area.
For more details, go to: https://www.everymancinema.com/venues-list/x0x9k-everyman-harrogate/.
Early Music in the Early Evening: Peter Croton & Thomas Langlois (February 10 2027) and La Rêveuse’s Florence Bolton and Benjamin Perrot (April 30 2027)
THE National Centre for Early Music Centre is introducing Early Music in the Early Evening, a series of relaxed concerts beginning next February.
“Skip rush hour and join us from 6pm to 7.30pm for music, wine and conversation with world-class musicians,” reads the invitation.
The new programme will open with J S Bach’s The Goldberg Variations on February 10 when Peter Croton and Thomas Langlois will perform one of the most extraordinary and demanding masterpieces of the Early Music repertoire, played in a unique new version for the first time on two lutes.
Composed in 1741 for harpsichord, Bach’s architecture of sound is re-imagined through the contrasting light and shadow of baroque lutes. Their rich timbral palette, expressive dynamics and subtle phrasing transform the work into an intimate, vivid and moving musical experience.
On April 30, La Rêveuse’s Benjamin Perrot (lute and theorbo) and Florence Bolton (viola da gamba) will play a joyful programme full of ballads and dances that deserve to resound once more beneath the stars under the title of From London To Edinburgh.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, London was at the forefront of musical innovation. In taverns, gardens and ballrooms, the tender, rhythmic tunes of Scottish, Welsh and Irish music were taking over London’s salons.
The 17th-century English composer John Playford and the 18th-century Scotsman James Oswald immediately struck the right balance between traditional and classical music, Italian elegance and Celtic style, as can be witnessed in York next spring. Box office:01904 658338 orncem.co.uk.
Denys Baptiste: Teaming up with Tomorrow’s Warriors band leader and double bass player Gary Crosby in an all-star quartet for A Love Supreme on November 25
THE National Centre for Early Music’s autumn season presents a host of artists from across the world at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York.
Opening the season on September 27 will be Irish singer and bouzouki and mandola player Andy Irvine, “ a tradition in himself” after 60 years of telling tales and making music. Joining him on the 6.30pm bill will be the award-winning Swedish folk band Quilty, celebrating their 30th anniversary.
Described by the late Jeff Beck as “the best guitarist in the world” and by Pat Metheny as “one of the most awesome solo guitar players in history”, fingerstyle player Martin Taylor returns to the NCEM on October 4 at 6.30pm.
Six decades into his career, his new solo show, Standards, celebrates the golden age of jazz through evocative arrangements of tunes from the Great American Songbook.
Polish-Belarusian band Hajda Banda: Rural music performed on acoustic village instruments on October 9. Picture: Michal Kalita
On October 9, the NCEM teams up with Songlines to present Polish-Belarusian band Hajda Banda, who specialise in traditional dances from eastern Poland’s Podlaise region, the western provinces of Belarus and the wetlands of Polesye, a cultural crossroads on the Poland-Ukraine- Belarus border. Audience members will be encouraged to dance, if they wish, to rural music performed on acoustic village instruments.
City Of Poets’ concert on October 10 reunites musicians across the Soviet-Chinese divide through an exploration of the maqam-based classical repertoire of the Central Asian Uzbek and Uyghur peoples. A group of players from different sides of the border, led by Abror Zufarov and Saniyem Ismail, focus on the works of 17th century mystic poet and wandering dervish Baba Rahim Mashrab, whose poetry continues to inspire musicians on both sides of the divide.
Grammy Award winners Tim Garland, mezzo-soprano saxophone, and Geoffrey Keezer, piano, return to the NCEM on October 12 with their new duet album Mezzo, recorded in a single, five-hour session in New York, capturing the intensity, fearless creativity and breathtaking interplay of their 25-year musical partnership.
The concert will begin at 7.20pm with a performance by York Music Forum young jazz players after they worked with Garland and Keezer earlier in the day.
Fiddlers at the double: Grace Smith and Sam Sweeney, playing the NCEM on October 25. Picture: Kate Griffin
Revered English folk acoustic and slide guitar player Martin Simpson plays solo on October 20, combining passion, sorrow, love, beauty, tragedy and majesty in his performance after 32 nominations over the 18 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. His new album, Some Kind Of Jubilee, arrives on September 25 on Topic Records, marking 50 years since the release of his debut, Golden Vanity.
Bellowhead alumnus Sam Sweeney joins fellow fiddler Grace Smith at the NCEM for the first time on October 25 at 6.30pm. Rooted in tradition, yet constantly pushing boundaries, they bring a shared passion for reimagining archive material, championing new compositions and creating music both authentic and forward-looking.
Northern Silents presents Curtis Bernhardt’s 1929 German silent film The Woman Men Yearn For with a live music score performed by pianist Jonny Best on October 28. Marlene Dietrich ignites the screen in a tale of danger and desire, wherein Henri marries a wealthy heiress to save the family business , but on the eve of his honeymoon, he glimpses a mysterious woman through a frosted train window. Once their eyes meet, a chain of passion and betrayal hurtles towards disaster.
Based in London, She’Koyokh arrive at the NCEM on November 1 at 6.30pm with a line-up as diverse as their music-making. Their members hail from Turkey, Serbia, Spain and the UK: three are graduates from London’s Royal Academy of Music; two are esteemed jazz players; accordionist Zivorad Nikolic is among Serbia’s finest exponents of traditional folklore; singer Cigdem Aslan is a celebrity in the world of rembetiko music and Susi Evans is a queen of the klezmer clarinet. Together they perform the folk music traditions of Jewish Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Balkans.
She’Koyokh: Performing folk music traditions of Jewish Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Balkans on November 1
Led by composer, musician and visionary James Lascelles, now returned to the Harewood estate, Talking Spirits play a blend of world-jazz, folk and Caribbean grooves on November 11. Between them, the band members have performed, recorded and collaborated with avant-garde luminary Frank Zappa, pioneering violinist L Shankar, the rock theatricality of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and the soulful Joan Armatrading.
Presented by Nava Arts, on November 14, the soulful voice of Samin Ghorbani, the enchanting shurangiz of composer Vahid Taremi and the electronics, clarinet and modern arrangements of Rouzbeh Esfand bring to York what the Persian trio calls “the sound of their shadows from a Trembling Land”, drawn together from three separate cities across Europe.
The Instituto Cervantes, in Manchester, and Iberian and Latin American Music Society link up with the NCEM to present a 7.30pm concert on November 17 and workshop from 1.30pm to 5.30pm on November 22. First up, Spanish soprano Lorena Paz Nieto and British-Hispanic pianist Helen Glaisher-Hernandez present The Secret Art, featuring Spanish and Latin American art song as conceived by beguiling women composers.
Then, as part of The Secret Art: Mujeres Presentes project, the inimitable Odaline de la Martinez leads a half-day Sunday workshop focusing on the sounds of 17th-century Mexican convents, Afro-Cuban beats and the rhythms of the Rio Carnival. The workshop will finish with a short run-through for family and friends at 5pm. Places must be booked by November 8.
Odaline de la Martin: Hosting workshop on November 22. Picture: Malcolm Crowther
King Kong directors Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Schoedsack’s epic 1925 silent film Grass, a documentary about the heroic annual migration of the nomadic Bakhtiari tribes of Iran, will be accompanied by a live performance by Iranian pianist and composer Peyman Yazdanivan, joined by Adib Rostami on kamancheh and tonbak, on November 24.
Mercury Prize-nominated saxophonist Denys Baptiste and Tomorrow’s Warriors band leader and co-founder, double bass player Gary Crosby, lead an all-star quartet for A Love Supreme, a 60th anniversary celebration of John Coltrane’s jazz masterpiece, on November 25.
The 7.20pm concert will begin with a 20-minute performance by York Music Forum young players after a workshop with band members earlier in the day.
Each December since a one-off pilot in 2015, “festive folk supergroup” A Winter Union reconvene to share their joyous Christmas party around the country, complementing reimagined winter classics from both sides of the Atlantic with little-known Yuletide gems and songs direct from the pens of the songwriting quintet of Jade Rhiannon (from The Willows), Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts (from Gilmore & Roberts) and Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage. On December 12, they make their NCEM debut.
National Centre for Early Music director Delma Tomlin
By way of contrast, Awake Arise make their fourth visit on December 18 to present A Christmas Show For Our Times. Lady Maisery members Hannah James, Rowan Rheingans and Hazel Askew will be joined by Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith to celebrate winter traditions and reflect on how the hope and resilience in music and song can bring joy in the darkest season.
Looking forward to the autumn season, NCEM director Delma Tomlin says: “It’s partly serendipitous that so many are on tour, but I’m extremely pleased at the quality of the names and also by the mix of world music artists drawn from all over the globe.
“It means so much to us to continue to share this cultural world with York at this introspective time, whether from Persia or Spain, with our relationship with the Spanish Embassy bringing in acts.
“The Polish-Belarusian band Hajda Banda are a bit of a wild-card that came through a recommendation from my friends at Songlines, and so we decided to book them for the first time. They’re a dancing band, so we’ll need room at the edges because you’ll be encouraged to dance to this Polish high-energy music. Off you go!”
Tickets for the autumn season are on sale on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk. Events start at 7.30pm unless stated otherwise.
Tim Lowe: York Chamber Music Festival founder, artistic director and cellist
SINCE its founding by cellist Tim Lowe in 2013, York Chamber Music Festival has gone from strength to strength.
This year the festival has invited six of the best string players in Europe – Charlotte Scott and Tim Crawford, violins, Simone van der Giessen and Lilli Maijala, violas, and Adrian Brendel and Lowe, cellos, to participate, along with regular festival artist Katya Apekisheva, the British-based Russian pianist.
This week’s event at the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), Walmgate, Union Chapel, St Saviourgate, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, and St Olave’s Church, Marygate Lane, celebrates the brilliance of the chamber music repertoire, focused on the radiant, melody-rich string quintets of Mendelssohn and Brahms.
Pianist Katya Apekisheva
Across the weekend, festival-goers can experience music in all imaginable instrumental combinations, from the profound intimacy of Brendel’s solo cello recital featuring Bach’s Suite No. 2, to a dynamic duo performance by Lowe and Apekisheva and expansive works for quartet and quintet.
Headline highlights include Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor — hailed by Schumann as “the master trio of our age” — and Chopin’s lyrical Cello Sonata, his undisputed chamber masterpiece.
“We are also thrilled to present Beethoven’s rare and sublime C Major String Quintet, an 1801 gem that features a slow movement of breathtaking warmth and beauty that bridges his early classical style with the vast ‘inner world’ slow movements he became famous for later in life,” says artistic director Lowe.
Violinist Charlotte Scott
Violinist Tim Crawford. Picture: Andrej Grilc
After last year’s festival, Lowe was gratified to receive this message among the audience feedback: “What spontaneity, what passion, what delight in collective music-making, what beauty! They listen and respond to each other, play for, and to, and with their friends (as they so obviously are), sharing their pleasure with us – and we are privileged to overhear that love for and engagement with the music, true chamber-music playing.”
The full programme can be found at the festival website: https://www.ycmf.co.uk/2026-programme. Tickets are available from the NCEM box office, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York. Alternatively, book at ycmf.co.uk or phone 01904 658338 in office hours. A Festival Saver ticket offers extra value for those wanting to attend multiple concerts. Those aged 18 and under can enjoy free admission to all events.
Cellist Adrian Brendel. Picture: Peter Adamik
Festival programme in brief:
Today, 1pm to 2pm, Unitarian Chapel, cello recital, Tim Lowe and Katya Apekisheva play Mendelssohn’s Variations Concertantes, Chopin’s Cello Sonata and Martinů’s Rossini Variations.
Today, 7.30pm,NCEM, Charlotte Scott, Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe and Adrian Brendel play Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in D major, Op. 20, No. 4, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ‘Romance’ from String Quartet No. 1 (Andante espressivo) and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 in B flat major, Op.87.
Nordic viola player Lilli Maijala
Tomorrow, 1pm to 2pm,Unitarian Chapel, cello recital, Adrian Brendel plays Imogen Holst’s The Fall Of The Leaf and J. S. Bach’s Cello Suite No 2 in D Minor.
Tomorrow, 7.30pm,Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, Charlotte Scott,Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe, Adrian Brendel and Katya Apekisheva play Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49, Gustav Mahler’s Piano Quartet (movement) in A minor – Nicht zu schnell (not too fast) and Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60.
Sunday, 3pm to 4.30pm, St Olave’s Church, Charlotte Scott,Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe and Adrian Brendel play Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major Op. 29 and Johannes Brahms’s String Quintet in F major, Op. 88.
EX Corde Vocal Ensemble and lutenist and theorbo player Matthew Wadsworth join forces to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of John Dowland at the National Centre for Early Music, York, on September 18.
Dowland’s enduringly expressive lute songs – including Come Again, Sweet Love, Can She Excuse My Wrongs and Flow My Tears – are paired with a selection of his solo lute music in an evening of compelling vocal and instrumental English Renaissance music.
Alongside Dowland’s music, the 7.30m programme explores the work of his contemporary, William Byrd, with contrasting pieces including the penitential motet Ne Irascaris and the lighter, more intimate madrigal When I Was Otherwise.
Christopher Fox’s striking new work, Humble Verses, will be premiered. Setting words by Emilia Lanier – a remarkable female contemporary of Byrd and Dowland – Fox brings a distinctly modern perspective to the voices and ideas of Renaissance England.
Ex Corde Vocal Ensemble uses vocal music to create, collaborate and connect, bringing composers, performers and audiences closer together. Founded in 2020, the ensemble brings together singers from across the UK, many of them alumni of the University of York.
Lutenist Matthew Wadsworth
Its work has included collaborations with York Waits, the Rose Consort of Viols and composers Christopher Fox, David Lancaster and Ambrose Field, alongside appearances on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show and at the York Early Music Festival.
Matthew Wadsworth is one of Britain’s leading performers on lute and theorbo, enjoying an extensive international career as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo specialist.
Following his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he established himself on the international early music scene, performing at major festivals and concert halls throughout Europe, North America and beyond.
His collaborations include performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Academy of Ancient Music, as well as regular appearances on radio and television. His recordings for labels including Channel Classics and Linn have received numerous accolades, such as Gramophone Editor’s Choice.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338, via email to [email protected] or at https://ncem.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173679361.
The Lyons Mouth: Winners of the Main Prize and Friends of York Early Music Festival Prize at York Early Music Festival’s International Young Artists Competition. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
THIS biennial competition, for ensembles of at least three members with an average age no more than 35, attracted 56 entries this year. Nine of these reached the final, three each from the Netherlands and Switzerland and one each from France, Israel and the United Kingdom.
Two featured a solo soprano and one consisted of six unaccompanied singers. The remaining six were purely instrumental. There were three trios, four quartets and two sextets.
So much for statistics. However, they suggest, quite accurately, that there was variety aplenty. Technical standards were extremely high, reflecting the professionalism of early music teaching across European conservatories these days. ’Twas not always so.
Ossian’s Dream: Joint winners of European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) Development Trust Prize. Picture: Shelagh Bourke
Eleven criteria were listed as assessable by the international jury. Only one, however, touched on that indefinable X-factor that marks out a performer as destined for a serious career: presentation. It involves the kind of charisma that conveys a good deal more than merely the music itself and is intertwined with a performer’s personality. Inevitably this was much rarer here.
Each group was allotted 20 minutes to display its wares. The sextet Ossian’s Dream was distinctive in sticking largely to the 19th century, with the historical clarinet of Claudia Reyes Segovia at its centre. After a crisp, not to say dramatic, account of Mendelssohn’s First Walpurgisnacht overture, there was strong contrast in the slow movement of Weber’s Clarinet Quintet, whose jovial centre was much enhanced by the clarinet. The finale of Mendelssohn’s C minor Piano Trio was truly effervescent.
The stand-out player of the quartet I Mastricelli was Bianca Cucini, whose soprano gamba dominated their set. With her colleagues confined to bass gamba, cello and organ, colours were otherwise regularly dark. A Tobias Hume almain and a lively, cross-accented Recercada by Diego Ortíz were but warm-up acts for the increasingly vivid variations in the Diferencias on ‘La dama le demanda’, by Antonio de Cabezón, which featured riffs from all four players.
I Mastricelli, featuring jury prize for the most promising young artist winner Bianca Cucini. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Recorder, harpsichord and cello provided the underlay for soprano Liron Givona in the Nari Baroque Ensemble. She was fuller voiced than one might have expected in this repertory, but her tone was flexible even when slightly diffuse.
She trilled neatly alongside a sopranino recorder nightingale. The cellist was underpowered more than once here, but delivered some very rapid obbligato in a forceful little melodrama from a Pepusch cantata, ‘When Love’s Soft Passion’.
The French quartet La Mandorle – oboe, violin, cello and theorbo – focused on native composers from the generation just before Bach, all played without scores. Victoire Delnatte’s oboe was engagingly clean and full-bodied and Elodie Brzustowsk’s theorbo proved fluent.
Lagrime: Winners of the Cambridge Early Music Prize. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
The ensemble was rhythmically alive in Clérambault’s La Félicité suite and equally idiomatic in a Robert de Visée suite, in whose Gigue the oboist briefly slapped rhythm on the cello. This group was unlucky not to be among the prizewinners. We shall certainly hear from them again.
Bianca Cucini reappeared in the Swiss trio Tra Noi, playing bass gamba and quinton (a descant viol) alongside recorder and harpsichord. A rather pallid Passacaglia by Andrea Falconieri nearly let them down, but ensemble remained taut in the same composer’s Ciaccona at a rapid tempo.
However it was Nicola Matteis’ Diverse Bizzarrie that showed how technically dazzling a chaconne can be in the right hands. Spearheaded by Silvia Berchtold’s recorder, Tra Noi took all its hurdles in their stride.
Tra Noi: Joint winner of the European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) Development Trust Prize. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Handel and his Italian rivals, Porpora and Geminiani, all born within two years of each other, were the targets of Dutch quartet Il Parrasio, with a standard line-up of two violins, cello and harpsichord or organ. It was all very stylish but lacking in daring.
There was clarity and balance in a Sinfonia da Camera by Porpora, and a delicately phrased Allegro in Handel’s Op 5 No 1 trio sonata. Geminiani’s Andante affettuoso (The Enchanted Forest) lacked emotion. It was a case of nearly there, but not quite.
Another Dutch quartet, Quarterino, with Tomasso Simonetta Sandri’s flute replacing one of the violins, took a similar tack, this time with Charles Avison heard between Geminiani and Vivaldi. Avison’s two allegros in a G minor trio sonata were impressive, one a snappy fugue, the other with tight-knit accents. But Vivaldi’s trio sonata, RV84 in D, fell down on two counts, a garbled opening Allegro, taken too fast, and an oddly chromatic ending that failed to convince.
Bianca Cucini: Winner of the jury prize for the most promising young artist, who played with both I Mastricelli and Tra Noi at the International Young Artists Competition. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
The Swiss trio Lagrime boasted the unusual line-up of soprano, Baroque trombone and theorbo, neither of the latter two using scores. All five of their pieces were settings of texts from the Song of Songs and some introduced a modicum of stage movement.
Franziska Blömer’s straight-toned soprano was ideally suited to music of the early Baroque, and Maximilien Brisson’s quietly velvety trombone was superbly controlled. The two duetted beautifully, conversing in Claudia Rusca’s Ego dormio and harnessed movingly in Vulnerasti cor meum by Giovanni Sances.
Finally, we had the British vocal sextet The Lyons Mouth, three female voices, three male, whose name derives from their shared background at the University of York. They appeared barefooted, without scores.
Bianca Cucini receiving her prize from Philip Hobbs. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Alongside two madrigals from Monteverdi’s Fourth Book, they offered three motets, one of them by the nun Raffaella Aleotti, thought to have been the earliest woman to have sacred music published. The group was remarkable for its ability to maintain a tight blend despite relatively full- throated delivery.
There was nothing precious about Monteverdi’s chromatic Sì, ch’io vorrie morire, nor were they afraid of the scrunchy discords in Sigismondo d’India’s Dispietata pietate. But there was more variation, even tenderness, in Victoria’s Vadam et circuibo civitatem from the Song of Songs.
Perhaps with the advantage of performing last and certainly through their assured ensemble, The Lyons Mouth carried off the overall First Prize, as well as the Friends of York Early Music Festival Prize.
The Lyons Mouth’s profile for the International Young Artists Competition
The European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) Development Trust Prize was shared between Ossian’s Dream and Tra Noi. The jury prize for the most promising young artist was awarded to Bianca Cucini.
The Cambridge Early Music Prize went to the trombone-based Lagrime. As noted above, La Mandorle was unlucky to lose out, but there can be no argument that the rest of the prizes were thoroughly well deserved.
Review by Martin Dreyer
HIGHLIGHTS of the competition will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show on August 30 at 5pm and will be available thereafter on BBC Sounds.
THE Lyons Mouth scooped two prizes in a home victory at the York International Young Artists Competition 2026 at the National Centre for Early Music on July 11.
The vocal ensemble of sopranos Ailsa Campbell and Elspeth Piggott, alto Ellie Stamp, tenors James Botcher and Jacob Ewens and bass Thomas Lowen, all University of York alumni, were awarded the main prize of a professional recording contract from Linn Records, a £1,000 cash prize, a future paid engagement with the York Early Music Festival and recording opportunities with BBC Radio 3.
In addition, The Lyons Mouth won the Friends of York Early Music Festival award, a cash prize of £500, while Tra Noi and Ossian’s Dream shared the cash prizes of £1,000, endowed by the EUBO Development Trust, for the Most Promising Young Artist/s specialising in the Baroque repertoire.
Lagrime won the Cambridge Music Prize, which includes a paid performance at Cambridge Early Music, and a new award, the Jury Prize, was awarded to gamba player Bianca Cucini, who performed with Tra Noi (bass viola da gamba, quinton) and I Mastricelli. (bass and soprano viola da gamba).
The 2026 finalists were: I Mastricelli (Netherlands); Il Parrasio (Netherlands); Lagrime (Switzerland); La Mandorle (France); Nari Baroque Ensemble (Israel); Ossian’s Dream (Switzerland;) Quarterino (Switzerland); The Lyons Mouth (UK) and Tra Noi (Switzerland).
During the two days before the competition, each ensemble presented an informal recital at the NCEM, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, with the aim of giving the musicians the opportunity to adapt to the performance space and to familiarise with the festival audience members in advance of the final.
These groups were selected from a pool of 56 ensembles from across the world and were judged by an international jury of Paul Agnew (Les Arts Florissants); Anna Danilevskaia (Sollazzo Ensemble); Kati Debretzeni (English Baroque Soloists), Veerle Declerk (Concertgebouw, Bruges) and Philip Hobbs (Linn Records).
The 2026 competition was presented by master of ceremonies Steven Devine, harpsichordist, fortepianist, conductor and director of orchestral, choral and opera repertoire and former York Early Music Festival artistic advisor.
Main prize winner The Lyons Mouth is a dynamic vocal consort founded in 2024 by singers who studied at the University of York. Inspired by their experiences performing in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, they created an ensemble devoted to vivid musical storytelling, crafting emotionally immersive performances that draw audiences into the dramatic heart of the repertoire.
In the final, the consort performed Victoria’s Secret: Claudio Monteverdi’s Svogava con le stele; Raffaella Aleotti’s Vidi speciosam; Monteverdi’s Sì, ch’io vorrei morire, Sigismondo d’India’s Dispietata pietate and Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Vadam et circuibo civitatem.
At the end of the competition, judging panel chair Philip Hobbs, from Linn Records, said: “I am always amazed and astonished at how this competition re-imagines and re-invents itself year after year, ensuring that early music has an exciting future and will continue to captivate audiences all over the world.
“Linn Records is very proud to continue this important relationship with the York Early Music Festival and I would like to congratulate the nine ensembles who took part in this fabulous day of music.”
Steven Devine said: “There were two things that, for me, really stood out about this year’s competition. The sheer range of music was the first thing: almost 200 years of music was being performed by historically informed performers but with a sense of musicianship and virtuosity that was jaw-dropping.
“They wore their scholarship lightly and at the service of their raw talent. In addition, the supportive atmosphere between the groups and their enjoyment of each other’s work was wonderful to watch. Definitely one of the highpoints of my musical experiences.”
Festival director and NCEM director Dr Delma Tomlin said: “The competition provided an amazing finale to our 50th edition, proving that early music can truly transport us Beyond Borders. The musicianship today was of the highest calibre and our nine ensembles gave us a range of exquisite music, spanning 400 years. As always, it was a pleasure to welcome the young artists to York and help them on their journeys to future success.
“I would also like to say a huge thank-you to our panel of judges for their hard work and support, to Steven Devine for his expertise and invaluable help and, of course, to our friends and supporters BBC Radio 3.”
The Lyons Mouth said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have received not one but two prizes in this year’s competition. To have done it in our home city of York makes this moment feel even more special!
“It was a real treat to meet so many fantastic musicians in the competition, and inspiring to watch them perform. We’d love to say a huge thank-you to the Friends for choosing us for their award: as an ensemble who values the audience’s experience above all, this was really meaningful for us.
“We’re excited to record with Linn Records and to return to the festival next year. This whole experience feels like an amazing next step and we can’t wait to see where it takes us.”
The competition provided a spectacular finale to the nine-day festival, where old friends and new connected through concerts, recitals and workshops staged in historic venues around the city.
The recitals from this year’s final are available to watch on demand on the NCEM’s ncem.co.uk website and YouTube channel and edited highlights will be shared on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show on Sunday, August 30 at 5pm.
The nine ensembles taking part were:
I Mastricelli: An early music ensemble founded in 2023 at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Its name evokes the “mastricelli”, talented young musicians who assisted the great maestri of the Neapolitan conservatories. Featuring cello, viola da gamba and other bass instruments of the violin and viol families, I Mastricelli explores the expressive depth and resonance of the bass register, the foundation of Baroque sound.
Il Parrasio: The name Il Parrasio is derived from “Il Bosco Parrasio”, the hilly grove of trees overlooking the city of Rome where, every summer, the great and varied artistic minds of the Arcadian Poets met to discuss strategies for influencing all facets of Italian art culture away from the overindulgence of the high baroque and towards a return to more simple and natural styles.The ensemble focuses on the vibrant and expressive styles of the Venetian repertoire.
La Mandorle: La Mandorle (meaning almond in Italian) is a family affair, seeking to bring baroque music closer to the audience and to promote research into repertoire, with a particular taste for the French treasures of the 17th and 18th centuries. La Mandorle was awarded First Prize and Audience Prize at the International Haendel Competition in Göttingen in May 2025 and has been supported since 2024 by Sustainable-Eeemerging.
Lagrime: Led by trombonist Maximilien Brisson, Lagrime was formed after the release of the album Scorrete lagrime mie to continue to showcase the vocality of the baroque trombone. From its inclusion in church music-making circa 1500, the trombone has been associated with the voice perhaps more than any other instrument, and Lagrime explores the vocal virtuosity of the baroque trombone in intimate settings.
Nari Baroque Ensemble: Since 2019, the Nari Baroque Ensemble has specialised in performing baroque music on period instruments. Selected as Fabulous Fringe at the Utrecht Early Music Festival 2025 and winners of the main prize at the Göttingen Händel Competition 2024, each of Nari’s performances tells a story by combining original texts with excerpts from cantatas and sonatas.
Ossian’s Dream: This collective of musicians focuses on performing mainly chamber music from the 18th and 19th centuries under historically informed conditions. They are committed to rediscovering and re-enacting salon practices, understanding the salon as a place of artistic freedom, interdisciplinarity and gender issues.
Inspired by the famous painting by Dominique Ingres, the name refers to one of the most fascinating phenomena of the Romantic era, the revival of the mythical figure of Ossian.
Quarterino: These four musicians, who met through the European Union Baroque Orchestra, are preparing various projects in Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands. Each member ensemble has taken part in ensembles and festivals throughout Europe, including York, Bremen, Utrecht and Urbino. They are also principal continuo players in EUBO 2025.
The Lyons Mouth: Dynamic vocal consort of young professional singers who first met while studying at the University of York under the guidance of Robert Hollingworth, director of the vocal group I Fagiolini.
Their early experiences performing in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall inspired them to create an ensemble that would bring audiences into the dramatic and emotional heart of vocal music. Its members already sing with the BBC Singers; I Fagiolini; The Swingles; Voces8; Tenebrae; Dunedin Consort and The Norwegian Soloistchoir.
Tra Noi: Tra Noi is characterised by lively communication, both with each other and with theaudience. The ensemble was formed in 2023 and already has won the 2023 ‘Wiener Konzerthauspreis’ of the H.I.F.-Biber Competition; the 2023 Biagio Marini Competition Audience Prize; the 2024 Göttingen Handel Competition; first prize at the 2024 Concours International de musique ancienne du Val de Loire; third prize at the 2024 International Van Wassenaer Competition, as a duo formation, and first prize, audience prize and Gamba Gesellschaft Prize at the 2025 Orlando Lasso competition in Landshut, Germany.
CONTRE le Temps’s Le Baiser de la Rose has to be one of the more unusual and immersive concerts I have ever experienced.
The pervading atmosphere was one of intimacy – the storytelling was deeply personal. The quartet of singers wove a magical musical spell.
This was creatively varied through solo, duet, trio and quartet singing, spatial arrangement and, most significantly, the use of subtly dramatic text to bring both context and focus.
The programme is built around two of the great literary works of medieval France: Le Roman de la Rose, the allegorical love story by Guillaume de Lorris, and Le Remède de Fortune, a narrative with songs by Guillaume de Machaut.
So, rather than simply presenting a sequence of songs, Contre le Temps wove together spoken poetry and music, telling the story of the Lover, who falls in love with the Rose – a symbol representing the object of desire – and, in so doing, retells the medieval tradition of courtly love.
The Springtime prose opens with the most poetic of intentions: “…The earth becomes so proud that she wishes to wear a new dress…”
The anonymous Venez ouïr les vrais amoureus took the form of a lively conversational invitation or welcome. It was quite delightful. This was followed by the complex monophonic song Qui n’aroit autre deport by Guillaume de Machaut, with contrasting sections reflecting the changing emotions of the text.
The drama was enhanced by the answering vocal calls, presumably an arrangement by the performers. Whatever the case, it was highly effective.
The anonymous chanson Contre le Temps, from which the ensemble takes its name, was more than simply a programme item, linking the performers’ identity with their exploration of medieval song. The singing was so seductive, so delicious.
Accompanying the section Entry into the Dream, we were treated to a trio singing with such elegance and poise in Guillaume Dufay’s Je me complains. The voices were equal, with finely judged imitative interplay, weaving a continuous musical web of sound.
Responding to the most poetic imagery in The Wonders in the Garden (“…flowers of extraordinary whiteness, yellow blossoms, and crimson ones with exquisite scents”), we were treated to a beautiful, flowing performance of Machaut’s Et pour ce engendrée s’est douce pensée. The long, aching phrases suggested a meditative, inward quality. The singing also possessed a timeless quality – I certainly could not discern a pulse.
Accompanying the text Cupid and the Rose, there was a change in style in the anonymous En remirant vos douce portraiture. Here we had an elegant four-voice ballade, with all four voices contributing to the texture. Each individual line emerged with remarkable clarity.
One of the many highlights was the anonymous Qui n’a le cuer, which followed The Pain of the Lover. The duet had a touching intimacy and lyrical grace.
The programme closed with Dufay’s Ma belle dame souveraine. Here all four singers clearly relished the richness and elegance of Dufay’s four-part texture. The closing cadence was deeply satisfying.
Contre le Temps’s Le Baiser de la Rose was a thoughtfully conceived and rewarding programme. The contrasts between solo chant and polyphony were superbly judged.
The rhythm of the medieval music was so complex that I often felt the melodies were floating freely, making the moments when the voices came together and locked into place all the more satisfying. Above all, it was the transparent purity of sound that lingered long after the final cadence.
Contre le Temps: Cécile Walch, soprano; Karin Weston, soprano; Amy Farnell, mezzo-soprano, and Julia Marty , mezzo-soprano.
