The annual Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival (24 – 26 May) celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2012.
Widely regarded as one of the cultural landmarks of the East Riding of Yorkshire, the Festival presents some of the world’s brightest stars in the early music firmament in many of the region’s stunningly beautiful ecclesiastical buildings. This year’s programme features music from the 15th – 18th centuries and includes a thoughtful exploration of Beverley’s own musical history presented in the Guildhall, one of the town’s finest Georgian gems.
Delma Tomlin, Festival Director says: “When we started in 1988 we had no idea that it would prove to be such an outstanding success. Huge thanks go to Beverley Borough Council for having the foresight to initiate such an event and to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Arts Council for offering the financial stability which has allowed the Festival to develop and grow. Thanks also to the National Centre for Early Music for taking on the administration, and to our audiences for their loyalty and enthusiasm over the last 25 years.”
Programme details for the Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival’s Silver Jubilee celebrations:
▪ Stile Antico – the highly talented vocal ensemble present a new programme of music from the Renaissance entitled ‘The Rose in Flower’ which captures the allure, political intrigue and religious tumult of the Tudor era and the extraordinary flowering of poetry, music, painting and architecture. (Thursday 24 May, 7.30pm, Beverley Minster)
▪ La Serenissima – a welcome return from the award-winning orchestral ensemble who bring Antonio Vivaldi’s most famous and joyous Le Quattro Stagioni (Four Seasons) played with staggering virtuosity by Adrian Chandler and his band, along with the fantastic Paris concerto, and three virtuosic concertos for soloist and orchestra.
(Friday 25 May, 7.30pm, Beverley Minster)
▪ Lutenist William Carter, founder member of the Palladian Ensemble, performs J S Bach’s stunning, but rarely heard, music for lute – as intensely beautiful as the more famous ‘cello suites. (Friday 25 May, 1.00pm, The Quire, Beverley Minster)
▪ Red Priest perform stolen masterworks and long lost treasures of the Baroque with swashbuckling virtuosity, including their own pirated versions of J S Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Brandenburg Concerto No 3.
(Saturday 26 May, 7.30pm Toll Gavel Methodist Church, Beverley)
▪ Grand Désir make their Festival debut with a medieval banquet of musical delights, featuring vocal and instrumental music, which links some of the most important musical styles of the 15th century.
(Saturday 26 May, 12.30pm, The Quire, Beverley Minster)
▪ Alva, Vivian Ellis voice and Giles Lewin fiddle, explore a wide range of newly discovered treasures from the popular songbooks of the 18th Century in the magnificent surroundings of the Guildhall.
(Saturday 26 May, 3.00pm, Guildhall, Beverley)
▪ Piers Adams, one of the world’s finest recorder players, will lead a recorder workshop in Beverley’s beautiful Guildhall.
(Saturday 26 May, morning, Guildhall, Beverley. Contact: janet.cromartie@ncem.co.uk for further details.)
▪ Games in the Park, in celebration of the Festival’s Silver Jubilee and the London 2012 a whole host of free family activities, including musical games, singing, dance and a special Pied Piper, will take place in the town centre streets of Beverley.
(Saturday 26 May, 11.00am – 3.00pm)
Tickets: £5.00 to £25.00 are available from the NCEM at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York YO1 9TL. Telephone: 01904 658338. Email: boxoffice@ncem.co.uk
