York Early Music Festival

The UK's largest festival of classical music written before 1750 intertwines the themes of Method & Madness - from the cool of the Baroque to the heat of the Renaissance.

The festival opens with the captivating (and utterly mad) Barokksolistene led by Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike in a show looking at the music of the English 17th century tavern ['irresistible' The Times]; on Saturday 4 we welcome Voces Suaves presenting music by Monteverdi and his contemporaries; on Sunday 5 hear Handel's extraordinary baroque masterpiece 'Orlando' with soloists including Carolyn Sampson and Helen Charlston; Monday welcomes Matthew Wadsworth, Steven Devine and a series of 'Mad Songs' to the stage; The Sixteen present their Choral Pilgrimage programme in the Minster on Tuesday; the acclaimed countertenor Iestyn Davies sings with the Dunedin Consort led by John Butt on Wednesday; Thursday we welcome The Society for Strange & Ancient Instruments; Friday the prize-winning vocal group Profeti della Quinta return to York and on Saturday we host some of Europe's finest emerging professionals including the Consone Quartet and L'Apothéose from Spain.