THE National Centre for Early Music is celebrating its tenth anniversary by launching a new-look website at www.ncem.co.uk

“We’ve been looking for some time to have a website with an embedded video feature, so that we can now show things like the Schools Prom or the Minster event we did last November, to give a sense of the energy of what goes on here,” says director Delma Tomlin.

“You can now wander around on the website with quick links to the early music, teaching and learning resources sections.”

The NCEM website also has introduced a directory of early music artists with links to their websites, a facility that will in time become more sophisticated with soundbites.

Significantly too, you will be able to book tickets online and choose reserved seats at selected venues. “It should be easier now because we’ll be using the industry standard system used by York Theatre Royal and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, and each booker will be issued with a password that will enable them to make their own bookings,” says Delma.

The spring and summer season opens on Monday with the first of the latest batch of link-ups with the Black Swan Folk Club. County Antrim five-piece Beoga – however you pronounce it, it’s Irish for ‘lovely’ – introduce their traditional Irish music to the NCEM at 7.30pm, their line-up bolstered by the young singer and fiddle player Niamh Dunne.

The NCEM will continue its More4Less scheme, whereby you can see four concerts for the price of three from a choice of Rafiki Jazz on February 27; Cimarron, March 20; Tom Arthurs Trio, May 7; Shiraz, June 12; Adriano Adewale Group, June 18, and Curios, July 2.

Rafiki Jazz, a world music collective of African and Latin musicians and singers, will showcase their debut album More Big Muzik From Over There!; the Colombian seven-piece Cimarron are Delma’s first ever South American booking; Tom Arthurs will lead off the May Jazz Weekend.

Shiraz will mark another first for the NCEM: Franz Osten’s black-and-white film of the story behind the creation of the Taj Mahal will be accompanied by a live performance by the Sabri Ensemble of a newly commissioned score by Sarvar Sabri. “We hope to do a lot more of this kind of event as we do have the facility to show films here,” says Delma.

Percussionist and composer Adriano Adewale fuses the musical traditions of Nigeria, Angola and Brazil with contemporary European classical and jazz styles; jazz piano trio Curios won the Best Band category in the last ever BBC Jazz Awards.

Further Jazz Weekend highlights include Cuban violinist performing music from his new solo album, From There To Here, on May 8, and the jazz odd couple of trumpeter Guy Barker and vocalist and pianist Ian Shaw in Barker & Shaw At The Movies on May 9. Before then, Jacqui Dankworth will lead her quartet through highlights from her Back To You album on April 17.

The Black Swan’s further folk contributions will be Irish exports Grada on March 8; acoustic duo Uiscedwr on March 22; and Scottish four-piece Breabach, with two bagpipers and more besides, on April 16. In a further folk booking, Irish singer and banjo player Damien O’Kane will introduce his imminent debut solo album, Summer Hill, on March 26.

Looking much further ahead, tickets have gone on sale already for June Tabor’s night of traditional song and modern writing with accordion player Andy Cutting on September 25.

For more details and bookings, visit www.necem.co.uk

Alternatively, ring 01904 658338.