TALENTED young musicians from across the globe descended on York for a VIP event.
York Early Music Festival at the Mansion House in St Helen's Square saw not one but two celebrations in the presence of The Lord Mayor of York, Margaret Wells.
Young musicians from the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Mexico arrived in York to take part in the York International Young Artists Competition which takes place in the city every two years.
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The musicians were welcomed with a drinks reception and enjoyed a tour of York’s magnificent Mansion House with the Lord Mayor who revealed some of the resplendent Georgian buildings hidden secrets.
The following day the Delegation of Flanders to the UK hosted a reception to mark Flanders Day - a major national holiday in the region - and celebrating a new partnership with the York Early Music Festival, in association with the Alamire Foundation and AMUZ, with support from the Flanders government.
Bart Brosius, general representative of Flanders in the United Kingdom and Ireland welcomed the delegation to York and Bart Demuyt from the Alamire Foundation in Flanders extended a warm thank you to the National Centre for Early Music’s director Dr Delma Tomlin MBE for her continued hard work, giving aspiring young musicians from the UK and beyond the encouragement and recognition they deserve.
Guests included York MP Rachael Maskell, city council leader, Claire Douglas, Joan Concannon from the University of York and many other guests from the delegation of Flanders.
Audiences enjoyed concerts by two ensembles from Flanders, Utopia at the National Centre for Early Music; and Cappella Pratensis & I Fedeli at York Minster.
The final of the competition took place at St Margaret’s Church, the National Centre for Early Music’s home and Ayres Extemporae, based in Belgium, won a cash prize of £1,000, plus a recording deal with Linn Records. The final can be heard on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show on Sunday, November 3.
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