Creative Europe
Desk UK
for Culture

The 2013 York Early Music Festival (5 – 13 July) focused on the unrivalled musical heritage of Rome – The Eternal City – from the time of the medieval Popes, through the Renaissance polyphony of Palestrina, to the exuberant baroque of Handel. Central to this theme was the 300th anniversary of the iconic Italian composer and violinist Arcangelo Corelli who devoted his entire career to Rome and became a pivotal figure in the development of classical music with guest artists including Riccardo Minasi (Musica Antiqua Roma); Fabio Bonizzoni (La Risonanza) and Patrizia Bovi (Ensemble Medusa). Another anniversary celebrated in 2013 was the 450th anniversary of the birth of the English composer John Dowland. York offered a celebrity series of events involving countertenor Iestyn Davies; lutenists Thomas Dunford, Jakob Lindberg and Elizabeth Kenny; the Rose Consort of Viols and American virtuoso lutenist Paul O’Dette.