Festivals

York Early Music Christmas Festival

Established in 1997, the festival is a key event in the city's festive calendar, showcasing music from Advent to Epiphany.

When

❄️Winter festival

dateFri, 5 December 2025 Sun, 14 December 2025

About

The York Early Music Christmas Festival was created in 1997 to introduce audiences to the extraordinary wealth of music associated with Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, from the Medieval to the Baroque, intertwined with the sagas, stories and tales of the north.

This year’s Christmas festival brings together seasonal music from across the ages with some of the most beautiful repertory from the likes of Haydn, Schumann and Mendelssohn thanks to mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston - performing alongside pianist Sholto Kynoch; and fellow BBC New Generation Artists the Consone Quartet appearing together on the NCEM stage with the internationally-acclaimed Chiaroscuro Quartet – presenting one of the most celebrated works in the classical repertory - Mendelssohn’s Octet.

Events

Apollo's Juxebox Menu - Christmas Edition

Apollo's Juxebox Menu - Christmas Edition

Apollo's Cabinet
  • dateFri, 5 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time7:00pm
  • ticket£23 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Choral Workshop

Choral Workshop

Rory McCleery
  • dateSat, 6 December 2025
  • locationBedern Hall
  • time10:15am
  • ticket£25 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
A Lyrical Interlude

A Lyrical Interlude

Helen Charlston | Sholto Kynoch
  • dateSat, 6 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time12:30pm
  • ticket£25 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Haydn: The Creation

Haydn: The Creation

Yorkshire Baroque Soloists
  • dateSat, 6 December 2025
  • locationSir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, U. of York
  • time7:30pm
  • ticket£35 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Contrast and Continuity: From the Renaissance to the Baroque

Contrast and Continuity: From the Renaissance to the Baroque

John Bryan
  • dateSun, 7 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time10:15am
  • ticket£12.50 Including coffee on arrival
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Facets of Time

Facets of Time

Dowland's Foundry
  • dateSun, 7 December 2025
  • locationBedern Hall, York
  • time2:00pm
  • ticket£23 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Mendelssohn Octet

Mendelssohn Octet

Chiaroscuro Quartet & Consone Quartet
  • dateSun, 7 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time6:30pm
  • ticket£35 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Looking Bach to Palestrina
Continuo Funded

Looking Bach to Palestrina

The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
  • dateMon, 8 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time6:30pm
  • ticket£35 (conc. available) inc. mince pies on arrival
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
The Crimson Sun

The Crimson Sun

Apollo5
  • dateTue, 9 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time6:30pm
  • ticket£35 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Echoes of the Spanish Baroque
Continuo Funded

Echoes of the Spanish Baroque

Lowe Ensemble
  • dateFri, 12 December 2025
  • locationSt Margaret´s Church, York
  • time12:30pm
  • ticket£15 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
From the Church to the Tavern

From the Church to the Tavern

Fieri Consort
  • dateFri, 12 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time6:00pm
  • ticket£28 (conc. available)
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival
Here we come a'carolling

Here we come a'carolling

Joglaresa
  • dateSun, 14 December 2025
  • locationNational Centre for Early Music
  • time6:30pm
  • ticket£30 (conc. available) inc. mince pies on arrival
  • festivalYork Early Music Christmas Festival

Location

York

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