A Georgian Party Music Workshop, and Pick a Card: Ensemble Augelletti’s family friendly events for Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival

Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival runs from 23 to 25 May. Before the festival, an extra event features a Georgian Party Music Workshop for young people. Young musicians aged between 7 to 12 who play a woodwind or stringed instrument are invited to step back in time and join the fun of a Georgian musical party! Inspired by music, dancing, and playing games of Georgian Beverley’s gatherings, musicians from Ensemble Augelletti will teach young people to play authentic Georgian tunes for traditional dances, while revealing quirky facts about the era.

Ensemble Augelletti return to the festival on 24 May when their family event, Pick a Card invites families to indulge in the art of playing cards, one of the Georgians’ favourite activities, and to “pick a card” to influence the musical programme of the day, with music by Handel, Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann. Families can design their own playing card based on some fabulous 18th century designs, featuring animals, toys, princes and princesses.

The National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), which supports the festival, has a year-round calendar of events for young people. The Minster Minstrels, the NCEM’s youth early music ensemble for school-age musicians run in partnership with York Music Centre, meet regularly and their appearances include a concert as part of the annual York Early Music Festival. Recently they performed at Cliffe Castle in their “Season of Music” as part of the Bradford City of Culture celebrations.

NCEM’s I Can Play! programme provides music-making opportunities for D/deaf children across the city of York and also runs I Can Play with Brass Roots, in partnership with Shepherd Brass Band, supporting hearing impaired children and their families to play music in a band environment whilst developing their skills on a brass instrument. In 2024 I Can Play with Brass Roots won the Brass Band Project of the Year Award at Brass Bands England’s 2024 Annual Conference in London.

Full details from the NCEM website.