NCEM PLATFORM
ARTISTS
The NCEM’s Platform Artists project supports emerging musicians to further develop their careers - offering coaching, recording and performances – showcasing artists of the next generation within its annual Early Music Festival programmes.
Bellot Ensemble
Bellot Ensemble are a dynamic period instrument group known for their energetic performances and style-specific improvisation. Specialising in 17th-century repertoire, the ensemble combines rigorous historical research with spontaneous creativity, particularly through written divisions and contextual readings of early texts. From October 2025, the group began a two-year term as the New Generation Baroque Ensemble, a prestigious development scheme led by BBC Radio 3, The Royal College of Music, and the National Centre for Early Music. The programme supports emerging UK-based Baroque groups through expert coaching, recording and broadcast opportunities, and a regular performance platform.
Upcoming Event
Offering young artists the opportunity to perform and develop their careers in a professional environment, NCEM Platform Artists provides them with a vital stepping stone into the wider world of music performance.
Nocturnalia
Nocturnalia Ensemble is composed of three young performers (Mojca Jerman on the violin, Pablo Tejedor-Gutiérrez on the cello/gamba and Alex Mastichiadis on historical keyboards) who look to offer fresh and innovative concerts to their audiences.
Nocturnalia believes that Early Music is tremendously contemporary, given the degree of freedom that it offers to performers and the unparalleled creativity that improvisation and ornamentation create. The ensemble is supported by the Continuo foundation and recently was selected by an international panel and a very competitive process to be one of the 10 ensembles of the Emerging European Ensembles 2026-2027 scheme, a recognition supporting promising young groups in the early music field.
Upcoming Event
Through a series of concerts and events, The Platform Artists highlights the skill and innovation of these musicians, helping to nurture the next generation of performers while enriching the cultural landscape of early music.
Portrait Players
The Portrait Players is an all-female ensemble whose ‘wonderfully woven’ programmes are inspired by historical characters. Featuring Claire Ward (soprano), Kristiina Watt (theorbo/lute) Miriam Nohl (cello/viola da gamba) and Emilia Agajew (harp), the group was founded in January 2023 and quickly established a busy concert schedule across the UK.
The Portrait players will also be performing as part of the NCEM's wider community programme, 'Baroque around the Books', across East Riding in December 2026.
Upcoming Event
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If you would like to help us keep music making in the UK alive - and ensure that we can continue to compete on the international stage - join us as an NCEM Patron and make a difference.
Allyn Wu
Platform Artist, Australian baritone Allyn Wu, is a dynamic and versatile performer with a particular affinity for historically informed performance, oratorio, and song. Based in London, he was a participant of the 2025/2026 BREMF Emerging Artists scheme and in 2025 was awarded a Prize at the Concours Corneille in Rouen, organised by Le Poème Harmonique. Alyn will be performing a recital as part of the York Early Music Christmas Festival 2026 alongside lutenist Sergio Bucheli and harpsichordist Guillaume Haldenwang.
Upcoming Event
Anacronía
We are delighted to welcome S-EEEmerging Spanish early music ensemble Anacronía to the 50th edition of the York Early Music Festival in July. Come and see this award winning ensemble, who bring a new energy to Early Music.
Contre le temps
Following their successful performance in the 2025 Beverley Early Music Festival, award winning ensemble Contre le temps returns to York with a fantastic programme of medieval French music for the York Early Music Festival.
Ayres Extemporae
Winners 2024 York International Young Artists Competition
"Taking part in the competition was a wonderful experience for us, and we were so thrilled to win the main prize which has helped us so much on our musical journey. We learnt so much from our time in York and we were delighted to return last July, perform at the NCEM, record our CD with Linn Records and explore this historic city"
The NCEM is a UK Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation. Our young artists professional development programme is funded by a variety of trust funds - most vitally the Mayfield Valley Arts Trust and John Feldberg Foundation - alongside commercial sponsors and NCEM Patrons.
If you would like to help us keep music making in the UK alive - and ensure that we can continue to compete on the international stage - join us as an NCEM Patron and make a difference.
Support for the NCEM Platform Artists programme is kindly acknowledged from The John Feldberg Foundation (Stiftung) a charity registered in Hamburg and recognised in the UK.
It was established in memory of the harpsichord maker John Feldberg and supports the arts, culture and care for the environment in both countries.