Our partnership

with the University of York

The National Centre for Early Music works in partnership with the University of York - helping to support career development through a range of projects.

Life in Classical Research Project

Experiences of Early-Career Musicians

The NCEM is collaborating with Dr Stewart Campbell from the University of York’s School of Arts and Creative Technologies, as part of the Life in Classical research project. The project aims to understand how the classical music industry works and the realities facing early-career musicians.

Through a series of workshops and sessions, musicians explore their experiences of building sustainable careers in classical music, discussing the challenges and opportunities they face, and identifying both the barriers in the industry and potential solutions.

The insights from these workshops will inform NCEM's ongoing work supporting early career musicians and feed into broader advocacy around career sustainability in the classical music industry.

Live Industry Project

Each year, the NCEM collaborates with students from the University of York’s MA in Music, Management and Marketing course. We provide live industry project briefs that enable students to tackle real-world challenges facing the sector.

Projects have included audience development, project evaluation, and international marketing. This collaboration provides NCEM with new perspectives and practical solutions while offering students valuable work-related learning. This year we are looking to work on A1.

Doctoral Award

Can nineteenth-century performance styles transform how audiences experience classical music?

In September 2025, the NCEM became the industry partner in a White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities (WRoCAH) Collaborative Doctoral Award with theUniversity of York. The project supports doctoral researcher and historical violinist Claire Holden, supervised by Dr Anna Bull and Dr Emily Worthington.

The research explores whether expressive nineteenth-century performance practices, characterised by flexibility, spontaneity and strong performer and audience connection, can deepen engagement with classical music today. These approaches were once central to our musical culture but are now rarely heard in modern performances, which often prioritise technical precision and strict adherence to the score.

Through a series of artistic projects and community performances across York and the East Riding of Yorkshire, the project will test how historically informed performance styles shape audience experience. Working with NCEM’s expertise in audience development, the research will combine live performance, audience feedback and artistic reflection to explore new ways of connecting communities with nineteenth-century repertoire.

University of York Baroque Ensemble

The NCEM hosts the University Baroque Ensemble for both the annual Baroque+ Day and for a summer festival concert. Building back post-covid has proved to be a challenge but there is now a growing ensemble working on historically informed performance practical style led by Mary-Jannet Leith and Ensemble Hesperi.

In July ’26, the NCEM is, thanks to monies from the Fenton Arts Trust, supporting the ensemble to work alongside the acclaimed Belgian orchestral early music specialists B’Rock.