THE 2014 York Early Music Christmas Festival opens on Friday, December 5, with a festively cheerful Vivaldi programme by La Serenissima at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York.

Their 7.30pm concert, The Red Priest, marks the group's 20th anniversary under violinist and director Adrian Chandler.

"La Serenissima’s spirited love of Vivaldi is irresistible," says festival administrative director Delma Tomlin.

"This programme features some of Vivaldi’s most joyful concertos and motets with the sublime soprano Mhairi Lawson and is guaranteed to leave audiences full of Christmas cheer. La Serenissima perform with sparkling brilliance and we couldn’t have wished for a more joyous start to our Christmas festival."

Mhairi Lawson features in a second concert, this time the Yorkshire Bach Choir and Yorkshire Baroque Soloists's performance of Handel's Messiah on December 6; see more details in the accompanying story of fellow soloist Matthew Long's return to York.

Picking out further highlights, the University of Huddersfield Chamber Choir and Early Music Ensemble present Ave Maris Stella at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York, on December 6 at 3pm. Director John Bryan has selected Christmas music by Josquin, Lassus, Palestrina, Gabrieli, Stolzer and Festa in praise of the Virgin Mary for the youthful voices of the choir and an array of renaissance instruments including viols, sackbuts and recorders.

In Purcell: The Lost Recordings at the National Centre for Early Music on December 7 at 7.30pm, Theatre of the Ayre breathe new life into the hidden consort repertoire of Purcell’s suites from King Arthur, The Fairy Queen and The Indian Queen, alongside a seasonal helping of Corelli’s Christmas Concerto and Charpentier’s Noëls.

Listen out for Joglaresa's very own version of The Bore’s Heed In Hande Bear I in December 8's Merriment & Misrule concert at the NCEM at 7.30pm, when Joglaresa promise a sparkling subversion of Yuletide, full of rebellious medieval, Tudor and folk carols that celebrate wine and ale as they "turn Christmas upside down".

Festival debutantsThe Mellstock Band, alias Dave Townsend, Caroline Butler, Tim Hill and Philip Humphries, gather around a Christmas fireside to present a seasonal mix of jovial songs, stirring dance music and haunting carols in period costume with early instruments in the The Christmas Hearth at the NCEM on December 9. The 7.30pm Christmas by Candlelight concert is linked by readings telling the story of Christmas celebrations in a 19th century English village.

Director Ben Rowarth and his exciting young a cappella group, Renaissance, present music by the Tudor greats William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, alongside medieval carols and festive works of the 20th and 21st centuries inspired by gems from the 16th century, in A Hymn Of The Nativity, at All Saints Church, North Street, York, on December 10 at 7.30pm.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's busy festival begins with Chamber Music for a Winter’s Evening, a festive pot-pourri of baroque chamber music, including works by Henry Purcell, at the NCEM on December 12 at 8.30pm.

The following morning, they present Pitter Patter Raindrops, two lively and interactive concerts, each lasting 45 minutes, that include stories and songs for the youngest music lovers aged two to five and their families to enjoy. Tots One starts at 10.30 am; Tots Two at 12 noon, in this new project supported by Arts Council funding.

Stile Antico mark their tenth anniversary with the festival-closing A Wondrous Mystery, a new Christmas programme of folk-like dances, a richly-scored Christmas Mass and traditional old-style German carols and motets, many of them still familiar today, at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall on December 14 at 6.30pm.

Looking forward to the Christmas celebrations, Delma says: "Theatre of the Ayre’s Purcell programme allows us to welcome back Elizabeth Kenny, following her term as one of the artistic advisors to York Early Music Festival, and they are joined by York’s own recorder virtuoso, Pamela Thorby, who will lead a recorder workshop linked to the concert and Purcell’s music.

“Stile Antico, proud winners of the 2005 Friends of York Early Music Festival International Young Artists Competition, make a very welcome return to York to celebrate their tenth Anniversary with an irresistible new Christmas programme, with some well-known carols including In Dulci Jubilo; a great way to round off the Festival. They'll also be doing a workshop with more tenors than you can shake at, which should be wonderful.”

Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338 and at ncem.co.uk/xmas