LA Serenissima open the 2014 York Early Music Christmas Festival tonight, much to the delight of violinist and director Adrian Chandler.

"Absolutely, it's a privilege, particularly as York is always a such a lovely festival," he says. "There's always a lot of depth and variety to it."

The British early music ensemble mark their 20th anniversary by performing a 7.30pm programme entitled Vivaldi: The Red Priest at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York.

His choice for the joyous start to the festival is an indirect result of last year's focus by La Serenissima on A Tale Of Two Seasons, their tour and recordings of Antonio Vivaldi's operatic works and recorder concertos.

"This year, I thought it would be good to follow that by looking at what are perhaps his least performed motets but they are my favourites," says Adrian, whose ensemble will be joined by soprano Mhairi Lawson for the motet Sum In Medio Tempestatum in an evening of concertos and motets.

"It's fair to say that over the past 20 years, there has been a growth of interest in listening to works by Vivaldi other than The Four Seasons, and one of the great joys about festivals such as York and the rise of the early music movement in general, is that people are willing to experiment in their programming and listening.

"By contrast, Vivaldi's operas died as soon as they left the stage. The idea that pieces should be kept in perpetuity was very foreign in his time. Out of the 50 he wrote, about 22 survived. As for the rest, as soon as the musicians finished performing them, they were in the bin."

The 2015 York Early Music Christmas Festival runs from today until December 14. Box office: 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk/xmas