THE Goldfinch Ensemble, four young early music performers from Europe, are in York for a ten-day residency at the National Centre of Music to learn and develop with the best in the country.

Noyuri Hazama, violin, Pablo Sosa del Rosario, flute, Salomé Gasselin, yiola da gamba, and Emmanuel Frankenberg, harpsichord, arrived on December 2 as part of collaborative European initiative to discover and develop early music talent across the continent.

The NCEM is one of eight partners of the eeemerging (Emerging European Ensembles) programme and this is the third such residency to be held in York. The latest participants met at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague and formed their ensemble in 2014.

Over the ten days, their residency involves coaching from leading specialists in their field, support in career development, the making of a short film and a number of performances, one of which will form part of the 2016 York Early Music Christmas Festival on Saturday.

“We're very excited about the arrival of The Goldfinch Ensemble," says NCEM director Delma Tomlin.“These young artists have already had such an illustrious journey to this point, winning both first prize in the Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen Competition in February this year and second prize in another leading competition, the International Early Music Competition in the Loire Valley.

“We have a packed agenda for them that takes in many different areas of development, and from some of the key figures within this music scene, including harpsichordist and conductor Laurence Cummings and flautist and teacher Ashley Solomon.” To support their career development, The Goldfinch Ensemble are receiving training in marketing, fundraising, managing the ensemble and working with promoters.

Highlights of their residency include an invitation by Professor John Bryan to give a lunchtime concert at the University of Huddersfield, after which they will give masterclasses to students from the University. On Saturday, the final day of their residency, the ensemble will perform their York Early Music Christmas Festival concert at the NCEM at 1pm. Entitled Masters of the Baroque, this Platform Artists programme will feature works by J S Bach and F Couperin.

Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk/yemf