YORK Early Music Festival marks its 30th birthday this summer by focusing on music written to celebrate Powerplay: 500 Years of Musical Intrigues, Politics and Power within Church and State.

Appropriately, the festival programme from July 5 to 14 is arguably the most powerful yet: The King's Consort, The Sixteen and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, are all taking part next month, each performing in York Minster.

"We could never normally afford to put on such a festival with three big names like these, " says administrative director Delma Tomlin.

"This is clearly unprecedented for us, but the 30th anniversary allows us to do it.

"One of the reasons that we can is that The Sixteen were so popular last year. We took something of a risk on them and it went so well that we now have the confidence to do three such concerts this summer."

The first of the big three will open the festival on July 5 in the Minster, when The King's Consort and Choir present a spectacular reconstruction of The Coronation of King George II.

Using the Minster to full effect, the 7pm concert features Handel's anthem Zadok The Priest, and works by William Child, John Blow, Henry Purcell, Orlando Gibbons and Thomas Tallis.

"We've received funding for this concert from Orchestras Live, which is promoted by the Arts Council to enable concerts of this size to be put on in the provinces, " says Delma.

"Even then, we're starting at 7pm so that all 30 musicians can go home on the 9.30pm train to London."

On July 9 at 7.30pm, Harry Christophers directs The Sixteen in Choral Pilgrimage 2007: Music From The Sistine Chapel.

Works by Palestrina and the oftneglected Anerio will be sung alongside Allegri's Miserere. "The Pope wouldn't allow anyone to perform it outside the Sistine Chapel, but he had not reckoned on Mozart, who famously heard it and copied down all the parts from memory and then just gave it to everyone else to play, " says Delma.

On July 12 at 7.30pm, the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, focuses on the music of John Taverner, composer, musician and spy in Tudor England.

"Taverner is particularly interesting to us in that the histories say there's no truth in his being a spy, and there's no truth in claims that, when he became Protestant, he destroyed Catholic churches in Lincolnshire, " says Delma. "But it is true that he did write beautiful music."

The festival's Powerplay theme spans the plight of the Jews in medieval Europe; the political intrigues of Tudor England (hence the Taverner concert); the entertainments of the Restoration; and Telemann, whose 18th century music reflected the mood of the day, even charting a crash on the Parisian Stock Market.

That work, La Bourse, will be played by the University of York Baroque Ensemble with Compagnia d'Instrumenti in Telemann: Music For A Civic Occasion, at the National Centre for Early Music, York, on July 11 at 1pm.

Further highlights include the Early Music Network International Young Artists Competition final from 10.30am to 5pm on July 14 at the NCEM, hosted for the first time by Robert Hollingworth, director of I Fagiolini, and the launch of the new Minster Minstrels' vocal ensemble, funded by Youth Music, at the Unitarian Chapel on July 7.

For tickets, ring 01904 658338 or book online at www.ncem.co.uk