COURTNEY Pine and The King's Singers are the headline acts for the Northern Aldborough Festival, opening on June 13.

The ten-day arts festival takes place each summer in the rural Roman village near Boroughbridge. "Twenty five years since the festival was launched, in 2019 we unveil our starriest line-up yet," say the organisers.

Jazz bass clarinettist Courtney Pine and fellow Mercury nominee and MOBO award-winning pianist Zoe Rahman will perform an intimate programme entitled Song, focusing on Pine's album The Ballad Book, at St Andrew's Church, Aldborough, on June 14.

The Ballad Book, his 16th studio set, is a stripped-back work featuring only Pine and Rahman. "I've always wanted to record a collection of my favourite ballads and there's nothing like performing in a duet for bringing out the intimacy of great songs," he says.

The King’s Singers, the long-standing close-harmony vocal sextet, will sing popular songs and Renaissance polyphony at St Andrew's Church on June 21.

The ever-changing ensemble celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with a worldwide concert tour and triple album release, Gold.

The festival will open with June 13's performance of the festival opera: a concert performance of Handel's 1743 oratorio Semele at St Andrew's Church at 6.45pm.

It tells of a beautiful mortal, Semele, whose short but spectacular love affair with Jupiter, King of the Gods, comes to a terrifying end in consequence of both her own vanity and the scheming of Jupiter’s insanely jealous wife, Juno.

Singers who have performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Fenice in Venice and Seattle Opera will be accompanied by the house band for the Cambridge Handel Opera Company. Conductor Julian Perkins is a Handel specialist.

"This is the first step towards what we hope could become an annual in-house opera production," say the organisers.

The Fitzwilliam String Quartet celebrate their 50th anniversary at a birthday party at St Andrew's Church on June 20.

York viola player Alan George and his fellow quartet members will perform with old friends as an octet, whose repertoire will include Mendelssohn’s Octet and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence.

Political commentator, broadcaster, author and after-dinner speaker John Sergeant will present "An Evening With..." show on June 15 at St Andrew's Church.

The Tim Kliphuis Sextet, led by Dutch jazz violinist Tim Kliphuis, will combine gypsy jazz, classical music and folk in their Reflecting The Seasons programme at The Old Hall, North Deighton, on June 19.

A re-working of Vivaldi's Four Seasons will be at the heart of this evening concert by the violinist long regarded as Stéphane Grappelli’s heir.

Among the emerging artists making their Northern Aldborough debut will be Mario Häring, A4 Brass Quartet and Chloe Latchmore.

German pianist Häring, second prize winner at the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, will play Schubert’s Sonata in A minor and Debussy’s painterly Estampes at St Andrew's Church on June 17.

Formed in 2013 at the Royal Northern College of Music, the A4 Brass Quartet prefer using traditional brass band instruments to orchestral ones, in their case Jamie Smith on cornet, Jonathan Bates on tenor horn, Michael Cavanagh on baritone and Chris Robertson on euphonium.

On June 20, the quartet will play an 11am concert at Farnley Hall, Otley, as the festival stretches its boundaries beyond Aldborough.

The festival will go on the road too for North Yorkshire mezzo soprano Chloe Latchmore's 11am programme on June 18 at Bramham Park, near Wetherby, featuring Haydn’s Italian cantata Arianna a Naxos.

Chloe began her studies at Queen Mary’s School, Topcliffe, where she was head chorister. She is now a rising star at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she debuted in the role of Mère Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, as well as playing Carmen in the Peter Brook version of Bizet's opera for Popup Opera.

Alison Teale, principal cor anglais player with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, will be joined by pianist Elizabeth Burley at Rudding Park on June 17 at 11am.

In an 11am performance for children by double bass player May Halyburton and spoons and kitchen percussionist Jo May at St Andrew's Church on June 15, Bessy Goes Busking will tell a fun musical story. Afterwards will come the chance to try out rhythms using spoons, frying pans and washboards in a two-hour musical workshop.

The festival will conclude with SoulPower!, a picnic performance of Motown classics by Low Resolution in the grounds of Aldborough Manor from 6pm on June 22, climaxing with a firework display.

All concerts will start at 7.30pm unless stated. Tickets are on sale at aldboroughfestival.co.uk.