Kicking off thestart of the EarlyMusic Festival

The Consort will be exploring soaring Tudor polyphony from the 16th century, including church music by Tallis and Byrd as well as works from the Eton Choirbook by John Browne, William Cornysh and Robert Fayrfax.

These will be set alongside secular songs from the same period, and the concert will end with the monumental Vox Patris Caelestis of William Mundy, written during the reign of Queen Mary. The concert will be followed at 8pm by a fireside reception for members of the Artistic Directors’ Circle.

Artistic director Clare Norburn confirmed the festival’s 2014 theme will be Cities, Musical Centres And The Journeys Between Them.

“We’ll be featuring programmes from Warsaw, Venice, Leipzig, Paris and Rome, as well as some extraordinary journeys including pilgrimages, and one very long dance! Full details to follow in due course but we’re delighted that The Sixteen will be returning to Brighton in 2014 with a Polish programme (October 31); and La Serenissima will be opening the Festival with some Venetian festivities (October 24).

“Of course, at this stage we do need to add the caveat ‘subject to funding’, and we’re working hard on Trust and Arts Council applications at the moment. Individual donors are also vital to the continuation of the Festival, and we’re delighted that a number of our supporters have chosen to make substantial donations in order to underwrite particular concerts in 2014. Supporting a concert from inception to finish is an exciting way of getting very involved in the creative process. If you would like to find out more about how you could support a concert by making a major donation of £500 or more, do get in touch at [email protected]. Joining our Artistic Directors’ Circle (£500-plus) now also means that you receive an invitation to our special reception on March 1where you will hear the first details of the 2014 festival programme. More details at www.bremf.org.uk/friends.”