The award-winning Swaledale Festival, which runs from 25 May to 8 June, is bringing two special and contrasting events to the Dales in its second week.

The magnificent Armonico Consort will perform Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas on Wednesday 5 June at St. Mary’s Church in Richmond, as well as the much-loved Stabat Mater by Pergolesi. Dido & Aeneas is the only work by the seventeenth-century composer Henry Purcell in which the entire text is sung.  After its first performance, Dido & Aeneas was probably not heard again in Purcell’s lifetime. Its first modern performance was at the Royal College of Music on the 200th anniversary of Purcell’s death. It has since become Purcell’s best-known work and is hailed as one of the greatest of English operas. The Armonico Consort is a group of highly-talented singers and musicians known for its imaginative concert presentation.  

On Thursday 6 June the London Tango Trio will perform at St. Andrew’s Church in Grinton.  Violinist David Juritz, guitarist Craig Ogden and accordionist Miloš Milivojević come together to present stunning arrangements of compositions by Paganini, Couperin and Piazzolla.  The compelling playing and relaxed presentation of these award-winning artists have made them firm favourites with audiences, and a joyful and uplifting evening of music-making is guaranteed.

To buy tickets, and to find out more about the 75+ events in the Swaledale Festival programme, visit www.swalefest.org.