York's historic beauty masks the reality of a city whose wider communities are unable to engage with the city's many world-class attractions and activities. York is the home of the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM) - we produce an annual international early music festival, a year round concert series, and young artist development programmes. We want to take early music to the communities in York that haven't experienced the sounds of early music.

NCEM and Explore York Libraries will work together in Baroque around the Books, making free and accessible early music concerts in the community libraries and archives, where people of all ages connect with each other and with the history of the City of York. This Christmas we will run a mini tour around 4 community libraries in York, with an early music ensemble trained in community performances. Each library will host the concerts, engaging with and encouraging their own community.