MUSIC in New Radnor will host the annual early music workshop and concert on Saturday, March 9, the final event of the current season.

“It’s very nice to finish with a big day of music,” says Mary Tolhurst of Music in New Radnor. “This year’s event features The York Waits who perform music from the 15th and 16th centuries, on a wide range of early period instruments.”

The concert will look back in time, to the music of the courts and countryside contemporary with Richard III. The music will be from composers including Dufay, Bedingham, Morton, Busnois and Martini, much of which will be featured in a new recording that York Waits are planning for this summer.

The recording and concert coincides with the recent discovery of King Richard III’s remains in Leicester and the subsequent revival of interest in all things related to this enigmatic monarch.

Today’s York Waits have revived the band as it might have sounded in the 16th century, playing a wide repertoire of period European music as well as their own arrangements of popular dance and ballad tunes.

They have enlivened many national celebrations, including festivities for Richard III at Bosworth Field, celebrations for Elizabeth I at Tilbury Fort and Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace where they played as the royal wind band.

For concert tickets, call Dave Blackman 01544 350268.