The Alamire Foundation has been travelling across Europe in recent months as part of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union, showcasing the musical heritage from the Low Countries to an international audience. Following stops in Mechelen, Aachen, and Paris earlier this year, the Alamire Foundation headed to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice from 17 to 21 June in cooperation with the Diplomatic Representation of Flanders in Italy for the prestigious Early Music Seminars under the artistic direction of Pedro Memelsdorff. The seminar, led by artistic leader of the Sollazzo Ensemble, Anna Danilevskaia, was entirely dedicated to the Leuven Chansonnier. The sessions focused in particular on the attributions and stylistic features of the unique chansons, and were concluded with a concert.

On 25 and 27 June, in cooperation with the Diplomatic Representation of Flanders in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Slovenia, we highlighted the important link between Central Europe and the musical heritage from the Low Countries with two sold-out events by the Huelgas Ensemble in the historic St Simon and St Judas Church in Prague, and the Matthias Church in Budapest. With a programme on Franco-Flemish polyphony from 1400-1600, the Huelgas Ensemble proved once again that this centuries-old music, notated in exquisite manuscripts, should continue to be cherished today.

We will conclude the projects of the past six months on 11 July in York in cooperation with the Diplomatic Representation of Flanders in the United Kingdom and Ireland. On the occasion of Flanders Day, a full festival day of the York Early Music Festival will be dedicated to polyphony from our region. The programme will include a lecture on Jacob Obrecht's Missa Sub tuum praesidium by American musicologist M. Jennifer Bloxam, a concert by the vocal Utopia Ensemble with music by Antwerp composer and printer Tilman Susato, and a prestigious vocal-instrumental concert by Cappella Pratensis, I Fedeli, and organist Wim Diepenhorst with a focus on the feast of the Assumption in Golden Age Antwerp.