YORK FANFARE
A new Musical Commission
Written to celebrate the 50th edition of the York Early Music Festival, the Fanfare Commission is by Wakefield born composer Sam Meredith following selection by the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM) and the Festival’s Ensemble in Residence - the historic wind band [hanse] Pfeyfferey.
An alumnus of the NCEM’s Young Composer’s Award, Sam Meredith’s aim is to find a balance between the “traditional, idiomatic capabilities” of the historic instruments of a Renaissance wind band, whilst experimenting with sounds in order to “powerfully communicate a fanfare in a 21st century context.”
The Fanfare will be performed several times over the inaugural weekend of the 2026 Festival. The premier performance will be heard on Friday 3rd July before doors open at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, before the festival’s opening concert, I Fagiolini : Monteverdi Vespers 1610.
Other opportunities to hear the Fanfare over the weekend will include the YEMF Friends’ coffee concert, outside York Minster prior to the The Sixteen’s concert later that day and at the NCEM live on BBC Radio 3’s The Early Music Show.
Sam Meredith
Sam Meredith, a finalist in the 2023 NCEM Composers Award, was selected from within the NCEM’s alumni of composers drawn together over the past 17 years of the Award which is run annually in association with BBC Radio 3. The brief was to write a Festival Fanfare designed to celebrate both this special year and the skills of the award-winning Renaissance wind band [hanse] Pfeyfferey.
Sam Meredith is a composer from Wakefield who enjoys writing, teaching and performing music across a variety of disciplines.
In 2025 he completed his MA in Opera-Making and Writing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied with Julian Philips and Julian Anderson. For this, he collaborated with the librettist Sophia Trewick to write a chamber opera called Gef! which was performed at the Barbican last year to high acclaim and combined elements of farce with the gothic and the uncanny. Sam has written several works for the annual Bauhaus Festival in London under the tutelage of John Harle who has commissioned him to write pieces for big band, large ensemble and most recently a duet for saxophone and piano.
He has had performances of his work at the London Song Festival, Duke's Hall, the NCEM, Southwell Minster and Harrow International School (Japan). His music has been described as "wonderfully rich" (Prof. Robert Saxton), "scorching" (Henry Tadros), and "exceptionally sensitive and effective" (Stephen Gutman). He has sung and toured with the Idrisi Ensemble and was proud to appear in the choir for Alan Bennett's film The Choral (dir. Nicholas Hytner).
Hanse Pfeyfferey
Lili Pätzold cornett
Laura Dümpelmann shawm
Alexandra Mikheeva slide trumpet & trombone
A Bremen- based all-female ensemble, [hanse]Pfeyfferey is a Renaissance wind band specialising in improvised and rediscovered music from around 1500.
In 2024 they took part in the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition where they took home the Cambridge Early Music Prize and won the hearts of audiences. Their engaging presentation is a delightful introduction to the music played on shawms, cornetto, dulcian, slide trumpet and trombone.
This year they are invited back to the York Early Music Festival as Ensemble in Residence and have been working alongside composer Sam Meredith to create the Fanfare commission for the festival.
They will be performing the Fanfare several times over the opening weekend of the festival as well as a morning concert performance of other carefully selected repertoire. The programme Serendade for Isabella: The Casanatense Chansonnier will be performed on Saturday the 4th of July at the YEMF Friends Coffee Concert.
(This event is Free for Friends and Patrons but please do book in advance)
Photo by Ben Drücker
