Founded in 1981, the festival enjoys a large, loyal and enthusiastic audience, the warm support of the local community and a reputation as one of Europe’s leading classical music festivals. Broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 bring the festival to a national audience and long-term partnerships have been developed with The Hallé, Opera North, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Leeds International Piano Competition, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and many other organisations.

Events range far and wide across the county of North Yorkshire, with performances given in over thirty beautiful and historic venues. They include Castle Howard, York Minster, Scarborough Spa, Hovingham Hall, Duncombe Park, Sledmere House, Birdsall Hall, Ampleforth Abbey, Selby Abbey, Ripon Cathedral, York University and Malton’s Milton Rooms, as well as in churches, arts centres and theatres.

The festival centres on classical music, but also features jazz, folk, poetry, folk, talks, masterclasses, family events, dementia-friendly concerts, workshops, Come and Sing events, and ‘pop-up’ touring opera.

Innovative and imaginative programming attracts hundreds of top-level artists from all over the world. But the spirit of the festival is equally found in its many participatory events, including Community Operas and Song Cycles, which involve hundreds of local people and children.

The festival has a long tradition of spotting and supporting outstanding emerging performers through its Young Artist platform. A ticketing initiative enables young people in the region to attend most events for free, and the festival also works closely with its sister organisation – the Richard Shephard Music Foundation – to bring the experience and enjoyment of music to children across North Yorkshire.

The festival has twice been a finalist at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards where it was praised for ‘an extraordinary breadth of programming’ and the way it ‘always wraps its arms around the local community’.

The festival’s impact is reflected at the box office, where it has achieved steady growth in ticket sales for over a decade. In 2024, over 15% of the audience reported being first-time attenders. An independent survey recently found that the festival generates economic benefit for the region of around £1.5m every year, supporting 20 tourism-related jobs in North Yorkshire.

During the pandemic, the festival created an online platform called RyeStream which has shared performances with over 200,000 music-lovers world-wide and been singled out twice by The Guardian as ‘among the best online offerings of any festival’.