2025 FESTIVAL | June 8–15, 2025
Symposia, Lectures & Concerts
Enjoy unique opportunities to hear from and interact with some of the top scholars and artists in Early Music today in lectures, panel discussions, special performances, and more! Some events are FREE and admission is included with a 2025 Exhibition Pass ($10) for all other Concurrent Events.
Wednesday, June 11, 9:30am to 10:30am
First Lutheran Church of Boston
Global Early Musics
Presented by EMA and BEMF
As Early Music America (EMA) celebrates its 40th year of supporting the development of the Early Music community in the U.S. and abroad, and as the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) celebrates its 23rd biennial gathering for the field of Early Music, we find it relevant now, more than ever, to expand the definition and the scope of our art to include historical traditions and practices from around the world. Join us in this conversation where we will discuss our vision for the future of the field. Moderator: David McCormick, EMA Executive Director; Panelists: Kiya Tabbassian, Constantinople; Antonio M. Gómez, Trio Guadalevín, Immediate Past President of Western Arts Alliance; and Agathe Créac’h, Secretary General, REMA – European Early Music Network.
Wednesday, June 11, 11am to 12:30pm
First Lutheran Church of Boston
Emerging Artists Showcase Concert
Presented by EMA and BEMF
Artists of any age—who have not otherwise performed regularly in major festivals or concert series—can apply to EMA’s Emerging Artists program. Presenting the rising stars of early music and historical performance since 2018, winners have been presented at Early Music festivals in Berkeley, CA, Bloomington, IN, and Boston, MA, and virtually through EMA’s digital platforms. In 2023, the Showcase became a central element of the annual EMA Summit. This very special free concert will include four performances by recent Showcase laureates, including Duo CPE, The Fooles, Maryse Legault, and Marie Nadeau-Tremblay.
Thursday, June 12, 2pm to 3pm
Colonnade East Room, The Colonnade Hotel
Designing for Handel and Keiser: Johann Oswald Harms
This talk—by Alexander McCargar, Set Designer for Keiser’s Octavia and a scenographer and art historian currently completing his doctorate at the University of Vienna, Department of Theatre, Film and Media Studies—aims to shed light on Johann Oswald Harms, stage designer for the Hamburg Opera starting in 1695. Harms was responsible for visually bringing to life Handel’s first operas and most of Keiser’s. An exploration of Harms’s drawings can help us to reconstruct these works and to understand what audiences saw when they heard Handel’s and Keiser’s music. For BEMF’s historically informed 2025 Centerpiece opera, Octavia, Harms’s work was instrumental for understanding the German Baroque stage.
Thursday, June 12 – Saturday, June 14 | Various Locations
Historical Harp Society Annual Conference
The Historical Harp Society is excited to host its 2025 Annual Conference at the June 2025 Boston Early Music Festival. The Conference will include three days packed with concerts and lectures, including a gallery presentation of the historical harp collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston! Learn more about the Historical Harp Society »
Saturday, June 14, 10am to 12:30pm
Boston Ballroom, The Colonnade Hotel
Producing and Performing Keiser’s Octavia
An engaging conversation about the evolution of BEMF’s North American premiere production of Reinhard Keiser’s Octavia, Ellen T. Harris, Class of 1949 Professor Emeritus, MIT, moderates a panel of specialists—including John H. Roberts, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley; Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors; Gilbert Blin, Stage Director; Robert Mealy, Orchestra Director; Hubert Hazebroucq, Choreographer; Anna Kjellsdotter, Costume Designer; and Alexander McCargar, Set Designer—as they explore the meticulous research that has been undertaken to bring this operatic masterpiece to the stage.
Saturday, June 14, two showings at 2:30pm & 3:30pm
Boston Ballroom, The Colonnade Hotel
The Making of BEMF’s Circé: A Documentary Film
The centerpiece of the June 2023 Boston Early Music Festival—A Celebration of Women—was the North American premiere of Henry Desmarest’s 1694 opera, Circé. First performed in 1694 at the Paris Opera, Desmarest’s Circé features a libretto by renowned poet Louise-Geneviève Gillot de Saintonge.
Recapture the glories of our extraordinary Circé journey in this documentary film by BEMF videographer Kathy Wittman, containing footage from the recording studio in Bremen, Germany, interviews with participating BEMF directors, designers, and artists, excerpts from the rehearsal studio as we prepared for our fully staged performances, and footage from the live production! Be captivated, once again, as we relive this epic adventure from Homer’s Odyssey and bring back to life our critically acclaimed performances complete with period-inspired costumes, elegant Baroque dance, magnificent sets, and utterly gorgeous music.