2025 Festival | June 8–15, 2025
Festival Schedule
Welcome to the June 2025 Boston Early Music Festival, North America’s premier celebration of Early Music.
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QUICK LINKS
SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2025
2pm | PRE-OPERA TALK
Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors; Gilbert Blin, Stage Director; Robert Mealy, Orchestra Director; Hubert Hazebroucq, Choreographer: The Power of Love and the Love of Power
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
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3:10pm | OPENING FANFARE | Keiser's Octavia
Members of the BEMF Orchestra
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
3:30pm | CENTERPIECE OPERA | Keiser's Octavia
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
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MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2025
5pm | CONCERT
ACRONYM
Amor Temporalia: Music of Bertali, Schmelzer, Valentini, and others
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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8pm | CONCERT
The Tallis Scholars | Peter Phillips, Director
& The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
Jubilate! Music of Lassus, Palestrina, Gombert, Andrea Gabrieli, and Giovanni Gabrieli
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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10:30pm | CONCERT
Aaron Sheehan, tenor & Paul O’Dette, lute & theorbo
The Excellency of Wine: Songs by Dowland, Guédron, Moulinié, and Henry Lawes
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2025
5pm | CONCERT
Ensemble Castor with Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
Inspiring Genius – Precious Friendships: Music of Keiser, Handel, Bach, and Telemann
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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8pm | CONCERT
The Boston Camerata
Anne Azéma, Director
A Gallery of Kings: Uses and Abuses of Power, ca. 1300
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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10:30pm | CONCERT
Pacific Musicworks | Stephen Stubbs, Director
with Danielle Reutter-Harrah, soprano
Murder, Mayhem, Melancholy, and Madness: Music of Dowland, William Lawes, Purcell, and others
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025
9:30am–10:30am | SYMPOSIUM: Global Early Musics
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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10am–5pm | Exhibition
NEW VENUE FOR 2025: The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
(The Huntington Ballroom & Foyer)
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11am | FREE CONCERT
Early Music America’s Emerging Artists Showcase Concert
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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2:30pm–4:30pm | MASTERCLASS
Kola Owolabi, organ
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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5pm | CONCERT
The Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips, Director
Inspired by the Sistine Chapel: Music of Palestrina, Allegri, Morales, and others
Emmanuel Church
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5:30pm | PRE-OPERA TALK
Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors: The Power of Love and the Love of Power
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
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6:40pm | OPENING FANFARE | Keiser's Octavia
Members of the BEMF Orchestra
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
7pm | CENTERPIECE OPERA | Keiser's Octavia
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
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8pm | CONCERT
Trio Mediæval with Catalina Vicens, organetto
Love abounds in everything: Music of Hildegard von Bingen and Leonel Power
Emmanuel Church
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10:30pm | CONCERT
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
Songs without words: Music of Palestrina, Victoria, Grandi, Giovanni Gabrieli, and Merulo
Emmanuel Church
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THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025
9am | ORGAN MINI-FESTIVAL
Part One | Kola Owolabi
The Voice of the Organ: Manifestations of Power and Love
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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9:30am–11am | DANCE WORKSHOP
Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, BEMF Dance Director: Session One
Emmanuel Church Music Room, 15 Newbury Street
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10am–5pm | Exhibition
NEW VENUE FOR 2025: The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
(The Huntington Ballroom & Foyer)
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11am–1pm | MASTERCLASS
Maxine Eilander, Baroque Harp
Colonnade East Room, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
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11:30am–1pm | DANCE WORKSHOP
Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, BEMF Dance Director: Session Two
Emmanuel Church Music Room, 15 Newbury Street
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11:30am | ORGAN MINI-FESTIVAL
Part Two | Catalina Vicens, organetto with Trio Mediæval
Riches d’amour
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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2pm–3pm | LECTURE
Alexander McCargar: Designing for Handel and Keiser: Johann Oswald Harms
Colonnade East Room, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
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2pm | ORGAN MINI-FESTIVAL
Part Three | Erica Johnson
Reflection and Transformation: Struggles in Power and Love
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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4pm | PRE-CONCERT TALK
Dr. Carsten Lange, Director, Center for Telemann Research Magdeburg: “…they made the ears of the court and the city unusually attentive.” Telemann’s so-called Paris Quartets
New England Conservatory’s Williams Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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5pm | CONCERT
Enrico Gatti, violin, Marcello Gatti, flute & Friends
Flatteusement, Vivement & Tendrement: The power of love and affection in Paris
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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7pm | PRE-CONCERT TALK
Ellen T. Harris, Class of 1949 Professor Emeritus, MIT: The Water Music: On It or In It?
New England Conservatory’s Williams Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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8pm | CONCERT
Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra
Robert Mealy, Orchestra Director
Caroline Copeland & Hubert Hazebroucq, dancers
Rivers of Splendor: Handel’s & Telemann’s Water Music
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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10:30pm | CONCERT
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
& Justin Taylor, harpsichord
The Power of Love: Music of Francoeur, Couperin, Eccles, Bach, Corelli, and others
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall
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FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
9am | KEYBOARD MINI-FESTIVAL
Clavichord | Yi-Heng Yang
Awaken to Love
First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough Street
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10am–7pm | Exhibition
NEW VENUE FOR 2025: The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
(The Huntington Ballroom & Foyer)
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10am–12pm | MASTERCLASS
Enrico Gatti, violin & Marcello Gatti, flute
Emmanuel Church Parish Hall, 15 Newbury Street
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11:30am | KEYBOARD MINI-FESTIVAL
Fortepiano | Federico Ercoli
Farewell: On the Other Side of Love and Power
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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2pm | KEYBOARD MINI-FESTIVAL
Harpsichord | Justin Taylor
French Love
The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street
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2pm | PRE-CONCERT TALK
Ellen T. Harris, Class of 1949 Professor Emeritus, MIT: Nero (His Mother, His Wives, His Lovers): Once More With Feeling
First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough Street
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3pm | FREE CONCERT
BEMF 2025 Young Artists Training Program participants
George Frideric Handel’s Agrippina
Gilbert Blin, Founder & Director; Jason McStoots, Associate Director, 2025; Jeffrey Grossman, Musical Director, 2025
First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough Street
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5pm | CONCERT
Constantinople | Kiya Tabassian, setar, voice & director
with Hana Blažíková, soprano
Bach & Khayyam
Emmanuel Church
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5:30pm | PRE-OPERA TALK
John H. Roberts, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley:
Keiser’s Octavia: Rivalry and Recompense
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Learn More »
6:40pm | OPENING FANFARE | Keiser's Octavia
Members of the BEMF Orchestra
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
7pm | CENTERPIECE OPERA | Keiser's Octavia
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Learn More »
8pm | CONCERT
Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier, Artistic Director
Vanitas Vanitatum et omnia vanitas:
Music of Carissimi and Förster
Emmanuel Church
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10:30pm | CONCERT
Concerto Romano with Luca Cervoni, tenor
Alessandro Quarta, Director
Arnalta’s Café: An Operatic Nanny Romp through 17th-Century Italy
Emmanuel Church
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SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
10am–12:30pm | BEMF SYMPOSIUM
Producing and Performing Keiser’s Octavia, moderated by Ellen T. Harris, with John H. Roberts, Paul O’Dette, Stephen Stubbs, Gilbert Blin, Robert Mealy, Hubert Hazebroucq, Anna Kjellsdotter, and Alexander McCargar
Boston Ballroom, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
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10am–5pm | Exhibition
NEW VENUE FOR 2025: The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
(The Huntington Ballroom & Foyer)
Learn More »
1pm–3pm | FAMILY DAY
Early Music activities for all ages and a Scavenger Hunt at the World-Famous BEMF Exhibition
Boston Ballroom, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
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1:30pm–4:30pm | MASTERCLASS
Boreas Quartett Bremen, recorder solos and consorts
New England Conservatory’s Williams Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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1:30pm–4:30pm | MASTERCLASS
Ellen Hargis, Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, Paul O’Dette, and Stephen Stubbs: 17th-century accompanied solo song
New England Conservatory’s Burnes Hall, 255 St. Botolph Street
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2:30pm | FILM
The Making of BEMF’s Circé: A Documentary Film
Boston Ballroom, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
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3:30pm | FILM
The Making of BEMF’s Circé: A Documentary Film
Boston Ballroom, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue
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5pm | CONCERT
ExtravaGamba!
Christel Thielmann, Director
From Byrd to Purcell and Beyond: Music for 2 to 16 viols
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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7pm | PRE-OPERA TALK
Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors, and Fynn Liess, Artistic Manager and Dramaturg, Centre for Telemann Research Magdeburg: Telemann’s Pimpinone and Ino
New England Conservatory's Williams Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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8pm | CHAMBER OPERA
Telemann's Pimpinone and Ino
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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10:30pm | CONCERT
Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble & Friends
Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors
Emőke Baráth, Amanda Forsythe, Danielle Reutter-Harrah & Teresa Wakim, soprano
Aaron Sheehan & Jason McStoots, tenor
Christian Immler, bass-baritone
Starry, Starry Night: Music of Monteverdi, Luigi Rossi, Carissimi, and Steffani
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 2025
10am | FREE YOUTH CONCERT
BEMF Youth Ensemble, Julia McKenzie, director, BEMF Beyond Borders, Nina Stern and Cléa Galhano, directors, and A String Fort Smith, Lori Fay, director
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
12:30pm | CONCERT
Boreas Quartett Bremen
Caleb Mayo, narrator
Kathryn Montoya, recorder
Shakespeare in Love
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street
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2pm | PRE-OPERA TALK
John H. Roberts, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley:
Keiser’s Octavia: Rivalry and Recompense
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Learn More »
3:10pm | OPENING FANFARE | Keiser's Octavia
Members of the BEMF Orchestra
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
3:30pm | CENTERPIECE OPERA | Keiser's Octavia
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Learn More »
All venues are located in Boston, Massachusetts, unless otherwise stated. Programs, artists, dates, and venues subject to change.