Press Release

• BEMF presents 10 programs in Greater Boston with 9 available for virtual viewing;

• The GRAMMY-winning BEMF Chamber Opera Series returns with Stellidaura’s Revenge by Francesco Provanzale on Thanksgiving Weekend in Boston;

• Returning artists and ensembles include Jordi Savall, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, lutenist Paul O’Dette, The Tallis Scholars, Stile Antico, Le Consort, Juilliard415, and Opera Prima;

• The Season will feature BEMF Concert Series débuts by two of North America’s most acclaimed period instrument ensembles, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and ACRONYM

Cambridge, MA–Individual tickets and subscription packages are now on sale for the Boston Early Music Festival’s 2025/26 Season, featuring 10 programs in Boston and Cambridge. Thanks to the ongoing support from our fans around the world, BEMF will continue to offer virtual broadcasts following most programs. A highlight of our 36^th annual concert series will be an all-new production from the BEMF Chamber Opera Series, led by BEMF’s GRAMMY-winning Musical Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs and acclaimed Stage Director Gilbert Blin.

“One of the nation’s foremost Early Music organizations.”
—The New Yorker

BEMF opens our 36^th Season with celebrated viola da gamba virtuoso Cristiano Contadin and his renowned ensemble Opera Prima on Friday, October 17, 2025 at 8pm at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Boston. The magnificent soprano Amanda Forsythe—a favorite of BEMF audiences and longtime collaborator with Contadin—is showcased in sparkling arias alongside charming concertos and sinfonias exploring the Galant style that was in vogue across western Europe during the middle of the 18th century. The program features selections from such Galant masters as Hasse, Tartini, Abel, C. P. E. Bach, the brothers Johann Gottlieb and Carl Heinrich Graun, and Alessandro Scarlatti.

Stile Antico marks its 20^th season by honoring the quincentenary of the undisputed master of the style which gives the group its name: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. In an era when even the most celebrated composer could be forgotten in a single generation, Palestrina was an emphatic exception as his legend as “the prince and father of music” only grew after his death. A favorite of Boston audiences since their North American début in 2009, the intensely collaborative singers of Stile Antico explore the music Palestrina himself would have sung at the Sistine Chapel, the changes in his style demanded by the Counter-Reformation, his tragic personal life, and his influence on his successors on Friday, November 7 at 8pm at St. Paul Church in Cambridge, MA.

When her beloved Armidoro is shot by the jealous Orismondo, beautiful Stellidaura is out for REVENGE in an all new production from the GRAMMY-winning BEMF Chamber Opera Series. Join us as a courtly love triangle is torn apart by violent passions in Francesco Provenzale’s 1674 romp, Stellidaura’s Revenge—Thanksgiving weekend in Boston, Saturday, November 29, 2025 at 8pm and Sunday, November 30, 2025 at 3pm at NEC’s Jordan Hall. Provenzale was a hugely influential figure in Neapolitan opera and he wrote his zany tragicomedy to be performed at a prince's summer palazzo. Breathtaking laments combine with lively tarantellas to produce a wildly entertaining cavalcade of romance, murder, and intrigue. Follow our star-crossed lovers as they navigate mistaken identities, bumbling servants, and attempted assassinations to find out whether they are destined for a happy ending or an early grave.

GRAMMY-winning Musical Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs join with internationally acclaimed Stage Director Gilbert Blin to create this thrilling entertainment featuring exceptional musicianship, period-inspired staging and lavish costumes. The stellar cast includes soprano Hannah De Priest as vengeful Stellidaura, GRAMMY-winning tenor Aaron Sheehan as Prince Orismondo, and tenor Richard Pittsinger as loyal Armidoro, with baritone Giuseppe Naviglio and soprano Mary Riley as long-suffering servants Giampetro and Armillo. Concertmaster Robert Mealy and the all-star BEMF Chamber Ensemble join this all-new production also featuring Costume Designer Seth Bodie, Assistant to the Stage Director Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, and Executive Producer Kathleen Fay. Enjoy this earthy, Shakespearean drama, fully of twists and turns and set to one of the most beautiful musical scores of the 17th century. A must-see event!

For more than 50 years, the legendary singers of The Tallis Scholars have earned international acclaim for their unparalleled purity and clarity—and for the past 37 years it has been BEMF's privilege to welcome them annually to Greater Boston. Director Peter Phillips leads these transcendent voices in a seasonal program of music from the English repertoire written about the Virgin Mary on Friday, December 5, 2025 at 8pm at St. Paul Church, Cambridge, MA. Whether celebrating her own divinity in Byrd’s Votive Mass or her role as the mother of Christ as in Tallis’s epic Missa Puer natus, these selections are some of the most glorious works of the Renaissance.

Hailed as the “greatest living lutenist” (Stereophile), Paul O’Dette has amassed a reputation as a virtuoso with singular technical skill matched by his ebullient charisma. BEMF’s Artistic Co-Director makes his first solo appearance on BEMF’s annual concert series in over 26 years on Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational. Join him for a journey through a collection of recently discovered manuscripts copied out in the 1590s by Orazio Albani da Urbino (1576–1653), a nobleman who studied the lute in Rome as a child prodigy. The composers represented are among the most acclaimed lutenists of the time, whose groundbreaking music was studied and performed throughout Europe, making this collection one of the most important musical discoveries of the past thirty years.

While much of their repertoire has been lost to history, Adam Drese and his cousin Johann Samuel Drese were hugely influential and helped shaped the musical landscape that Johann Sebastian Bach entered into. A mainstay of our June Festivals since 2019, the American chamber ensemble ACRONYM débuts on our annual concert series on Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational in a program that assembles for the first time nearly all of the extant works by the Drese cousins, along with several of Bach’s arrangements of them. Comprised of some of North America’s finest young Early Music specialists, ACRONYM is joined by an all-star roster of guest artists, including tenor Aaron Sheehan and bass Jonathan Woody, for the modern premiere of Adam Drese’s funeral motet, Wie selig sind die Toten, the earliest-known work written for slide trumpet.

For over four decades, Tafelmusik has been an Early Music powerhouse with dynamic, engaging, and soulful performances. They make their BEMF début in a special side-by-side collaboration with the brilliant students of Juilliard415 on Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 3pm at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational. Robert Mealy, BEMF’s Orchestra Director and director of Juilliard’s Historical Performance department, leads a celebration of the theatricality and elegance of Rameau’s music, featuring stirring overtures, brilliant chaconnes, and a parade of endlessly inventive dances. Rameau’s music is brought to life with choreographies by renowned Baroque dancer Caroline Copeland, who is partnered with BEMF Dance Company regular Julian Donahue. (PLEASE NOTE, this performance will not be available virtually.)

The young musicians of Le Consort have already earned an international reputation for performances full of enthusiasm, sincerity, unmatched virtuosity, and modernity. Join them on Friday, March 13, 2026 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational for a voyage through Baroque Europe where the trio sonata was chamber music’s quintessential formation. Their whirlwind program spotlights famous composers alongside unjustly neglected Baroque masters, illustrating the immense expressive range and creativity of this repertoire with masterworks by Bach, Telemann, Porpora, and Albinoni among others. The lively soirée concludes with a magnificent setting of “La Folia” by Geminiani—the era’s most recognizable melody, and one which still resonates today.

Jordi Savall is one of the most captivating artists of his generation, inspiring audiences around the globe with performances that unite intellectual curiosity, meticulous research, and vibrant musicianship. He returns to Boston on Sunday, April 12, 2026 at 4pm at NEC’s Jordan Hall with an ensemble of more than 30 singers, dancers, and instrumentalists representing Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Mali, and more. These collaborative artists take the stage for a monumental dialogue that honors the more than 25 million people from across the sea enslaved by European colonial powers over more than four centuries, celebrating their heritage with readings, traditional music from many countries, and works by Portuguese-Mexican composer Gaspar Fernandes among other composers.

Countertenor Philippe Jaroussky has established himself as a worldwide superstar with an impressive mastery of vocal technique and performances full of nuance and vocal acrobatics. He makes a triumphant return to BEMF with his own ensemble, Artaserse on Saturday, April 25, 2026 at 8pm at St. Paul Church, Cambridge in a brilliant collection of chamber music from 18^th-century Italy exploring the passion and anguish of jealousy. Thrill to the captivating theatrics of this romantic torment in music by Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Porpora and others interpreted by one of the world’s most singular interpreters of the Baroque vocal repertoire.

In lieu of Pre-Concert Talks at the venue, we will present online Pre-Concert Videos with informative discussions featuring scholars and artists the week before most programs—FREE to watch on YouTube or at BEMF.org.

Subscriptions and individual tickets are on sale now through the Boston Early Music Festival Box Office at 617-661-1812 or online at BEMF.org. Discounted subscription packages start as low as $94.50 for three in-person programs or $67.50 for three virtual programs.

The Boston Early Music Festival 2025/26 Season is presented with support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Constellation Charitable Foundation, 99.5 WCRB: Classical Radio Boston, a service of WGBH, and ArtsBoston.

VIRTUAL TICKET OPTIONS
For the 2025/26 Season, 9 of our 10 programs will be available for virtual viewing starting about one to two weeks after the performance on our secure, online platform. This added convenience offers our patrons—in Boston and around the world—options to enjoy these programs. BEMF works in partnership with Videographer Kathy Wittman of Ball Square Films and Recording Engineer Antonio Oliart Ros to record the live performances, before collaborating with our presented artists and ensembles to produce fully edited concert videos. When available, Virtual Tickets are included FREE with in-person tickets or can be purchased on their own.

RESOURCES
Press Images: https://bemf.org/press-images/

ABOUT THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL:
Recognized as the preeminent early music presenter and Baroque opera producer in North America, the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) has been credited with securing Boston’s reputation as “America’s early music capital” (The Boston Globe). Founded in 1981, BEMF offers diverse programs and activities, including one GRAMMY Award–winning and five GRAMMY Award–nominated opera recordings, an annual concert series that features early music’s brightest stars on the BEMF concert stage, and a biennial week-long Festival and Exhibition recognized as the “world’s leading festival of early music” (The Times, London). The 24^th Boston Early Music Festival will take place from June 6 to 13, 2027, and will feature a fully staged production of Telemann’s Emma und Eginhard.  BEMF’s Artistic Leadership includes Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Opera Director Gilbert Blin, Orchestra Director Robert Mealy, and Dance Director Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière.

For more information, images, press tickets, or to schedule an interview, please contact Kathleen Fay at 617-661-1812 or email kathy@bemf.org.

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