Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

BEMF opens our 24/25 Season in Boston with Vox Luminis on October 26 and Venice Baroque Orchestra on November 2

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Johannes Brahms created a new structure for his Ein Deutsches Requiem, favoring the spiritual character of meditations on death over the formal structure of the traditional Latin Requiem and drawing his texts from a variety of Lutheran biblical sources. These German texts have been set by many illustrious composers through the ages. The Gramophone Award–winning Vox Luminis and Director Lionel Meunier—lauded for extensive and evocative explorations of early German Baroque vocal repertoire—lead us on a journey inspired by Brahms’s vision by way of these earlier, exquisite compositions, imagining a very different-sounding yet deeply emotional German Baroque Requiem.

ASSOCIATED EVENTS
A pre-concert video featuring members of Vox Luminis will be shared on BEMF.org and social media the week of October 21.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Vox Luminis is a Belgian early music vocal ensemble created in 2004 by Artistic Director Lionel Meunier. The ensemble performs over 60 concerts a year, appearing on stages in Belgium, across Europe, and around the world. Since its inception, the ensemble has been defined by its unique sound, appealing as much through the personality of each timbre as it does through the color and the uniformity of the voices. The size and composition of the group depends on the repertoire, with the core of soloists, mostly from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, often joined by additional performers. The repertoire is essentially Italian, English and German and spans from the 16th to the 18th century. Vox Luminis has released 19 albums on the labels Alpha Classics, Ricercar, Ramée, and Musique en Wallonie. These recordings have enjoyed international critical acclaim, and have won numerous prizes including the prestigious Gramophone Recording of the Year in 2012 for the Musicalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz, and the 2018 Choral Award from BBC Music Magazine for their recording of music of the Reformation, Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott, released on Ricercar Records. In 2018 Alpha Classics released two albums: a collaboration with the Franco-Canadian ensemble Masques in Abendmusiken by Dietrich Buxtehude, which was awarded a 2019 Gramophone Music Award in the Choral category, and a recording of Purcell’s King Arthur.

Internationally renowned as the founder and artistic director of the award-winning Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, French conductor and bass Lionel Meunier is widely regarded as one of the most dynamic and highly acclaimed artistic leaders in the fields of historical performance and choral music active today. Praised for his detailed yet spirited interpretative approach, he is now increasingly in demand as a guest conductor and artistic director with choirs, ensembles, and orchestras worldwide. Under his leadership, Vox Luminis has embarked on extensive concert tours throughout Europe, North America, and Asia; established multi-season artistic residencies at Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, Utrecht Early Music Festival, and Concertgebouw Bruges; and recorded over a dozen critically acclaimed albums. As a guest conductor, Lionel has worked with Netherlands Bach Society, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Netherlands Chamber Choir, and the Boston Early Music Festival Collegium, and has led projects with Vox Luminis in collaboration with Juilliard 415, Orchestra B’Rock, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and L’Achéron, among many others. Lionel maintains a close relationship with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Consort, returning regularly to lead collaborative projects with Vox Luminis that cover a wide repertoire. Their first recording together appeared in 2021.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Thrill to a program of audacious theatricality from the four musketeers of the Venetian Baroque—Vivaldi, Veracini, Tartini, and Locatelli—as the Venice Baroque Orchestra and violinist Chouchane Siranossian imagine a “battle of the bows” among these celebrated masters. On this battlefield, the violin is the weapon of choice, ideal for demonstrating virtuosity and technical prowess as the performer strives to astonish the listener with compelling artistry and bravura. Don’t miss the spectacular fireworks of this electrifying collaboration between a world-class soloist and ensemble performing some of the most brilliantly invigorating concertos from the Venetian Baroque.

ASSOCIATED EVENTS
A pre-concert video featuring members of the Venice Baroque Orchestra will be shared on BEMF.org and social media the week of October 28.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Founded in 1997 by Baroque scholar and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon, the Venice Baroque Orchestra is recognized as one of the premier ensembles devoted to period instrument performance. The Orchestra receives wide critical acclaim for its concert and opera performances throughout North America, Europe, South America, Japan and Korea, Taiwan and China. Committed to the rediscovery of 17th- and 18th-century masterpieces, under Mr. Marcon’s leadership VBO has given the modern-day premieres of Francesco Cavalli’s L’Orione, Vivaldi’s Atenaide, Andromeda liberata, Benedetto Marcello’s La morte d’Adone and Il trionfo della poesia e della musica, and Boccherini’s La Clementina. With Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Orchestra has staged Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade, Handel’s Siroe, and Galuppi’s L’Olimpiade, and reprised Siroe at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in its first full staging in the United States. The Orchestra has been seen worldwide through several television specials, including films by the BBC, ARTE, NTR (Netherlands), and NHK. They are the subject of three recent video recordings, and their performances were also featured on Swiss TV in the documentary film by Richard Dindo, Vivaldi in Venice.

Conductor, organist, and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon is one of the most renowned musicians and specialists for early music. He is internationally recognized as a leading interpreter for music of the Classic and Early Romantic periods and as a professor of harpsichord, organ and interpretation at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In 1997, he founded the Venice Baroque Orchestra (VBO), today one of the leading baroque ensembles in the world. Since 2009, he has been artistic director of the La Cetra Barockorchester & Vokalensemble Basel. Andrea Marcon is a regular guest conductor at the Frankfurt Opera and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and he has been invited by the Berlin Philharmonic, BR, WDR, HR, NDR and RSB radio orchestras, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Danish National Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Luzern Sinfonie Orchester, Münchner Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Camerata Salzburg, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Over 75 often award-winning recordings as conductor, harpsichordist, and organist document the rich repertoire with which he is still engaged today. For his recordings, he was awarded four times with the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik prize as well as the Diapason D’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, the Vivaldi Award of the Cini Foundation, Germany’s ECHO Klassik Award, the Edison Prize, the International Classical Music Award, and two Grammy nominations.

Chouchane Siranossian is one of the leading virtuosos on the international Baroque scene today, both as a soloist and alongside many prestigious orchestras. Her mastery of the instrument, nourished by her musical research and her exemplary experience, has made her a highly sought-after musician of marked individuality. Chouchane Siranossian performs as a soloist on both modern and Baroque violin, with partners including Leonardo García Alarcón, Bertrand Chamayou, Andrea Marcon, Jos van Immerseel, Christophe Rousset, Andreas Spering, and Thomas Hengelbrock as well as orchestras such as Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bamberger Symphoniker, Les Siècles, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, and Venice Baroque Orchestra. As an Alpha Classics exclusive artist, she released her latest album Duello d’archi a Venezia in June 2023 with the Venice Baroque Orchestra under Andrea Marcon. The album was awarded the Clef d’or by ResMusica. Her discography has received such accolades as the Diapason d'Or, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Choc Classica, the ICMA, and the Muse d’Or of Muse Baroque. When Chouchane is not on stage or researching, she devotes herself to her passion for mountaineering and ski touring.

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 brings early music’s brightest stars to the Boston and New York concert stages, and a biennial week-long Festival and Exhibition recognized as the “world’s leading festival of early music” (The Times, London). The 23rd Boston Early Music Festival will take place from June 8 to 15, 2025, and will feature a fully staged production of Reinhard Keiser’s Octavia. BEMF’s Artistic Leadership includes Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Opera Director Gilbert Blin, and Orchestra Director Robert Mealy.

The Boston Early Music Festival is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Constellation Charitable Foundation, and WCRB Classical Radio Boston, as well as a number of generous foundations and individuals from around the world.

For more information, please contact Kathleen Fay at kathy@bemf.org.

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