n FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2025
8PM | NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston
OPERA PRIMA
CRISTIANO CONTADIN, Director & viola da gamba
AMANDA FORSYTHE, soprano
INTERNATIONAL BAROQUE OPERA • CELEBRATED CONCERTS • WORLD-FAMOUS EXHIBITION
PAUL O’DETTE & STEPHEN STUBBS , Artistic Directors
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WELCOME
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the opening concert of our 36th Season! We are thrilled to present the renowned ensemble Opera Prima in a second appearance on the BEMF concert stage. Founded by celebrated viola da gamba virtuoso Cristiano Contadin, Opera Prima is dedicated to exploring the rich repertoire of the Baroque in masterful performances overflowing with vitality and elegance. The ensemble is joined by superstar soprano Amanda Forsythe, long a favorite of BEMF audiences and a frequent collaborator with Opera Prima. Tonight, they all return to BEMF in a dazzling program of arias and instrumental works titled “Grand Tour: Virtuosic Music in the Galant Style,” exploring the new musical style that captivated Western Europe in the early 18th century, as embodied in the works of Johann Adolf Hasse, Giuseppe Tartini, C. P. E. Bach, Alessandro Scarlatti, Carl Friedrich Abel, and the Graun brothers, all presented against the backdrop and unparalleled acoustic of NEC’s magnificent Jordan Hall.
We hope you will again join us three weeks from tonight, as our 36th Season continues on Friday, November 7, at 8pm at St. Paul Church in Cambridge, when we present the luminous British vocal ensemble Stile Antico for the second time in 2025, this time in a program celebrating the 500th birthday of the “prince and father of music,” Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
Another three weeks after that, prepare to return to Jordan Hall over Thanksgiving Weekend for BEMF’s spectacular new Chamber Opera Series production of Francesco Provenzale’s 1684 tragicomedy Stellidaura’s Revenge. Grammy-winning Musical Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs join with internationally acclaimed Stage Director Gilbert Blin and a stellar cast featuring soprano Hannah De Priest as the vengeful Stellidaura, tenor Aaron Sheehan as Prince Orismondo, and tenor Richard Pittsinger as the loyal Armidoro, to present two performances of this Neapolitan operatic masterpiece alongside the beloved musicians of the all-star BEMF Chamber Ensemble led by Concertmaster Robert Mealy.
Thank you for joining us for tonight’s performance, whether live or virtually, and as always, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your continued enthusiastic support of the Boston Early Music Festival.
Boston Early Music Festival
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ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP
Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Artistic Directors
Gilbert Blin, Opera Director
Robert Mealy, Orchestra Director
Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, Lucy Graham Dance Director
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Ellen Zetcher † deceased
Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, Artistic Directors
n FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2025 | 8PM VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: October 31 to November 14, 2025
OPERA PRIMA
CRISTIANO CONTADIN, Director & viola da gamba AMANDA FORSYTHE, soprano
n FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2025 | 8PM
VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: November 22 to December 6, 2025
STILE ANTICO
BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL CHAMBER OPERA SERIES PRESENTS
FRANCESCO PROVENZALE
A courtly love triangle is torn apart by violent passions in this sultry romp!
n SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 | 8PM
n SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30 | 3PM
VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: December 14 to December 28, 2025
n FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2025 | 8PM
VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: December 13 to December 27, 2025
THE TALLIS SCHOLARS
PETER PHILLIPS, Director
n SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2026 | 8PM
VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: February 13 to February 27, 2026
PAUL O’DETTE, lute
n SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2026 | 8PM
VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: February 28 to March 14, 2026
ACRONYM
n SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2026 | 3PM
TAFELMUSIK & JUILLIARD415
ROBERT MEALY, Director
CAROLINE COPELAND & JULIAN DONAHUE, dancers
n FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2026 | 8PM
VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: March 27 to April 10, 2026
LE CONSORT
n SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2026 | 4PM
VIRTUAL AVAILABILITY: April 26 to May 10, 2026
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n SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2026 | 8PM
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PHILIPPE JAROUSSKY & ARTASERSE
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OPERA PRIMA
CRISTIANO CONTADIN, Director & viola da gamba
AMANDA FORSYTHE, soprano
GRAND TOUR
VIRTUOSIC MUSIC IN THE GALANT STYLE
Sinfonia for orchestra Johann Adolf Hasse from the serenata Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra (1699–1783)
Tra le procelle assorto
Carl Heinrich Graun Aria for soprano and orchestra (1703/4–1759)
Concerto in A major for viola da gamba, strings, and basso continuo Giuseppe Tartini Allegro Larghetto Allegro assai (1692–1770)
Frena le belle lagrime
Carl Friedrich Abel Aria for soprano, viola da gamba, and orchestra (1723–1787)
Largo for orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti from the Sinfonia of the serenata Clori, Dorino e Amore (1660–1725)
Non più fra i sassi algosi Johann Gottlieb Graun Aria for soprano, viola da gamba, and orchestra (1702/3–1771)
m INTERMISSION n
L’augelletto in lacci stretto Hasse Aria for soprano, viola da gamba, and orchestra
Sinfonia in B minor, Wq. 182/5, for strings
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Allegretto Larghetto Presto (1714–1788)
Torna vincitor Johann Gottlieb Graun Aria for soprano, viola da gamba, and orchestra
THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL THANKS
DAVID HALSTEAD and JAY SANTOS for their leadership support of tonight’s performance by Opera Prima
Double-manual French harpsichord by Allan Winkler, Medford, Massachusetts, 1991, after Donzelague, property of the Boston Early Music Festival.
LIVE CONCERT
Friday, October 17, 2025 at 8pm
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, Massachusetts
VIRTUAL CONCERT
Friday, October 31, 2025 – Friday, November 14, 2025 BEMF.org
OPERA PRIMA
Amanda Forsythe, soprano
Federico Guglielmo, concertmaster
Adriane Post, Chloe Fedor & Susanna Ogata, violin
Gianni Maraldi, viola
Robin Michael, violoncello
Heather Miller Lardin, double bass
Lorenzo Feder, harpsichord
Cristiano Contadin, Director & viola da gamba
Program subject to change.
Special thanks to Sarah Freiburg for the generous loan of her violoncello for this performance, and to the First Church in Belmont for graciously providing rehearsal space.
Ball Square Films & Kathy Wittman, Video Production
Antonio Oliart Ros, Recording Engineer
PROGRAM NOTES
THE GALANT STYLE
In 1756, Voltaire wrote in L’Encyclopédie: “Being galant, in general, means seeking to please through agreeable care, through flattering eagerness.” In music, galant was used to describe the new style which swept through in the 1730s and 1740s, seeking to please through charming simplicity. Melody triumphed over counterpoint, simplicity over complexity, and that which was considered “natural” was praised above the “artificial.” In 1737, Johann Adolph Scheibe encapsulated the mood in his famous attack on Johann Sebastian Bach: “This great man would be the marvel of entire nations, if he had more agreeableness, if he did not rob his music of the natural through a turgid and confused manner, and if he did not darken their beauty through all too great art[ifice].”
Although this program presents two Italian and four German composers, the aria titles are all Italian. In fact, even the instrumental works carry Italian names. This is no coincidence. Although the word is French, the wellsprings of the galant style are Italian, specifically the splendid Neapolitan opera theater, where both Alessandro Scarlatti and Hasse worked. There was considerable
instrumental virtuosity in the Italian style, but ultimately the human voice reigned supreme. Even the forms of the three individual movements of the Italian concerto, as well as the concerto form itself, derive from the Italian aria form.
Known in Italy as “Il Sassone” (the Saxon), Johann Adolf Hasse was one of the first Germans to enthusiastically adopt the Italian opera style. He achieved adulation in both countries for his natural and fluent setting of the Italian language. First performed in 1725, his serenata Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra is only the second of his large oeuvre of dramatic works. One of the two soloists was Carlo Broschi, otherwise known as “Farinelli” and immortalized in the famous film of that name. As an early Hasse work, its introductory sinfonia is set in the soon to be superseded French overture form, in which a
JOHANN ADOLF HASSE
FREDERICK THE GREAT PLAYING THE FLUTE AT SANSSOUCI (detail)
Painting by Adolph von Menzel (ca. 1852)
majestic introduction is followed by a fast, fugal allegro. By 1742, Hasse was back in Dresden, with his fame at its height; his opera Didone abbandonata, including the aria “L’augelletto in lacci stretto” was premiered there in that year. The libretto was based on Metastasio, another significant figure who helped advance the hegemony of the Italian opera. The eighteenth-century historian Charles Burney wrote: “Hasse… may without injury to his brethren, be allowed to be as superior to all other lyric composers, as Metastasio is to all other lyric poets.”
At the same time in Berlin, Frederick II of Prussia (“the Great”) was establishing his royal opera. Carl Heinrich Graun was his Kapellmeister (court composer and artistic director), and his older brother Johann Gottlieb Graun was concertmaster of the star-studded orchestra. Frederick was a good amateur musician and a trenchant critic, and he allowed only Italian opera to be performed; in fact, only those by Kapellmeister Graun and Hasse. In the aria “Tra le procelle assorto” from Graun’s opera Cesare e Cleopatra (premiered 1742), a description of a storm at sea provides opportunity for vocal virtuosity characteristic of the genre.
Unlike most of his Italian contemporaries, Giuseppe Tartini’s fame rests mainly on his
instrumental music. He claimed: “I have been asked to write for the opera houses of Venice, but I always refused, knowing only too well that a human throat is not a violin fingerboard.” Concertos and sonatas for his own instrument, the violin, form most of his oeuvre, but there are at least two violoncello concertos in manuscript. One of these includes the word “viola” in the title, which has been interpreted as an indication that it was intended for the viola da gamba, since it is not playable on the viola. The Concerto in A major does not have that indication, but instrument substitution was a normal part of musicmaking at the time, and it could well have been played on the gamba. The work is in the three-movement form which was established by Vivaldi and further standardized and made popular throughout northern Europe by Tartini. The movements have different moods, but each one is built on the ritornello principle: the outer Allegro movements have a strong initial ritornello which established the themes in the full orchestra, solo sections alternate with further, shorter ritornellos. The solos often become more virtuosic as the movement progresses, and contain the modulatory and development material, while the ritornellos provide harmonic stability. In this concerto, the central Larghetto commences with a lamenting solo section.
Carl Friedrich Abel’s death in 1787 was thought to be the end of the era of the viola da gamba. Recent research has shown that this was not the case: there were gamba players well into the nineteenth century, especially in northern and central Europe. However, Abel was the last internationally famous gambist-composer. His symphonies, concertos, and chamber music were well-
CARL HEINRICH GRAUN
GIUSEPPE TARTINI
CARL FRIEDRICH ABEL
known and reprinted in many legitimate and pirated editions throughout Europe, but “Frena le belle lagrime” is one of his few vocal works. An aria in da capo form, it was Abel’s contribution to Sifari, a pasticcio opera (one assembled from items by various composers) which was performed in London in 1767. Abel himself played the beautiful gamba obbligato which partners the soprano voice.
Alessandro Scarlatti was the most significant opera composer of his generation, the founder of the Neapolitan opera school, and a teacher of Hasse. His genius was already recognized in his native Rome, but as a young man he accepted the position of royal maestro di cappella in Naples. His serenata Clori, Dorino e Amore was performed there in 1702 to celebrate the visit of the new king, Philip V.
We can be grateful to Frederick II for inaugurating and maintaining one of the few German court ensembles which in the mideighteenth century still employed a gamba player. Not just any gambist, but Ludwig Christian Hesse, whom Johann Adam Hiller in 1766 called “irrefutably the greatest viola da gambist in Europe.” The collaboration between Hesse and several Berlin School composers in the court ensemble produced a fine corpus of galant virtuoso music for gamba. By far the most prolific for gamba was Johann Gottlieb Graun. Opera was the exclusive province of his brother, but Johann composed several secular cantatas in the Italian style. Two of these have virtuosic gamba obbligatos written for Hesse: Già la sera s’avvicina with the aria “Non più fra i sassi algosi,” and O Dio, Fileno, including “Torna vincitor.” Both are settings of pastoral texts by Metastasio. The former was also set by many other composers, both Italian and German, but Graun’s version changes the author’s word “notte” to “sera.” It is a beautiful example of the utopian/ arcadian escapist love poem genre. In the latter cantata, Fileno is a personification of Spring, and his absence gives Graun an opportunity for a warlike aria: Fileno must return victorious.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach did not visit Italy, and was the composer least influenced by Italian culture in this program. After twentyeight years playing the harpsichord for Frederick the Great’s opera in Berlin and his flute-playing soirees at Sans Souci, the king’s palace in Potsdam, Bach moved to Hamburg as director of music in the five churches of the free Hanseatic city. Arguably the finest and most interesting composer of the generation between his father Johann Sebastian Bach and Joseph Haydn, his genius was acknowledged by Mozart, who said: “He is the father, and we are the children.” Emanuel Bach presents a North German, and ultimately quite unique, interpretation of the galant style. The Sinfonia in B minor is a good example of Bach’s habit of testing the boundaries of what was considered good taste. The first movement is highly unpredictable, seemingly chaotic, but actually well organized. Its first subject is a series of many different rhythmic and melodic ideas, leading to ferocious scale passages which are unexpectedly interrupted by a sudden highly chromatic pianissimo motive. The first sudden shock occurs a few seconds in, and there are many more to come, involving both dynamics and harmony. The wistful Larghetto provides a moment of peace, but is followed by a fast and furious Presto. Much is made of Beethoven starting his first symphony with a dominant seventh chord, but Emanuel Bach had already done that with this movement, and in a far more confrontational way. This opening is swiftly followed by a bizarre sort of atonal one-note fugue, which somehow finally manages to resolve into D major. n
© Michael O’Loghlin 2025
CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH
ARTIST PROFILES
Soprano Amanda Forsythe sang Eurydice on Boston Early Music Festival’s 2015 Grammywinning recording of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers, and earned widespread acclaim for her albums of Handel arias with Apollo’s Fire on the Avie label and Gluck’s Orfeo with Philippe Jaroussky on the Erato label. With BEMF, she has performed operas by Campra, Steffani, Pergolesi, Handel, Keiser, Lully, Desmarest, Charpentier, and Monteverdi, many of which are available on recording. Other opera engagements have included roles for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro; and the major houses of Geneva, Munich, Seattle, Rome, Berlin, and Philadelphia.
In recent seasons, Amanda Forsythe’s major concert engagements have included performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Orchestra Sinfonica Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Academy of Ancient Music, the St. Louis Symphony, Music of the Baroque, and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.
Upcoming events include returns to the New York Philharmonic, Tafelmusik, the Los
Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Baroque, débuts with the National Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, and Washington Concert Opera, and the releases of two albums with the Boston Early Music Festival. Her most recent solo album of Telemann is a finalist for the Gramophone Awards. n
Opera Prima, an ensemble directed by Cristiano Contadin, was created to bring historically informed concerts and recordings of the Renaissance and Baroque period to life. The heart of the project lies in exploring the repertoire of the viola da gamba in its various styles, and approaching all music with pleasure and enthusiasm, as if each work for this instrument was newly composed. If, through passionate communication, we can touch the hearts of the public, then the language of early music will be easy to understand.
The first recording by Opera Prima, The Complete Telemann Trio Sonatas and Concertos for the Brilliant Classics label, received critical acclaim at the national and international level, and was proclaimed by Classic Voice magazine as CD of the month in February 2015, while Musica magazine confirmed Cristiano Contadin as “a firstrate artist for the sweetness of the sound, the stylistic relevance and the absolute mastery of the instrument.” Opera Prima has performed concerts at festivals in Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, and the United States. Recent Opera Prima recordings
include Dowland’s Lacrimae (awarded “Disc of the Month” by Musica and praised by Fanfare as “a fabulous performance”), Torna Vincitor, an all-Graun disc of cantatas and viol concerto with soprano Amanda Forsythe (chosen by Opera News as the Critic’s Choice in March 2021), a 2023 recording of Tartini (Klassik Heute claims Opera Prima “deliver[s] a buoyant orchestral sound with sensitively executed solos and decisive ensemble direction by Contadin, who also captivates as a soloist with temperament, empathy and sensitivity”), and most recently, a disc of Handel’s Roman cantatas with Amanda Forsythe. n
Cristiano Contadin is an Italian viola da gamba player and the founder of the Opera Prima ensemble, a chamber music group of
internationally acclaimed soloists devoted to the Baroque repertoire. As a gamba soloist and continuo player, he collaborates with ensembles in Italy and abroad, including I Barocchisti, Les Musiciens du Prince, Il Suonar Parlante, Accademia Bizantina, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Venexiana, Odhecaton, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, Cantar Lontano, and the Boston Early Music Festival.
With the Quartetto Italiano di Viole da Gamba, Il Suonar Parlante, and as a soloist, he aims to cultivate a repertoire that embraces ancient as well as modern viol consort music. He has performed works by contemporary composers and jazz artists such as Kenny Wheeler, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Ernst Reijseger, and Markus Stockhausen, and performed in the Italian premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin with the Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano.
Mr. Contadin teaches viola da gamba and chamber music at the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice. He has given lectures and masterclasses at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre of Tallinn, the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Vigo and of Salamanca, the Mozarteum of Salzburg, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, Harvard University, and Wellesley College. Mr. Contadin plays an anonymous Venetian bass viol from the 18th century. n
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
Tra le procelle assorto — Carl Heinrich Graun
Tra le procelle assorto se resta il passaggiero, colpa non ha il nocchiero, ma solo il vento e il mar.
Colpa non ha se il frutto perde l’agricoltore, ma il nembo che sul fiore lo venne a dissipar.
Amid the raging storms, if the passenger drowns, it is not the helmsman’s fault, but only the wind and the sea. It is not the farmer’s fault if the fruit is lost, but the storm that came to destroy the flower.
Frena le belle lagrime — Carl Friedrich Abel
Frena le belle lagrime, idolo del mio cor.
No, per vederti piangere, cara, non ho valor.
Ah, non destarmi almeno nuovi tumulti in seno; bastano i dolci palpiti che vi cagiona amor.
Hold back your beautiful tears, idol of my heart. No, to see you cry, dear, I have no courage. Ah, at least do not awaken new turmoil in my breast; the sweet throbbings that love causes in you are enough.
Non più fra i sassi algosi — Johann Gottlieb Graun
Non più fra i sassi algosi
Staranno i pesci ascosi; Tutti per l’onda amara, Tutti verranno a gara
Fra’ lacci del mio ben.
E l’umidette figlie
De’ tremuli cristalli
Di pallide conchiglie, Di lucidi coralli
Le colmeranno il sen.
L’augelletto in lacci stretto — Johann Adolf
L’augelletto in lacci stretto
Perché mai cantar l’ascolta?
Perché spera un’altra volta
Di tornare in libertà.
Nel conflitto sanguinoso
Quel guerrier perché non geme?
Perché gode colla speme
Quel riposo che non (h)à.
Torna
vincitor — Johann Gottlieb Graun
Va’, ma conserva i miei, Caro, ne’ giorni tuoi;
Va’, torna mio, se puoi;
Ma torna vincitor.
Pensa dovunque sei
Tal volta alle mie pene, E di: “La fida Irene
Chi sa se vive ancor!”
No longer shall the fish hide Among the seaweedy rocks; All of them over the salty wave Will compete to be caught In my dear love’s nets. And little gifts of moist spawn, Of tremulous crystals, Of pale shells, Of lustrous corals, Will fill your lap.
Hasse
The little bird is entrapped in snares. How is it that one can hear it sing? Because it hopes to again Regain its freedom.
In this bloody fight Why does that warrior not sigh? Because with hope he enjoys the peace That he does not have.
Go, but hold and keep my days, Dear, in your days; Go, but come back as mine if you can But come back as the victor. Think, wherever you may be, Of my lover’s grief from time to time And say: “The faithful Irene, Who knows if she’s still alive!”
BEMF’S 2023 PRODUCTION OF DESMAREST’S CIRCÉ
Boston Early Music Festival
The Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) is universally recognized as a leader in the field of early music. Since its founding in 1980 by leading practitioners of historical performance in the United States and abroad, BEMF has promoted early music through a variety of diverse programs and activities, including an annual concert series that brings early music’s brightest stars to the Boston and New York concert stages, and the biennial weeklong Festival and Exhibition, recognized as “the world’s leading festival of early music” (The Times, London). Through its programs BEMF has earned its place as North America’s premier presenting organization for music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods and has secured Boston’s reputation as “America’s early music capital” (Boston Globe).
INTERNATIONAL BAROQUE OPERA
One of BEMF’s main goals is to unearth and present lesser-known Baroque operas performed by the world’s leading musicians armed with the latest information on period singing, orchestral performance, scenic design, costuming, dance, and staging. BEMF operas reproduce the Baroque’s stunning palette of sound by bringing together today’s leading operatic superstars and a wealth of instrumental talent from across the globe to one stage for historic presentations, all zestfully led from the pit by the BEMF Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, and creatively reimagined for the stage by BEMF Opera Director Gilbert Blin. Biennial centerpiece productions feature both the Boston Early Music Festival
Orchestra, led by BEMF Orchestra Director Robert Mealy, and the Boston Early Music Festival Dance Company, led by BEMF’s newly appointed Dance Director, MarieNathalie Lacoursière.
The twenty-third biennial Boston Early Music Festival, Love & Power, was held in June 2025 and featured Reinhard Keiser’s 1705 opera Octavia. The twenty-fourth Festival, in June 2027, will have as its centerpiece Georg Philipp Telemann’s 1728 opera Emma und Eginhard.
BEMF introduced its Chamber Opera Series during its annual concert season in November 2008, with a performance of
International Baroque Opera • Celebrated Concerts • World-Famous Exhibition
PHOTO: KATHY WITTMAN
John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and MarcAntoine Charpentier’s Actéon. The series features the artists of the Boston Early Music Festival Vocal and Chamber Ensembles and focuses on the wealth of chamber operas composed during the Baroque period, while providing an increasing number of local opera aficionados the opportunity to attend one of BEMF’s superb offerings. Subsequent annual productions include George Frideric Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, combined performances of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, a double bill of Pergolesi’s La serva padrona and Livietta e Tracollo, a production titled “Versailles” featuring Les Plaisirs de Versailles by Charpentier, Les Fontaines de Versailles by Michel-Richard de Lalande, and divertissements from Atys by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Francesca Caccini’s Alcina, the first opera written by a woman, a combination of Telemann’s Pimpinone and Ino, joint performances of Lully’s Idylle sur la Paix and Charpentier’s La Fête de Rueil, John Frederick Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley, and most recently Telemann’s Don Quichotte. Acis and Galatea was revived and presented on a four-city North American Tour in early 2011, which included a performance at the American Handel Festival in Seattle, and in 2014, BEMF’s second North American Tour featured the Charpentier double bill from 2011. In summer 2025, The Dragon of Wantley was performed at Confidencen in
Stockholm, Sweden, and at Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in Oldenburg, Germany, as part of Musikfest Bremen.
BEMF has a well-established and highly successful project to record some of its groundbreaking work in the field of Baroque opera. The first three recordings in this series were all nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, in 2005, 2007, and 2008: the 2003 Festival centerpiece Ariadne, by Johann Georg Conradi; Lully’s Thésée; and the 2007 Festival opera, Lully’s Psyché, which was hailed by BBC Music Magazine as “superbly realized…magnificent.” In addition, the BEMF recordings of Lully’s Thésée and Psyché received Gramophone Award Nominations in the Baroque Vocal category in 2008 and 2009, respectively. BEMF’s next three recordings on the German CPO label were drawn from its Chamber Opera Series: Charpentier’s Actéon, Blow’s Venus and Adonis, and a release of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs, which won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording and the 2015 Echo Klassik Opera Recording of the Year (17th/18th Century Opera). Agostino Steffani’s Niobe, Regina di Tebe, featuring Philippe Jaroussky and Karina Gauvin, which was released in January 2015 on the Erato/Warner Classics label in conjunction with a seven-city, four-country European concert tour of the opera, has been nominated for a Grammy Award, was
SCENE FROM BEMF’S 2023 PRODUCTION OF LAMPE’S THE DRAGON OF WANTLEY
PHOTO: KATHY WITTMAN
named Gramophone’s Recording of the Month for March 2015, is the 2015 Echo Klassik World Premiere Recording of the Year, and has received a 2015 Diapason d’Or de l’Année and a 2015 Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Handel’s Acis and Galatea was released in November 2015. In 2017, while maintaining the focus on Baroque opera, BEMF expanded the recording project to include other select Baroque vocal works: a new Steffani disc, Duets of Love and Passion, was released in September 2017 in conjunction with a sixcity North American tour, and a recording of Johann Sebastiani’s St. Matthew Passion was released in March 2018. Four Baroque opera releases followed in 2019 and 2020: a disc of Charpentier’s chamber operas Les Plaisirs de Versailles and Les Arts Florissants was released at the June 2019 Festival, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award; the 2013 Festival opera, Handel’s Almira, was released in late 2019, and received a Diapason d’Or. Lalande’s chamber opera Les Fontaines de Versailles was featured on a September 2020 release of the composer’s works; Christoph Graupner’s opera Antiochus und Stratonica was released in December 2020. BEMF’s recording of Desmarest’s Circé, the 2023 Festival opera, was released concurrently with the opera’s North American premiere, Pergolesi’s La serva padrona and Livietta e Tracollo was released in December 2023, Telemann’s Ino and opera arias for soprano featuring Amanda Forsythe, was released in October 2024, and the newest recording, Lully’s Idylle sur la Paix and Charpentier’s La Fête de Reuil, was released in May 2025.
CELEBRATED CONCERTS
Some of the most thrilling musical moments at the biennial Festival occur during one of the dozen or more concerts presented around the clock, among them a program by the acclaimed Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, which often feature unique, once-in-a-lifetime collaborations and
programs by the spectacular array of talent assembled for the Festival week’s events. In 1989, BEMF established an annual concert series bringing early music’s leading soloists and ensembles to the Boston concert stage to meet the growing demand for regular worldclass performances of early music’s beloved classics and newly discovered works. BEMF then expanded its concert series in 2006, when it extended its performances to New York City’s Gilder Lehrman Hall at the Morgan Library & Museum, providing “a shot in the arm for New York’s relatively modest early-music scene” (New York Times).
WORLD-FAMOUS EXHIBITION
The nerve center of the biennial Festival, the Exhibition is the largest event of its kind in the United States, showcasing nearly one hundred early instrument makers, music publishers, service organizations, schools and universities, and associated colleagues. In 2013, Mozart’s own violin and viola were displayed at the Exhibition, in their firstever visit to the United States. Every other June, hundreds of professional musicians, students, and enthusiasts come from around the world to purchase instruments, restock their libraries, learn about recent musicological developments, and renew old friendships. For four days, they visit the Exhibition booths to browse, discover, and purchase, and attend the dozens of symposia, masterclasses, and demonstration recitals, all of which encourage a deeper appreciation of early music, and strengthen relationships between musicians, participants, and audiences. n
BECOME A FRIEND OF THE
Boston Early Music Festival
Revenue from ticket sales, even from a sold-out performance, accounts for less than half of the total cost of producing BEMF’s operas and concerts; the remainder is derived almost entirely from generous friends like you. With your help, we will be able to build upon the triumphs of the past, and continue to bring you thrilling performances by today’s finest Early Music artists.
Our membership organization, the FRIENDS OF THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL, includes donors from around the world. These individuals recognize the Festival’s need for further financial support in order to fulfill its aim of serving as a showcase for the finest talent in the field.
PLEASE JOIN THE FRIENDS OF THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL BY DONATING AT ONE OF SEVERAL LEVELS:
•
•
•
•
•
•
THREE
WAYS TO GIVE:
• Visit BEMF.org and click on “Give Now”.
• Call BEMF at 617-661-1812 to donate by telephone using your credit card
• Mail your credit card information or a check (payable to BEMF) to Boston Early Music Festival, 43 Thorndike Street, Suite 302, Cambridge, MA 02141-1764
OTHER WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:
• Increase your philanthropic impact with a Matching Gift from your employer.
• Make a gift of appreciated stocks or bonds to BEMF.
• Planned Giving allows you to support BEMF in perpetuity while achieving your financial goals.
• Direct your gift to a particular area that interests you with a Named Gift
QUESTIONS?
Please e-mail Kathleen Fay at KATHY@BEMF.ORG, or call the BEMF office at 617-661-1812. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
FRIENDS OF THE Boston Early Music Festival
This list reflects donations received from April 1, 2024 to September 29, 2025
FESTIVAL ANGELS
($25,000 or more)
Diane† & John Paul Britton
Bernice K. Chen
Peter L. Faber
Lori Fay & Christopher Cherry
David Halstead & Jay Santos
George L. Hardman
Ellen T. & John T. Harris
Glenn A. KnicKrehm
Jeffrey G. Mora, in memory of Wendy Fuller-Mora
Miles Morgan†
Lorna E. Oleck
Susan L. Robinson
Andrew Sigel
Joan Margot Smith
Piroska Soos†
Marilee Wheeler Trust
ARTISTIC DIRECTORS’ CIRCLE
($10,000 or more)
Anonymous (3)
James C. Busby
Katie & Paul Buttenwieser
Brit d’Arbeloff
Susan Denison
Tony Elitcher & Andrea Taras
Marie-Pierre & Michael Ellmann
James A. Glazier
Donald Peter Goldstein, M.D.
Barbara & Amos Hostetter
Edward B. Kellogg†
Robert E. Kulp, Jr., in memory of Diane Britton
Bettina A. Norton
Karen Tenney & Tom Loring
Donald E. Vaughan
& Lee S. Ridgway
Christoph Wolff
LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
($5,000 or more)
Anonymous (2)
Douglas & Aviva Brooks
Beth Brown, in memory of Walter R.J. Brown
Peter & Katie DeWolf
Jean Fuller Farrington
Mei-Fung Kerley, in memory of Ted Chen
Alan M. King
Marianne & Terry Louderback
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas G. MacCracken
Heather Mac Donald & Erich Eichman
Bill McJohn
Neal J. Plotkin & Deborah Malamud
Harold I. Pratt
Kenneth C. Ritchie & Paul T. Schmidt
Joanne Zervas Sattley
David Scudder & Betsy Ridge
Maria van Kalken & Hal Winslow
BENEFACTORS
($2,500 or more)
Anonymous (4)
Dr. Alan & Mrs. Fiona Brener
Amy Brown & Brian Carr
Gregory E. Bulger & Richard J. Dix
Elizabeth Davidson†, in honor of David Morris
Carl E. Dettman
Kathleen Fay, in memory of Dorothy Ryan Fay
John Felton & Marty Gottron, in honor of Paul O’Dette
Phillip Hanvy
Dr. Peter Libby
Harriet Lindblom
Keith Ohmart & Helen Chen
Brian Pfeiffer
Paul Rabin & Arlene Snyder
Nina & Timothy Rose
Paul L. Sapienza PC CPA
Adrian & Michelle Touw
John C. Wiecking
GUARANTORS
($1,000 or more)
Anonymous (8)
Annemarie Altman, in memory of Dave Cook
A.M. Askew
Ann Beha & Robert Radloff
Mary Briggs & John Krzywicki
The Honorable Leonie M. Brinkema & Mr. John R. Brinkema
Pamela & Lee Bromberg
Julie Brown & Zachary Morowitz
James Burr
Betty Canick
John A. Carey
Robert & Elizabeth Carroll
Carla Chrisfield & Benjamin D. Weiss
Peter S. Coleman
Dr. & Mrs. Franklyn Commisso
Mary Cowden
Richard & Constance Culley
The Davison-Twomey Family
Mary Deissler
Jeffrey Del Papa
John W. Ehrlich
Henk Elderhorst
Charles & Elizabeth Emerson
David Emery & Olimpia Velez
Michael E. Fay
Claire Fontijn, in memory of Arthur Fontijn & Sylvia Elvin
Dr. Robert L. Harris
Rebecca & Ronald Harris-Warrick
H. Jan & Ruth H. Heespelink
Michael Herz & Jean Roiphe
James & Ina Heup
Jessica Honigberg
Jane Hoover
Thomas M. Hout & Sonja Ellingson Hout
FRIENDS OF THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Thomas F. Kelly & Peggy Badenhausen
Art & Linda Kingdon
Amelia J. LeClair & Garrow Throop
Lawrence & Susan Liden
James Liu & Alexandra Bowers
Mark & Mary Lunsford
William & Joan Magretta
John S. Major & Valerie Steele
David McCarthy & John Kolody
Michael P. McDonald
Victor & Ruth McElheny
Kati Mitchell
Rebecca Nemser
Richard & Julia Osborne
William J. Pananos
Amanda & Melvyn Pond, in honor of everything that BEMF does
Tracy Powers
Susan Pundt
Martha J. Radford
Christa Rakich & Janis Milroy
Arthur & Elaine Robins
Jose M. Rodriguez & Richard A. Duffy
Patsy Rogers
Lois Rosow
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Lynne & Ralph Schatz
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Cynthia Siebert
Raymond A. & Marilyn Smith
Richard K. & Kerala J. Snyder
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Ted St. Antoine
Paola Stone, in memory of Edmondo Malanotte
Lisa Teot
Lonice Thomas
Paula & Peter Tyack
Prof. Van Orden
Patrick Wallace & Laurie McNeil
Louella Krueger Ward, in memory of
Dr. Alan J. Ward, PhD, ABPP
Peter J. Wender
PATRONS
($500 or more)
Anonymous (5)
Morton Abromson & Joan Nissman
Jonathan B. Aibel & Julie I. Rohwein, in honor of James Glazier
Tom & Judy Anderson Allen
Susan P. Bachelder
Noel & Paula Berggren
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Frederick Byron
John Campbell & Susanna Peyton
David J. Chavolla
David Cooke
Nancy Coolidge
Geoffrey Craddock
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Warren R. Cutler
Belden & Pamela Daniels
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Ross Duffin & Beverly Simmons
Austin & Eileen Farrar
Bruce A. Garetz
Alexander Garthwaite
Ian Hinchliffe & Marjorie Shapiro
Linda Hodgkinson
Wayne & Laurell Huber
Jean & Alex Humez
Jean Jackson, in memory of Louis Kampf
Paul & Alice Johnson
Barry D. Kernfeld & Sally A. McMurry
Fran & Tom Knight
Neal & Catherine Konstantin
Barbara & Paul Krieger
Kathryn Mary Kucharski
Tom & Kate Kush, in honor of Michael Ellmann
Robert & Mary La Porte
John Leen & Eileen Koven
Catherine Liddell
Richard Johnson & Annmarie Linnane
Roger & Susan Lipsey
Quinn MacKenzie
Carol Marsh
Sarah P. Marsh
Carol & Pedro Martinez
Amy & Brian McCreath
Marilyn Miller
Nancy Morgenstern, in memory of William & Marjorie Pressman
Nancy Nuzzo
Louise Oremland
John Parisi
Hon. W. Glen Pierson & Hon. Charles P. Reed
Gene & Margaret Pokorny
Brandon Qualls
Virginia Raguin, in honor of Kathy Fay
Mahadev & Ambika Raman
Sandy Reismann & Dr. Nanu Brates
Hadley Reynolds
Alice Robbins & Walter Denny
Carlton & Lorna Russell
Catherine & Phil Saines
Richard Schroeder & Dr. Jane Burns
Susan Schuur
Wendy Shattuck & Sam Plimpton
Elizabeth Snow
Louisa C. Spottswood
Catherine & Keith Stevenson
Theresa & Charles Stone
Carl Swanson
Reed & Peggy Ueda
Robert Warren
Polly Wheat & John Cole
Michael & Margery Whiteman
Allan & Joann Winkler
Scott & Barbara Winkler
Janet Zander & Mark Ellenberger
ASSOCIATES
($250 or more)
Anonymous (6)
Nicholas Altenbernd
Brian P. & Debra K. S. Anderson
Carl Baker & Susan Haynes
Tim Barber & Joel Krajewski
Louise Basbas
William & Ann Bein
Lawrence Bell
Helen Benham
Barbara R. Bishop
James Bowman
Sally & Charlie Boynton
C. Anthony Broh & Jennifer L. Hochschild
Jane K. Brown
Robert Burger
Deborah & Richard Burke
Derek Campbell
Anne Chalmers† & Holly Gunner
Mary Chamberlain
Peter Charig & Amy Briemer
JoAnne Chernow
Carol & Alex Collier
Tekla Cunningham & David Sawyer
William Depeter
Kathryn Disney
Ellen Dokton & Stephen Schmidt
Charles & Sheila Donahue
The Rev’d Richard Fabian
Deborah Fegan
Mary Fillman & Mary Otis Stevens
Fred Franklin, in memory of Kaaren Grimstad
Elizabeth French
Jonathan Friedes & Qian Huang
Fred & Barbara Gable
Sandy Gadsby & Nancy Brown
Sarah M. Gates
Barbara Gauditz
Tom Golden
The Graver Family
Thomas H. & Lori B. Griswold
Laury Gutierrez & Elsa Gelin
Eric Haas, in memory of Janet Haas
Eric & Dee Hansen
Deborah Haraldson
Joan E. Hartman
Diane Hellens
Catherine & John Henn
Phyllis Hoffman
David Hoglund
Charles Bowditch Hunter
Chris & Klavs Jensen
Karen Johansen & Gardner Hendrie
Robin Johnson
David K. Jordan
Patrick G. Jordan
David P. Kiaunis
George Kocur
Christopher Larossa
Frederick V. Lawrence, in memory of Rosemarie Maag Lawrence
Jasper Lawson
Susan Lewinnek
Mary Maarbjerg
Dr. Bruce C. MacIntyre
Marietta Marchitelli
Anne H. Matthews
June Matthews
Donna McCampbell
Ray Mitzel
Andrew Modest & Beth Arndtsen
Agatha Morrell
Gene Murrow
Debra Nagy, in honor of Kathy Fay
Michael J. Normile
Eugene Papa
Henry Paulus
David & Beth Pendery
Joseph L. Pennacchio
Phillip Petree
Bici Pettit-Barron
Stephen Poteet
Anne & François Poulet
Julia M. Reade & Robert A. Duncan
David Rehm
Marge Roberts
Michael Rogan & Hugh Wilburn
Ellen Rosand
Rusty Russell, in memory of Alan Durfee
Richard L. Schmeidler
David Schneider & Klára Móricz
Clem Schoenebeck, in memory of Bill Schoenebeck
Maria Schreiber
Charles & Mary Ann Schultz
Miriam N. Seltzer
Michael Sherer
Harvey A. Silverglate, in memory of Elsa Dorfman
Mark Slotkin
Jeffrey Soucy
Ann Stewart
Ronald W. Stoia
Victoria Sujata
Jonathan Swartz
Tim & Ann Szczesuil
Ken & Margo Taylor
Mark S. Thurber & Susan M. Galli
John & Dorothy Truman
Peter & Kathleen Van Demark
Robert & Therese Wagenknecht
Beverly Woodward & Paul Monsky
J. Yavarkovsky & C. Lowe
The Zucker Family
PARTNERS
($100 or more)
Anonymous (14)
Joseph Aieta III
Joanne Algarin
Karen Atkinson
Neil R. Ayer, Jr. & Linda Ayer
Judith Bairstow
Eric & Rebecca Bank
Dr. David Barnert & Julie Raskin
Rev. & Mrs. Joseph Bassett
Alan Bates & Michele Mandrioli
Alan Benenfeld
Susan Benua
Judith Bergson
Larry & Sara Mae Berman
John Birks
Dan Bloomberg & Irene Beardsley
Wes Bockley & Amy Markus
Deborah Boldin & Gabriel Rice
Claire Bonfilio
Richard Borts & Paulette York
Sibel Bozdogan
James Bradley
David Breitman & Kathryn Stuart
Joel Bresler
Andrew Brethauer
Derick & Jennifer Brinkerhoff
David C. Brown
David L. Brown
Lawrence Brown
John H. Burkhalter III
Judi Burten, in memory of Phoebe Larkey
Joseph Cantey
Verne & Madeline Caviness
Floyd & Aleeta Christian
Robert B. Christian
Daniel Church & Roger Cuevas
John K. Clark & Judith M. Stoughton
Alan Clayton-Matthews
Linzee Coolidge
Derek Cottier & Lauren Tilly
Robert B. Crane
Francine Crawford
Gray F. Crouse
Donna Cubit-Swoyer
James Cyphers
Ruta Daugela
Carl & May Daw, in memory of Ned Kellogg
Leigh Deacon
Alison Desimone
Jim Diamond
Forrest Dillon
FRIENDS OF THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Michael DiSabatino, in honor of Nancy Olson
Paul Doerr
Duane R. Downey
Diane L. Droste
John Dunton & Carol McKeen
Peter A. Durfee & Peter G. Manson
Michael Durgin, in memory of Lisle Kulbach
Jane Edwards
Mark Elenko
Thomas Engel
David English
Chuck Epstein & Melissa Bensussen
Seth Estrin
Lila M. Farrar
Marilyn Farwell
Gregg, Abby & Max Feigelson
Annette Fern
Janet G. Fink
Carol L. Fishman
Dr. Jonathan Florman
Howard C. Floyd
Dr. Patrick J. Fox, in honor of Nancy Olson
Frederick S. Frank
Gary Freeman
Robert Freeman
R. Andrew Garthwaite
George & Marla Gearhart
Gisela & Ronald Geiger
Stephen L. Gencarello
Monica & David Gerber
The Goldsmith Family
Lisa Goldstein
Nancy L. Graham
Winifred Gray
Judith Green & James Kurtz
Mary Greer
Deborah Grose
John Gruver & Lynn Tilley
Peter F. Gustafson
Sonia Guterman, in memory of Martin Guterman
Quang Ha
Peter Hainer
Tunie Hamlen
Suzanne & Easley Hamner
Joyce Hannan
Jasjit & Donald L. Heckathorn
Karin Hemmingsen
Katherine A. Hesse
Patricia G. Hoffman
Valerie Horst & Benjamin Peck
Judith & Alan Hudson
Keith L. & Catherine B. Hughes
Joe Hunter & Esther Schlorholtz
Francesco Iachello
Willemien Insinger
Susan L. Jackson
Michele Jerison
M. P. Johnson
Judith L. Johnston & Bruce L. Bush
Lucy Johnston
George Kaminsky
David Keating
Thomas Keirstead
Mr. & Mrs. Seamus C. Kelly
Louis & Susan Kern
Joseph J. Kesselman, Jr.
David & Alice Kidder
Maryanne King
Pat Kline
Valerie & Karl KnicKrehm
Ellen Kranzer
Benjamin Krepp & Virginia Webb
Robert W. Kruszyna
Jay Carlton Kuhn, Jr.
Claire Laporte
Bruce Larkin & Donna Jarlenski
David A. Leach & Laurie J. LaChapelle
William Lebow
Ellen R. Lewis
Robert & Janice Locke
Laura Loehr
John Longstreth
William Loutrel & Thomas Fynan
Sandra & David Lyons
Desmarest Lloyd MacDonald, in memory of Ned Kellogg
Mary Mackay & Edward Wheatley, in memory of Carroll Ann Sheridan Bottino
Anna Mansbridge
Robert Marshall
Peter Martin
Sally Mayer
Mary McCallum
Anne McCants
Lee McClelland
Heidi & George McEvoy
George McKee
Dave & Jeannette McLellan
Cynthia Merritt
Susan Metz, in memory of Gerald Metz
Marg Miller
Deborah Mintz
Nicolas Minutillo
David Montanari & Sara Rubin
Rodney & Barbara Myrvaagnes
David Nadvorney
Amelia Nagoski
Jennie Needleman
Cindy K. Neels
Avi Nelson
Arthur & Charlotte Ness, in memory of Ingolf Dahl
Gerald & Carol Neuman
Nancy Nicholson
Jeffrey Nicolich
Caroline Niemira
Leslie Nyman
Kathleen O’Dea Kelly
Clara M. & John S. O’Shea
David & Claire Oxtoby
Gene & Cheryl Pace
William Packard
Valerie Palms
John R. Palys
Jane P. Papa
Theodore Parent, in memory of Ruth Parent
Susan B. Patrick
John Percy
John Petrowsky
Andrea Phan
Elizabeth V. Phillips
Susan Porter & Robert Kauffman
Helen Powell
Thomas Prescott
Klaus & Andrea Radebold
George Raff
Rodney J. Regier
Susan Reutter-Harrah
Douglas Riis
Sue Robinson
Sherry & William Rogers
Paul Rosenberg & Harriet Moss
Charlotte Rutherfurd
Paul Rutz
Gregory Salzman
Robert & Barbara Schneider
R. Scholz & M. Kempers
Fred Schulze
Michael Schwartz
Alison M. Scott
David Sears
Jean Seiler
Mr. Terry Shea & Dr. Seigo Nakao
Aaron Sheehan & Adam Pearl
Kathy Sherrick
Hana Sittler
John & Carolyn Skelton
Jacob & Lisa Skowronek
Elliott Smith & Wendy Gilmore
David Snead & Kate Prescott
Jon Solins & Mary Peterson
Scott Sprinzen
Scott Stansbury
Esther & Daniel Steinhauer
Steve Stelovich
John Strasswimmer
Barbara Strizhak, in memory of Elliott Strizhak
Richard Stumpf
Jacek & Margaret Sulanowski
Jeffrey & Boryana Tacconi
Richard Tarrant
John & Barbara Tatum
Edward P. Todd
Pierre Trepagnier & Louise Mundinger
Elizabeth Trumpler, in memory of Donald Trumpler
Carol Tsang
Ruth W. Tucker
Konstantin & Kirsten Tyurin
Richard Urena
Nancy E. Van Baak, in memory of Edward B. Kellogg
Stephen Wallace
Sonia Wallenberg
Susan Walters
Thomas & LeRose Weikert
The Westner Family
Juanita H. Wetherell
The Rev. Roger B. White, in memory of Joseph P. Hough
Sarah Whittaker
Susan & Thomas Wilkes
David L. Williamson
John Wolff & Helen Berger
Susan Wyatt
David Yutzler
Ros & Andy Zimmerman, in memory of Carroll Ann Sheridan
Lawrence Zukof & Pamela Carley
FRIENDS
($45 or more)
Anonymous (5)
Anonymous, in memory of Cheryl Parkhurst
Mr. Neale Ainsfield & Dr. Donna Sieckmann
Druid Errant D.T. Allan-Gorey
Claudia Amodeo & Roberto Collao
Maja Anderson
Julie Andrijeski & J. Tracy Mortimore
Spiros V. Antoniadis
Gene Arnould
Anne Azéma & Joel Cohen
Lois Banta
Douglas Baskett
Iris Bass
J. Robert Beatty
Elaine Beilin
Lawrence Berman
John Bishop
Sarah Bixler & Christopher Tonkin
Katharine C. Black
Sandy Bodmer-Turner
Marc & Janet Bono
Lani Bortfeld
Dr. Emile L. Boulpaep, in memory of Elisabeth Boulpaep
Louise Bourgault
Scott Bradbury
Todd A. Breitbart
Caroline A. Bruzelius
Colleen Bryant
John Caldwell
Laurie Calhoun
Bonnie & Walter Carter
Ethelbert Carter
Joan Christison-Lagay
Edward Cipullo
Carol Coe
Walter Collins
Joan & Frank Conlon
Peter B. Cook
Jerrold Cooper
Steve & Suzanne Cooper
Kathleen Corcoran
Rita & Norman Corey
Elizabeth Cousins
Martina Crocker
William D. Curtis
Mark Dodd & Linda Brock
Priscilla Drucker
Ben Dunham & Wendy Rolfe-Dunham
Alan Durfee†
Jonathan Duval
Jan Elliott
Anne Engelhart & Douglas Durant
Russel Feldman & Anne Kane
Katherine Fick
Helaine Fingold
Louise Forrest-Bowes
Edward W. Freedman
Peter Frick
Thatcher Lane Gearhart
Josiah George
Hans Gesell
Alison Gottlieb
Richard & Les Hadsell
Jimmy Hamamoto
Judith & Patrick Hanlon
Charles Haverty & Alexandra Glucksmann
Christopher Heigham
Rebecca Henderson
Marie C. Henson
Martin Herbordt
Carole Hilton
Kalon Ho
Roderick J. Holland
William Bret Holloway
Margaret Hornick
Eleonore Huet
Constance Huff
Jay Jacobson
Hadine Joffe
Dian Kahn
Garry Kalajian
Sarah Kalkert
Lynn Kearny
Robert M. Kelly
John N. Kirk
Forrest Knowles
Dean Kolbas
Betty Landesman
Michael Laven
Normand & Margaret LeBlanc
Fred Lemmons
FRIENDS OF THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Jo-lin Liang
Christopher Lovell
Harold MacCaughey
Ted Macdonald & Yuan Wang
Frank & Lucy Manheim
Dr. Arnold Matlin & Dr. Margaret Matlin, Ph.D.
Dennis Lee Milford
Laurence Mini
Rosalind Mohnsen
Kathleen Moore
Randall E. & Karen Moore
Michael J. Moran, in memory of Francis D. & Marcella A. Moran
Stefanie Moritz
Peter & Mary Muncie
Elizabeth Murray
Prof. Myrna Nachman
Marian Nakada
Monica Nevius
Ruth Nisse
Stephen H. Owades
Jonah Pearl
Britta Pennypacker, in memory of Hella Benge
Pamela Posey
Marian Rambelle
Barbara Roberge
Martha Ronish
Lisa & Gary Rucinski
Nancy & Ronald Rucker
Cheryl K. Ryder
Freda Salatino
Edward Schneider
Raymond Schneider
Karl-Heinz Schoeps-Jensen
Lynn & Mary Schultz
Peter Schuntermann
Kathryn Scott
Andrei & Irina Shishov
Susan & Joseph Silverman
Linda Simpson
Jennifer Farley Smith & Sam Rubin
William & Barbara Sommerfield
Amy Springer & Aaron Hayden
Carol Steinberg
Jean Stewart
Mary A. Stokey
Nicoleta Theodosiou
Michael Thompson
Janet Todaro, in honor of Kathy Fay
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Vail
Barbara & John VanScoyoc
Phillip Volland
John Wand
Phil & Mary Warbasse
Kincade & Elizabeth Webb
Dawn Stuart Weinraub
Esther Weinstein
Pamela Wilson
Mary Beth Winn
† deceased
FOUNDATIONS & CORPORATE SPONSORS
Anonymous (2)
Aequa Foundation
American Endowment Foundation
Appleby Charitable Foundation
Applied Technology Investors
BNY Mellon Charitable Gift Fund
Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund
The Barrington Foundation, Inc.
The Bel-Ami Foundation
The Boston Foundation
Boston Private Bank & Trust Company
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.
Gregory E. Bulger Foundation
Burns & Levinson LLP
The Catherine and Paul Buttenwieser Foundation
Cabot Family Charitable Trust
Cambridge Community Foundation
Cambridge Trust Company
Cedar Tree Foundation
Cembaloworks of Washington
City of Cambridge
The Columbus Foundation
Combined Jewish Philanthropies
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Connecticut Community Foundation
Constellation Charitable Foundation
The Fannie Cox Foundation
The Crawford Foundation
CRB Classical 99.5, a GBH station
Daffy Charitable Fund
The Dusky Fund at Essex County Community Foundation
Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation
Fidelity Charitable
Fiduciary Trust Charitable
French Cultural Center / Alliance Française of Boston
Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation
GlaxoSmithKline Foundation
Goethe-Institut Boston
The Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund
The Florence Gould Foundation
GTC Law Group
Haber Family Charitable Foundation
Hausman Family Charitable Trust
The High Meadow Foundation
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Isaacson-Draper Foundation
The Richard and Natalie Jacoff Foundation, Inc.
Jewish Communal Fund
Key Biscayne Community Foundation
Konstantin Family Foundation
Maine Community Foundation
Makromed, Inc.
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Mastwood Foundation
MLE Foundation, Inc.
Morgan Stanley
National Endowment for the Arts
Newstead Foundation
Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation
The Packard Humanities Institute
Plimpton-Shattuck Fund at The Boston Foundation
The Mattina R. Proctor Foundation
REALOGY Corporation
Renaissance Charitable
The Saffeir Family Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
David Schneider & Klára Móricz Fund at Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Schwab Charitable
Schwalbe & Partners, Inc.
Scofield Auctions, Inc.
The Seattle Foundation
Shalon Fund
Kathy & Alexander Silbiger Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation
TIAA Charitable Giving Fund Program
The Trust for Mutual Understanding
The Tzedekah Fund at Combined Jewish Philanthropies
The Upland Farm Fund
U.S. Small Business Administration
U.S. Trust/Bank of America
Private Wealth Management
Vanguard Charitable
Walker Family Trust at Fidelity Charitable
Archie D. & Bertha H. Walker Foundation
Marian M. Warden Fund of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities
The Windover Foundation
Women On The Move LLC
MATCHING CORPORATIONS
21st Century Fox
Allegro MicroSystems
Amazon Smile
AmFam
Analog Devices
Aspect Global
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Biogen
Carrier Global
Dell, Inc.
Exelon Foundation
FleetBoston Financial Corporation
Genentech, Inc.
Grantham, Mayo, van Otterloo & Co. LLC
John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.
Community Gifts Through Harvard University
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
IBM Corporation
Intel Foundation
Investment Technology Group, Inc. (ITG)
Microsoft Corporation
Natixis Global Asset Management
Novartis US Foundation
NVIDIA
Pfizer
Pitney Bowes
Salesforce.org
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Takeda
Tetra Tech
United Technologies Corporation
Verizon Foundation
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Xerox Foundation
SalonEra is a webseries and podcast from Cleveland' s early music ensembles
SalonEra is a webseries and podcast from Cleveland's early music ensembles
Les Délices. Every episode streams FREE and features top early music artists.
Les Délices. Every episode streams FREE and features top early music artists.
MUSICAL VISION
Premiering Oct. 6, 2025
Exploring the legacies of blind and visuallyimpaired historical composer-performers
MUSIC AND LABOR
Premiering Dec. 15, 2025
Probing the history and evolution of sea shanties and work songs
SOUNDS FROM THE WESTERN FRONTIER
Premiering Feb. 16, 2026
Considering the music of the western frontier in the decades following the Revolutionary War.
WOMEN AT THE KEYBOARD
Premiering Apr. 13, 2026
Discovering female pianistcomposers Marianne Mozart, Jane Mary Guest, Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen, and others.
PLUS! Four new podcast episodes featuring insig ts and recordings from Les Délices' 2025-2 Season!
Amherst Early Music
Cloth of gold Music of France & England
July 12-19 & 19-26, 2026
Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA
Central Program
Baroque Opera
❦ CityRecorder! New York City, NY October 25-26, 2025 ❦ Renaissance Flute Workshop Longy School of Music Cambridge, MA
Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2026
Baroque Academy Ensemble Singing Intensive
Choral Workshop New London Assembly Medieval Project
May 22-25, 2026
❦ Amherst Early Music Festival Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA
Two weeks of classes, concerts, and events
❦ Spring Break Workshop St George’s Episcopal Arlington VA April 11-12, 2026 ❦ Memorial Day Weekend Workshop Wisdom House Litchfield CT
July 12-26, 2026
AmherstEarlyMusic.org
Boston Early Music Festival
PAUL O’DETTE & STEPHEN STUBBS , Artistic Directors
2025 GRAMOPHONE AWARD SHORTLIST – VOICE & ENSEMBLE
“Exceptional stylish elegance and theatrical vitality.” —GRAMOPHONE
“Perfect Telemann recording.” —CLASSICS TODAY
“Forsythe handles this music with grace and ease.” —FANFARE
KATHY WITTMAN