ORGAN MINI-FESTIVAL, Part First, 9:00am:

The First Lutheran Church:

The Voice of the Organ: Manifestations of Power and Love:
Professor of Organ at the University of Notre Dame, Kola Owolabi has performed throughout the United States and Europe and has released three solo recordings. He makes his BEMF début in a program celebrating both the power of music, and the pipe organ as the voice of that power: from Lutheran hymns that refer both to God’s power and his love, to themes of unrequited love in Peter Philips’s Le rossignuol, his setting of a Lassus chanson, to the tremendous power a composer like Handel held over those who performed under his direction.

DANCE WORKSHOP, Emmanuel Church Music Room, 15 Newbury Street, 9:30am - 11:00am:
Raise and lower the nimble foot, set the body with ease and grace (Octavia, Act I, Scene 14)
Enjoy two dance workshops with BEMF Dance Director, Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière. Session One will explore a minuet, “Entrée of Cupid and Zephyr,” from Octavia, Act III. Discover how this most famous court dance, the minuet, can also be a theatrical dance. Session Two will celebrate the 300th anniversary of Pierre Rameau’s Le Maître à danser, one of the key sources for understanding 18th-century dance. Participants of all levels are welcome. Please bring low-heeled, soft shoes and wear comfortable clothing. Admission to each session is included with an 2025 Exhibition Pass ($10), but participation is limited to the first 50 attendees.

Exhibition, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, 10:am - 5:00pm:

The heart of the Boston Early Music Festival is our world-famous Exhibition. As the premier early music trade show in North America and among the largest in the world, the BEMF Exhibition features Early Music tradespeople from across the globe, with makers of period instruments, music publishers, dealers in rare books, prints, and manuscripts, and representatives from the world’s leading conservatories and schools of music. The Exhibition is visited daily by hundreds of amateur and professional musicians, students, scholars, and enthusiasts from around the world seeking to purchase instruments, restock their libraries, renew old friendships, and immerse themselves in an unparalleled opportunity for enrichment and discovery.

With an inviting new venue – the Huntington Ballroom and Foyer at the Colonnade Hotel – only blocks from New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall where most of the evening concert take place, the 2025 BEMF Exhibition is sure to be a hub of activity. Nearby restaurants, cafés and fringe venues make this Back Bay location the perfect new home for the BEMF Exhibition.

Registration for the 2025 BEMF Exhibition is now open! Download a registration form below or contact Exhibition Manager Elizabeth Hardy at [email protected] for more information.

MASTERCLASS, Maxine Eilander, 11:am - 1:00pm:

Baroque Harp, Colonnade East Room, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue

MASTERCLASS, Maxine Eilander, BEMF Dance Director, Emmanuel Church Parish Hall, 15 Newbury Street, 11:30am - 1:00pm:

Raise and lower the nimble foot, set the body with ease and grace (Octavia, Act I, Scene 14)
Enjoy two dance workshops with BEMF Dance Director, Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière. Session One will explore a minuet, “Entrée of Cupid and Zephyr,” from Octavia, Act III. Discover how this most famous court dance, the minuet, can also be a theatrical dance. Session Two will celebrate the 300th anniversary of Pierre Rameau’s Le Maître à danser, one of the key sources for understanding 18th-century dance. Participants of all levels are welcome. Please bring low-heeled, soft shoes and wear comfortable clothing. Admission to each session is included with an 2025 Exhibition Pass ($10), but participation is limited to the first 50 attendees.

ORGAN MINI-FESTIVAL, Part Second, The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street, 11:30am:

The magnificent Richards, Fowkes & Co. Opus 10 organ, Riches d’amour:

The 14th century saw the organ rise as a powerful symbol of the Catholic Church, embodying both its authority and its divine message. The portative organ, a more portable version of the instrument, played a significant role in spreading the Church’s influence beyond its walls. With its ability to accompany both sacred liturgies and secular celebrations, it reflected the organ’s dual nature: a divine instrument of power and an instrument of joy. Catalina Vicens combines a vibrant international career as a soloist and researcher. She is joined by the voices of Trio Mediæval in a program that explores the dual role of the organ with selections from the Rossi and Las Huelgas Codices, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, and Francesco Landini.

LECTURE, Alexander McCargar, Designing for Handel and Keiser: Johann Oswald Harms
Colonnade East Room, The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue, 2:00pm - 3:00pm:

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.

ORGAN MINI-FESTIVAL, Part Three, The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street, 2:00pm:

Fowkes & Co. Opus 10 organ:

Reflection and Transformation: Struggles in Power and Love
College Organist for Wellesley College, Erica Johnson has enjoyed a distinguished career as a church musician, performer, and instructor of the organ. For her BEMF début, she explores a programmatic reflection of power and love for the organ. From a biblical reordering of power, to the reform of corruption, and the scorn of love, the keyboard repertoire of the 16th to 18th centuries mirrors the struggles of a hierarchical society. The expressive power of this music is reflected not only in the subject matter but also in the rich tapestry of keyboard figuration.

PRE-CONCERT TALK, 4:00pm:

NEC’s Williams Hall
PRE-CONCERT TALK: Enrico Gatti, violin, Marcello Gatti, flute & Friend they made the ears of the court and the city unusually attentive. Telemann’s so-called Paris Quartets; presented by Dr. Carsten Lange, Director, Center for Telemann Research Magdeburg.

CONCERT, Enrico Gatti, violin, Marcello Gatti, flute &  Friends
Flatteusement, Vivement & Tendrement, 5:00pm:

Flatteusement, Vivement & Tendrement: The power of love and affection in Paris
Italian brothers Enrico and Marcello Gatti have each distinguished themselves among the world’s finest virtuosos performing alongside Early Music’s leading ensembles and at major festivals across their respective careers. Join them for an intimate program featuring works from Telemann’s celebrated Paris Quartets. The first of two collections, each comprising six works, was originally published in Hamburg before being reissued in Paris in 1736 as a prelude to the composer’s visit to the city the following year. During his stay, Telemann wrote six new quartets for the same instruments, which were published in 1738. Stylish and inventive, these masterpieces are a testament to Telemann’s brilliance and have delighted audiences for centuries with their vivacious yet intricate melodies.

CONCERT, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, 8:00pm:

Robert Mealy, Orchestra Director
Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière & Hubert Hazebroucq, dancers
Rivers of Splendor: Handel’s & Telemann’s Water Music
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall

Rivers of Splendor: Handel’s & Telemann’s Water Music
A highlight of every Festival, the virtuoso BEMF Orchestra led by Orchestra Director Robert Mealy offers two exuberant works full of colorful orchestrations, lively dance rhythms, and regal fanfares. Handel’s Water Music is a collection of three orchestral suites overflowing with vibrant flamboyance that were first performed in spectacular fashion for King George I as he floated up the River Thames. The king was so pleased that he had them repeated several times! Telemann’s own aquatic suite (properly titled Hamburger Ebb’ und Fluth) was written to honor the centenary of the Hamburg admiralty in 1723, and reflects its maritime theme with evocative depictions of various oceanic deities and the “ebb and flow” of Hamburg’s tides. These two great celebrations are brought to life with choreography by special guest dancers Caroline Copeland and Hubert Hazebroucq.

CONCERT Theotime Langlois de Swarte, violin and Justin Taylor, 10:30pm:

The Power of Love: Music of Francoeur, Couperin, Eccles, Bach, Corelli, and others
Immerse yourself in enthralling music performed with theatrical flair and graceful eloquence by two of Early Music’s most exciting young virtuosos: violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and harpsichordist Justin Taylor. Close colleagues as founders of the ensemble Le Consort, the duo unlock a treasure trove of Baroque gems that showcase their thrilling musicality. Join them for a tour of Baroque Europe with energetic masterpieces and uncovered rarities featuring selections by two sets of brothers—François and Louis Francoeur and John and Henry Eccles—as well as Rameau, François Couperin, Bach, and Corelli.

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