VIDEO SPOTLIGHT
Hailed as the "greatest living lutenist" (Stereophile), BEMF Artistic Co-Director Paul O'Dette makes hist first solo appearance on BEMF's annual concert series in over 26 years on Saturday, January 31 in Cambridge, MA.
Enjoy a selection from his performance at our 2021 Virtual Festival as he plays selections from the Mure of Rowallan's Lute Book, Rowallan Castle, Scotland.
"Arguably the most important and influential
Early Music event in the world." —BBC Radio 3
Paul O'Dette performs lute masterworks on January 31
The legendary Paul O'Dette presents an extraordinary collection of lute works from the recently rediscovered Albani manuscripts—January 31 in Harvard Square!
ACRONYM return to BEMF on February 14
Enjoy a unique exploration of the musical world of Germany in the generation before Bach from American chamber orchestra ACRONYM—February 14 in Harvard Square.
ENCORE! Watch our June 2025 Youth Concert on YouTube
BEMF Returns to our 2025 Festival with a special ENCORE of our 2025 Youth Concert featuring the début of the BEMF Youth Ensemble, BEMF Beyond Borders 2025 with guests from Brazil and Taiwan, and guest artists from A String Forth Smith. Watch now on YouTube.
Save the dates for our next biennial Festival: June 6–13, 2027.
Who We Are
Since 1981, the Boston Early Music Festival has established itself as an international leader in the field of Early Music. BEMF presents a wealth of diverse programs and activities, including superb productions of Baroque opera, award-winning recordings, an annual concert season that brings the field’s brightest stars to Boston and New York City, and North America’s leading festival for Early Music.
Celebrated Concerts
Our annual concerts feature some of the world's most exciting and engaging Early Music artists!
Award-Winning Recordings
In 2004, BEMF initiated a series of recordings to preserve its groundbreaking Baroque opera creations and attempt to fill the gaps in the current discography of Western opera. The series features one GRAMMY Award-winning and five GRAMMY-nominated recordings.
GRAMMY Nominee!
Telemann's Ino and Opera Arias for SopranoBEMF's has received our 7th GRAMMY nomination for our recording of Telemann's Ino with soprano Amanda Forsythe in the Best Classical Solo Vocal Album catagory!
LEARN MORE!“One of the nation’s foremost Early Music organizations.” —The New Yorker
Meet Our Artistic Leadership
BEMF Opera productions 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. Leading the Artistic Team are GRAMMY-winning Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs alongside Opera Director Gilbert Blin, Orchestra Director Robert Mealy, and Dance Director Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière.
