Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 30, 2010
CONTACT: Kathleen Fay, Executive Director
617-661-1812 | kathy@bemf.org
BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL PRESENTS ITS 2010-2011 CONCERT SERIES IN BOSTON
BEMF’s 21st concert season starts with eagerly anticipated return of vocal ensemble Stile Antico on October 15, followed by the third presentation of the BEMF Chamber Opera Series, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Cambridge, MA – August 30, 2010 – The Boston Early Music Festival presents its 2010–2011 Boston concert season showcasing the world’s leading early music soloists and ensembles. Long regarded as “the premier international venue for Baroque, Renaissance and Medieval music” (American Record Guide), BEMF has been bringing the world’s most innovative and accomplished singers, instrumentalists, chamber ensembles, and Baroque orchestras to Boston for more than 20 years through its highly-acclaimed annual concert series. This series was recently augmented when BEMF began a partnership with The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, where BEMF now presents an annual concert series in the magnificent Gilder Lehrman Hall.
The Boston Early Music Festival opens its 21st season of concerts in Boston on Friday, October 15, 2010 at 8pm at St. Paul Church, Cambridge (29 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA) presenting a return engagement of British vocal ensemble Stile Antico following their sold-out North American début at the 2009 Boston Early Music Festival. These acclaimed singers will present a program of musical meditations on themes of life and loss by some of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, including William Byrd, Nicolas Gombert, Josquin des Pres, and Heinrich Schütz.
Founded in 2001 while its members were at University, Stile Antico has quickly established itself as one of the most original and exciting new voices in its field. Working without a conductor, its members rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing artistically to the musical result. This unique approach has earned the ensemble international acclaim for their glorious singing, a melding of emotion, rhythmic precision, and sublime intonation. Among their accolades are winning the 2005 Early Music Network International Young Artists’ Competition, two Grammy nominations, and a 2009 Classic FM/Gramophone Award.
A sure highlight of the 2010–2011 Boston concert season will be the third installment of the annual BEMF Chamber Opera Series, Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. A landmark in operatic history, Purcell’s music vividly recounts the joyous love of Dido, proud Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan hero Aeneas—and their ill-fated, tragic separation, leading inexorably to Dido’s famous dying lament. The exquisite drama will be brought to life with superlative singing, lavish costumes, Baroque dance, and outstanding performances. Grammy-nominated Musical Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs are joined again by Stage Director in Residence Gilbert Blin, Costume Designer Anna Watkins, and Choreographer Melinda Sullivan. An outstanding cast will be led by mezzo-soprano Laura Pudwell as Dido, baritone Douglas Williams as Aeneas, soprano Yulia Van Doren as Belinda, and Featured Baroque Dancers Caroline Copeland and Carlos Fittante.
Hailed as “a highly welcome addition to the local concert calendar” by the Boston Globe, the first two productions of the BEMF Chamber Opera Series—Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Charpentier’s Actéon in 2008 and Handel’s Acis and Galatea in 2009—attracted capacity crowds. In response to this demand, BEMF is offering two performances of Purcell’s beloved chamber opera at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall (30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA) on Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 8pm and Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 3pm.
Three ensembles will make their BEMF débuts during the 2010–2011 season. On Friday, January 14, 2011 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational (11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA), one of the world’s most acclaimed Baroque oboists, Gonzalo X. Ruiz, brings his new ensemble Symphonie des Dragons to the BEMF stage with a program entitled From the Court to the Stage: The Rise of the French Oboe Band. On Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 8pm at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University (45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA), the “brightly coloured, individualistic, confident, stylish” ensemble Il Giardino Armonico celebrates its 25th anniversary with a presentation of A Venezia! Music of Castello, Merula, Buonamente, Legrenzi, Vivaldi, and Galuppi. On Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 8pm at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, the world-renowned Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment will entertain audiences with its uniquely versatile and pioneering spirit in a program entitled The Other Amazing Mr. Bach: Symphonies and Concerti of C. P. E. Bach, conducted by Sir Roger Norrington and featuring Steven Devine, harpsichord and Richard Lester, ’cello.
In addition to these exciting débuts, BEMF’s 2010–2011 season will feature performances by several early music legends and pioneers. On Friday, February 25, 2011 at 8pm at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, fortepiano phenomenon Kristian Bezuidenhout brings his unique flair and dazzling performance style to the keyboard works of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, to coincide with the release of his second Mozart recording on the harmonia mundi label. On Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 8pm at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, BEMF will again collaborate with the Celebrity Series of Boston to present Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin as they perform orchestral music of the German Baroque. Founded in East Berlin in 1982, this acclaimed ensemble came to international prominence following the reunification of Germany in 1990, and made its long-awaited, sold-out American début with BEMF and the Celebrity Series in May 2005.
The season concludes on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 8pm at St. Paul Church, Cambridge with a return performance by The Tallis Scholars directed by Peter Phillips. This extraordinary ensemble introduced the world to the glorious vocal music of the Renaissance over 30 years ago, and continues to lead the field today in packed concert halls around the globe. The Tallis Scholars will make their 22nd annual appearance with BEMF in a program of music Celebrating Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) during the 400th anniversary year of the composer’s death.
Individual tickets to these concerts are priced from $19 to $125, with discounted subscription packages ranging from 3 to 7 concerts. Subscriptions and single tickets may be ordered directly through the Boston Early Music Festival at 617-661-1812 or online at WWW.BEMF.ORG.
The 2010–2011 Boston Early Music Festival concert season is presented with support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, ConstellationCenter, WGBH Radio Boston, Harpsichord Clearing House, Zuckermann Harpsichords International, The Gregory E. Bulger Foundation, and U. S. Trust/Bank of America Private Wealth Management.
Dates, times, venues, artists, and programs are subject to change.
BEMF 2010–2011 SEASON CALENDAR
Stile Antico
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 8pm
St. Paul Church, Cambridge (29 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA)
In Paradisum: Swansongs and Memorials by the Renaissance Masters
Works for unaccompanied voices by Byrd, Gombert, Josquin, Schütz, and others
Tickets: $66 - $49 - $38 - $19
BEMF Chamber Opera Series presenting Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 8pm
Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 3pm
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall (30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA)
Laura Pudwell as Dido
Douglas Williams as Aeneas
Yulia Van Doren as Belinda
Caroline Copeland and Carlos Fittante, Featured Baroque Dancers
Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors
Gilbert Blin, Stage Director
Anna Watkins, Costume Designer
Melinda Sullivan, Choreographer
Tickets: $125 - $66 - $49 - $38 - $19
Symphonie des Dragons directed by Gonzalo X. Ruiz, oboe & recorder
Friday, January 14, 2011 at 8pm
First Church in Cambridge, Congregational (11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA)
From the Court to the Stage: The Rise of the French Oboe Band
Tickets: $66 - $49 - $38 - $19
Il Giardino Armonico directed by Giovanni Antonini, flute
Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 8pm
Sanders Theatre at Harvard University (45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA)
A Venezia! Music of Castello, Merula, Buonamente, Legrenzi, Vivaldi, and Galuppi
Instrumental works from Baroque Italy
Tickets: $100 - $66 - $49 - $38 - $19
Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano
Friday, February 25, 2011 at 8pm
Sanders Theatre at Harvard University (45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA)
The Genius of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
Tickets: $100 - $66 - $49 - $38 - $19
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 8pm
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall (30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA)
The Best of the German Baroque
Presented in partnership with the Celebrity Series of Boston.
Subscriber Only Event. Tickets are no longer available through BEMF.
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
conducted by Sir Roger Norrington
Steven Devine, harpsichord
Richard Lester,’cello.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 8pm
Sanders Theatre at Harvard University (45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA)
The Other Amazing Mr. Bach: Symphonies and Concerti of C. P. E. Bach
Tickets: $100 - $66 - $49 - $38 - $19
The Tallis Scholars directed by Peter Phillips
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 8pm
St. Paul Church, Cambridge (29 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA)
Celebrating Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Renaissance music for unaccompanied voices commemorating the 400th anniversary of Victoria’s death
Tickets: $66 - $49 - $38 - $19
ABOUT THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Recognized as the preeminent early music presenting organization in North America, the Boston Early Music Festival has been credited with securing Boston’s reputation as “America’s early music capital” (The Boston Globe). Founded in 1981, the Boston Early Music Festival offers diverse programs and activities, including three Grammy-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 fully staged operatic centerpiece of the 16th Festival and Exhibition in 2011 will be the North American premiere of Agostino Steffani’s Niobe, Queen of Thebes led by BEMF Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, and Stage Director and Set Designer Gilbert Blin. The international cast will include soprano Amanda Forsythe in the title role and countertenor Philippe Jaroussky as Anfione.
WEB RESOURCES
Home Page: http://www.bemf.org
Press Images: http://www.bemf.org/pages/press/images.htm
Press Releases: http://www.bemf.org/pages/press/releases.htm
Artist Websites:
http://www.stileantico.co.uk
http://www.ilgiardinoarmonico.com
http://kristianbezuidenhout.com
http://www.akademiefueraltemusikberlin.de (In German)
http://www.thetallisscholars.co.uk
For more information, images, press tickets, or to schedule an interview, please contact Kathleen Fay at 617-661-1812 or email kathy@bemf.org
###
