Brighton unveils new programme, celebrating ‘Love’
Starting 10 October, the 24th Brighton Early Music Festival is the first edition by new co-Artistic Directors, Hannah Ely and Olwen Foulkes.
The 24th edition of Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF) will take place across three weekends in eight venues across the city, from Friday 10 October to Sunday 26 October.
This year’s festival theme is ‘Love’, a word which new Co-Artistic Directors Hannah Ely and Olwen Foulkes say ‘encapsulates so much of the sentiment that radiates across the whole BREMF community.’ The pair have taken the reins of one of the UK’s largest and most progressive Early Music festivals after their late predecessor and founder, Deborah Roberts, in 2024.
Featuring more than 20 concerts and workshops, highlights include an Emerging Artists’ Showcase with
grantees Londinium Consort, and the UK premiere of a 1736 French baroque opera-ballet by Mademoiselle Duval, Les Génies ou les Caractères de l’amour.
Premiered in 1736 with Duval herself at the harpsichord, Les Caractères is written in the heroic ballet style. Only the second opera written by a woman to be performed at the Paris Opera, it captivated audiences at the time. Today, only some of her music survives, with this performance built on a bespoke reconstruction by Satoko Doi-Luck.
The festival’s opening weekend (10-12 Oct) takes the theme of Xenia: hosting and welcoming guests, with events including a concert of music by 17th-century refugee composers with Nardus Williams & Elizabeth Kenny, a recital from Ayres Extemporae – the Benelux-based winners of the 2024 York International Young Artists Competition, and 16th-century vocal music from The Gesualdo Six.
The second weekend (16-19 Oct) celebrates Agape: love of nature and the divine, with events including a celebration of Orlando Gibbons, Ensemble Augelletti and other performers working with local schools, BREMF's annual showcase of emerging artists – this year featuring Chantefable, Londinium Consort, The Lyons Mouth and The Royal Sackbut Collective – and Musica Secreta, featuring music from the 16th-century Biffoli-Sostegni manuscript, woven with stories from the convent’s rich history.
The final weekend (24-26 Oct) explores Eros: romantic desire, love and loss. Vache Baroque will be performing a programme which takes its inspiration from the writings of Oscar Wilde, followed by a lunchtime concert from German medieval specialists Per Sonat, Monteverdi's Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda with La Fonte Musica, and a concert of Lieder arranged for voice and string quartet with mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and period-instrument string specialists the Consone Quartet.
Full festival information and details of upcoming events can be found on the BREMF Festival Page.