Rochester Early Music Festival
The Rochester Early Music Festival celebrates Rochester and Western New York's rich and varied culture of Early Music performance and scholarship. Now in its 21st year, the REMF brings together soloists and ensembles playing music of the Medieval through the Baroque periods.
This year the festival presents 6 concerts in 8 days at 3 different venues:
Nov 10 & 17, First Universalist Church of Rochester
November 11-13, Linehan Chapel at Nazareth College
November 18 at St. Anne Church.
Eastman at Washington Square,
First Universalist Church of Rochester
150 South Clinton Ave. Rochester, NY
Got just an hour while you grab lunch? These two concerts in downtown Rochester are for you. On Thursday November 10 at 12:15 the Eastman Baroque Trumpet Ensemble and a trio of sackbuts will wrap you in the sumptuous sounds from the 17th & 18th centuries, while on November 17 at 12:15 Eastman Opera Theatre gives us a sneak preview of excerpts from their upcoming winter production: a decidedly modern interpretation of a timeless 18th-Century classic, George Frederic Handel’s Alcina. These concerts are free and open to the public. Feel free to bring your lunch, just open those pop cans and crinkly chip bags before the music starts!
https://www.esm.rochester.edu/community/washingtonsquare/
These events are in-person only.
Baroque Brass Jam, featuring Baroque Trumpets, Sackbuts, and percussion.
November 10 at 12:15 pm
Free
Enchanting Baroque Opera: Excerpts from George Frederic Handel’s Alcina
November 17 at 12:15 pm
Free
A Weekend of Baroque Music at Nazareth College
Linehan Chapel, Nazareth College
4245 East Ave, Rochester, NY
On Friday November 11 at 7:30 pm Scivias takes the listener on a pilgrimage for the ears, with selections from the Codex Calixtinus and the works of Hildegard von Bingen. Saturday November 12 at 7:30 Tormenta d'Amore presents soprano duets by Handel, depicting the joys and the torments of love. The trio of concerts ends on a humorous note, on Sunday afternoon, November 13 at 3:00 pm, with a program featuring Telemann's Canary Cantata, a funeral cantata for a pet canary, presented in a staged version and sung in English, so that you don't need to be familiar with what passed for a joke in German 300 years ago to be in on the fun!
All of these events are free and available to the public, and will be in person AND live-streamed.
Scivias Ensemble: Pilgrims, Martyrs, and Saints
November 11 at 7:30pm
Free
Tormenta D’amore
Featuring Holly Bewlay, soprano; Amy Cochrane, soprano; Glenna Curren, cello, Bonnie Choi, harpsichord
November 12 at 7:30pm
Free
Telemann and the Canary
Featuring Joe Finetti, bass; Margaret Leenhouts & Koki Tanaka, violins; Ryan Hardcastle, viola; Brian Donat, cello; Bonnie Choi, harpsichord
November 13 at 3pm
Free
REMF Gala Concert
The capstone of the Early Music Festival
November 18 at 7:30pm
St. Anne Catholic Church
1600 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester
On Friday, November 18 at 7:30 Musica Spei invites you to join them in the glorious acoustic environment of St. Anne Church for the Rochester Early Music Festival Gala Concert. Presented in "prism" format, singers and instrumentalists surround the audience with music, flowing freely and without interruption from one performance to another. You will experience a broad sampling of the breadth and depth of early music during the performance, presented by a number of the best-known Early Music ensembles in Western NY. Emceed by WXXI's Brenda Tremblay, the audience will hear returning favorites Publick Musick, the Eastman Collegium Baroque Orchestra, the Eastman Viol Consort, and Musica Spei. Joining the Gala this year are cellist Glenna Curren, harpsichordist Bonnie Choi, and sopranos Amy Cochrane and Holly Bewlay presenting music by Handel. Anne Maria Lim will perform on St. Anne’s magnificent organ, and baroque trumpets will delight the listener with their festive sound.
This event will be in-person only.
Tickets: Purchase in advance or at the door (cash or credit card)
General Admission: $20
Senior Citizens: $15
Students: $5
Tickets may be purchased in advance here.
If you have enjoyed the Festival, please make a donation to help us keep producing it!