Edition 2025

Early Music Day takes place every year on 21 March, at the initiative of REMA. This celebration of more than a thousand years of music, through concerts and events taking place simultaneously around the world, is an opportunity for Europeans to (re)discover our musical heritage!

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340. Bach-Gebeurtstag

21/03/2025 19:00 CET (21/03/2025 19:00 CET)

340. Bach-Gebeurtstag Online and On-site

Köthener BachGesellschaft mbH Germany
Kirche St. Agnus , Stiftstraße 11, 06366 Köthen (Anhalt)
On 21 March, the Köthen Bach Festival traditionally celebrates Johann Sebastian Bach's birthday with a concert in the Church of St. Agnus. This year's festival will be particularly unusual: Margret Köll, one of the best baroque harpists in the world, will be coming to Köthen (Anhalt) for a whole week to work with international students. Together with the Bach Festival director, they are developing a sound festival for the birthday concert that will fill the historic church of St Agnus with harmonies in every corner. The young Chilean singer Romina De la Fuente Villarroel, who has been living in Weimar for several years, will also be a guest. The musical celebration will feature the most beautiful sounds and repertoire highlights for and with harp from around 150 years, from the invention of opera at the beginning of the 17th century to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Together with the great baroque master, the composer Alfred Tokayer, who was also born in Köthen (Anhalt) on 21 March, will be celebrated. He was born in 1900 to a Jewish family in the city of Bach and received his first musical training here. In the 1920s, he made a career in Berlin and worked for theatre legend Max Reinhardt, among others. Tokayer had to flee to France in 1935. He was finally arrested by the Gestapo in Paris in 1942 and - like his parents - was killed in the Sobibor concentration camp in 1942. The concert will be streamed live on YouTube!
Musicians
  • Margret Köll, baroque harp
  • Romina De la Fuente Villarroel, soprano
  • participants from the HARFEN LABORS in Köthen, surprise guests
  • Folkert Uhde, animation
Let's Chat with Eve Friedman

21/03/2025 16:00 CET (21/03/2025 16:00 CET)

Let's Chat with Eve Friedman Online

Teddie Hwang Germany
Uhlerbornstr. 47, 55126 Mainz
Join us in a friendly conversation with the author of "Tone Development on the Baroque Flute"! Players of all levels and backgrounds, as well as educators teaching the baroque flute will no doubt find this talk helpful and informative.
Musicians
  • Eve Friedman, flutist and author of "Tone Development on the Baroque Flute"
  • Teddie Hwang, founder of "Teddie Talks Traverso"
Music & Climate

22/03/2025 18:00 CET

Music & Climate On-site

Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord France
Musiques & Climats, Eglise de Cherval, 24320 CHERVAL
In music, the seasons have often inspired composers: Vivaldi but also Lully, Purcell, Boismortier... Similarly, spectacular events (storms, tempests) but also moments of prosperity and calm have inspired musicians. Concert in collaboration with Cherval Avenir
Musicians
  • Ensemble Les Meslanges
  • Van EssenThomas, baritone
  • Van Waerbeke Jérôme, violin
  • Hernandez Frédéric, harpsichord
L'organo fantastico: Girolamo Frescobaldi, le Toccate del Primo Libro

21/03/2025 20:00 CET

L'organo fantastico: Girolamo Frescobaldi, le Toccate del Primo Libro On-site

Conservatorio di musica "Giuseppe Verdi" di Milano Italy
Chiesa di San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore di Milano, Corso Magenta 15 , 20123 Milano
Frescobaldi was a great musician who not only inaugurated a new manner of playing but also illustrated a new refined “modus componendi” through a language of astonishing modernity. This concert offers a rare opportunity to hear the entire collection of toccatas contained in his first book published in 1615, in Rome, performed on a magnificent organ belonging to one of the most famous dynasties of Brescian builders, active in the years between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: the Antegnati. In particular, it is an ancient organ built by Gian Giacomo Antegnati in 1554, located, in the wonderful Church of San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore in Milan. The twelve Toccatas performed in this organ concert are so imbued with a great expressive intensity and a poignant grace that, even today, they amaze us with their relevance. They are compositions permeated by a magic of sounds and an emotional tension that seems to never end. Bach himself was fascinated by the music of this great Ferrarese master. Not by chance this music seduces by its spontaneity, by its freshness, by the naturalness of the lyric melodic gesture.
Musicians Ivana Valotti, a leading specialist in the Italian Renaissance and Baroque organ repertoire, teaches the advanced course in early music on the organ at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan.
Audition for the first organist on the 300th anniversary of St George’s, Hanover Square

11/03/2025 13:10 GMT (11/03/2025 14:10 CET)

Audition for the first organist on the 300th anniversary of St George’s, Hanover Square On-site

St George's, Hanover Square United Kingdom
St George's, Hanover Square, St George's Street, Mayfair, , W1S 1FX London
The church of St George’s Hanover Square was consecrated by the Bishop of London on March 23rd, 1725. The three-manual organ was built by Gerard Smith, nephew and successor of the famous Father Smith. The case of his organ remains as the central part of the current organ case. This recital will reflect the audition for the first organist, with music by the four assessors (Pepusch, Croft, Handel and Geminiani) and the successful candidate, Thomas Roseingrave, chosen for his ability to improvise fugues.
Musicians Andrew Benson-Wilson
Visites en musique des collections du Musée Fabre - Les Ombres

21/03/2025 10:30 CET

Visites en musique des collections du Musée Fabre - Les Ombres On-site

Les Muses en Dialogue - Les Ombres - Musée Fabre France
Musée Fabre, 39 boulevard Bonne Nouvelle , 34000 Montpellier

Friday, March 21 at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Le printemps

As part of the European Early Music Days, the Musée Fabre opens its doors to musicians from the Les Ombres ensemble. On a guided musical and pictorial tour, music and paintings reveal their secrets. The flute and viola da gamba will resonate in this majestic setting during original guided tours, revealing each work under the prism of spring.

Admission: €15, with registration by e-mail to amelie.belin@montpellier.fr, or directly online on the Musée Fabre website.

Musicians
  • Margaux Blanchard, viola da gamba
  • Sylvain Sartre, traverso
Ancient Sounds in the Abbey - Exhibition of medieval instruments and medieval music concert

22/03/2025 17:00 CET (22/03/2025 17:00 CET)

Ancient Sounds in the Abbey - Exhibition of medieval instruments and medieval music concert On-site

Fondazione Abbatia Sancte Marie de Morimundo Italy
Morimondo Abbey, Chapter Hall, Piazza Municipio n. 6, 20081 Morimondo (MI)
On the occasion of the Early Music Day, you are invited to a double event to discover the fascinating world of medieval music. The event begins with an exhibition of historical instruments and continues with a narrated concert, where a musicologist and a musician alternate between performing medieval sacred and secular music and recounting episodes of monastic life, passed down through songs and other medieval documents.
Musicians

Ensemble In Itinere Musica Medievale

  • Roberto Chiari - medieval fiddle, rebec, drum, and others
  • Chiara Mojana - narrator, medieval harps and recorder
BACH340

21/03/2025 14:55 EET (21/03/2025 13:55 CET)

BACH340 On-site

Lieto parish Finland
Lieto, Hyvättyläntie 19, 21420 Lieto
Bach340 with Organ&Cello
Musicians
  • Tomi Satomaa, organ
  • Jukka Perksalo, cello
Early Music in the corridors of LMTA / LMTA Early Music Week 2025

21/03/2025 12:30 EET (21/03/2025 11:30 CET)

Early Music in the corridors of LMTA / LMTA Early Music Week 2025 On-site

Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre Lithuania
Lobby, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Building 2, Vilniaus str. 6-2, Vilnius
Welcome to the European Early Music Day at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre! Participants of “LMTA Early Music Week 2025“ will invite you to listen to works by Renaissance and Baroque composers and get acquainted with historical musical instruments.
Musicians Participants of "LMTA Early Music Week 2025"
Bach’s Birthday

21/03/2025 19:00 EET (21/03/2025 18:00 CET)

Bach’s Birthday On-site

Oulu University Chamber Orchestra Finland
Oulu Cathedral , Kirkkokatu 3 A, 90100 Oulu
Music by J.S.Bach, G.F.Handel, A.Vivaldi
Musicians

Oulu University Chamber Orchestra

  • Tommi Pyykönen, concertmaster
  • Sinikka Ala-Leppilampi, conductor
Tarquinio Merula - Concerti Spirituali

08/03/2025 14:30 CST (08/03/2025 07:30 CET)

Tarquinio Merula - Concerti Spirituali On-site

The Gleam Ensemble & Ensemble InAlto Taiwan
National Recital Hall Taipei, No.21-1, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng Dist.,,, 100012 Taipei City
Time and Geography, they say, are destiny. Like Luigi Rossi, Francesco Cavalli and Giacomo Carissimi, Tarquinio Merula belonged to that generation of composers, born between 1595 and 1605, for whom the concertante style was no longer a new idiom, but the musical medium par excellence, acquired from childhood as the dominant musical language of the time. A musical language that was about to spread throughout the European continent. Born in 1595 in Brusseto, Tarquinio Merula probably received his musical training at Cremona Cathedral; after serving as Kapellmeister in Lodi, Lombardy, and in Warsaw, at the Polish Royal Court, he alternated several times, from 1626 onwards, in the same positions for the cathedrals of Cremona and Bergamo. Tarquinio Merula was known as a virtuoso on both the violin and organ and has published a wide variety of instrumental music for “chiesa e camera” : for both secular and sacred contexts. By the 1630s, public enthusiasm for highly expressive solo madrigals composed in the recitative style had waned considerably. Contrary to the assumption of certain theorists that, in vocal music, music was only at the service of words, the composers of the younger generation were looking for a more balanced relationship between words and music, a relationship in which the declamatory and expressive achievements of this new era would be united with the emerging interest in formal construction and musical harmony. Filled with the daring inventions of his peers like Grandi, Monteverdi, Cavalieri etc… Merula never ceased to put his talent at the service of an incredibly expressive music. InAlto explores here the sacred compositions of the Cremonese Master, all at the image of the famous lullaby Hor che è tempo di dormire. Simple at times, yet impressively innovative. Sacred, yet grounded in human emotions.
Musicians
  • Alice Foccroulle, soprano
  • Lambert Colson, cornetto
  • Martin Chiang, dulcian
  • Shio Ohshita, baroque violin
  • Bernard Foccroulle, organ and harpsichord
Dreams : Un autre rêve

21/03/2025 20:30 CET

Dreams : Un autre rêve On-site

LE BANQUET CÉLESTE France
Théâtre des Jacobins, 6 Rue de l'Horloge, 22100 Dinan
In a candlelit cabinet of curiosities, Henry Purcell and John Dowland’s most beautiful tunes’ melancholy resonates. Le Banquet Céleste plunges us into the heart of a waking dream where circus, dance, and music converse.Inspired by the 17th century Vanities, the pair of directors Cécile Roussat and Julien Lubek design a show in which the enchanting beauty of the chiaroscuro images reminds us of our human condition’s fragility. Accompanied by a viola da gamba, a lute, and a harpsichord, the countertenor’s character and his mysterious acrobatic double masterfully suspend time.
Musicians
  • Paul Figuier, Counter-tenor
  • Aurélien Oudot, Dancer-acrobat
  • Isabelle Saint-Yves, Viola da gamba
  • André Henrich, Lute
  • Kevin Manent-Navratil, Harpsichord
  • Cécile Roussat & Julien Lubek, Visual design and stage direction
Le Graduel d’Aliénor de Bretagne, abbesse de Fontevraud

29/03/2025 17:00 CET

Le Graduel d’Aliénor de Bretagne, abbesse de Fontevraud On-site

pôle Aliénor France
église Saint-Jean-de-Montierneuf, 29 place Montierneuf, 86000 Poitiers

Extracts from the Fontevraud Manuscript: Plainchant and medieval polyphony Students from the early music department, under the direction of Isaac Alonso de Molina

Musicians

Isaac Alonso de Molina, artistic direction

Neapolita Early Music Day

18/03/2025 16:00 CET (18/03/2025 16:00 CET)

Neapolita Early Music Day Online

Liceo Musicale Statale "Margherita di Savoia" - Napoli Italy
Salita Pontecorvo, 72, 80135 Naples
A valuable music program by famous Baroque Italian Composers, as such as G.B. Pergolesi, A. Vivaldi, C. Caresana, performed by the Group Ensemble Musicale Barocco, a Youth musical ensemble from the secondary schools of Performing Arts Department in Naples. The instrumental sections include: Strings, Wind instruments, Harps, Organ, Harpsichord, Percussions, Solo Singers and a Baroque Poliphonic Choir.
Musicians
  • Musicians: Castiello Sofia, Tesone Maria Barbara, Yana Chukhrovska, Notaro Giovanni, De Vito Gaia, Santonicola Gabriele, Teleno Silvana, Serino Chiara, Dini Ciacci Luna, Giordano Viviana, Negri Alessia, Tramontana Emilianna, Pacilio Ilaria, Pollice Aurora Marie, Napoletano Giada, Varriale Alfredo, Sacco Adele, Scicchitano Miriam, Di Maria Viviana, Rossetti Flavia, Succoia Maria Teresa, Capuano Liliana, Russo Giuliano, Enrika Feola, Capocotta Valerio, Rimonti Zara Carolina, Botosineanu Elisa, Nastych Anna.
  • Teachers: Amato Angela (violin), Caiazza Ida (singing), Catarci Katia (harp), Crimaldi Valentina (Flute), Durantino Giorgio (percussion), Nocerino Francesco (piano, organ, harpsichord)
Ich Habe Genug

21/03/2025 10:00 CET (21/03/2025 10:00 CET)

Ich Habe Genug Online

Barocco Europeo Italy
Chiesa di San Giacomo, Polcenigo - PN
Baritone Patrizio La Placa and the ensemble Cenacolo Musicale immerse themselves in Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata Ich habe genug written for the Feast of the Purification of Mary, observed on February 2, 1727, also in the Lutheran liturgical calendar. The cantata alternates two recitatives and three solo arias. The concert featured in this video opens with The Oboe Concerto for Strings, a work from the final creative phase of Telemann, a remarkably prolific composer and a master of self-promotion. This piece perfectly encapsulates his art, striking a refined balance between intellectual sophistication and pure enjoyment. Telemann’s Oboe Concerto is followed by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Trio Sonata in B minor. The favored son of Johann Sebastian, gifted with extraordinary musical talent from an early age, would go on to guide his father’s musical legacy through the stylistic transformations of the forthcoming Classical era.
Musicians
  • Patrizio La Placa, baritone
  • Ensemble Cenacolo Musicale
Beatles Baroque

21/03/2025 20:30 CET

Beatles Baroque On-site

Les Paladins France
Rue de la Poste, 64400 Oloron-Sainte-Marie
On the one hand, there's a ‘so British’ composer, a master of English song from the 17th century, whose captivating melodies and delicious harmonies are sometimes reminiscent of pop music-or maybe it's the other way round. On the other, ‘Quatre garçons dans le vent’, with their boundless musical and textual imagination, are always on the lookout for new sounds, sometimes flirting with the world of classical or traditional music to renew themselves.
Musicians
  • Magali Léger, Amandine Bontemps, sopranos
  • Jean-François Lombard, tenor
  • Olivia Gutherz, viola da gamba
  • Franck Ratajczyk, double bass
  • Jérôme Correas, harpsichord, organ and conductor
Back to Bach !

21/03/2025 18:00 CET

Back to Bach ! On-site

La Fenice aVenire France
47bis, rue du Général de Gaulle, 89100 Sens
The young musicians of La Fenice aVenire are offering a ‘Bach spring evening’ to mark the birthday of the ‘Pater familias’ Johann Sebastian, who was born with spring on 21 March! Each musician will play for the other, inviting the audience (placed in a semi-circle around their artist friends) to share in the artistic and spiritual complicity offered by Johann Sebastian's eternally youthful music! A glass of friendship will bring this spring festival to a harmonious close, promising the return of fine weather!
Musicians
  • Matthieu Camilleri, solo violin
  • Keiko Gomi, solo cello
  • Ensemble La Fenice aVenire
Musique & peinture : miroirs de nos émotions

21/03/2025 10:30 CET

Musique & peinture : miroirs de nos émotions On-site

Les muses en dialogue France
Boulevard Sarrail , 34000 MONTPELLIER

Musical tours of the Musée Fabre collections

Musicians

LES OMBRES

  • Sylvain Sartre, flute
  • Margaux Blanchard, viola da gamba
Monteverdi : présentation du projet  L’Orfeo

21/03/2025 19:00 CET

Monteverdi : présentation du projet L’Orfeo On-site

Les muses en dialogue France
Place Albert 1er, 34000 MONTPELLIER

Public rehearsal of the project for the stage version of Orfeo by the Early Music Department of the Cité des Arts de Montpellier, in partnership with the Arianna Ensemble.

Musicians

Ars Vocalis (Ensemble Arianna's vocal arts centre)

  • Marie-Paule Nounou, conductor

Voice and Early Music Department of the Cité des Arts de Montpellier

  • Jean-Philippe Zielinski, conductor
Concert des professeurs des conservatoires à rayonnement départemental de Narbonne et Béziers Méditerranée

21/03/2025 19:00 CET

Concert des professeurs des conservatoires à rayonnement départemental de Narbonne et Béziers Méditerranée On-site

Les muses en dialogue France
Place de l'Eglise , 34490 LIGNAN SUR ORB

Concert by teachers from the Narbonne and Béziers Méditerranée departmental conservatories.

Musicians

Réseau des Conservatoires Occitanie Méditerranée

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