Boston Early Music Festival, Inc.

The Boston Early Music Festival, known as BEMF, is a Cambridge-based presenter of early music and an international leader in the field. Its programs include productions of newly revived Baroque operas, an annual concert season that brings the field’s brightest stars to Boston and New York City, and a biennial festival that it calls North America’s leading festival for early music. BBC Radio 3 has described the festival as arguably the most important and influential early music event in the world.

Since its founding in 1980, BEMF has been shaped by artistic co-directors Paul O’Dette, a lutenist who directs early music at the Eastman School of Music, and Stephen Stubbs, a lutenist and conductor who spent thirty years working in Europe. In 2004 the organization began recording its Baroque opera productions to fill gaps in the discography of Western opera. The series has earned two GRAMMY Awards, including one for Telemann’s Ino with soprano Amanda Forsythe, and five nominations.

What to Know

• Programs include a famous Exhibition of instrument makers and Fringe Concerts by local artists.
• The BEMF Chamber Opera Series returns in November.
• The next biennial festival is scheduled for June 6 to 13, 2027.
• O’Dette and Stubbs won the 2015 GRAMMY for Best Opera Recording for Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers.
• Visiting ensembles have included Stile Antico and Les Arts Florissants.