EMA News Features & Press Releases

If you're in Europe, hoping to hear a deluxe celebration of Palestrina's 500th birthday, go to the Duomo in Milan. In North America, the biggest Palestrina 2025 party will be in Grand Rapids, Mich., where an ambitious Catholic church will host a dozen ensembles, from the Tallis Scholars and Gesualdo Six to their own parish choirs -- and all of it sung at regular Mass services.

At the 2024 EMA Summit, countertenor Michael Walker II, viol player Philip Spray, and Alchymy Viols gave a presentation called 'Deep River.' One day, while rehearsing a famous spiritual, writes Walker, 'it reminded me of the viola da gamba in its ability to convey both sadness and joy.'

REMA, the European Early Music Network, has launched a survey to learn how the global early-music sector has adapted and evolved in 2024, from finances to programming. Although most REMA members are in Europe, some are North American-based, and the survey is open to everyone in the field and responses are anonymous.

'It takes bravery to come here.' On a daily basis, air-raid sirens drive everyone into bomb shelters, fearful of the next Russian attack. Yet the second edition of the Kyiv Baroque Festival, in war-ravaged, resilient Ukraine, is scheduled for next month. 'The national ensembles have been designated as "reserve." The government has realized that performances are good for society and important for morale.'

'I very rarely think a program needs projections, because the music speaks for itself,' says Camilla Tassi, a visual projections designer who works with some of the most celebrated ensembles on the American early-music scene. 'But we have to ask ourselves: Who is this performance for? What are we trying to convey?'

Chicago's Bella Voce opens its season with choral music exploring the cultural links between the Americas and the colonial powers of Spain and Portugal. Some of the composers on this enriching program were born in the New World, some were European-born travelers, and a few never crossed the Atlantic but their music did.

Earlier this year, Peruvian violinist Jimena Burga Lopera, a student in Juilliard's Historical Performance program, went on tour with the J415 ensemble to Bolivia's International Festival of Renaissance and American Baroque Music known as “Misiones de Chiquitos.” In this essay, she writes about the festival and her eye- and ear-opening experiences.

On tour with Juilliard 415 at a festival in Bolivia, keyboardist Nathan Mondry got himself into trouble late one night, leading to yet another fresh insight into music. Surrounded by wild dogs, 'the danger became real,' he writes. 'Years of conservatory training and knowledge of obscure treatises and 4-5 finger trills would not help me in this moment...'

In his Canto column, historical oboist Geoffrey Burgess argues that modern circumstances too often take us far from the collaborative nature of early music and the shared goals of singers and instrumentalists. Understandably, many singers feel the need to become generalists. But now is the time to re-evaluate our current practices.

Two first-time artistic directors of esteemed early-music ensembles — Priscilla Herreid at Philadelphia's Piffaro and Liza Malamut at Chicago's Newberry Consort — are countering social and economic trends with fresh attitudes and new concert ideas. They're part of a cohort of leaders bringing historical performance in line with today's audience expectations.