Festival Montréal Baroque

Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Nature offers an unlimited palette of musical imagery that has inspired generations of creators. Music, inspired by the endless cycles of nature and human activity, reverberates like an echo from the beginning of time. We sense both the power and the fragility of Earth. What will happen when all the icebergs have melted? For the […]

Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Valencian ensemble Harmonia del Parnàs invites you to discover dances and arias from Spanish operas and zarzuelas – Spain’s musical theatre tradition. This programme of music from the 17th and 18th centuries is both flamboyant and intimate, radiating the warmth of baroque Spain and capturing the essence of the human experience!

Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – In 1977, three Bach pieces were etched into a 12-inch, gold-plated copper record, and both Voyager spaceships received a copy so that Martians and the man in the moon could enjoy the music at their leisure. Here, Les Voix humaines captures an echo of Bach from outer space!

Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 7:00 am – 8:00 am – At sunrise, qanun and percussion combine to evoke the mystery of the dawn and the depth of the Levant. Didem Başar and Ziya Tabassian perform 17th-century Persian and Turkish music alongside their own compositions, weaving echoes of the past into the music of the present.

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – In Das Jahr (The Year), Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn takes us on a delightful musical journey through the calendar year, presented here by three up-and-coming fortepianists. As they perform, Claudia Morissette, sommelière from Le vin dans les voiles, presents the perfect natural wine tasting for each of Fanny’s four seasons!

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – This musical masterpiece tells the intimate tale of a lonely, dejected lover, wandering through a desolate landscape in the gloom of a bitter cold winter, haunted by love and loss. Heralding romanticism, Schubert’s iconic song cycle, Winterreise, is a model of musical word-painting expressing such intimate emotions as suffering, hope and despair.

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – McGill early music students and members of the Montréal Baroque Band present musical depictions of the sea, surf and storms! Embark now at your own peril!

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 am – Flies, fleas, bees, butterflies, crickets…. enter the fascinating world of insects alongside two musicians at the height of their careers. With music that hums, flies, pinches, stings, and whirs, this cocktail hour concert will have you on the edge of your seat!

Friday, June 20, 2025 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Hear J. S. Bach’s keyboard masterpieces performed using new technologies that blend past, present and future. Young organist Henry Webb, winner of the Canadian International Organ Competition’s Second Prize, performs alongside two audacious electronic musicians, creating a supernatural concert experience!

Friday, June 20, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Earth, Water, Fire and Air vie for dominance in the absence of the Sun. Will the dawn of time balance the elements in perfect harmony to save this planet? Spanish group, Harmonia del Parnàs, with an all-women’s cast joined by Montreal musicians, will perform Antonio de Literes’ opera Los Elementos for this Canadian premiere!

Friday, June 20, 2025 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm – The winter of 1709 was bitterly cold in Europe, and Paris suffered the consequences: the harvest was lost, famine accompanied freezing conditions, and nearly 24,000 citizens died, according to the Princess Palatine. 

Thursday, June 19, 2025 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Nature, despite its beautiful flora and fascinating fauna, can be a source of chaos and upheaval, transforming lives and forcing many to leave their homelands behind. ClassiqueInclusif, an Ensemble Caprice project, creates an artistic space for immigrant and refugee musicians, bringing together Western baroque and traditional Arabic music as well as poetry about nature, identity, […]

Thursday, June 19, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Lisbon is destroyed by flood and fire! In 1755, an unprecedented earthquake blitzed Portugal leaving destruction in its wake. In far-away Hamburg, Georg Philipp Telemann, inspired by tales of the storm, set the story to music in his Donnerode (Ode to thunder), giving his audiences a vivid depiction of this catastrophe which was seen at the time […]

Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm – Venez rencontrer Baldassare Castiglione, noble paré par la Nature de toutes les vertus. Ses années passées à la resplendissante cour d’Urbino, évoquées dans son Livre du courtisan (1528), nous enseigneront comment cultiver en tout temps La Sprezzatura… – Musique, comédie et danse

Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm – You are cordially invited to meet Baldassare Castiglione the original Renaissance Man! His time spent at the magnificent court of Urbino inspired him to write The Book of the Courtier (1528), which teaches us to cultivate La Sprezzatura at all times and in all places – Music, Theater and dance

Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Arlequino, Scaramouche, Colombino and Il Capitano offer a magnificent selection of sweet canzonas and salty divertimentos hoping to please sua Eccenlenza

Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 11:30 am – 12:15 am – “Oh! Vous avez aimé mes ornements? Ils vont ont séduit? Mais ce n’est rien voyons!”

Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 11:30 am – 12:15 am – “Oh, you liked my seductive ornaments? It was nothing at all!”

Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 10:15 am – 11:00 am – Six historic guitars, six secrets to reveal!

Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 9:00 am – 9:45 am – Renaissance sensuality, refinement and nonchalance

Saturday, June 22, 2019 @ 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Rupture et trahison : la vie tumultueuse d’une serveuse en pleine crise identitaire – Opéra de chambre

Saturday, June 22, 2019 @ 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm – A tumultuous tale of the identity crisis of a jilted barmaid – a chamber opera

Saturday, June 22, 2019 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Elena Faita cooks for all the family in Parc Dante to the dulcet sounds of Neopolitan and Venetian songs

Saturday, June 22, 2019 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm – Monteverdi Madrigali Magnifici Libro VIII

Saturday, June 22, 2019 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Madrigali intimi for voices and continuo

Saturday, June 22, 2019 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 am – Iconic improvised Seasons

Saturday, June 22, 2019 @ 9:00 am – 10:30 am – Open invitation to come perform Vivaldi’s Magnificat Matthias Maute will lead the party

Friday, June 21, 2019 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – The three goddesses of charm, beauty and creativity sing with Italianate passion

Friday, June 21, 2019 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Les trois déesses du charme, de la beauté et de l’art chantent les passions italiennes

Friday, June 21, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Virtuosity, freedom, passion and elegance of 17th century Italian chamber music

Thursday, June 20, 2019 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – L’art subtil du shibui japonais, sa discrète beauté et la sprezzatura

Thursday, June 20, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Iconic improvised Seasons and other surprises

Thursday, June 20, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Vivaldi inspires spiritual ecstasy or moral outrage from Venice to Dresden

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 9:00 pm – It’s already over ! Just time for one last musical evening to wrap up this 16th edition in good company with Le Petit Rien.

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Contredances, square dances and jigs with Pierre Chartrand, Anne-Marie Gardette and Alexis Chartrand- violin. An evening on the theme of metamorphosis in which Daphne transforms herself into a laurel bush to escape Apollo’s clutches and the soirée transforms from a myth into a grand ball! Come adorned with laurel wreathes or more to dance with […]

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Danse Cadence: Dance class to prepare for the grand ball! 

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – First drafts of Handel’s most famous arias and sonatas: works in progress by a vulnerable young immigrant new to London.

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 12:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Free outdoor concerts – Baroque and traditional music

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – 17th century Italian love songs on themes later chosen by Handel.

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Exhibition by musical instrument makers with demonstrations

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 10:00 pm – Join us at the café, as usual, to eat, drink and make merry with music by Le Petit Rien and everyone else!

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Sonatas for one, two, three and four instruments from Handel’s Italian visit. Brilliant experiments!

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Acis and Galatea are in love! Jealous, the Cyclops crushes Acis under a rock whereupon Galatea transforms her lover into a babbling brook. The celestial harp concerto completes the concert!

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – The story of a sorceress, Lady Catherine the Beguiler, as told by Handel, Purcell and Eccles.

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 12:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Free outdoor concerts – Baroque and traditional music

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 11:30 am – 12:30 pm – Popular music from Ireland, Scotland and Wales that inspired composers of Handel’s time.

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Exhibition by musical instrument makers with demonstrations

Saturday, June 23, 2018 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am – Have you always wanted to perform in Handel’s Messiah, but not had the opportunity? Here is your chance! Join us for a reading of the Messiah where amateur musicians and choristers will make up the orchestra and the choir.

Friday, June 22, 2018 @ 10:00 pm – Join us at the café, as usual, to eat, drink and make merry with music by Le Petit Rien and everyone else!

Friday, June 22, 2018 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – A life-cycle of songs and suites from the European union of Handel’s birth.

Friday, June 22, 2018 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Brilliant concerti by an inspired, young Handel in Rome. Canadian premiere of the celebrated German baroque orchestra.

Friday, June 22, 2018 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Conference and cocktails – Islands of Enchantment: Pleasure, Domination, and Transformation

Friday, June 22, 2018 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Trad here and Trad elsewhere, the Celtic influence: traditional Scottish and Irish Baroque music and traditional Quebec music. 

Thursday, June 21, 2018 @ 10:00 pm – Join us at the café, as usual, to eat, drink and make merry with music by Le Petit Rien and everyone else!

Thursday, June 21, 2018 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Top ten Handel opera arias arranged by Montreal’s fabulous recorder ensemble!

Thursday, June 21, 2018 @ 6:30 pm – 6:45 pm – Come join the parade with your recorders, drums, pots and pans!

Thursday, June 21, 2018 @ 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – English songs and Celtic tunes from Handel’s era.

Saturday, June 24, 2017 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Delicately expressive improvisations by two dancers to the sonic gyrations of a solo flutist playing noble allemandes by Blavet, de la Barre, Bach, and Quantz.

Saturday, June 24, 2017 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Like aerial acrobats hanging from oriental silks undulating in the breeze, eastern spice meets southern passion in an evening of improvisations on Italian masterpieces.

Saturday, June 24, 2017 @ 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm – Danger, courage et détermination au Musée d’art contemporain : une pièce commandée à Jonathan Goulet côtoie l’intensité passionnelle de Purcell, d’Eccles, de Berardi et du malheureux Stradella, mort pour cause d’amour. En coproduction avec Codes d’accès, Concerts noncerto ® et le Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Saturday, June 24, 2017 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Danger, courage et détermination au Musée d’art contemporain : une pièce commandée à Jonathan Goulet côtoie l’intensité passionnelle de Purcell, d’Eccles, de Berardi et du malheureux Stradella, mort pour cause d’amour. En coproduction avec Codes d’accès, Concerts noncerto ® et le Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Saturday, June 24, 2017 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – 1797: in Montreal a circus was born, while a wild Beethoven with his lion’s mane composed two sonatas for fortepiano and cello…

Saturday, June 24, 2017 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – An introspective portrait of 17th-century Germany. Virtuoso works for solo violin by Bach and Biber and suites for harpsichord by Weckmann and Froberger unify a country divided from north to south by Protestantism vs. Catholicism.

Friday, June 23, 2017 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – A juggling act of conquests, abductions, and frenzied flights from hit men, Alessandro Stradella’s amorous adventures ended in his assassination by a jealous spouse. Moro per amore…

Friday, June 23, 2017 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Clowns, acrobats, jugglers, Flûtes Alors!, Alkemia, Rendez-vous baroque, Passiflore, and the Fanfare Carmagnole … and cotton candy! A musical circus by members of NovAntica to honor the memory of Nicolas Fortin (1981-2016).

Thursday, June 22, 2017 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Clad in white, Pierrot, the dignified, sometimes melancholy clown is the hero of this vaudeville of viols! Les voix Humaines find equilibrium through the emotional roller coaster of “concerts” by Sainte-Colombe. 

Thursday, June 22, 2017 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – To celebrate Monteverdi’s 450th – Ringmaster Maute will open the festival circus with a spectacular, surround-sound performance of Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine! With double choir, brass and strings, this high-wire act will guarantee heavenly vertigo! 

Sunday, June 25, 2017 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – We might conjecture that, had he not been a church musician, Bach might well, like his contemporaries, have been an opera composer! A brilliant, Bruce Haynes idea, Althea features a high priestess, a king, a princess, a lover, an imposter, and a sea monster! A bilingual opera seria in three short acts with dramatic music […]

Sunday, June 25, 2017 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – When the Catholic voice meets the Protestant sonata. A Catholic-Protestant struggle inspired by the 1517 Reformation. Catholic v. Protestant composers’ cantatas and sonatas published or written in France dramatized by virtuoso strings and a coloratura diva!

Sunday, June 25, 2017 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Dreamy, naive, majestic, sophisticated: French character pieces that paint a musical portrait from the age of the Sun King to the revolution.

Sunday, June 25, 2017 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am – Audacious, daring, surprising! Music to put you on the edge of your seat – on the quietest and loudest of keyboards! W.F. and C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Reicha.

Sunday, June 25, 2017 @ 9:00 am – 10:00 am – A burlesque of virtuoso sonatas by Scarlatti, Bortnianski and contemporary Latvian composers, Juris Karlsons and Peters Vasks