BLEMF 2025
Early Music in the African Diaspora
May 25-31 | SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Over four and a half centuries of ruthless, systematic trafficking of West Africans into Europe and the Americas—from the earliest abductions by Portuguese traders at the start of the 15th century until the abolition of slavery in the United States and across South America in the latter half of the 19th—the voices of countless musicians of African descent were heard in both enslaved communities and elite cultural circles. The circumstances of their lives, all within the context of brutal and oppressive racism, varied widely: some crossed paths with kings, popes, and presidents—either by patronage or parentage—and untold others joined voices in their suffering to find strength and praise their God.
The many, often glorious musical achievements of these individuals were long covered over by the writers of history, and only in the last few decades have some of these Black voices from earlier eras been recovered and recognized. It is time now to celebrate them. Enslaved, escaped, freed, or born free; uneducated, self-educated, or trained by the most prestigious mentors and institutions; priests, abolitionists, and child prodigies—their vastly different experiences brought forth extraordinary talent and creativity that had profound and lasting impact on global musical culture.
In this first-ever Early Music festival dedicated entirely to an exploration of music by and for enslaved Black Africans and their descendants, we bring to you 6 live and 4 virtual concerts paired with preconcert discussions, 5 educational workshops, our 3rd BEMI Players youth performance, 1 very Happy Hour, and our 2nd BLEMF Community Showcase, where we invite Bloomington itself to the stage.
BLEMF 2025: Early Music in the African Diaspora bears witness to the skill, determination, passion and faith of Black musicians of the Renaissance through to the 19th century, all of which shine brilliantly through every performance—from sacred music to folk song, sonata to spiritual. Join us!
BLEMF Events are FREE & OPEN TO ALL*
*except 21+ Happy Hour
Sunday, May 25
Opening Night!
7:00pm | Live Concert
6:15 | Pre-Concert Talk
Alchymy Viols
Intense Serenity: Music of Vicente Lusitano
(Indianapolis, IN) Sixteenth-century Portuguese composer and music theorist Vicente Lusitano—whom contemporary sources describe as “pardo” (Portuguese for mixed race)—has long been known to music historians, but only over the past few decades has his Blackness been recognized, and even more recently, celebrated. Alongside a well-deserved spotlight on his remarkable works of music and musical theory, Lusitano is now considered the first published Black composer in the Western tradition. A Catholic priest and tutor who in 1551 became ambassador to the Pope in Rome, by 1561, he had married, converted to Protestantism, and relocated to Germany, after which he falls out of the historical record. Through varied permutations in instrumentation and human voices, the renowned ensemble Alchymy Viols brings the intense serenity of the music of Vicente Lusitano to BLEMF audiences with a program of motets, the composer’s single surviving madrigal, and improvisations based on his influential theoretical treatises.
6:15pm | Pre-Concert Talk
FAR Center for Contemporary Arts
505 W. 4th Street
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
SUPPORTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH & ITALIAN STUDIES, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
AND THE RENAISSANCE STUDIES PROGRAM, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
General Event Information
Monday, May 26
2:00pm | Workshop
Walk the Walk
A Tour of Bloomington’s African American History
Start your week of celebrating African American musical achievements with a walking tour of historical sites in our own town! Black Americans have been an integral and important part of the Bloomington community since its very founding in 1818, and has since then been a site of both racial progress and discrimination; an active stop along the Underground Railroad in the mid 19th century, just over one hundred years later in 1968, it was the site of the famous Black Market firebombing in what is today People’s Park. Important moments and individuals in Black music also intertwine with Bloomington’s two hundred years of history. Join us on an informative and sometimes surprising tour of local places, people, and events, walking along the routes trod by Black residents whose invaluable contributions helped make our city the place we live in and love today.
Led by Nia I'man Smith
Tour runs 2:00pm-4:00pm
Check back for the meeting place and please contact festmanager@blemf.org for mobility assisstance.
Nia I'man Smith is an interdisciplinary Black music scholar and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at IU Bloomington. Her research interests include acts and practices of ancestor veneration within Black music and Black-owned record stores as sites of cultural preservation. She is the proud daughter of Linda Ann and Tony Smith, and the eternally loved great-grandniece of Essie Nealy Manning.
Live Concerts & Pre-Concert Talks
Pre-concert discussions take place prior in the same venue.
No tickets or RSVP to attend!
All in-person concert venues are handicap-accessible.
Live Concerts & Pre-Concert Discussions will be livestreamed and available for streaming soon after the festival. See this section below for how to view online.
Virtual Concerts & Public Screenings
All virtual concerts & preconcert discussions will be released for streaming on Opening Night, Sunday, May 25th, and will be available until June 7th. Enjoy them from the comfort of your own home, or from where ever you may be!
Or join us for free public screenings at 5:00 PM Tuesday-Thursday at the Monroe County Public Library (Kirkwood) Auditorium. Bring your friends & family along to enjoy the performances in a comfy & fun theater setting in the heart of downtown!
How do I watch online?
On the day of the concert, “Watch concert!” and “Watch pre-concert discussion” buttons will appear below the concert listing on this webpage. Click the button and you will be redirected to the Bloomington Early Music YouTube page.
For live concerts & talks, click on the “Live Now” video at the posted start time for the livestream. Concerts will also be livestreamed on our Facebook page, and the recording will then be available to watch on our Facebook video page.
For virtual concerts & talks, these same buttons will take you directly to the videos, which you can watch at your leisure any time between May 25 and June 7.
Educational Workshops
Educational workshops are designed for children and adults who are young-at-heart. Kids under the age of 9 should be accompanied by an adult.
Please consider signing up through the “Reserve my Spot!” buttons under each workshop description. While reservations are not required, knowing attendance numbers ahead of time helps us to plan supplies and space, so that everyone can enjoy the event to the full!
The comfy seats & great views of the big screen at the MCPL Auditorium.
7:00pm | Live Concert
6:15 | Pre-Concert Talk
Tonos del Sur
José Maurício Nunes Garcia: The Sound of Brazil's Classical Legacy
(Bloomington, IN) Born in Rio de Janiero, the descendant of enslaved Black grandmothers on both sides of his family, José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) earned lasting renown as a celebrated composer, conductor, teacher, Catholic priest, and Chapelmaster of the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral. Known today as one of the greatest exponents of Classicism in the Americas both for his own compositional output and for introducing new musical styles to his home country—including his conducting the first performance of Mozart’s Requiem—Nunes Garcia left an indelible mark on Brazil’s musical landscape. Latin American Baroque specialists Tonos del Sur, one of Bloomington’s most beloved ensembles, present a wide-ranging showcase of music by this favored composer of the colonial kingdom of Portugal, starting with Nunes Garcia’s first known composition, Tota pulchra est Maria, and centering around the stunning Mass for Our Lady of Sorrows.
7:15pm | Pre-Concert Talk
FAR Center for Contemporary Arts
505 W. 4th Street
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY THE LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC CENTER, JACOBS SCHOOL OF MUSIC
AND THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN STUDIES, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Tuesday, May 27
2:00pm | Workshop
Sword Fighting on the High Seas
A Pirate’s Life for Me!
Thrust and slash your way to victory in our most active and popular workshop, at BLEMF for a fourth year. With our favorite certified, professional stage combat instructor, kids and adults learn moves and postures, get comfortable with basic dueling choreography, and engage in battle with a partner. History tells us that Black mariners—men escaped from slave ships who sought the freedom of life on the water—sailed and fought heartily as part of the pirate crew, bringing our fascination with pirates and sword fighting in line with our festival theme. If you dare to enter the pirate’s den for this seafaring adventure, you get to keep your own (foam!) sword to vanquish your foes at home or in distant lands!
Led by Andrés X. López
Workshop runs 2:00pm-4:00pm
Theatre Building
Movement Studio - A350
Lee Norvelle Theatre & Drama Center
275 N. Eagleson Avenue
A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE IU DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE, DRAMA & CONTEMPORARY DANCE
Andrés X. López received his Ph.D. from Indiana University where he examined the transformation of stage combat in nineteenth century England. Also an advanced actor/ combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, Andrés holds certifications in all eight weapon disciplines. Over more than a decade, he has taught stage combat to people of all ages and lectured on the historical and contemporary practice of stage combat both in the United States and internationally, and he has been the fight choreographer for several productions, including Vinegar Tom, Water by the Spoonful, Streamers, Cyrano de Bergerac, Don Giovanni, and Carmen.
5:00pm | Public Screening
with Pre-Concert Talk
THE New York Baroque Dance Company
Francis Johnson's New Cotillions, In Honor of Our Illustrious Guest General Lafayette
(New York, NY) Credited as the leader of the Philadelphia School of composers, Francis Johnson (1792-1844) was the first African American to publish sheet music, producing a catalog of more than two hundred pieces; he was the first Black musician and possibly the first American musician to tour Europe with a band; and one of the first musicians to participate in integrated public concerts, all in the face of rampant and aggressive discrimination. At the peak of his renown in the fall of 1824, Johnson was given the high-profile commission to create new dances for the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824–1825 tour of America as “Guest of the Nation.” Multifaceted dancer and choreographer Julia Bengtsson and dance researcher Alan Jones lead The New York Baroque Dance Company in a celebration of this anniversary, reconstructing and performing Johnson’s “New Cotillions” with a program that showcases the “Pas de châle,” Spanish dance, a hornpipe, and the 19th-century minuet and waltz.
5:00PM | Pre-Concert Talk (screened)
Monroe County Public Library — Downtown
Auditorium
303 E. Kirkwood Avenue
7:00pm | Live Concert
6:15pm | Pre-Concert Talk
The Lisette Project
A Song’s Journey from Haiti & Back
(Ithaca, NY & Oakland, CA) Inspired by the history of a popular song written in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) that endured across centuries and continents, this deeply researched program explores how the melodies and lyrics of “Lisette quitté la plaine” underwent significant changes in the midst of the Haitian Revolution, accompanying migrants to the United States and specifically to New Orleans and reflecting their lived experiences. Coupled with long forgotten arias, duets, anthem parodies, and folk music, this lecture recital traces Black liberation in Haiti and the United States through music written at pivotal moments in history, following “Lisette” back to modern Haiti in the early twentieth century, where it was mobilized as a symbol of Haitian pride and resistance during American occupation. With internationally renowned singers, baritone John Bernard Cerin and soprano Michele Kennedy, and keyboardist and musicologist Nicholas Mathews, this deeply researched, engaging and moving program will be an experience to remember!
6:15pm | Pre-Concert Talk
FAR Center for Contemporary Arts
505 W. 4th Street
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN STUDIES, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
AND SUPPORTED BY THE IU DEPARTMENT OF FOLKLORE & ETHNOMUSICOLOGY
Wednesday, May 28
2:00pm | Workshop
African Art & Mask Making
Take an Exclusive Tour & Create Your Own African Mask
Experience an exclusive tour of the Eskenazi Museum’s African art & textiles, and craft your own African mask to take home! Get a sneak peek at some behind-the-scenes artwork and artifacts and an in-depth guide to the exhibits before making your own work of art that reflects what you’ve just seen & learned. We will explore how masks are created, what different designs and shapes symbolize, and how masks are used in rituals, ceremonies and performances in cultures across the African continent. Start dreaming now of your own mask creation!
Led by the Eskenazi Museum of Art
Workshop runs 2:00pm-4:00pm
Eskenazi Museum of Art
1200 E. 7th Street
A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SIDNEY & LOIS ESKENAZI MUSEUM OF ART AT INDIANA UNVERSITY
5:00pm | Public Screening
with Pre-Concert Talk
Sonya Headlam & Rebecca Cypess
Transatlantic Musical Heritage
(New York, NY) Eighteenth-century Europe, Britain, and the Americas were home to countless musicians of African origin who made music of many genres as public performers, players at home or in community settings, and composers who notated or published their music. In a rich collaboration, highly celebrated soprano Sonya Headlam and renowned early keyboardist-scholar and artistic director of BLEMF regulars The Raritan Players, Rebecca Cypess, together explore the work of three composers who earned international praise during their lifetimes: Ignatius Sancho, Francis Johnson, and Joseph Bologne. With texts by Shakespeare, the ancient Anacreon, the contemporary David Garrick, Sancho himself, Philadelphia abolitionist Sarah Louisa Forten, Phillis Wheatley and others, the program offers a kaleidoscope of beauty, passion, and insight into the works and worlds of these then-famous and now no-longer forgotten Black musicians.
5:00PM | Pre-Concert Talk (screened)
Monroe County Public Library — Downtown
Auditorium
303 E. Kirkwood Avenue
WITH GRATITUDE TO THE AMERICAS SOCIETY / COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS, AND THE MUSIC OF THE AMERICAS SERIES FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO OFFER THIS CONCERT TO OUR AUDIENCES.
7:00pm | Live Concert
BLEMF Community Showcase
Bloomington Musicians Take the Stage!
A remarkable line-up of musicians from our local community and an astonishingly enthusiastic response from their audience of friends, neighbors, and fans made it abundantly clear that the BLEMF Community Showcase must continue. Our 2024 program brought to the stage a surprisingly diverse array of early music talent and skill, including an entrancing solo lute performance, a French madrigal quartet, Bloomington’s premiere amateur choir Voces Novae, an extraordinary realization of German organ tablature–which for decades, scholars and performers claimed could not be done, inspiring music from new neighbors from Syria and Afghanistan thanks to our friends at Exodus Refugee Immigration, and a rousing community sing-along. We cannot wait for our second round!
Check back for the line up of Bloomington musicians and showcase features!
FAR Center for Contemporary Arts
505 W. 4th Street
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
Thursday, May 29
2:00pm | Workshop
Making Music Books
Printing Presses, Quills & Ink, Part II
Learn about early printing technology from a replica 15th-century Gutenberg printing press, then join in a fun quill & ink making activity to create your own tools for writing the old-fashioned way! In one of our most popular workshops, we are excited to return to the Lilly Library with musicologist and maestro of quill-making Kirby Haugland!
Because sharpening feathers for quills requires a blade, we will have ready-made quills for the kids with a demonstration on cutting them down, and the opportunity for adults to make their own quills at a separate table.
Led by Lilly Library & Kirby Haugland
Workshop runs 2:00pm-3:30pm
Lilly Library
1200 E. 7th Street
A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LILLY LIBRARY AT INDIANA UNVERSITY
Dr. Kirby Haugland is a visiting assistant professor in the musicology department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His research focuses on relationships surrounding musical creation and performance. This interest manifests in subjects ranging from early film music and contemporary composer John Adams to technologies of 18th-century theater stages. He is a talented trumpet player—if an out of practice one—and he serves as Finance & Administration Manager for Bloomington Early Music.
5:00pm | Public Screening
with Pre-Concert Talk
Abendmusik
“The Union of All Parties”: Music of Black Composer Sawney Freeman
(New York, NY) A skilled farm worker and fiddle player, Sawney Freeman was enslaved in Lyme, Connecticut, became a runaway in 1790, and was manumitted in 1793. Freeman was also a composer with several of his works included in an early 19th century collection of music which lies in the Trinity College library in Hartford, Connecticut. Viol player, musicologist, and historian of New England musical culture, Loren Ludwig joins the exceptional consort Abendmusik, New York’s Period Instrument String Band, as guest curator for this concert featuring Freeman’s compositions along with music that the composer may have heard and performed.
5:00pm | Pre-Concert Talk (screened)
Monroe County Public Library — Downtown
Auditorium
303 E. Kirkwood Avenue
7:00pm | Live Concert
6:15 | Pre-Concert Talk
Bloomington Spirituals Quartet
Songs of Sorrow & Songs of Jubilee
(Bloomington, IN) The Bloomington Spirituals Quartet explores the powerful and poignant music originated during the dark days of Black bondage in early America. Performed not for an audience but for each other, slave songs and spirituals drew on biblical stories and the experiences of slavery through musical idioms rooted in African culture. This deeply personal and communal music eventually made its way to the concert stage, and the 1870s touring performances by the Fisk Jubilee Singers—an ensemble including several formerly enslaved people—sparked an international interest in spirituals less than a decade after the Emancipation Proclamation. Led by members of IU’s highly regarded African American Choral Ensemble, the BSQ draws on the earliest transcriptions of this music in an acapella presentation that celebrates the lineage of slave songs and spirituals from the field to the concert hall.
6:15pm | Pre-Concert Talk
FAR Center for Contemporary Arts
505 W. 4th Street
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
Friday, May 30
2:00pm | Workshop
What’s that Sound? African Drums!
Dive into the African Instrument Collection & Beat your own Drum!
Explore amazing, authentic traditional African instruments at the newly renovated IUMAA, and learn the basics of African drumming with a renowned and ridiculously fun musician and music educator. A show & tell with expert museum staff will zoom in on the extraordinary collection of African drums housed in the instrument archives, revealing where they are from, how they are made, and how they figure into centuries-old ritual and culture. Then move into the workshop space where you will find drums and other percussion instruments for the hands-on portion of the afternoon. Learn about African rhythms, beats and basic techniques, feel the power of traditional drumming from your head to your toes, and make your own glorious noise!
Led by the IUMAA & Dan Kusaya
Workshop runs 2:00pm-4:00pm
IU Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology
416 N. Indiana Avenue
A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE IU MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY
Born in Rusape, Zimbabwe, Dan Kusaya’s journey as a musician began with being immersed in traditional music and culture: ngoma percussion and dance, hosho, marimba, and mbira. Now, he’s a one-man band, live looping multiple instruments in performances that include traditional Zimbabwean songs, stories, and instrumentation, evoking a time when music was known to have magical properties: ceremonies where people sang for rain, appeased ancestors, harvested crops. Dan is both a skilled performer and a teacher dedicated to passing on Southern African music and culture to new audiences.
4:30pm | Happy Hour (21+)
5:00pm | Performance Presentation
Tavern Hopping with The Chevalier
Our popular Tavern Hopping through Time happy hour joins up with The Chevalier, a provocative theater work that has toured the world since its debut at Tanglewood in 2019. Following a brief demonstration of old and tasty beverages, tavern-goers will move, drinks-in-hand, to our exclusive presentation on the Waldron’s big screen. The New York Times calls The Chevalier “nuanced, witty, and incisive” and The Guardian raved, “quite simply exquisite” – what will you say?
~~~
The Chevalier: The Life & Music of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
(New York, NY) Master composer, virtuoso violinist, finest fencer in Europe, general of Europe’s first Black regiment, and crusader for equality, Joseph Bologne (1745-1799) was an extraordinary artist of color nearly forgotten by history. His story, now central to any consideration of Black musicians in late 18th century Europe—or indeed, of classical music history as a whole—is richly told in The Chevalier. Follow Joseph Bologne’s true friendships with Mozart and Marie Antoinette and his unknown contribution to the abolishment of slavery in this dramatic staging filled with music and lavish period costumes. A collaboration between Concert Theatre Works and the Harlem Chamber Players, this performance of The Chevalier was filmed at the United Palace Theater, the recently restored gem in Washington Heights, NYC.
21+ only | Tickets $15* ahead or at the door
Tavern Hopping led by Devon Nelson
John Waldron Arts Center
122 S. Walnut Street
This event is scheduled to allow time to spare before the evening concert at First Christian Church (a 5-minute walk away), so you can easily attend both!
*ticket price is to cover the cost of alcohol
THIS PRESENTATION OF THE CHEVALIER IS SUPPORTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH & ITALIAN STUDIES, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Devon Nelson is visiting professor of music in musicology at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Their research focuses on Music and antiquarianism in Britain, music printing, early-modern music and dance, and connections between music and drink. Devon is the recipient of the STIMU Young Scholar Award from the Utrecht Early Music Festival's STIMU symposium, and the Indiana University President’s Diversity Dissertation Fellowship.
7:00pm | Live Concert
6:15 | Pre-Concert Talk
Early Music Access Project
Rock & Reel: Monticello’s Folk Traditions
(Charlottesville, VA) What sounds might a visitor to early 19th-century Monticello have heard? Music was often in the air–Thomas Jefferson was a violinist, and nearly every member of his family also played an instrument, including his three enslaved sons with Sally Hemings, all of whom played fiddle. On Charlottesville’s Main Street, the Scott family, related by marriage to the Hemings clan, boasted three generations of fiddlers who played for every sitting president for decades. Making their BLEMF debut, Charlotte-based Early Music Access Project will explore the unique repertoire of these accomplished Black fiddlers, which ranged from raucous reels to stately minuets. A collaboration among some of today’s most celebrated and early-career early musicians, EMAP is dedicated to accessible and enlightening programming and community connection.
6:15pm | Pre-concert Talk
First Christian Church
205 E. Kirkwood Avenue
(corner of Kirkwood & Washington)
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
Saturday, May 31
Youth Performance
5:00pm | Live Concert
The BEMI Players
The 3rd Annual Stanley Ritchie Youth Performance
(Bloomington, IN) This third appearance on the BLEMF mainstage by members of the Bloomington Early Music Immersion program showcases new skills and newly discovered talents developed during a week of instruction and activities introducing middle-school aged musicians to Baroque era technique and repertoire. A partnership between Bloomington Early Music and the Historical Performance Institute of the Jacobs School of Music, the 2025 BEMI program is once again free to participants and fun for all!
First Christian Church
205 E. Kirkwood Avenue
(corner of Kirkwood & Washington)
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
Closing Night!
7:00pm | Live Concert
6:15pm | Pre-Concert Talk
Anastasia Chin & Carmen Johnson-PajÁro
Sancho & Bridgetower: Black British Musicians from Different Worlds
(Bloomington, IN) Our closing night concert brings to the stage the music of two British men whose distinctive careers spanned nearly the entire 18th century. Renowned in their own time for their exceptional musical skills and celebrated today as central figures in classical music’s recovery of its Black history, the two landed in England from as far apart as 18th century Black men could come. Born on a Portuguese slave ship bound for New Granada (present day Colombia), Charles Ignatius Sancho (c.1725-1760) was brought to England as a child slave, gifted to three sisters from whom he later escaped. Sancho found work as a valet to a Duke, taught himself to read and write in the Duke’s grand library, and grew into a well-known, widely published abolitionist, author, and composer. George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1758-1799) was born in Galicia (present day Poland) to an Austro-German woman and a freedman from the West Indies who served as a page to Prince Esterhazy. Bridgetower first entered the country as a child prodigy whose musical talent earned him the attention and lifelong support of none less than the King of England, George IV. Rising stars of the current early music scene, Bloomington favorite Anastasia Chin (keyboards) and the widely acclaimed Carmen Johnson-Pajáro (baroque violin), breathe life into the music of Sancho and Bridgetower, and conclude our festival with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Sonata for Violin & Piano–the devilishly difficult Kreutzer Sonata composed for and originally dedicated to the virtuosic Bridgetower.
7:15pm | Pre-Concert Talk
First Christian Church
205 E. Kirkwood Avenue
(corner of Kirkwood & Washington)
Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org
