About the Festival
The Bloomington Early Music Festival is a week-long festival of concerts and education events celebrating early music held in Bloomington, IN every year.
All Bloomington Early Music Festival concerts and events are presented at no cost in support of equal access for all members of the Bloomington community. We are grateful to our generous donors and granting organizations for continuing to make this possible.
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Previous Festivals
The 2021 Bloomington Early Music Festival featured 6 virtual concerts and pre-concert events. We were pleased to welcome back local ensembles the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project, Las Aves, and Forgotten Clefs - and culminate with a program recorded in Mexico City, offered by Tembembe Ensamble Continuo.
Tembembe Ensamble Continuo: Laberinto en la Guitarra.
The Bloomington Bach Cantata Project: "Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!" BWV 214
Forgotten Clefs Renaissance Wind Band: Music from the Guatemalan Manuscripts
BLEMF Choral Project, Dr. Carolann Buff, Director : Choral Music from the Guatemalan Manuscripts
Las Aves: Messe Prima & Chamber Works of Isabella Leonarda
IU Baroque Orchestra: 2021 Bloomington Early Music Festival Opening Concert
2020
To keep everyone in the mood for live performances during the pandemic, Bloomington Early Music presented an online festival with daily presentations via Facebook and YouTube Live! Our community gathered virtually and celebrated a set of performances from a wide variety of artists and ensembles, most of whom have their artistic roots in Bloomington.
2019
The 2019 Bloomington Early Music Festival saw a week of exciting concerts, presentations, and workshops from early music ensembles and specialists from around the world.
We were thrilled to celebrate our continued partnerships with Early Music America and Historical Performance Institute IU-JSoM, as well as welcome new partners the Latin American Music Center - LAMC, Lute Society of America and VdGSA. BLEM once again presented EMA's Young Performers Festival and Emerging Artist Showcase, featuring university and emerging ensembles from around the U.S. and Canada.
Concerts included renowned lutenist Nigel North, a celebration of Clara Schumann with fortepianist Byron Schenkman, emerging Bloomington ensemble Las Aves Ensemble, and a semi-staged presentation of early opera La púrpura de la rosa, directed by Nell Snaidas.
2018
Bloomington Early Music Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary with Festival 2018 as it was in full swing as a catalyst for local and national creative partnerships that substantially enhance the passionate pursuit of historically informed performance. That year, in a new and significant partnership with Early Music America, the festival’s profile grew further still while bringing to the Bloomington community a thrilling spectrum of concerts and educational programs over a ten-day period—all admission free.
BLEMF was especially proud to be collaborating with local old-time music and dance professionals in a series of three events that celebrated the City of Bloomington’s bicentenary. This further expanded the idea of how we can best honor all forms of early music, leading to a greater diversity in future years as we challenge ourselves to be more culturally responsive to our community, region, and world.
As has been the case since BLEMF’s beginnings, the 2018 Festival offerings of more than twenty events would not have been possible without the passionate participation of more than 90 musicians, many of whom study at the Jacobs School of Music and other exceptional conservatories around the US.