Archives des Focus – Total Baroque Magazine

“Crosswinds”, or how to reinvent Renaissance dance

With “Crosswinds”, Into the Winds and Les Corps Éloquents explore the dances of the early Renaissance through the spirit of alta capella (a ceremonial instrumental form), the expertise of dance masters, and the Neoplatonic imagery of the seven classical planets. A performance that blends historical reconstruction, theatrical invention, and a contemporary perspective, Into the Winds will be back on 18 September in Waha, Belgium, with “Le Grand Embrasement”.

by Louise Morfouace 3 September 2026

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Previously unknown 14th-century Italian scores discovered in an accounting register

Focus

Rimini (Northern Italy)

Previously unknown 14th-century Italian scores discovered in an accounting register

A financial document, a simple register of dues collected from the lands of the Benedictine monastery of San Gaudenzo, founded in Italy in the 14th century, concealed a treasure: a collection of 89 songs, including 19 previously unknown works, among them one by Francesco Landini, the most prestigious composer of the Italian Ars Nova. These pieces will be presented in Rimini on September 4 and performed for the first time by Ensemble Micrologus at Rimini’s Galli Theatre.

by Paolo Scarnecchia 1 September 2026

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The Boccherini Quartets: The Making of a Recording

Focus

Concerto 1700 & Daniel Pinteño

The Boccherini Quartets: The Making of a Recording

On the occasion of the recording of the complete Op. 22 String Quartets by Luigi Boccherini, violinist Daniel Pinteño and Concerto 1700 offer a lively and experimental take on the string quartet in 18th-century Spain. Research into historical sources, interpretive freedom, and addressing the challenges facing the recording industry today: an interview that closely connects artistic vision and the practical realities of the profession, at a time shaped by budgetary constraints and streaming.

by Aaron Vincent 24 August 2026

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Alessandro Stradella: The ‘Bad Boy’ of Italian Baroque?

Focus

Andrea De Carlo – Festival Barocco Stradella

Alessandro Stradella: The ‘Bad Boy’ of Italian Baroque?

Alessandro Stradella was an extraordinarily prolific Baroque composer, a musical innovator, and, it would seem, an accomplished seducer. His talent led, fifteen years ago, to the creation of a festival dedicated to him; his love affairs, meanwhile, are said to have cost him his life in 1682. A dive into the eventful life (to say the least) of one of the seventeenth century’s most celebrated artists. The festival dedicated to him will take place from 29 August to 27 September in Viterbo and Nepi, Italy.

by Andrea Braun 17 August 2026

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Hildegard von Bingen: From the Rhine Valley to the United States

Focus

Opera creation

Hildegard von Bingen: From the Rhine Valley to the United States

From medieval mysticism to contemporary opera, Hildegard von Bingen has never ceased to fascinate. With “Hildegard”, her first opera, American composer Sarah Kirkland Snider brings together visions, illness, faith, desire, and artistic creation to revive Hildegard von Bingen, one of the most remarkable figures of the European Middle Ages. “Hildegard” will be performed on July 31 at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.

by Kyle MacMillan 21 July 2026

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GEMS, The Quiet Force Behind New York’s Early Music Community

Focus

Gotham Early Music Scene

GEMS, The Quiet Force Behind New York’s Early Music Community

In New York, GEMS lives up to its name. Since 2007, this discreet yet indispensable organization has helped young early music ensembles grow, secure funding, organize concerts, and build their audiences. John Thiessen has served as Executive Director from 2022 until early 2026. As GEMS enters a new chapter under new leadership, the Canadian-born musician reflects on how the organization became one of the driving forces behind the American early music scene.

by Francine Labelle 30 June 2026

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A New Golden Age for the Mandolin in Marseille

Focus

Mandol’in Marseille & Vincent Beer-Demander

A New Golden Age for the Mandolin in Marseille

From June 30 to July 6, Mandol’in Marseille returns for a sixth edition, honouring Vladimir Cosma. At the helm of the festival, Vincent Beer-Demander continues a long-term mission: restoring Marseille’s mandolin heritage, fostering dialogue between tradition, creation, and transmission, and demonstrating that an instrument long relegated to the margins can once again become a vibrant laboratory for musical innovation.

by Alexie Valois 24 June 2026

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Greg Skidmore: A Renaissance Man from Canada

Focus

The Canadian Renaissance Music Summer Schools

Greg Skidmore: A Renaissance Man from Canada

As a teenager in Canada in the 1990s, Greg Skidmore could not fully pursue his passion for Renaissance polyphony. Having since become a London-based baritone, he founded the Canadian Renaissance Music Summer Schools to offer others what he himself had lacked: the opportunity to study, sing and pass on this repertoire at the highest level.

by Fiona Hook 12 May 2026

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Valenciennes, a new stronghold of early music

Focus

A 20 Years Old Baroque Project

Valenciennes, a new stronghold of early music

In Valenciennes, northern France, Yannick Lemaire and the ensemble Harmonia Sacra have been spearheading the festival “Embar(o)quement immédiat” for the past twenty years (anniversary edition, 6–31 May), and more recently an ambitious project to establish a music centre at the Hôtel de Barneville. In this former mining region, could the city be emerging as a major new hub for early music?

by Victoria Okada 20 April 2026

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Bach on Ice: -55°C can’t stop the (early) music

Focus

Yukon Early Music (Canada)

Bach on Ice: -55°C can’t stop the (early) music

Beyond the aurora borealis that have made the Yukon region in Canada’s Far North famous, other lights appeared in 2025: those of Yukon Early Music, an emerging music scene, and a small community determined to promote early music in these freezing cold lands (-55°C!), making a different kind of name for the territory.

by Ivy Lerner-Frank 29 January 2026

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Focus

Hannah French

Writing “The Four Seasons”

What if The Four Seasons were not just a classical hit, but a time to be experienced through writing? In her book The Rolling Year, Hannah French explores Vivaldi through the rhythm of the months, landscapes and the listening body. An investigation where music, seasons and experience respond to each other, far from abstraction.

by Hannah French 1 January 2026

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When Toronto Plays Host to a 340-Year-Old Special Guest!

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Tafelmusik’s Sing-Along Messiah Tradition

When Toronto Plays Host to a 340-Year-Old Special Guest!

Every December, Toronto sees Handel return from beyond the grave to conduct Messiah, roared at full voice by 2,700 spectators. With its legendary Sing-Along, Tafelmusik transforms the 1741 oratorio into a collective celebration where history, humour, and musical fervour collide like nowhere else. Our contributor Kate Helsen, a member of the Tafelmusik Choir for over 20 years, describes the unique event.

by Kate Helsen 18 December 2025

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Focus

“Crosswinds”, or how to reinvent Renaissance dance

Previously unknown 14th-century Italian scores discovered in an accounting register

The Boccherini Quartets: The Making of a Recording

Alessandro Stradella: The ‘Bad Boy’ of Italian Baroque?

Hildegard von Bingen: From the Rhine Valley to the United States

GEMS, The Quiet Force Behind New York’s Early Music Community

A New Golden Age for the Mandolin in Marseille

Greg Skidmore: A Renaissance Man from Canada

Valenciennes, a new stronghold of early music

Bach on Ice: -55°C can’t stop the (early) music

Writing “The Four Seasons”

When Toronto Plays Host to a 340-Year-Old Special Guest!