ARS at the Boston Early Music Festival



The Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) was held June 4-11, 2023.
Since 1981, the Boston Early Music Festival has established itself as an international leader in the field of Early Music. BEMF presents a wealth of diverse programs and activities, including superb productions of Baroque opera, award-winning recordings, an annual concert season that brings the field’s brightest stars to Boston and New York City, and North America’s leading festival for Early Music. 

The American Recorder Society’s Recorder Relay was held at BEMF on Friday, June 9, from 10am-2pm, in the Guild Room of the Old South Church. This celebration of the recorder community was, as always, replete with terrific performances and a fascinating variety of styles and interpretations. Read more details about the 2023 Relay and award presentations here. 
   
The Recorder Relay is always free and open to the general public.  Performers are not compensated, but it truly is a fun chance to gather as a community and share our collective talents and passions. You can see a compilation of past performances here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8TQUGypf24
 
Read here about three young people from New Jersey who performed as part of Montclair Early Music's RecorderKids program. 

In short order, this year's performances on the ARS website and in the Events playlist will be found on the ARS YouTube channel

Following the Relay, there was a reception and presentation of the ARS Distinguished Achievement Award honoring Nina Stern, and Presidential Special Honor Award honoring Clea Gahlano. The two professionals favored the Relay audience by playing two duets. One of them, the Vivace from G.Ph. Telemann’s canonic sonata no. 1 in B flat major, can be viewed on the ARS YouTube channel here.
 
Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped make the Recorder Relay and Awards Presentation happen: first and foremost Bonnie Kelly, as well as Jamie Allen and Henia Pransky.