The boundaries between real and imagined, past and future, aspiration and fear become blurred when we dream. For centuries, this nebulous tideland of imagination has fuelled ideas for countless pieces of art and music, new inventions and alternative fantastical universes, and provided the backdrop for idealised visions of change.
This year’s Festival explores dreams of many kinds, united by an underlying theme: a dream of home.
Be inspired by the collective dreams of Renaissance Florence in our opening concert, City of Dreams. The One Song exhibition at Fabrica sees Brighton’s refugee and migrant communities sharing songs from home and celebrating the power of music to express identity, build community and connect cultures.
This year we launch a new event, Dream Lab, inspired by Shakespeare’s phrase ‘we are such stuff as dreams are made on’, with three mini-concerts trialling new performance ideas and inviting audience feedback.
We explore the dreamworld of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with the London Handel Players and our Emerging Artists soloists, and the Emerging Artists ensembles continue the theme in our annual Showcase and Clubnight.
Lean into the darkness of Dowland’s dreamworld during our Dowland Day with three concerts: Kieran White joins Republic of Viols for music of melancholy and longing, Dowland’s Foundry explores insomnia, and Ruby Hughes and Jonas Nordberg bring the day to a close with a late-night concert at Fabrica.
The Festival concludes by returning to themes of home and belonging with Utopia Ensemble and philosopher Philipp Blom, whose specially commissioned texts reflect on these ideas through the lives of migrants in Renaissance Europe.
Hannah Ely and Olwen Foulkes Co-Artistic Directors
Funders and partners:
Brighton Early Music Festival gratefully acknowledges support from our Festival Friends and individual donors; Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants; and charitable trusts including the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, Thriplow Charitable Trust, Fidelio Charitable Trust, The Marchus Trust and The Behrens Foundation. Individual event sponsors are indicated next to the relevant event, and we are also grateful to funders who have confirmed support after this brochure went to print.
Technical support and lighting design for all Festival events provided by Natalie Rowland and Pitch Black.
Hannah Ely
19 September-1 October
Opportunities to get involved including workshops for singers & instrumentalists; baroque dance workshops; early music open mic; Lullabies family event.
Weekend 1: 2-4 October
Florentine renaissance and invention in City of Dreams; OAE TOTS; an orchestral exploration of planets with Spiritato; experimental performances in the ‘Dream Lab’.
Weekend 2: 8-11 October
Launch of One Song exhibition at Fabrica; Purcell’s The Fairy Queen; Emerging Artists Showcase & Clubnight; Artemis Consort with a new female perspective on a 15th-century novel.
Weekend 3: 15-18 October
Exploring the myth of the ballad with The Fine Hand; lute songs and music for viols celebrating Dowland Day; medieval recorder music with Ymnus.
Weekend 4: 23-25 October
Franciscan song with BREMF Community Choir; lunchtime Tartini with Nocturnalia; stories of migration and hope with Utopia Ensemble; end of festival SongPath walk.
Chris Christodoulou
Saturday 19 September
POLYPHONY CRAWL
Free, short performances by BREMF Consort of Voices in four churches around the city.
11am St Paul’s Church West Street
12.30pm St Luke’s Church Queen’s Park
2.15pm Holy Cross Church Woodingdean
3.30pm St Margaret’s Church Rottingdean
No need to book. See website for further details.
Sunday 20 September, 11am-4.30pm Exeter Street Hall
CHORAL WORKSHOP
Led by Donald Greig
A workshop for singers exploring Florentine Renaissance polyphony, featuring music by Dufay, Isaac and Verdelot.
Registration: £20; for half price places see back cover
Sunday 20 September, 2pm Komedia Studio
LABORATORY
OF LULLABIES
Noodle Music led by Naomi Burrell
Join us for an immersive event that invites families to connect through the timeless tradition of lullabies. Whether you’re a parent with young children, a grandparent sharing cherished memories, or an adult bringing an elderly relative, this event is designed for everyone to enjoy together. Laboratory of Lullabies features enchanting night-time music from baroque and folk traditions, brought to life by an ensemble of local and international musicians performing on period instruments.
Tickets: £8; under 12s free
Saturday 26 September, 11am-4.30pm
St John’s Church, Knoyle Road
INSTRUMENTAL WORKSHOP
Led by William Lyons
A workshop for players of Renaissance woodwind, brass and strings at A=440 exploring the rich musical cultures of court and civic ceremony in Shakespeare’s London, and that of the Venetian genius of Giovanni Gabrieli and his generation.
Registration: £20; for half price places see back cover
Sunday 27 September, 10.30am-1.30pm & 2.30pm-5.30pm, The Dance Space
BAROQUE DANCE WORKSHOPS
Led by Mary Collins & Fernando Santiago Serrano dos Santos
Explore the elegance and poise of baroque dance with leading specialist Mary Collins, joined by Fernando Santiago Serrano dos Santos. No dance experience needed, but participants should be comfortable taking part in a physical workshop.
Tickets: £10; for half price places see back cover
Thursday 1 October, 8pm, The Rose Hill
EARLY MUSIC OPEN MIC
Led by Emily Baines
After the success of last year’s event, Emily Baines returns to host another early music open mic and jam session at The Rose Hill. All are welcome, whether you have a song or piece to share (alone or with a group), or are just there to sit back and listen, enjoy a drink, and join in with some catches and rounds.
Tickets: Entry by donation but please pre-book to help us manage capacity
EVENT 6
Friday 2 October, 7pm
St George’s Church
CITY OF DREAMS
Monteverdi String Band
The Royal Sackbut Collective BREMF Consort of Voices
Pupils from Brighton Primary Schools
Saria Steyl writer, director
Daria Mazzocchio actor
An exploration of the cultural and musical development of Renaissance Florence, from the engineering challenges of constructing Brunelleschi’s dome in the early 15th century to the creation of the first-ever opera for the 1600 wedding of Maria de’ Medici. A narrator, taking the role of Maria will weave a story around how artistic innovation, civic ambition, and creative problem-solving shaped the identity of the original ‘city of dreams’, brought to life in music by Dufay, Verdelot, Isaac and Caccini.
Tickets: £25/£18; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (restricted view) tickets £5.
EVENT 7
Saturday 3 October, 10.30am & 12 noon, Brighton Unitarian Church
OAE TOTS
FAMILIES
A musical adventure with Don Quichotte Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Join us on an epic adventure with Don Quichotte as he dreams of fighting windmills with his faithful horse Rosinante and his errant servant Sancho Panza with his unreliable donkey. A chance for young music lovers to hear arrangements of Telemann’s Don Quichotte suite and meet the OAE wind family. Tickets: £8; under 12s free
The History Collection/Alamy
Roger King
EVENT 8
Saturday 3 October, 7.30pm, St Martin’s Church
THE PLANETS
Spiritato
Kinga Ujszászi director, violin
Tickets: £25/£18; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (standing) tickets £5.
Supported by Continuo Foundation
Festival regulars Spiritato bring us a celestial orchestral journey through the planets in a pre-imagining of Holst’s famous masterpiece. In this programme each planet’s character is portrayed through music of the 17th and 18th centuries evoking the same astrological archetypes that inspired Holst: finding peace, war, jollity, wisdom, magic, and mysticism in the music of Uccellini, Handel, Rameau and others.
EVENT 9
Sunday 4 October, 1.30pm-4.30pm, St Augustine’s Arts & Events Centre
DREAM LAB
Three new experimental early music performances interspersed with audience feedback sessions in the St Augustine’s café
Taking inspiration from the phrase ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on’, this project marks a new initiative for BREMF. This unique afternoon will feature three short performances of innovative projects in their early stages of creation, proposed and performed by established musicians in the early music field. Audiences will experience the first outings of these exciting projects and the afternoon includes collaborative feedback sessions between audience and artists.
Tickets: £20; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free.
One Song is an audio-visual installation and community archive by artist Kadir Karababa that explores how music carries memory, identity and a sense of home across borders. One Song in Brighton has been developed in partnership with BREMF and Fabrica, working with Brighton community groups to invite participants to share a song that transports them to the place they first called home. An associated programme of events helps bring the work to life – see bremf.org.uk/one-song for details.
EVENT 10 Friday 9 October, 7.30pm, St George’s Church
THE FAIRY QUEEN
London Handel Players
Adrian Butterfield director
BREMF Emerging Artists: Ruby Skilbeck soprano
Emma Warner soprano
Laura Toomey contralto
Hugo Williamson tenor
Allyn Wu baritone*
Tickets: free
London Handel Players young artists: Mercè Bruguera Abelló mezzo-soprano
Benedict Munden tenor
Fionn Ó hAlmhain bass
Mary Collins director, choreographer
Steven Player, Kath Waters, Anne Deller, Aya Robertson dancers
Emerging artists join seasoned professionals for Purcell’s much-loved setting of the spellbinding midsummer night’s dream evoked in Shakespeare’s play. Thwarted fairy king Oberon wreaks comic revenge on his queen, and the ensuing story is conjured up in a magical series of masques throughout this delightful semi-staged production.
* BREMF Emerging Artists 2025 alumnus
Tickets: £32/£25/£18; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (restricted view) tickets £5.
Ferdia
Durkin
Saturday 10 October, 3pm
St Paul’s Church
BREMF EMERGING ARTISTS SHOWCASE
Bruegel Consort
Les Acolytes
Themelion
Thow Cornwall Duo
Mentoring and developing emerging artists has always been a huge part of the ethos of BREMF, and this is your annual opportunity to hear the up and coming ensembles who have been selected for this year’s scheme. Each ensemble will present a 20-minute programme exploring this year’s Festival theme. Interval with tea and BREMF’s trademark home-made cakes
Tickets: £20; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (standing) tickets £5.
EVENT 12
Saturday 10 October, 8.30pm
The Rose Hill
BREMF CLUBNIGHT
Join the BREMF Emerging Artists ensembles for our popular relaxed evening of early music performance in the welcoming pub atmosphere of The Rose Hill.
Tickets: £25/£16*; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (standing) tickets £5. * £16 tickets may have a slightly restricted view
EVENT 13
Sunday 11 October, 7.30pm
St Paul’s Church
POLIA’S POWER
Artemis Consort
Enter the dream world of The Dream of Poliphilus, a remarkable Renaissance tale of desire and imagination. While the original story follows Poliphilus in pursuit of the elusive Polia, Artemis Consort retells the tale through her eyes, questioning the assumptions of the male gaze and giving voice to a previously silent character. Combining music contemporary with the novel, storytelling and live video art by Silvia Fabiani, this performance explores longing, agency and the female voice within a richly imagined dreamscape.
Robert Piwko
WEEKEND 3
EVENT 14
Thursday 15 October, 6.15pm-7.45pm, Fabrica
WORKSHOP:
TRANSFORM YOUR DREAMS
The Fine Hand Dreams typically come to us as images rather than words. Inspired by the visual score at the heart of Friday’s concert, Send it by the Water, and shaped by the performers’ own dreams and cultural traditions, this hands-on workshop invites you to transform your own dreamscape into symbols and images. Together, you’ll create unique graphic scores and bring them to life through music. No musical experience required.
Do arrive in time to view the free One Song exhibition to which this workshop connects. The exhibition is open until 6pm.
Tickets: £5; under 18s free
EVENT 15
Friday 16 October, 7.30pm St George’s Church
SEND IT BY THE WATER
The Fine Hand
How do songs carry memories of home across centuries and continents? In Send it by the Water, innovative ensemble The Fine Hand explores the connections between medieval European song and the ballad traditions of Appalachia. Blending historical performance, improvisation and folk traditions, they create a poignant journey through migration, memory, imagined homelands and the dreams we inherit.
Supported by the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists
Tickets: £25/£18; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (restricted view) tickets £5.
DOWLAND DAY
1pm, St Nicholas Church
DRAW ON, SWEET NIGHT
Kieran White tenor Republic of Viols
In the 400th anniversary year of John Dowland’s death, tenor Kieran White joins Republic of Viols for their first collaboration, exploring music of sleep, melancholy and dream-like vision. Alongside Dowland’s songs, the viol consort performs dances from Dowland’s Lachrimae, interwoven with music by Dowland’s contemporaries and a touch of French air de cour. Supported by Continuo Foundation
6.30pm, St Nicholas Church
NIGHTLY CARES: A PILGRIM’S SOLACE
Dowland’s Foundry
John Dowland’s fascination with night culminated in his fourth and final songbook, A Pilgrimes Solace (1612). Depicting a dark night of the soul, Dowland’s songbook can be seen as a navigation through anxiety and insomnia where faith and music lead towards dawn and a kind of stoical resolution. Dowland’s Foundry explores this extraordinary book through a contemporary mental health lens.
Tickets: £20; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (restricted view) tickets £5.
Tickets: £16; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (restricted view) tickets £5.
9pm, Fabrica
AMIDST THE SHADES
Ruby Hughes soprano Jonas Nordberg lute
Ruby Hughes and Jonas Nordberg make their festival debut in this captivating and nuanced programme that weaves songs by John Dowland with the music of Robert Johnson, John Danyel, Henry Purcell and Errollyn Wallen in an intimate and expressive late-night duo concert.
Tickets: £20; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (standing) tickets £5. Limited capacity
ALL DAY TICKETS 10% discount if you book tickets for all three events in one transaction and use promo code DOWLANDDAY
EVENT
Julian Guidera
Joe Oswald
GET CLOSER TO THE MUSIC
Join the Festival Friends from £40 and benefit from priority booking (all levels) and reserved seats (Silver Friends and above).
Find out more at bremf.org.uk/festival-friends or call 01273 833746
EVENT 20
Sunday 18 October, 6.30pm
St Nicholas Church
STARS OF THE NIGHT
Ymnus
Astrology was at the heart of the glittering court of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy (1396–1467). Court astrologers advised on medicine and politics, and even designed new musical instruments. Including music by Guillaume Dufay, this programme for three recorders and other medieval instruments focuses on Henri Arnaut de Zwolle whose work captures the Burgundian fascination with linking science, healing and music. Includes some of the earliest surviving keyboard intabulations and courtly songs of love-sickness and remedy.
EVENT 19
Sunday 18 October, 1pm-4pm
The Rose Hill
INSTRUMENTAL WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP
Led by Olwen Foulkes
The BREMF 415 baroque workshop orchestra was founded in 2018 to give Sussex-based amateur musicians the opportunity to come together monthly under the guidance of Julia Bishop.
Led by festival co-artistic director Olwen Foulkes, this workshop will give amateur players of instruments at A=415 a chance to explore some baroque chamber music repertoire together with like-minded enthusiasts. Both members and non-members of the BREMF 415 baroque workshop orchestra are welcome.
Registration: £10; for half price places see back cover
Tickets: £20; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (restricted view) tickets £5.
From the British Library collection:
Christine and the
Sybil pointing to a ladder from the heavens , Harley MS 4431
f.189v
21
Friday 23 October, 7.30pm
St Paul’s Church
BROTHER SUN
Medieval and Renaissance song for St Francis BREMF Community Choir
Andrew Robinson director Patrizia Bovi voice
Leah Stuttard voice, harp & keyboard
Marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi, BREMF Community Choir presents medieval and Renaissance sacred song on Franciscan themes and by Franciscan composers. They are joined by Patrizia Bovi from Assisi, a leading interpreter of medieval Italian song. Led by Leah Stuttard on bray harp, they recall a world where Francis’ dreams and music intertwined.
Tickets: £20; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (standing) tickets £5.
Saturday 24 October, 10.30am-11.30am, Fabrica
FAMILY SINGING WORKSHOP
Led by Hannah Ely
A singing workshop for all the family: festival co-artistic director Hannah Ely will lead you through songs about home, sleep and dreamworlds. Bring your primary aged children or grandchildren along to this fun, interactive singing workshop which is open to all.
Saturday
24 October, 1pm
St Paul’s Church
WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT
The Malcolm Rose Concert Nocturnalia
BREMF Emerging Artists alumni Nocturnalia return with a programme inspired by the story of Tartini’s extraordinary ‘Devil’s Trill’ Sonata. When the devil visited Tartini in a dream, he played a sonata so sublime and devilishly difficult that Tartini awoke and attempted to transcribe it. The resulting composition is one of his finest, though Tartini still considered it a pale shadow of the music he heard in his sleep. Supported by Continuo Foundation EVENT 22 EVENT 23
Tickets: £5 per family
Tickets: £16; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (standing) tickets £5.
Harley Strong
Roberto Vaccai
Kristia
Michael
Patrick Ribeiro
EVENT
Saturday 24 October, 7.30pm St Martin’s Church
IN TERRA ALIENA
The Deborah Roberts Concert Utopia Ensemble
Philipp Blom writer & narrator
Inspired by Thomas More’s Utopia, written in Antwerp, In Terra Aliena explores humanity’s enduring search for an ideal home. The award-winning Utopia Ensemble weaves FrancoFlemish 16th-century polyphony by Lassus, Isaac and Clemens with specially commissioned texts by acclaimed philosopher and historian Philipp Blom, spoken by the author himself. Together, music and words create a powerful meditation on belonging, hope and the dream of a better world.
Tickets: £25/£18; for half price tickets see back cover; under 12s free. Prom (standing) tickets £5.
Supported by the Delegation of Flanders to the UK and Ireland
25
Sunday 25 October, 10.30am, Fabrica
COFFEE MORNING DISCUSSION
Philosopher and author Philipp Blom reflects on one of humanity’s most enduring dreams: the search for a place to belong. Inspired by Saturday’s concert In Terra Aliena and the themes of his specially commissioned texts, this informal coffee morning conversation explores home, identity, utopia and hope, with audience discussion welcomed throughout.
Tickets: £8 to include coffee and cake
EVENT 26
Sunday 25 October, 1.30pm-3.30pm, Stanmer Park (meet outside Stanmer House from 1.15pm)
SONGPATH WALK
We round off the 2026 Festival with a SongPath walk for the whole community. An opportunity to explore nature, singing and wellbeing, ending with a glass of apple juice in Home Farm Orchard courtesy of Brighton Permaculture Trust. See website for more details including accessibility.
Tickets: £10; under 12s free
Aleksandra Renska
Sarah-Louise Burns
EVENT
2026 EVENTS
BOOKING INFORMATION
TICKETS
Friends booking from Wednesday 22 July Public booking from Monday 3 August
Seats are not numbered and are unreserved within price bands, but for most events we provide a seat reservation service for Festival Friends at Silver level and above. Find out more at bremf.org.uk/festival-friends
Tickets will be sold online at bremf.org.uk (£1 transaction fee) or by post (£2 transaction fee). Postal booking form available to download or call 01273 833746. Half price concession tickets are available for young people (aged 12-29 inclusive), full-time students, and those in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit (but not state pension alone). Free tickets are available for children under 12 and carers. For access queries please contact jenny@bremf.org.uk or call 01273 833746.
Season Ticket Discount: Bookings for 6 or more main festival concerts (Events 6-24 excluding Events 7, 12, 14, 19 & 22) in one transaction will receive a 10% discount. £5 Prom tickets will be available online from 1 October and on the door. This admits you to a standing place or restricted view seat depending on the venue.
Workshops: Pre-registration is essential. Deadlines are given on the website but in all cases booking may be closed earlier if all places have been allocated. We regret that tickets can only be refunded if the event is cancelled or in exceptional circumstances. Full T&C can be found at bremf.org.uk/terms-and-conditions
VENUES
St George’s Church, BN2 1ED
St Martin’s Church, BN2 3HQ
St Paul’s Church, BN1 2RE
St Nicholas Church, BN1 3LJ
The Rose Hill, BN1 4JL Fabrica, BN1 1AG
Brighton Unitarian Church, BN1 1UF
Komedia, BN1 1UN
The Dance Space, BN2 9AS
Exeter Street Hall, BN1 5PG
Stanmer Park, Falmer, BN1 9QA
St John’s Church, BN1 6RB
St Augustine’s Arts & Events Centre, BN1 6EA
Please see bremf.org.uk for full details of how to find each venue, including public transport and parking information. Doors open 45 minutes beforehand for evening concerts and 30 minutes beforehand for other events.
