From 9 to 18 April 2026, the Institut français d’Écosse in Edinburgh is delighted to present the second edition of its Baroque Music Festival.
After a highly successful first edition, the Baroque Music Festival returns with an inspiring new theme: Europe. Across five exceptional concerts, the festival invites you on a rich musical voyage through the great Baroque traditions of France, England, Scotland, and Italy. This edition celebrates the diversity of European musical identities, revealing how composers shaped distinctive national styles while influencing one another across borders.
To inaugurate the Baroque Music Festival, the Institut français d’Écosse will host a screening of Philippe Béziat‘s documentary “Indes galantes” which follows thirty dancers at the Paris Opera as they prepare for a bold reinterpretation of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Baroque masterpiece Les Indes galantes. Directed by Clément Cogitore and choreographed by Bintou Dembélé, the production fuses krumping, breaking, popping, and voguing.
Our first concert at the Institut français d’Écosse will feature Dublin-based classical guitarist Alexander Krylov, in partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. After studying with Andrii Kryzhanivskii, and Marco Ramelli in the TUD Junior Conservatoire, he moved to Glasgow to study in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Alexander Krylov will present a solo programme including works by Bach, Scarlatti and Couperin.
Founded by Robin Pharo, the Ensemble Près de votre oreille seeks to revive the creative world of late-16th-century English song using period instruments, Renaissance lute, viols, virginal, and cittern, augmented by newly written lyra-viol parts. The French Ensemble will grace the stage of Reid Concert Hall in Edinburgh, offering an evening of musical splendour in this historic venue.
Amarillis, the Ensemble led by flautist Héloïse Gaillard, is acclaimed for its 23 recordings and international tours. Joined by Eleanor Lewis (bass viol) and Jeanne Jourquin (harpsichord), Héloïse Gaillard will perform works by Anne Danican Philidor, François Couperin, Gaultier de Marseille, Robert de Visée, Jacques Duphly, and Michel De La Barre at the Reid Concert Hall in Edinburgh.
For his concert at the Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh, Musical Director of the Dunedin Consort, John Butt guides us on a musical journey across Baroque Europe—from Frescobaldi’s imaginative Italy and the elegance of Couperin and Rameau in France, to Purcell’s introspective England, and finally to Germany, where Froberger and Bach bring the era to its height.
The Festival will draw to a close with a dazzling Italian evening, organised in partnership with the Consulate General of Italy in Edinburgh and the Italian Institute of Culture. Monika d’Ermo will perform a selection of Baroque works with a focus on Italian composers, followed by Cenacolo Musicale presenting a captivating programme of arias by 18th-century Italian composer Francesco Barsanti, enriched by interludes from Scottish composers of the same era. This evening at the Institut français d’Écosse will feature an interval during which guests are invited to enjoy a drink.
PROGRAMME
Screening of “Indes galantes”, a documentary by Philippe Béziat | Wednesday 8 April | 2pm and 6pm | Institut français d’Écosse, Edinburgh | Free/£5
RCS presents: Alexander Krylov in concert | Thursday 9 April | 7pm | Institut français d’Écosse, Edinburgh | £10/£12
Blessed Echoes by Ensemble Près de votre oreille | Friday 10 April | 7pm | Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh | £12/£15
Jeux de Dames: A portrait of Love, concert by Ensemble Amarillis | Tuesday 14 April | 7pm | Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh | £12/£15
John Butt in concert | Thursday 16 April | 7pm | Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh | £12/£15
Italian Baroque: Monika d’Ermo Recital and Cenacolo Musicale | Saturday 18 April | 5.30pm | Institut français d’Écosse | £16/£20
Venue: Institut français d’Écosse, W Parliament Square, Edinburgh EH1 1RN
Contact
- Julia Bregeron, Communications Coordinator
julia.bregeron@institut-francais.org.uk / 013 1285 6029