Violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and lutenist Thomas Dunford fathom the depths of musical melancholy and scale the heights of virtuosity, exploring the rich musical landscape of 17th-century England, a time when the brilliance and exuberance of the Italian style was making its mark on English composition.

Mad Lover

Smith Square Hall

Since its founding, the Ensemble Théodora has explored the ties between European nations at the turn of the 18th century. This program celebrates the creativity of European composers who settled in London in the 17th and early 18th centuries.

A Tour of Europe in the 18th Century

Église Saint-Christophe

Since its founding, the Ensemble Théodora has explored the connections between European nations at the turn of the eighteenth century. This program celebrates the creativity of European composers who settled in London in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

A Tour of Eighteenth-Century Europe

Église Saint-Bernard

Shifting Ground weaves together pieces for solo violin and violin/electronics by J.S. Bach and composers of other eras to form a program with dramatic arc, flow, and scope. Violinist Alexi Kenney's creative forces are combined with new media artist Xuan in an immersive multidisciplinary program that joins solo violin works from the 18th to 21st centuries with boundary-pushing projection art. Music by J.S. Bach and Nicola Matteis flows seamlessly into works by new voices such as Rafiq Bhatia and Angélica Negrón, as Xuan conjures immersive, imaginative landscapes in response.

EPSG:4326

Shifting Ground

Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center

2025 San Francisco Bach Festival Program II

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

During Bach’s composing years, French style and culture were highly influential in Germany, considered to add a refined touch to fashion, music, and more. So it is that French grace notes, like the rhythms of court dances, found their way into the music of a composer who never visited the country. Yet, as always, in his habit of exploring other genres and composers—he was known as a particular admirer of Couperin—Bach emerged as a distinctive voice. “What I call the French foam in Sebastian Bach’s music cannot—I must admit—be so readily lifted off that you can lay your hands on it. It is like ether: it permeates all, yet it is intangible,” German composer Karl Freidrich Zelter wrote in 1827, adding “his style is typically Bach, as is everything about him.”

J.S. Bach and the French Baroque

Carnegie Hall

Violinist Rakhi Singh performs works by Edmund Finnis, Julia Wolfe, Julius Eastman, Alex Groves, and more from her debut solo album, ‘Purnima’. A leading artist in the UK’s exciting contemporary classical music scene, Singh has firmly established her reputation touring with cutting-edge artists such as Phillip Glass, Abel Selaocoe, and the London Contemporary Orchestra. She is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Manchester Collective, the award-winning ensemble known for its daring collaborations and engaging performances in spaces ranging from concert halls to warehouses, nightclubs to festivals.

Sounds of Now: Purnima Eastman, Wolfe & Singh

Portsmouth Guildhall

Treat yourself to a fabulous and intimate baroque performance by Le Consort, the Paris-based preeminent ensemble. Le Consort is co-directed by violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte who is recognized globally as one of the foremost baroque violinists, the virtuosic harpsichordist Justin Taylor, and Baroque violinist Sophie de Bardonnèche; and joined by cellist Hanna Salzenstein. These four accomplished musicians, all under the age of 30, approach the chamber baroque repertoire with fervent dedication, genuine sincerity, and a touch of modernity. Their collective mission is to unite compelling musical personalities in the pursuit of chamber music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Le Consort

Seventh-day Adventist Church

‘A good voice… [is a] gift… so rare there is not one among a thousand that hath it’, wrote William Byrd in 1588. This didn’t put off singers wishing to try their luck: songbooks became hugely popular around the turn of the 17th century, most notably John Dowland’s groundbreaking First Booke of Songs or Ayres (1597).
This was music for performers to make their own. These works have a strongly operatic flavour, blending poetry and music to create intensely expressive drama that goes straight to the listener’s heart. Highlights include Purcell’s masterpiece In guilty night, which is held in the Academy’s Spencer Collection.

Resounding Shores: Songs, Scenes and Dialogues

Royal Academy of Music

While Shakespeare was defining English poetry and drama, Dowland was doing the same for English song. After Dowland, the influence of the Italians led to the magnificent achievements of Henry Purcell, arguably the greatest English composer of all time. GRAMMY-winning lutenist Stephen Stubbs, soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah and violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock, explore the golden age of English song through works by John Dowland, William Lawes, Henry Purcell and others—where time may indeed stand still.

Time Stands Still: English Lute Songs

St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church (Corona del Mar, CA)

KONTRAPUNKTUS returns this January with five winter performances of its new, glorious production, “THE LONDONERS: An English Baroque Salute,” which spotlights the brilliant musical artistry of British, Scottish, and Irish composers during the Baroque era, including George Frideric Handel, William Boyce, Charles Avison, Carl Friedrich Abel, and Henry Purcell.

Kontrapunktus Presents The Londoners: An English Baroque Salute

St Ambrose Catholic Church

Ryan Cheng, Baroque Violin

The Juilliard School

Join us for an enchanting afternoon with Le Consort on Sunday, October 13th, at 3:30 pm, hosted at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium, located at 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91106. This remarkable ensemble, celebrated for their ravishing, exhilarating, and uniquely beautiful performances, will take you on a musical journey from Naples to London, featuring works by illustrious composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, and Antonio Vivaldi, among others.

Founded in 2017 and quickly rising to acclaim by winning both First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Loire Valley International Early Music Competition, Le Consort specializes in illuminating the compelling musical personalities of the 17th and 18th centuries. Their mission is to showcase the rich dialogue between two violins and the basso continuo, revealing a wealth of contrasts in vocality, sensuality, and virtuosity. Through their performances, they bring the quintessence of the Baroque to life with a personal, dynamic, and colorful language.

The program promises a captivating exploration of Baroque music, with pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, John Eccles, Nicola Matteis, Mrs. Philharmonica, Henry Purcell, Francesco Maria Veracini, and Antonio Vivaldi. This event is a must-attend for lovers of early music and those looking to experience the depth and beauty of chamber music from the Baroque period.

Tickets are available for order now. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness the artistry of Le Consort in the beautiful setting of Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium. Join us for an afternoon of exquisite music that promises to be both enlightening and inspiring.

California Institute of Technology

A violin, a lute, and the dazzling alchemy of two kindred spirits delving into the somber waters of 17th - century English melancholy . The Mad Lover is an inconsolable lover, a tutelary figure around whom the violinists of Charles II's court gravitated, following in the footsteps of the flamboyant Nicola Matteis. Arriving from Italy with his radiant virtuosity and free-flowing style, Matteis revolutionized England, and his captivating melodies still resonate in popular music today. This sensitive and moving program is performed by two virtuoso musicians, among the most talented of the new baroque music scene: violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and lutenist Thomas Dunford.

Nicola Matteis

Events

Upcoming events

Jan 7, 2027

Mad Lover · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Past events

Oct 28, 2026

Mad Lover · Sinfonia Smith Square

Jul 9, 2026

A Tour of Europe in the 18th Century · Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier

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