Burlington Baroque announces the first annual Burlington Baroque Festival to be held Thursday, September 26th through Sunday, September 29th, 2024. Festival Artists-in-Residence Ensemble L’Harmonie des saisons and the Burlington Baroque Festival Singers will present five performances under the direction of conductor Eric Milnes, to be held at Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 2 Cherry Street, Burlington, Vermont.

Ensemble L’Harmonie des saisons is one of North America’s most celebrated period instrument baroque ensembles. Based in Montréal, Québec, they have been the recipients of two Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammy) for CD of the Year in 2016 and 2021, two Opus Prizes for CD of the Year in 2018 and 2022, and numerous awards such as Apple Music CD of the Month, CBC Radio CD of the Year, and Fanfare Magazine (Germany) CD of the Month. Founded 15 years ago by co-directors Mélisande Corriveau and Eric Milnes, the baroque specialists have been presented on tour in France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, Poland, Latvia, Turkey, Chile, Bolivia, Japan, China and all across North America. In December 2022 they were selected to represent North America in Euro-Radio’s annual Christmas Broadcast, presented all throughout Europe on national radio networks. In the last two seasons, they have presented six sold-out performances to Burlington audiences of works such as Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, and Charpentier’s Messe des morts.

In presenting performances at the Burlington Baroque Festival, 2024, they will be collaborating with the newly constituted Burlington Baroque Festival Singers, a vocal ensemble of hand-picked professional and avocational early music enthusiasts from across the state of Vermont. Under the direction of Eric Milnes, they gather for short-term periods of immersive preparation for the performances in which they are engaged. Their shared love for the early music repertoire and their enthusiasm for partnering with an ensemble of the stature of L’Harmonie des saisons have provided the impulse for their gathering as a partnering organization. Under Eric Milnes’ direction, they are filling the need for a professional-level vocal ensemble in the region that dedicates itself to the great vocal repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, and which takes a singularly vigorous and expressive approach to a vocal style appropriate for the music of the period.