Dunedin Consort

The first in a major, six-part International Festival concert series, exploring the complete keyboard concertos by J S Bach performed here by Aapo Häkkinen and Mahan Esfahani. Some of today’s finest harpsichordists join forces with the exceptional players of Scotland’s Dunedin Consort for a major, six-part International Festival concert series, exploring the complete keyboard concertos – for one, two, three and four harpsichords – by J S Bach. Five of the concerts take place in the remarkable surroundings of Edinburgh’s intimate St Cecilia’s…

The second in a major, six-part International Festival concert series, exploring the complete keyboard concertos by J S Bach performed here by Mahan Esfahani. The second of six concerts in the International Festival’s complete survey of J S Bach’s keyboard concertos features a work that’s rarely heard. Bach left just a fragment of his D minor Concerto BWV 1059 completed, but the exceptional Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani has reconstructed the work and performs his interpretation with musicians from Scotland’s fine Dunedin Consort.…

The third in a major, six-part International Festival concert series, exploring the complete keyboard concertos by J S Bach performed here by Masato Suzuki. In a very special six-concert series at International Festival 2019, some of today’s most exceptional harpsichord players join the fine musicians of Scotland’s Dunedin Consort for a complete survey of J S Bach’s keyboard concertos. Brilliant Dutch/Japanese harpsichordist Masato Suzuki is one of today’s most incisive, elegant players. Alongside works for solo keyboard, he performs Bach’s spirited, energetic…

The fourth in a major, six-part International Festival concert series, exploring the complete keyboard concertos by J S Bach performed here by Christine Schornsheim and Andreas Staier. Two of Germany’s most renowned harpsichordists join the exceptional musicians of Scotland’s Dunedin Consort for the fourth in the International Festival’s major six-concert survey of J S Bach’s complete keyboard concertos. Both highly respected for their fluency, energy and sparkling keyboard agility, Christine Schornsheim and Andreas Staier perform Bach’s intense A major Concerto BWV 1055, and…

The fifth in a major, six-part International Festival concert series, exploring the complete keyboard concertos by J S Bach performed here by Richard Egarr and Diego Ares. A charismatic, captivating musician, Richard Egarr – currently Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music, and a regular and much-loved International Festival visitor – imbues all he performs with a sense of joy, adventure and searching intellect. He’s joined by fast-rising young Spanish harpsichordist Diego Ares in the fifth of the International Festival’s six-concert survey…

The International Festival’s six-concert survey of J S Bach’s complete keyboard concertos comes to a spectacular conclusion in The Queen’s Hall. The International Festival’s six-concert survey of J S Bach’s complete keyboard concertos moves from St Cecilia’s Hall to a spectacular conclusion in The Queen’s Hall. Four of today's most exciting, renowned harpsichordists make a rare appearance together alongside musicians from Scotland’s magnificent Dunedin Consort, in Bach’s remarkable concertos for three and four keyboards – from the virtuosic brilliance of…

Performances that entertain, amuse, provoke and surprise: Scotland’s Dunedin Consort is one of the world’s finest early music ensembles, its fleet, fresh music-making directed with exceptional vigour by harpsichordist and scholar John Butt. Bringing the Queen’s Hall series to a gloriously theatrical close, the Dunedin players and Butt offer a rare chance to experience the closest J S Bach ever came to opera, in two larger-than-life cantatas. Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde depicts a bitterly fought song contest between Apollo and Pan…

This autumn, we return to Dunedin’s roots to present another series of performances given by our a cappella consort. Directed by Nicholas Mulroy, one of Dunedin’s core singers, the programme is centred around sixteenth-century Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria’s hauntingly beautiful Requiem, and includes music by his contemporaries Alonso Lobo and Orlando Gibbons. Works by living composers James MacMillan, Roderick Williams and Cecilia McDowall complete the programme, offering contemporary reflections on the inescapable and intrinsic themes that define our…

This autumn, we return to Dunedin’s roots to present another series of performances given by our a cappella consort. Directed by Nicholas Mulroy, one of Dunedin’s core singers, the programme is centred around sixteenth-century Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria’s hauntingly beautiful Requiem, and includes music by his contemporaries Alonso Lobo and Orlando Gibbons. Works by living composers James MacMillan, Roderick Williams and Cecilia McDowall complete the programme, offering contemporary reflections on the inescapable and intrinsic themes that define our…

This autumn, we return to Dunedin’s roots to present another series of performances given by our a cappella consort. Directed by Nicholas Mulroy, one of Dunedin’s core singers, the programme is centred around sixteenth-century Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria’s hauntingly beautiful Requiem, and includes music by his contemporaries Alonso Lobo and Orlando Gibbons. Works by living composers James MacMillan, Roderick Williams and Cecilia McDowall complete the programme, offering contemporary reflections on the inescapable and intrinsic themes that define our…

It’s no surprise that Handel’s Messiah continues to draw audiences back year after year. Put simply, there is nothing quite like it. Although the Hallelujah chorus has become its best-known excerpt, Handel wrote every note to impress and astound his listeners. Its choruses are as grand as anything Handel ever composed, the solo writing profoundly moving, the drama powerful and compelling. Performed ‘the Dunedin way’ as Handel would have first heard it, with a small orchestra, a team of twelve…

It’s no surprise that Handel’s Messiah continues to draw audiences back year after year. Put simply, there is nothing quite like it. Although the Hallelujah chorus has become its best-known excerpt, Handel wrote every note to impress and astound his listeners. Its choruses are as grand as anything Handel ever composed, the solo writing profoundly moving, the drama powerful and compelling. Performed ‘the Dunedin way’ as Handel would have first heard it, with a small orchestra, a team of twelve…

It’s no surprise that Handel’s Messiah continues to draw audiences back year after year. Put simply, there is nothing quite like it. Although the Hallelujah chorus has become its best-known excerpt, Handel wrote every note to impress and astound his listeners. Its choruses are as grand as anything Handel ever composed, the solo writing profoundly moving, the drama powerful and compelling. Performed ‘the Dunedin way’ as Handel would have first heard it, with a small orchestra, a team of twelve…

Fun for all the family is guaranteed in our interactive 45-minute concerts specifically devised for children which will include all the best tunes from Handel’s Messiah. You can even expect an appearance from Handel himself to introduce his most famous melodies…! No age restriction. Adults with tickets to the evening performance of Handel’s Messiah go free to this event.

It’s no surprise that Handel’s Messiah continues to draw audiences back year after year. Put simply, there is nothing quite like it. Although the Hallelujah chorus has become its best-known excerpt, Handel wrote every note to impress and astound his listeners. Its choruses are as grand as anything Handel ever composed, the solo writing profoundly moving, the drama powerful and compelling. Performed ‘the Dunedin way’ as Handel would have first heard it, with a small orchestra, a team of twelve…

Fun for all the family is guaranteed in our interactive 45-minute concerts specifically devised for children which will include all the best tunes from Handel’s Messiah. You can even expect an appearance from Handel himself to introduce his most famous melodies…! No age restriction. Adults with tickets to the evening performance of Handel’s Messiah go free to this event.

It’s no surprise that Handel’s Messiah continues to draw audiences back year after year. Put simply, there is nothing quite like it. Although the Hallelujah chorus has become its best-known excerpt, Handel wrote every note to impress and astound his listeners. Its choruses are as grand as anything Handel ever composed, the solo writing profoundly moving, the drama powerful and compelling. Performed ‘the Dunedin way’ as Handel would have first heard it, with a small orchestra, a team of twelve…

So named because they were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the most sumptuous and virtuosic instrumental writing in all of his output. Each is composed for a different line-up, from the intimacy of concertos 3 and 6, composed for strings alone, to the bombastic splendour of Nos. 1 and 2, with their blazing trumpet and horns. Join us as we explore these astonishing instrumental jewels, presented in their entirety (in…

So named because they were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the most sumptuous and virtuosic instrumental writing in all of his output. Each is composed for a different line-up, from the intimacy of concertos 3 and 6, composed for strings alone, to the bombastic splendour of Nos. 1 and 2, with their blazing trumpet and horns. Join us as we explore these astonishing instrumental jewels, presented in their entirety (in…

So named because they were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the most sumptuous and virtuosic instrumental writing in all of his output. Each is composed for a different line-up, from the intimacy of concertos 3 and 6, composed for strings alone, to the bombastic splendour of Nos. 1 and 2, with their blazing trumpet and horns. Join us as we explore these astonishing instrumental jewels, presented in their entirety (in…

So named because they were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the most sumptuous and virtuosic instrumental writing in all of his output. Each is composed for a different line-up, from the intimacy of concertos 3 and 6, composed for strings alone, to the bombastic splendour of Nos. 1 and 2, with their blazing trumpet and horns. Join us as we explore these astonishing instrumental jewels, presented in their entirety (in…

So named because they were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the most sumptuous and virtuosic instrumental writing in all of his output. Each is composed for a different line-up, from the intimacy of concertos 3 and 6, composed for strings alone, to the bombastic splendour of Nos. 1 and 2, with their blazing trumpet and horns. Join us as we explore these astonishing instrumental jewels, presented in their entirety (in…

So named because they were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the most sumptuous and virtuosic instrumental writing in all of his output. Each is composed for a different line-up, from the intimacy of concertos 3 and 6, composed for strings alone, to the bombastic splendour of Nos. 1 and 2, with their blazing trumpet and horns. Join us as we explore these astonishing instrumental jewels, presented in their entirety (in…

In a Dunedin Consort first, we team up with our friends at the Scottish Ensemble to perform James MacMillan’s searing setting of the dying words of Jesus Christ. Premiered by Scottish Ensemble 25 years ago, it has since acquired a central place in the repertoire, connecting with audiences the world over through its astonishing emotional power. Whatever your beliefs, hearing Seven Last Words from the Cross is a transformative experience, one that lingers long after the final note sounds. Juxtaposing…

In a Dunedin Consort first, we team up with our friends at the Scottish Ensemble to perform James MacMillan’s searing setting of the dying words of Jesus Christ. Premiered by Scottish Ensemble 25 years ago, it has since acquired a central place in the repertoire, connecting with audiences the world over through its astonishing emotional power. Whatever your beliefs, hearing Seven Last Words from the Cross is a transformative experience, one that lingers long after the final note sounds. Juxtaposing…

In a Dunedin Consort first, we team up with our friends at the Scottish Ensemble to perform James MacMillan’s searing setting of the dying words of Jesus Christ. Premiered by Scottish Ensemble 25 years ago, it has since acquired a central place in the repertoire, connecting with audiences the world over through its astonishing emotional power. Whatever your beliefs, hearing Seven Last Words from the Cross is a transformative experience, one that lingers long after the final note sounds. Juxtaposing…

In a Dunedin Consort first, we team up with our friends at the Scottish Ensemble to perform James MacMillan’s searing setting of the dying words of Jesus Christ. Premiered by Scottish Ensemble 25 years ago, it has since acquired a central place in the repertoire, connecting with audiences the world over through its astonishing emotional power. Whatever your beliefs, hearing Seven Last Words from the Cross is a transformative experience, one that lingers long after the final note sounds. Juxtaposing…

In a Dunedin Consort first, we team up with our friends at the Scottish Ensemble to perform James MacMillan’s searing setting of the dying words of Jesus Christ. Premiered by Scottish Ensemble 25 years ago, it has since acquired a central place in the repertoire, connecting with audiences the world over through its astonishing emotional power. Whatever your beliefs, hearing Seven Last Words from the Cross is a transformative experience, one that lingers long after the final note sounds. Juxtaposing…

Every year we perform Bach’s Matthew Passion in the days leading up to Easter and every year we discover its riches anew. This extraordinary retelling of the passion story has the power to move and inspire us like no other, a journey that is by turns heartrending and uplifting from the opening chorus to the last. This year, we welcome back Kristian Bezuidenhout, a central figure in the field of historically informed performance, to direct Dunedin Consort in our revelatory…

Every year we perform Bach’s Matthew Passion in the days leading up to Easter and every year we discover its riches anew. This extraordinary retelling of the passion story has the power to move and inspire us like no other, a journey that is by turns heartrending and uplifting from the opening chorus to the last. This year, we welcome back Kristian Bezuidenhout, a central figure in the field of historically informed performance, to direct Dunedin Consort in our revelatory…

Soprano Mhairi Lawson joins us for an intimate programme of song, a genre that Purcell firmly made his own. With his flair for drama and extraordinary gift for bringing words to life, Purcell poured many of his most creative ideas into his songs — each of them miniature masterpieces, equally as captivating as anything he would compose for the stage. They are paired here with some of his most exquisite and intricately wrought instrumental works, shining examples of Baroque dialogue…

Soprano Mhairi Lawson joins us for an intimate programme of song, a genre that Purcell firmly made his own. With his flair for drama and extraordinary gift for bringing words to life, Purcell poured many of his most creative ideas into his songs — each of them miniature masterpieces, equally as captivating as anything he would compose for the stage. They are paired here with some of his most exquisite and intricately wrought instrumental works, shining examples of Baroque dialogue…

Soprano Mhairi Lawson joins us for an intimate programme of song, a genre that Purcell firmly made his own. With his flair for drama and extraordinary gift for bringing words to life, Purcell poured many of his most creative ideas into his songs — each of them miniature masterpieces, equally as captivating as anything he would compose for the stage. They are paired here with some of his most exquisite and intricately wrought instrumental works, shining examples of Baroque dialogue…