Founded in the beautiful West-Estonian resort town Haapsalu in 1994, the annual Early Music Festival is one of the most considerable festivals in its own genre in Estonia and has caught the attention of many outstanding foreign artists. The aim is to bring our professional musicians as well as the audience closer to the early music area through high-level performances. The most suitable venue for this is the XIII century Dome Church. The Festival offers also free courses for young musicians.
In 1996-2009 the Festival was organised by Concerto Grosso Concert Agency, since 2010 the organiser is Studio Vocale NGO. The Artistic Director is professor of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, musicologist and conductor Toomas Siitan.

The annually performing groups of the Festival are the Haapsalu Festival Choir, which comprises the best Estonian young singers, and the Tallinn Baroque Orchestra, both in the cast of large-scale vocal compositions and with separate programmes. Along the years the Festival has hosted besides Estonian soloists and ensembles also guests like Collegium Vocale Gent, Il Gardellino and Ensemble Explorations (Belgium), viol-quartets Phantasm and Fretwork (UK), Cantica Symphonia, Baroque Fever, Egidius Kwartet, Accentus Austria, Sagittarius, Les Witches, ensembles of medieval music The Gothic Voices (UK) and Perceval (France), Grazer Choralschola, the Paris Gregorian Choir, and soloists as Marcel Ponseele and Paul Dombrecht (oboe), Per-Olov Lindeke (trumpet), Wieland Kuijken (viola da gamba), Lucy van Dael (violin), Guy Penson (harpsichord), Gary Cooper, Arthur Schoonderwoerd (fortepiano), Andrew Lawrence-King (harp), José Miguel Moreno (vihuela and guitar), Emma Kirkby (soprano), Maryseult Wieczorek (mezzo-soprano), William Missin and Charles Humphries (counter-tenor), James Gilchrist, Hans Jörg Mammel, Simon Wall (tenor), Paul Hillier (baritone), conductors Stephen Layton, Peter Phillips, Howard Arman and many others.

More info: www.studiovocale.ee; info@studiovocale.ee