Dunedin Consort

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Presented in association with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. For centuries, music has mirrored nature. From delicate birdsong to rushing rivers, and the shifting sounds of the seasons to the rustle of the undergrowth, this intimate programme for soprano and orchestra celebrates nature’s voice in music, tracing its presence through some of the pillars of the Baroque repertoire.  With the Royal Botanic Garden marking its 350th anniversary in 2020, these performances promise to be a fitting celebration, set alight by the voice of soprano Rowan Pierce. 

Presented in association with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. For centuries, music has mirrored nature. From delicate birdsong to rushing rivers, and the shifting sounds of the seasons to the rustle of the undergrowth, this intimate programme for soprano and orchestra celebrates nature’s voice in music, tracing its presence through some of the pillars of the Baroque repertoire.  With the Royal Botanic Garden marking its 350th anniversary in 2020, these performances promise to be a fitting celebration, set alight by the voice of soprano Rowan Pierce. 

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Nicholas Mulroy director In times of isolation we find ourselves longing for community — for acts of kindness, understanding, and generosity of spirit. Few texts seem more fitting just now than the opening of the Lamentations of Jeremiah: ‘How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!’  As we come to terms with a prolonged period of social isolation, we reflect upon these themes in music from the Renaissance…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Nicholas Mulroy director In times of isolation we find ourselves longing for community — for acts of kindness, understanding, and generosity of spirit. Few texts seem more fitting just now than the opening of the Lamentations of Jeremiah: ‘How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!’   As we come to terms with a prolonged period of social isolation, we reflect upon these themes in music from the Renaissance to…

Pre-concert talk with Gareth Williams & Nicholas Mulroy at 6.30pm Nicholas Mulroy director In times of isolation we find ourselves longing for community — for acts of kindness, understanding, and generosity of spirit. Few texts seem more fitting just now than the opening of the Lamentations of Jeremiah: ‘How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!’   As we come to terms with a prolonged period of social isolation, we reflect upon these themes in music from the Renaissance to the present day. From Orlande de Lassus’s exquisite five-part Lamentations and William…

Nicholas Mulroy director In times of isolation we find ourselves longing for community — for acts of kindness, understanding, and generosity of spirit. Few texts seem more fitting just now than the opening of the Lamentations of Jeremiah: ‘How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!’   As we come to terms with a prolonged period of social isolation, we reflect upon these themes in music from the Renaissance to the present day. From Orlande de Lassus’s exquisite five-part Lamentations and William Byrd’s haunting Ne irascaris Domine and Civitas sancti tui, to the contemporary voices of James MacMillan and Cecilia…

All tickets already purchased for the original festival in July 2020 remain valid for rescheduled dates. Please contact the relevant box office for a refund. Nicholas Mulroy Pygmalion Anna Dennis L’Amour Hilary Cronin Céphise Zoë Brookshaw La statue animée Festival Curator Kate Molleson presents Dunedin Consort performing Jean-Philippe Rameau’s sumptuous opera Pygmalion with a sensational cast accompanied by one of Scotland’s most daring young dancers, Claricia Parinussa. Rameau’s opera tells the myth of Pygmalion, a talented sculptor who creates the image of his…

All tickets already purchased for the original festival remain valid for rescheduled dates. Please contact the relevant box office for a refund. The voices of Dunedin Consort and National Youth Chamber Choir of Great Britain combine in a concert which pivots on two works of epic scale. Frequently hailed as one of the most astonishing pieces of choral music ever created, Tallis’s Spem in alium is a devotional motet for 40 separate voices interwoven to create an ever-shifting mosaic of sound. The audience will be…

There can be few more profoundly moving solo cantatas in all Bach’s oeuvre than Cantata 82, Ich habe genug. From the soft resignation of the opening obbligato aria, to the lilting quiet of Schlummert ein at its centre, we find ourselves enveloped in a world of deep tranquility and peace.  This astonishing work forms the centrepiece of this all-Bach programme, which pairs two of his finest church cantatas with two concertos, together showcasing the extraordinary virtuosity of Dunedin Consort’s world-renowned singers and instrumentalists. 

In 1734 Bach broke with tradition, and instead of writing one new cantata for Christmas he composed six — in the process creating a magnificent cycle that was to be performed across six separate services between Christmas and Epiphany. This is storytelling on a grand scale, recounting the Christmas narrative in real time, with each new chapter moulded to fit the sequence of the Christmas story.   From lilting flutes to glittering brass, the Christmas Oratorio contains some of Bach’s most vibrant orchestration, with a lightness that sets the work apart from his passions. And, in a story which might lack the urgency of an operatic…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. 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. Please note that this performance will also be attended by school children…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. It’s all too easy to take Handel’s Messiah for granted. This extraordinary and enduring work has become a staple of the Christmas season, with its glorious arias and choruses ringing out in concert halls around the world. But with Dunedin Consort, it never loses its magic. Performed by our lithe ensemble of just 12 singers and 15 instrumentalists, Handel’s music remains as crisp, powerful and uplifting as it was at is first performance. Christmas just wouldn’t be complete without it.

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. 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. Please note that this performance will also be attended by school children…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. It’s all too easy to take Handel’s Messiah for granted. This extraordinary and enduring work has become a staple of the Christmas season, with its glorious arias and choruses ringing out in concert halls around the world. But with Dunedin Consort, it never loses its magic. Performed by our lithe ensemble of just 12 singers and 15 instrumentalists, Handel’s music remains as crisp, powerful and uplifting as it was at is first performance. Christmas just wouldn’t be complete without it.

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Nicholas Mulroy director & tenor Pippa Murphy composer ‘I encounter millions of bodies in my life; of these millions, I may desire some hundreds; but of these hundreds, I love only once…’ — Roland Barthes   In love, as in music, we find ourselves in a multitude of hazy, transcendental states, neither here nor there. ‘We are enchanted, bewitched: we are in the realm of sleep, without sleeping; we are…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Pre-concert conversation with Pippa Murphy, David Lee & Kate Molleson at 6pm. Nicholas Mulroy director & tenor Pippa Murphy composer ‘I encounter millions of bodies in my life; of these millions, I may desire some hundreds; but of these hundreds, I love only once…’ — Roland Barthes   In love, as in music, we find ourselves in a multitude of hazy, transcendental states, neither here nor there. ‘We are enchanted,…

Over the years, our celebrated interpretation of Bach’s Matthew Passion has earned us five-star reviews, coveted awards and taken us around the world. It has become one of the cornerstones of our season. But in 2020, for the first time in our history, the concert halls fell silent and our annual performances were cancelled. It was a strange and sombre Easter without Bach’s music for comfort.    This year, we return to Edinburgh and Perth with one of Bach’s most heart-rending works, a piece that feels more powerful now than ever. With that silent Easter behind us, we look forward to rejoicing once more in Bach’s glorious music, and its message…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Over the years, our celebrated interpretation of Bach’s Matthew Passion has earned us five-star reviews, coveted awards and taken us around the world. It has become one of the cornerstones of our season. But in 2020, for the first time in our history, the concert halls fell silent and our annual performances were cancelled. It was a strange and sombre Easter without Bach’s music for comfort.   This year, we return to Edinburgh and Perth with one of Bach’s most heart-rending works, a piece that feels more powerful now than ever. With…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Pre-concert conversation with Jo Buckley and Will Conway at 7pm. Exquisitely restrained yet indescribably intense, Arvo Pärt’s Passio is a modern masterpiece. This hour-long setting of St John’s Gospel draws upon some of the earliest settings of the passion story to reframe and distil its message for modern listeners. Interpolating passages for solo voices and choral ensembles, we are never far away from familiar passion territory and yet, with Pärt’s characteristic vocal candour and pared-down orchestration, it is a work that somehow remains timeless. In a Dunedin Consort first, we are delighted to be joining forces with Hebrides Ensemble in presenting this meditative and inescapably…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Pre-concert conversation with Jo Buckley and Will Conway at 7pm. Exquisitely restrained yet indescribably intense, Arvo Pärt’s Passio is a modern masterpiece. This hour-long setting of St John’s Gospel draws upon some of the earliest settings of the passion story to reframe and distil its message for modern listeners. Interpolating passages for solo voices and choral ensembles, we are never far away from familiar passion territory and yet, with Pärt’s characteristic vocal candour and pared-down orchestration, it is a work that somehow remains timeless. In a Dunedin Consort first, we are delighted to be joining forces with Hebrides Ensemble in presenting this meditative and inescapably…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. Pre-concert conversation with Jo Buckley and Will Conway at 7pm. Exquisitely restrained yet indescribably intense, Arvo Pärt’s Passio is a modern masterpiece. This hour-long setting of St John’s Gospel draws upon some of the earliest settings of the passion story to reframe and distil its message for modern listeners. Interpolating passages for solo voices and choral ensembles, we are never far away from familiar passion territory and yet, with Pärt’s characteristic vocal candour and pared-down orchestration, it is a work that somehow remains timeless. In a Dunedin Consort first, we are delighted to be joining forces with Hebrides Ensemble in presenting this meditative and inescapably…

‘Remember me, but ah! Forget my fate’ sings Dido at the end of Purcell’s opera. But life isn’t always quite so straightforward, and some memories have a destiny of their own. Set several years after the Carthaginian queen’s death, Dido’s Ghost finds Dido’s sister Anna abandoned on the shores of Aeneas’s new kingdom, igniting a murderous jealously in Aeneas’s wife Lavinia – and as events play out, its characters confront a past that refuses to fade.   Co-commissioned by Dunedin Consort, Barbican and Mahogany Opera, Dido’s Ghost reframes, illuminates and expands Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, which is…

Please note: tickets are not yet on sale for this event. Please check back soon. A 25th birthday calls for a rousing celebration, and we intend to mark it in suitable style. As we kick off a year of birthday events, we invite you to join us for an all-Bach extravaganza, with concerts pairing two of his most powerful and richly scored cantatas with some of his finest instrumental music. This is music of depth and solemnity but also of salvation and celebration, movingly performed by a cast of Dunedin Consort regulars and friends. Like all good birthdays, this one involves a great…