Kyiv Baroque Fest launches a long-awaited story. Created by the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in partnership with Open Opera Ukraine and the National House of Music, it invites audiences to explore early music as a vibrant force within today’s global musical culture.
KYЇV BAROQUE FEST 2024
KYIV BAROQUE FEST 2025
2023: “Rameau / Bortniansky: Gallant Europes”
The inaugural edition of the festival (15–17 November) was conceived as a “French Overture” and dedicated to the 340th anniversary of Jean-Philippe Rameau. Inspired by his opéra-ballet “Les Indes galantes”, the theme was reinterpreted through a postcolonial lens, emerging as “Gallant Europes” -a space in which Ukraine naturally finds its place.
A key figure in this dialogue was Dmytro Bortniansky, a composer of the galant era whose life and work connected Ukraine, Italy, and France. This perspective defined the festival’s artistic vision: presenting Ukrainian early music as part of a shared European cultural landscape.
2024: Scaling Up
The 2024 edition (14–22 November) continued the dialogue around Rameau, marking the 260th anniversary of his death, while expanding its focus to the reception of Baroque in contemporary Europe.
The programme combined concerts, lectures, and interdisciplinary formats, and launched “Early Music in Ukraine: International Context” – the country’s first professional networking platform for Ukrainian and European performers and researchers. The initiative laid the foundation for long-term partnerships and co-productions.
The forum was supported by REMA (European Early Music Network), the leading professional network in the field. In 2026, Open Opera Ukraine became an official member of this network.
2025: Take Five! – Five Voices of Europe
The 2025 edition (10–21 November) was held under the title “Take Five!” – an allusion to the iconic jazz standard and to five central figures of European Baroque: Heinrich Schütz, George Frideric Handel, Domenico Scarlatti, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Maksym Berezovsky.
Together, they formed a symbolic map of Baroque Europe – from Dresden and London to Naples and Kyiv. This edition further developed the festival’s collaborative model, with most concerts created as co-productions between Ukrainian and European musicians – now a defining feature of the festival.
Kyiv Baroque Fest 2025 brought together music, literature, philosophy, theatre, cinema, theology, and fashion, creating a space where the past becomes part of the future. Over 12 days, the festival presented 33 events, including 16 concerts with the participation of 140 musicians from Ukraine and across Europe (8 countries), alongside international ensemble collaborations, an educational programme, public discussions, and growing international media and digital reach.
A key highlight was the festival’s social dimension: collaboration with the Ukrainian inclusive fashion brand FREEki, which employs young people with complex developmental disabilities and created the KBF25 merchandise. This partnership reflects a synthesis of ethics, aesthetics, and creativity, while promoting accessibility and social inclusion.
Among the distinguished participants of the festival’s first two editions are: countertenor Andreas Scholl (Germany), one of the leading figures in contemporary Baroque music; French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, whose charisma and stage freedom have made him a symbol of a new generation of early music performers; soprano Hana Blažíková (Czech Republic), known for her collaborations with leading European ensembles; flutist and traverso player Jan De Winne (Belgium); harpsichordist and organist Marek Toporowski (Poland); viola da gamba player Salomé Gasselin (France); Baroque cellist Mark Caudle (United Kingdom/Poland); cornettist Josué Meléndez Peláez (Switzerland–Mexico); and the Festina Lente Ensemble (Italy).
2026: The Unfathomable as Hope
The third edition of the festival will take place in 2026. Its theme, “Gesualdo and the Mozarts: The Unfathomable as Hope,” is dedicated to the boundless nature of experimentation—from revisiting established genre and stylistic conventions to radically expanding ideas about the limits of sound worlds.
The theme explores the diversity and, at times, paradoxical nature of composers’ creative experiments. Carlo Gesualdo, like the generations of the Mozart family, discovered new possibilities in what music can express and how it can do so, thereby expanding the imagination of what is possible.
A key focus of the festival’s reflections and programming will be the rethinking of existing perspectives on artists’ life stories, particularly regarding ethics, gender issues, and personal choices.
You can also follow updates and learn more about the festival on the pages of Kyiv Baroque Fest, Facebook and Instagram.
