The Early Music Young Ensemble Competition is presented every two years by the London International Festival of Early Music. Selected finalists have the opportunity to perform to a panel and live audience during the festival, which is a bustling four-day event with concerts, an exhibition, talks, young performers’ platforms, and much more. The festival has been at the forefront of the promotion of early music, both in the UK and internationally, for over 50 years.
We are pleased to invite applications for the 2026 competition from early music ensembles averaging age 30 and under. The preliminary round will be judged via audio/video recordings, and three ensembles will be selected to perform live in the final. The final will be held on Friday 13 November 2026 at Blackheath Halls at 2pm, as part of LIFEM26.
Prizes:
First Prize £1500 and a recital at LIFEM 2027
Second Prize £1000
Third Prize £500
The 2026 competition will be adjudicated by Erik Bosgraaf, Tomoe Badianova & Jane Chapman.
2024 Finalists
Bellot Ensemble (UK)
Olivia Petryszak Recorder
Edmund Taylor Violin
Nathan Giorgetti Viola da Gamba
Daniel Murphy Theorbo/Baroque Guitar
Matthew Brown Harpsichord/Organ
As a group we pride ourselves on the energy and passion we give each and every performance along with our style specific improvisations. The group specialises in 16th- and 17th-century repertoire with research into written divisions and the contextual texts of the time. This practical research is always greatly influenced by our work with talented singers in our regular collaborations with consorts, choirs and opera societies.
Bellot Ensemble took part in the Brighton Early Music Festival live scheme 2023/24, and has been working extensively with Sussex choral and opera societies ever since. The ensemble has just finished touring across the UK performing John Frederick Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley with New Sussex Opera in 2024 conducted by Toby Purser (Head of Conducting at the RCM). The group has also been selected for the Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artist scheme 2024/25. Bellot Ensemble also became Featured Artist in 2024 in the Overstrand Early Music Festival, and collaborated with Norwich Baroque for a concert alongside a production of Dido and Aeneas at the festival. Funding from the Continuo Foundation has supported the group’s upcoming album Cupid’s Ground Bass, an exploration of 17th-century love arias with a focus on their own instrumental written divisions, and recording with the incredibly talented Lucine Musaelian (Soprano & Viola da Gamba) and Kieran White (Tenor).
Bellot Ensemble has performed at such venues as St George’s Hanover Square and the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul alongside notable conductors such as Ralph Allwood MBE. The ensemble has also performed the UK premiere of the reconstructed Telemann cantata Erklingt Durch Gedoppelt Annehmliche Töne as part of their residency at St Mary-at-Hill in London.
Polychroma (Netherlands)
Anežka Drozdová traverso
Natascha Pichler baroque violin
Glenna Curren baroque cello
Marta Pindor harpsichord
In 2023, Polychroma was formed with musicians studying at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag in The Netherlands, where the group is currently based. Its members are originally from Czechia (Anežka Drozdová – traverso), Austria (Natascha Pichler – baroque violin), Poland (Marta Pindór – harpsichord), and the United States (Glenna Curren – baroque cello) and they have performed with leading period ensembles around Europe and the United States and at major early music festivals including Utrecht and Boston. Drawn together by their mutual passion for historical performance and a love for chromaticism, lyricism and visual art, they blend a diverse range of musical, historical, and artistic interests. The name Polychroma refers to all kinds of colours – both musical and visual – and is a symbolic nod to Iris, goddess of the rainbow and the messenger between heaven and earth.
Coloquio 6 Wind Sextet (Netherlands)
Carolina Guiducci Clarinet
Sergio Sánchez Martín Clarinet
Janire de Paz Rivas Horn
Pablo Traine Horn
William Gough Bassoon
Javier Sánchez Castillo Bassoon
Coloquio 6 is a vibrant wind sextet comprised of six skilled musicians who passionately explore and perform music from the 18th and 19th centuries using period instruments. Named after the Spanish word meaning ‘conversation’, the ensemble views music as an ongoing dialogue and exchange of ideas and emotions with their audience.
Their Harmoniemusik-inspired instrumentation, featuring two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons, creates a distinctive and captivating experience that is sure to enchant their listeners. They often perform in historic monuments and public gardens, recreating the festive atmosphere of the past for a broader audience.
The members of the ensemble are early music professionals who studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, The Netherlands: Pablo Traine, Francisco Javier Sánchez, Janire de Paz, Carolina Guiducci, Sergio Sánchez and William Gough. They have actively collaborated with some of the most famous and renowned ensembles of the European early music scene, such as Theresia Orchestra, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment, Irish Baroque Orquestra, Bremen Barokorchester and The Netherlands Bach Society among others.
Since the group began in October of 2022 they have been pioneers in being the first early music ensemble to take part in festivals such as Arcen Kasteeltuinen or Muziek Zomer in The Netherlands. They are one of the selected ensembles of Sustainable-EEEmerging, a programme for emerging artists in the field of Early Music supported by Creative Europe, and have recently participated in the International Young Artist Presentation 2024 in Antwerp.
Furthermore, they have received a grant from the Keep an Eye Foundation to develop their interdisciplinary project The Magic Flute: Animating Mozart. A collaboration with visual artist Dax Niesten in which she illustrates with animation the story of the famous opera by Mozart while the ensemble performs live a selection of arias from a historical arrangement for wind sextet by Johannes Stumpf. The project’s premiere was the opening concert of All’Improvviso Festival in Gliwice, Poland.
2024 Programme Announcement: Accepting Donations at the Young Ensemble Competition
As a registered charity we are pleased to announce that LIFEM will be accepting donations during the Young Ensemble Competition concert.
Your generous contributions will accelerate our charitable work, enabling us to further support educational initiatives, nurture emerging talent, and bring world-class performances to our audiences. By donating, you will help us continue to enrich cultural life through diverse programming and innovative, early music collaborations. Thank you for your support.
2024 Young Ensemble Competition is kindly supported by The Early Music Shop
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