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, and we accepted an impressive range applications for the 2026 competition from early music ensembles averaging age 35 and under.
Finalists
Les Arcanes Baroques
Les Arcanes Baroques arrive in Blackheath as the reigning champions of the International Handel Competition in Göttingen. Formed in 2024 by four musicians who met as conservatoire students, the ensemble specialises in Baroque trio sonatas and brings the same vitality to Classical string quartets. In two years they have won the Audience Prize in Neuburg, performed at the Philharmonie Köln and appeared twice at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. Kira Dove, Benjamin Lenzmeier, Andreu Gènova and Elias Tulchynsky are four players to watch.
Quarterino
Quarterino began in the European Union Baroque Orchestra, where six young musicians discovered a shared vision. Trained at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, the Milan Conservatory and Yale, Federica Moi, Tommaso Simonetta Sandri, Sinni Francesco Ricci, Antonio Pellegrino, Giulio Petrella and Agata Sorotokin combine contralto, traverso, violin, cello, lute and harpsichord in a sound of rare cohesion. This season has taken them to Rheinsberg and Göttingen, and they were finalists at York in 2026. Theirs is chamber music as true creative conversation.
Nari Baroque Ensemble
Nari Baroque Ensemble does not simply perform Baroque music. It tells stories with it. Each programme weaves original texts through cantatas, sonatas and opera, bringing every phrase to life on period instruments. Winners of both the main prize and the Music and Space prize at the Göttingen Handel Competition in 2024, and finalists at York in 2026, Yotam Haran, Naomi Hassoun, Yael Ender and Guy Pardo have performed from Cologne to Tel Aviv. Kulturbüro Göttingen calls them one of the most promising ensembles in the Baroque music scene.
The preliminary round was be judged via audio/video recordings, and three ensembles have been selected to perform live in the final. The final will be held on Friday 13 November 2026 at Blackheath Halls, as part of LIFEM 2026.
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 Badiarova & Jane Chapman.
Previous winners
2024 Polychroma
2022 Ensemble Pampinea
2020 Ensemble Hesperi / Ensemble Pro Victoria (joint winners)
2018 Palisander / Tinker Pypker & Anders Muskens (joint winners)
The 2026 Early Music Young Ensemble Competition is generously supported by The Early Music Shop
2024 competition winners, Polychroma, performing at LIFEM 2025 as part of their winners’ recital at St Michael & All Angels Church. Photo: Anna McCarthy
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