Our new Co-Artistic Directors
We are thrilled to announce the appointment of soprano Hannah Ely and recorder player Olwen Foulkes as our new Co-Artistic Directors.
Hannah and Olwen are well known to BREMF audiences and performers, having previously been part of the BREMF Live young artists scheme. They have both performed at the Festival in musical ensembles and opera productions, and have mentored other artists. Under their exciting new artistic leadership, BREMF will continue to explore and present the rich treasure trove of early music in exciting new ways, offering audiences unique and engaging experiences.
We’ll be introducing Hannah and Olwen in person at our BREMF Live Showcase on Saturday 19 October at 3.30pm, for which tickets are still available.
Mirella Marlow, Chair of Trustees says “We are delighted to welcome Hannah Ely and Olwen Foulkes as our new Co-Artistic Directors. Their combined talents and innovative artistic vision will build on the Festival’s reputation for excellence and accessibility. We can’t wait for our audiences to start enjoying events developed and curated by them.”
Hannah Ely is a soprano specialising in Renaissance and Baroque music. She has performed across the UK and Europe as a soloist and consort singer with ensembles such as Collegium Vocale Gent, Vox Luminis and the OAE. In 2012 Hannah founded the Fieri Consort, where she explores innovative performances of Italian madrigals, which has led her to her current venture on ornamentation in madrigals in the duo Accenti, as well as with the Monteverdi String Band. She has extensive choral coaching experience in schools, and in leading choral workshops for children and adults. She is the recently appointed music director of Purbeck Arts Week Festival.
Olwen Foulkes is a recorder player, curator and educator with a love of 18th-century chamber music, and a research focus of the early 18th-century London music scene. Olwen performs with ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, London Handel Players and Dunedin Consort and in 2019 founded her chamber music group Ensemble Augelletti, who are current BBC New Generation Baroque Ensemble and City Music Foundation Artists. Olwen is Assistant Curator at Handel Hendrix House where she curates exhibition content, and she is an academic lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music. She has 10 years of experience working as a primary school classroom music teacher and workshop leader.
Hannah says: “Having been a part of the BREMF family for over ten years, to say that joining the team as Co-Artistic Director is an honour and a privilege is an understatement. Deborah Roberts’ passion and dedication to the Festival as well as the early music scene in the UK has been profoundly inspiring to me. She empowered me as a female director and I know I will always carry her guidance with me. From the multiple BREMF ensembles, the young artists scheme and resulting growing network of alumni ensembles, to the impressive number of volunteers and of course the loyal audience, there is so much to celebrate. There’s much to live up to but I can’t wait to work with the brilliant team alongside my talented friend and colleague Olwen Foulkes to ensure her legacy continues to thrive.”
Olwen adds: “I am so excited to begin working alongside the whole community at BREMF as Co-Artistic Director with my wonderful colleague and friend Hannah Ely. BREMF has an extraordinarily creative energy which artists, audiences, volunteers, and all of the community contribute to. I am looking forward to working with the whole team to celebrate this and help to create the festival’s next chapter. I became part of the BREMF family several years ago as part of the BREMF Live programme, and Deborah’s guidance, vision and creativity was incredibly inspiring and formative for me. Deborah developed such an exciting and multi-faceted Festival and it is a complete honour and privilege to step into this role.”
