Baroque Week. Patron: Trevor Pinnock CBE Artistic Director: Theresa Caudle

Firmly established as one of Europe’s foremost early music courses, BAROQUE WEEK is now celebrating its 48th year. The course offers inspiration and guidance to both singers and players of baroque music from an expert team of leading specialists in historical performance.


Our theme for 2026 will be Northward Bound: A Musical Voyage around Northern Europe and the Baltics. We will follow the trading routes of the Hanseatic League which, although primarily a commercial alliance, had a hugely important impact on cultural exchange, giving the opportunity for musicians, together with their music and instruments, to sail from city to city. Our musical journey will take us through the North Sea and into the Baltic, exploring music performed in major Hanseatic cities such as Antwerp, Hamburg, Lübeck, Stockholm and Danzig (Gdańsk). Major composers represented will include Buxtehude, Telemann and CPE Bach but, in true Baroque Week tradition, we will be discovering hidden gems by delving into music by lesser-known composers such as van Wassenaer, Roman, Vierdanck, Meder and Pękiel.   The tutor-led projects for both singers and instrumentalists are based on this theme, but chamber music-making with your own choice of repertoire remains fundamental to the course.


BAROQUE WEEK is for baroque wind, string and continuo players and up to ten singers, but there are also opportunities for instrumentalists to sing.  Plucked continuo as well as keyboard players will be welcome.  String players should use gut strings and a baroque bow. You should be a competent sight-reader and confident playing or singing one-to-a-part.  Most of the repertoire will be played at A415 although there may be some opportunities to play at A392 and A440.  For singers the course offers a rare chance to sing arias, cantatas and solo motets with small groups of instruments as well as working in vocal consorts.  Full or part bursaries may be available for those who would otherwise be unable to attend.


“Everyone is so friendly, standard is high, tutors fantastic, well organised - a great experience”


Registered Charity No. 1161774

Latest update:

This website is being updated; the rest of the site currently refers to the 2025 course, but this will give you an idea of what to expect in 2026.

Contact us to be added to the mailing list; full details and application forms for the 2026 course will be sent in mid-November. All applications received by 5pm on Monday 1st December will have an equal chance of acceptance - there is no advantage gained by applying earlier, but decisions may then have to be made on artistic grounds. Applications received after that time can only be accepted if a place for your instrument/voice remains available.

Queen Anne’s School, Caversham, Berkshire

16th-23rd August 2026

Residential Baroque Music Summer School