IV International Early Music Festival

State Academic Capella, Philarmonia - Small Halll,

Sheremetiev Palace, Menshikov Palace

The St Petersburg International Early Music Festival was founded in 1998 as a joint initiative between the British Council and the ensemble Musica Petropolitana to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Peter I's "Great Embassy" to England. It has now become an annual event organized by several of the Consulate-Generals and foreign cultural centers in St Petersburg, the Delegation of the European Commission in Russia, and the Russia Early Music Trust. It enjoys the support of the city Administration's culture committee and of the 2003 committee. The Festival takes place every autumn in St Petersburg's most prestigious concert halls and palaces. Soloists and ensembles of world renown present the music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classicism. Russian ensembles present rediscovered masterpieces of Russian 18th century music.