Boston Early Music Festival wins its second GRAMMY Award for Telemann’s Ino and Opera Arias for Soprano featuring Amanda Forsythe
Cambridge, MA – The Boston Early Music Festival recording of Georg Philipp Telemann’s cantata Ino alongside opera arias for soprano has received a 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. The Award is shared by soprano Amanda Forsythe alongside Musical Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs and Orchestra Director Robert Mealy. This is BEMF’s 2nd GRAMMY Award following a win in the Best Opera Recording category in 2015 for Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers.
Ino was originally presented in Boston in a staged performance in 2021 and reprised at the June 2025 Festival. Written late in Telemann’s life, this thrilling cantata features a story drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and is a bridge between the Baroque and Classical eras. Beloved soprano Amanda Forsythe stars in the title role of a desperate mother trying to save herself and her child after her husband has been driven into madness. This theatrical vignette is paired with stunning arias from Telemann’s operatic output, including Emma und Eginhard that will feature as the Centerpiece Opera of our 2027 Festival.
ABOUT THE BEMF RECORDING PROJECT
With the goal of capturing the exceptional work of the Baroque Opera Project, BEMF initiated an effort to record its acclaimed Baroque Operas in 2005. This commitment to preservation has produced 19 celebrated recordings and attracted the attention of the international community in the form of numerous awards and accolades, including two GRAMMY Awards and five more GRAMMY nominations. BEMF recordings have also won ECHO Klassik awards and the Diapason d’Or de l’Année alongside Gramophone Award shortlist inclusions.
ABOUT THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL:
Recognized as the preeminent early music presenter and Baroque opera producer in North America, the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) has been credited with securing Boston’s reputation as “America’s early music capital” (The Boston Globe). Founded in 1981, BEMF offers diverse programs and activities, including two GRAMMY Award–winning and five GRAMMY Award–nominated recordings, an annual concert series that features early music’s brightest stars on the BEMF concert stage, and a biennial week-long Festival and Exhibition recognized as the “world’s leading festival of early music” (The Times, London). The 24th Boston Early Music Festival will take place from June 6 to 13, 2027, and will feature a fully staged production of Telemann’s Emma und Eginhard. BEMF’s Artistic Leadership includes Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Opera Director Gilbert Blin, Orchestra Director Robert Mealy, and Dance Director Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière.
