THE BEAUNE INTERNATIONAL BAROQUE AND ROMANTIC OPERA FESTIVAL IS PREPARING ITS 2023 EDITION IN HOMAGE TO ITS FOUNDING DIRECTOR, KADER HASSISSI
The 2023 edition of the Beaune Festival, which will be held as every year in July, and whose detailed programme will be unveiled in March, will be dedicated to the memory of its founding director, Kader Hassissi.
Kader Hassissi, who died suddenly on 15 August, had founded the Beaune International Baroque Opera Festival with his wife, Anne Blanchard, the artistic director, forty years earlier. The event, whose repertoire has gradually been extended to the classical and romantic repertoires, has established itself as one of the most renowned in the world in the field of early music on period instruments. Since its beginnings, it has maintained a close relationship with the greatest artists, and has contributed to the rise, generation after generation, of young talents who have in turn become stars of the baroque scene. All of them expressed their emotion to Anne on learning of Kader’s death, joining that of the public and private partners, the Board of Directors and the volunteers of the Festival, as well as the thousands of faithful spectators, from Beaune, Burgundy, France and abroad, for whom Kader had become, over the years, a guide as well as a friend. His extraordinary personality, his inexhaustible generosity and his humour will remain forever in our memories.
For Anne Blanchard, for all the administrators and volunteers of the association that manages the Festival, it was unthinkable that Kader’s work would disappear with him. With the support of all the public partners (State, Burgundy – Franche-Comté Region, Côte d’Or Department, City of Beaune) and private partners (Hospices de Beaune, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Group, S.N.C.F.), the Festival’s teams work hard to ensure that the 2023 edition can be held. The Festival will pay tribute to Kader Hassissi, with a time for meditation, but also, because he would have hated too much solemnity, a lot of joy, flamboyant moments offered by the great musicians faithful to the Festival, and youth. It is therefore with impatience and delight that we await you, at the dawn of spring, to reveal the surprises that will enchant your summer nights in Beaune.
The President and the loyal team of the Festival
