Early Music News

I Maestri Italiani a Vienna

CBS to perform works of Kapellmeisters Bertali and Valentini by Patricia Jennerjohn True to their reputation as “prospectors of Baroque gold,” Artistic Director Paul Flight and the award-winning California Bach Society will perform the...

Joyne Hands

Elizabethan entertainments for mixed consort To make the month of May merrier, SFEMS is delighted to present Antic Faces, a new ensemble featuring well-known Bay Area artists Shira Kammen, violin and viol; Mindy Rosenfeld, flute; David Morris, viol;...

Hard Songs

Tackling Difficulty in Renaissance Music by Jesse Rodin What makes a piece of music difficult? Answers can range all over—from unexpected melodic leaps to technical challenges that arise from bad composing. What’s impossible for me might be a piece...

I Heard a Voice

New College Choir to Perform in Rare Bay Area Appearance SFEMS is delighted to welcome the Choir of New College Oxford in a special, joint presentation with San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. The choir, under the direction of Robert Quinney, will...

Bach and Sons

This season’s Sunday Afternoon concert series at the California Jazz Conservatory concludes on March 31 with “Bach and Sons.” Celebrate Johann Sebastian Bach’s 334th birthday with four works by Bach and two of his sons, played on...

iLove baroque

Ensemble Caprice Returns with Musical Love Stories Montreal’s Ensemble Caprice has appeared frequently on the SFEMS concert series over the past 20 years, each time looking at historical music with fresh eyes and performing it with a different...

The Multifaceted Brahms

The 2018 Berkeley Festival was a milestone—the first time a major early music festival made a strong case for applying the principles and practices of historical performance to music of the 19th century, up to and including Debussy, as demonstrated...