Who are we? The San Francisco Early Music Society is the Bay Area’s portal for early music, promoting engagement with historically informed performance spanning centuries and cultures, and creating a community reflective of our region’s diversity.
Our 2024-25 Season
We welcome you to embark with The San Francisco Early Music Society for Voyages—An Odyssey in Sound, our organization’s 48th concert season. First, Les Talens Lyriques, directed by internationally-renowned harpsichordist & conductor Christophe Rousset, will transport you to the heart of Versailles in the Baroque period. Our voyage continues with The Boston Camerata (We’ll be There!...) in a trailblazing exploration of the American spiritual tradition. We’ll also encounter an uncanny, upside-down world with Shira Kammen and the musicians of In Bocca al Lupo (Mundus Inversus).
Next, we spend a dramatic evening exploring the "stile moderno" of the early modern period with Quicksilver (Early Moderns: Extravagant New Music from the Seventeenth Century). We reflect on the legacy of migration with Ensemble Affect (Home Away from Home), delving into the works of composers who traveled from their home countries and settled abroad during the Baroque era. Closing the concert season is Ensemble Constantinople (Traversées) whose performance takes us on journey from from Asia, Africa, and the Americas in an intimate musical dialogue between Persian setar master Kiya Tabassian, and Senegalese kora master Ablaye Cissoko.
Next up
In Bocca al Lupo
Mundus Inversus
(The World Turned Upside Down)
Step into a world where the familiar is turned upside down, and where the traditional and the modern collide in a mesmerizing musical experience!
Mundus Inversus features a talented ensemble of early music specialists led by multi-instrumentalist Shira Kammen. Drawing inspiration from iconic Medieval sources like the Roman de Fauvel and the Carmina Burana, this unique performance blends timeless melodies with newly-composed pieces that explore the chaos and disarray of our modern times.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 7:30 PM
First Presbyterian Church
1140 Cowper Street at Lincoln, Palo Alto
SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 7:30 PM
First Church Berkeley UCC (First Congregational)
2345 Channing Way
SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 4:00 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco
Consider buying a subscription package to ensure the success of our pay-what-you-can model!
We suggest a ticket price between $35 and $45 per ticket. Anything is appreciated, and if you can pay more, please do!
Play-in & Summer Preview
Baroque
Workshop
Let’s chase away those late winter blues and get musicking together!
Come join Baroque Workshop Director Lindsey Strand-Polyak for a day celebrating March’s most famous baroque birthday besties: Johann Sebastian Bach (March 31) and Georg Philip Telemann (March 24). We’ll be throwing them a joint birthday party in our afternoon play-in, complete with cake! This event is open to all instrumentalists playing at A=415: violin family, gambas, recorders, flutes, oboes, bassoons, harp, guitars, harpsichord, bass sackbuts, and beyond. If you can read the music, you can play the parts!
Don’t miss out on these wonderful opportunities to connect through music!
Registration for our Summer Workshops at SFEMS is now open!
Join us for four weeks of immersive learning in the heart of downtown Berkeley, featuring internationally-renowned faculty and opportunities for all skill levels. Explore the rich world of historical music, enjoy unique annual themes, and connect with fellow musicians. Don’t miss your chance to enhance your skills and make lasting friendships—register today!
Baroque Workshop: June 16–22
Medieval/Renaissance Workshop: July 13–19
Recorder Workshop: July 20–26
Classical Workshop: July 27–August 2
Support SFEMS!
Become a member of your favorite portal to early music in the Bay Area and beyond!
Your tax-deductible donation is a vote for the future of early music.
