One of the main themes of the upcoming Berkeley Festival is reexamining the nature and meaning of “early music.” Some of the most fascinating happenings the Festival will be presentations of music from the extremes of the historical spectrum. Much attention already has been devoted to the application of historical performance practices to music of […]
The Piano and the Pianist in the Early Twentieth Century by Nicholas Mathew The upcoming Berkeley Festival features perhaps the broadest range of historical music ever presented at an early music festival—a claim which should be made with some caution, lest it invite comparisons to “jumbo shrimp” or the “World’s Largest Dwarf Lemon Tree.” After […]
Berkeley, CA – May 8 2018 – After almost 30 years as Director of Berkeley Festival & Exhibition (BFX), Robert Cole has announced that he will step down from his position effective June 11, 2018, at the conclusion of the 2018 summer festival. Mr. Cole founded BFX in 1990, just four years after becoming Director of […]
Voices of Youth at BFX 2018 My introduction to early music came through singing in a children’s choir. This was in 1960, a time when the voice of classical music — live, broadcast, and recorded — was stronger in our national culture than it is today, but our appreciation of early music was only beginning. […]
Redefining, Reimagining, Reinventing Early Music Over the last two generations, the historical performance movement has given the world both a vast and growing body of rediscovered masterworks and whole new ways of understanding and hearing the music of past eras. We have reinvented early music in our reconstructions of lost technologies and performance practices. We […]
In 1991, Concerto Amabile with soprano Nancy Zylstra gave a concert on the SFEMS series titled “Unsung Heroines,” a program of music by women: Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda, Maddalena Lombardini, Ana Bon, and Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre. At that time, almost 30 years ago, these composers were, if not exactly “unsung,” at least not […]
SFEMS Affiliate Tactus (tactus-sf.org), a 12–16 voice Renaissance chamber chorus in San Francisco, is seeking a Music Director to lead the chorus at weekly rehearsals and three performance weekends per year. This is a part-time, year-round, volunteer position. Some financial support may be available, depending on the qualifications of the candidate. The candidate must be available for evening rehearsals (currently […]
We were saddened to learn of Lee Mennell’s sudden death last week. Lee was a former President of SFEMS (1985–86), a fine amateur recorder player, and a gentle spirit. We will miss him, and we extend our condolences to his family and friends. There will be a memorial his honor at El Cerrito’s Hillside Community […]
A Gift from Frans Brüggen and Lee McRae by Peter Fisher On Saturday, September 23, 2017, Eva Legêne produced a memorial celebration at St. John’s Church in Berkeley for Lee McRae, a remarkably accomplished musician, teacher, worker for peace and justice, and a dear friend to many Bay Area musicians. The following are remarks I […]
Call for proposals: 2018–19 Series SFEMS is accepting concert proposals for the California Jazz Conservatory/SFEMS Early Music Sundays 2018–19 series. Participation in this series is open to SFEMS Affiliates and members of SFEMS. All performances in this series take place on Sunday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. Programs should be approximately one hour in length with […]
