About SFEMS
The San Francisco Early Music Society was founded in 1975 as a membership organization to promote the performance of and appreciation for early music. For more than four decades, SFEMS has been at the forefront of the early music revival, and remains the Bay Area’s portal for early music.
Mission
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.
The Society emphasizes three areas of activity:
Concerts and informal musical events
Education programs that encourage the development of amateurs and professionals
Communication, outreach, collaboration, and support services for the Bay Area early music community
Concerts
SFEMS produces one of the longest-running and most prestigious early-music concert series in the nation, showcasing the best of what early music and historically-informed performance can be!
During the 2023–24 season, implemented a “pay-what-you-can” ticket model for its 2023–24 concert season, becoming by far the largest classical arts organization in the Bay Area to adopt such an approach to ticket pricing.
Berkeley Festival & Exhibition
Founded in 1990 and produced by SFEMS, the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition (BFX) has become one of the world’s largest and most important early music conclaves, deemed “a remarkable institution on the American musical scene” by The New York Times.
The next Festival will be held in June 2024.
Workshops and Classes
SFEMS offers a range of educational programs for adults, children, and youth, including lectures, collegia, and five weeks of summer workshops, taught by an internationally-renowned faculty, covering the full range of historical music. We are also proud to offer year-round opportunities for virtual instruction!
Affiliates
SFEMS supports groups that share our artistic and educational goals of promoting early music through affiliate sponsorship!
In existence since 1980, our affiliate program has helped numerous Bay Area early music organizations succeed. Some internationally-acclaimed groups, including Chanticleer and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, began as SFEMS affiliates.
Many other beloved Bay Area ensembles, including Musica Pacifica, New Esterházy Quartet, and Vajra Voices, as well as many community groups, operate as affiliates using SFEMS’ nonprofit status for fundraising, insurance coverage, and other essential needs.
News & Events
SFEMS provides a variety of other services to the community, including a comprehensive calendar of Bay Area early music events and Early Music News, published weekly.