2026/27 Concert Season

Celebrating a half century as the Bay Area’s portal for early music, The San Francisco Early Music Society’s 50th Anniversary Concert Season showcases a diverse array of styles and traditions in a vibrant snapshot of the current early music landscape. With prominent international artists and celebrated local musicians—vocal ensembles, chamber orchestras, soloists, and unique historical instrumentations—SFEMS brings leading interpreters in historically informed performance to stages throughout the Bay Area. You won’t want to miss this season’s alluring harmonic hues and tonal variety of harps, early brass, viols, fortepiano, choruses, and more.

2026/27 Concert Season

Celebrating a half century as the Bay Area’s portal for early music, The San Francisco Early Music Society’s 50th Anniversary Concert Season showcases a diverse array of styles and traditions in a vibrant snapshot of the current early music landscape. With prominent international artists and celebrated local musicians—vocal ensembles, chamber orchestras, soloists, and unique historical instrumentations—SFEMS brings leading interpreters in historically informed performance to stages throughout the Bay Area. You won’t want to miss this season’s alluring harmonic hues and tonal variety of harps, early brass, viols, fortepiano, choruses, and more.

Parallax Concerts presents forward-looking early works—with seemingly modern elements—alongside modern compositions by young composers in retrospective, historically-styled idioms. “New Histories and Old Futures,” (Oct. 2–4, 2026) explores circular flows of inspiration within music history and the timelessness of experimentalism.

Directed by Sébastien Daucé, the French group Ensemble Correspondances ushers in the joyful holiday season in a one-night-only special event in Berkeley with a French Baroque program featuring Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de minuit pour Noël (Midnight mass for Christmas). (December 6, 2026)

Nota Bene Viol Consort is joined by guest vocalist Jason McStoots in an eclectic program celebrating the colors of the rainbow in music spanning five centuries. From Isaac and Byrd to Schoenberg and Holst, “All the Colors in the Ayre” explores the spectrum of colors that illuminate our world and have taken on a special meaning in a time when the rainbow has become a symbol of inclusion and celebration. (Jan. 15–17, 2027)

We welcome back the renowned UK vocal sextet The Gesualdo Six in a program of splendid Renaissance favorites. (February 11–13, 2027)

Led by the Bay Area’s own historical harp luminary, Cheryl Ann Fulton, Triple Harp And Friends present “The Music of Turlough O’Carolan: Ancient Irish Airs Meet the Italian Baroque” on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. (March 12–14, 2027)

Superstar violinist Shunske Sato returns to the Bay Area, joined by fortepianist Shuann Chai in a two-part performance of Beethoven’s Complete Violin Sonatas marking the composer’s 250th death anniversary. Divided between Berkeley (Part I) and Palo Alto (Part II), experience the lyricism and explosive flair of Beethoven’s evolving style on period instruments. (April 7–8, 2027)

Incantare uncovers a history of Asiatic-Western connections in “The World They Heard: Sounds from the Journeys of the Tenshō and Keichō Embassies.” Experience this exceptional Renaissance and early Baroque repertoire through Incantare’s distinctive blend of early brass, strings, and organ. (May 14–16, 2027)

We invite you to join us for a captivating season celebrating the vibrant world of early music with SFEMS as we celebrate our 50th year as your portal to early music in the Bay Area!

LEARN MORE ABOUT PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN TICKETING!

Subscription Sales open July 24:

Subscribers to the 25-26 season may hold their previous seats before July 24.

Subscription options include standard and pay-it-forward*:

  • Five Mainstage concerts by location: Palo Alto, Berkeley, San Francisco

  • Mainstage concerts plus special events:

    • Ensemble Correspondances: Dec 6, Berkeley

    • Sato/Chai: April 7, Berkeley and/or April 8, Palo Alto)

  • Mix & Match (choose 3, 5 & 6 concert options)

*Choose our Pay-it-forward subscription to show additional support of our pay-what-you-can campaign.

Individual tickets:

  • Pay-it-forward reserved seating — Open July 31

  • Pay-What-You-Can — General Admission tickets available 4–6 weeks before each concert. Stay tuned for announcements.