• New Season coming soon

    2026/27 Season – Indulge in a veritable Feast of Music spanning six centuries

    Stay tuned – we’ll be announcing our new season soon!

Upcoming Concerts

  • Oct 1 | Concerto di Margherita (ITALY)
    • Concerto di Margherita (ITALY)

    • Il Gioco della cieca (Blind Man’s Bluff) Buy tickets “Blind love I do not trust to thee, that makes desires full of obscurity”. Thus comments the chorus in Guarini’s play, […]

    • Read More
  • Oct 24 | Island Temperament (CANADA)
    • Island Temperament (CANADA)

    • Cornucopia: An Autumnal Musical Feast Buy tickets An opportunity to hear bassoon and horn, in the rarely heard roles as solo instruments and featuring internationally renowned local musicians Katrina Russell and Andrew Clark. […]

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  • Nov 27 | Jupiter Ensemble (FRANCE)
    • Jupiter Ensemble (FRANCE)

    • Amazone Buy tickets Lutenist Thomas Dunford returns to EMSI’s stage, leading Jupiter Ensemble, acclaimed as one of the finest in a new generation of early music ensembles. Soprano Lea Desandres, […]

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  • Dec 20 | laReverdie (ITALY)
    • laReverdie (ITALY)

    • Stella Nova – The New Star Buy tickets Stella Nova offers a view into the unusually rich repertoire for Advent and Christmas that developed in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. […]

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  • Jan 23 | Opera Prima (ITALY)
    • Opera Prima (ITALY)

    • Tormento Seicento Buy tickets The magnificent soprano Amanda Forsythe returns with viola da gamba virtuoso Cristiano Contadin and his renowned ensemble Opera Prima in a program of music exploring the […]

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  • Feb 21 | Les Délices (USA)
    • Les Délices (USA)

    • Moonlit Mozart Buy tickets Les Délices, from New York, performs some of the most beautiful music ever written for wind instruments, in this program of Mozart’s wind octets. The voluptuous […]

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  • Mar 13 | Ensemble Clausulae (CANADA)
    • Ensemble Clausulae (CANADA)

    • Notre Dame – Laying the Cornerstone of Western Music Buy tickets A young novice monk travels from Canterbury to Paris to study at its famous school, the Maîtrise Notre Dame […]

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  • Apr 24 | Ensemble Caprice (CANADA)
    • Ensemble Caprice (CANADA)

    • The King’s Music & Tavern Songs Buy tickets An EMSI favourite Ensemble Caprice, led by the indefatigable Matthias Maute, returns with music from Purcell to Handel, interwoven with traditional music […]

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Next concert

Concerto di Margherita (ITALY)
October 1

Il Gioco della cieca (Blind Man’s Bluff) Buy tickets “Blind love I do not trust to thee, that makes desires full of obscurity”. Thus comments the chorus in Guarini’s play, […]

Read More
Past Concerts Get Tickets

Welcome

to The Early Music Society of the Islands!

Founded in 1985 and based in Victoria BC, the Early Music Society is a non-profit, charitable society dedicated to offering accomplished performances of music composed prior to 1800.

EMSI embraces the idea that early music deserves to be heard with close to its original intent. To that end, our concerts feature period instruments, accurate scores, and historical performance practices.

Renowned artists, both international and homegrown, have graced our stage.

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We acknowledge and respect the Lǝḱwǝŋǝn peoples on whose traditional unceded territory EMSI presents concerts, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose deep relationships with the land continue to this day.

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EMSI News

Interview with Matthias Maute of Ensemble Caprice on “Vivaldi on Fire”

Here's an interview with Bill Jamieson, Executive and Artistic Director of EMSI and Matthias Maute, Musical Director of Ensemble Caprice. Learn about out upcoming concert "Vivaldi on Fire" on March 14, 2026. INFORMATION AND TICKETS
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The Life, Correspondence and Music of Ignatius Sancho

Ignatius Sancho, by Thomas Gainsborough By Bill Jamieson, Executive and Artistic Director of EMSI Appropriately for Black History Month, our upcoming concert features the music of Ignatius Sancho, a Black English composer who was a contemporary…
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Interview with Brandon Chui of Tafelmusik (concert Nov 14, 2025)

Here is an interview by EMSI Associate Artistic Director, Farrah O'Shea, with Tafelmusik Artistic Co-Director, Brandon Chui Don't miss the concert. More information . . .
Read more