• EMSI 40th Anniversary Season

    Check out our exciting 2024 – 2025 season lineup!

    Season PreviewTickets On Sale Now

  • Celebrating Victoria’s own talented artists!

    An initiative from EMSI to support our local amateur and professional musicians.

    more informationOctober 12th: Bach in Transcription

  • Read about our audience’s experience in their own words:

    “Great to witness the pure joy and artistry of the performers.”
    – Geoffrey Espin

  • Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

    Intimate – Immersive – Italian!

    Info & Tickets
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Upcoming Concerts

  • Oct 25 | Jonathon Adams, Chloe Kim and Friends (CANADA)
    • Jonathon Adams, Chloe Kim and Friends (CANADA)

    • Out of the Deep Buy Tickets See Special Pricing Options A pairing of the artistry and rich voice of Jonathon Adams with the passion and intensity of violinist Chloe Kim, […]

    • Read More
  • Nov 28 | Iestyn Davies and Fretwork (UK)
    • Iestyn Davies and Fretwork (UK)

    • Iestyn Davies and Fretwork at Carnegie Hall Lamento Buy Tickets See Special Pricing Options Countertenor Iestyn Davies makes his debut performance with EMSI, in the company of the incomparable British […]

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  • Dec 21 | Pacific Baroque Orchestra (CANADA)
    • Pacific Baroque Orchestra (CANADA)

    • Festive Canatas – Bach and Zelenka Joint concert presentation with Early Music Vancouver. Buy Tickets The Pacific Baroque Orchestra presents a program of festive cantatas for the season including the […]

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  • Jan 18 | Sequentia Ensemble (USA)
    • Sequentia Ensemble (USA)

    • Gregorius, the Holy Sinner Buy Tickets See Special Pricing Options The incomparable Benjamin Bagby, well-known for his virtuosic rendering of Beowulf, returns to the EMSI stage to lead the ensemble […]

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  • Feb 15 | Jonatan Alverado and Ariel Abramovitch (ARGENTINA)
    • Jonatan Alverado and Ariel Abramovitch (ARGENTINA)

    • Huehuetenango – Music from 16th Century Guatemala Buy Tickets See Special Pricing Options Tenor Jonatan Alverado and Ariel Abramovich on vihuela explore a 16th Century Guatamalan manuscript, reflecting early colonial […]

    • Read More
  • Mar 22 | Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble (USA)
    • Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble (USA)

    • The Early Moderns – Vienna’s Rise Buy Tickets See Special Pricing Options   The brilliant American ensemble Quicksilver — “Revered like rock stars within the early music scene” (New York […]

    • Read More
  • Apr 11 | Doulce Mémoire (FRANCE)
    • Doulce Mémoire (FRANCE)

    • Eh bien, dansez maintenant ! Buy Tickets See Special Pricing Options Imagine yourself in the elegant royal court of the French Renaissance, attending a ball with the elite of courtly […]

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Next concert

Jonathon Adams, Chloe Kim and Friends (CANADA)
October 25

Out of the Deep Buy Tickets See Special Pricing Options A pairing of the artistry and rich voice of Jonathon Adams with the passion and intensity of violinist Chloe Kim, […]

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, volunteer-run 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.

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

Sponsors

The list of soloists and ensembles presented by EMSI is a who’s who
of the international early music scene:

Anonymous 4 Ensemble Clement Janequin Monica Huggett Orlando Consort Stile Antico Boston Early Music Festival Nancy Argenta Fretwork Dame Emma Kirkby Red Priest Tafelmusik Baltimore Consort The Harp Consort Ton Koopman Jordi Savall Daniel Taylor Concerto Koln John Holloway London Baroque Sequentia Collegium Vocale Gent

EMSI News

Interview with Trevor Eliot Bowes

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An interview with Trevor Eliot Bowes, who will be singing the role of Polifemo in the upcoming dinner and opera presentation of Aci, Galatea e Polifemo as part of the Early Music Society's 40th Anniversary Season.   Buy tickets to 40th…
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Interview with Matthias Maute, Ensemble Caprice

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Three years ago, EMSI and Ensemble Caprice agreed to a series of three concerts. The first was to feature the music of Bach, the second of Vivaldi and the third of Handel. We have been treated to two extraordinary and exciting concerts and…
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Corno da tirarsi

Portrait, oil on canvas of Gottfried Reiche (1667–1734) by Elias Gottlob Haussmann (1695–1774), 1727 Bach specified an instrument he called the "tromba o corno da tirarsi" for the elaborate brass line in three of his cantatas: the only…
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Create an account on EMSI’s Tix page (you will have already done so if you’ve bought tickets online) and be sure to opt in to our mailing list.