The Ascendancy of the String Quartet
2023-02-18 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Vancouver) | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
Consone Quartet (UK)

EMSI is thrilled to host this exciting young British string quartet that is taking the world of early music by storm.
The featured works are Mozart’s Quartet KV156, Haydn’s “Joke” Quartet, Fanny Mendelssohn’s
Quartet in E♭ Major and the String Quartet Op. 1, No. 3 by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
The first period instrument string quartet to be selected as BBC New Generation Artists, the Consone Quartet are fast making a name for themselves with their honest and expressive interpretations of classical and romantic repertoire..Their debut recording explored music by Haydn and Mendelssohn and was described by The Strad as an album “that instantly leaps out of the stereo at you as something special.”
This season they launch a new partnership with Linn Records, opening with the complete string quartets of Felix Mendelssohn.
Formed at the Royal College of Music in London, the Consone Quartet launched their professional career in 2015, shortly after which they were awarded two prizes at the 2015 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition, including the EUBO Development Trust Prize and a place on the EEEmerging Scheme in France. They went on to win the 2016 Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Prize, and in 2022 were awarded a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) fellowship.
The quartet has been enthusiastically received at London’s Wigmore Hall, King’s Place, St John’s Smith Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields, and at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Brighton, and Buxton Festivals, amongst others. The English Haydn Festival and the Brighton and York Early Music Festivals have been loyal supporters over the past few years and regularly host the group.
Further afield, Consone have been invited to perform at the Philharmonie de Paris and Auditorium de Lyon in France, at the Concertgebouw Brugge, AMUZ and de Bijloke in Belgium, Concerts d’été à St Germain in Switzerland and at other venues across Italy, Austria, Bulgaria and Slovenia. Following a tour to South America in 2018 they are making a highly anticipated North American debut in February 2023.
“…They play with perfect intonation, tremendous attack, and impeccable historical style. All the four instruments work together with such intelligence and imagination, that I would happily listen to them every day” – Sir Roger Norrington
Doors open at 6:45pm. Pre-concert talk at 7:00pm
Tickets $31; 10% discount for seniors & members; youth and students FREE at the door.

Voice and Recorder Workshops
2023-03-18 10:00 - 13:30 | School of Music, MacLaurin Bldg, University of Victoria, MacLaurin Building, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
We are offering a Choral Workshop on the day of our Vivaldi: Gloria! concert with Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble ArtChoral from Montreal. Choristers who attend the workshop will invited to participate in three of the movements of the Vivaldi Gloria in the concert that evening. The workshop has been expanded this year to a longer format and will cover more repertoire, and will again be led by Ensemble Caprice’s dynamic Artistic Director, Matthias Maute.
In addition to the choral workshop, this year we are also offering a Recorder Workshop, led by recorder virtuoso, Sophie Larivière.
Cost: Adults: $30 Youth and Students free
All participants will get a complementary ticket to attend the concert in the evening.
To register, follow the link: Workshop
For more information on the concert, visit the concert event page

Vivaldi: Gloria!
2023-03-18 19:30 - 21:30 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, Canada
SPECIAL EVENT
Ensemble Caprice (MONTREAL)
Ensemble ArtChoral (MONTREAL)

The music making by Ensemble Caprice was first rate. – New York Times

Vivaldi and His Angels
In the early years of the eighteenth century, music lovers from all over Europe traveled to Venice to hear performances by orphan girls in the Ospedale della Pietà. Among the greatest of the works performed in the Ospedale were Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Gloria, performed on this occasion by female voices alone, as it was likely first performed.

This program has been created in posthumous homage to the incredible music that Vivaldi composed for the orphans of the Ospedale. One can picture the scene when concerts were presented at the Church of La Pietà. These performances attracted a large audience, whose attendance was for a number of reasons, the first being the wonderful effect that the playing and singing produced. The female choir members must have sounded like angels in paradise while, at the same time, it seemed almost inconceivable that such young girls could master the excessively difficult concertos that their teacher Vivaldi had composed for them. It must have caused a sensation! Furthermore, the effect was intensified because the young women were hidden behind a barrier so that no one could see them.
The program is rounded out with two recorder concerti, demonstrating the instrumental virtuosity that was achieved by these angels.
We will be presenting a choral and a recorder workshop on the day of the concert. Follow the link for more information: Workshops
Program:

Tickets $41; 10% discount for seniors & members; youth and students FREE at the door.

Concert of the Birds
2023-04-22 19:30 - 21:30 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
La Rêveuse (FRANCE)

“Concert of Birds” Frans Snijders, 1579 – 1657
Composers have long been inspired by the beauties of birdsong, among them Caix d’Hervlois, Couperin, Rameau
and Purcell. Performing on recorders, flageolets, flutes with viola da gamba and theorbo one of France’s leading early music ensembles brings to life this charming music.
An absolutely gorgeous recording. – American Record Guide
Doors open at 6:45pm; pre-concert talk at 7:00pm
Tickets $31; 10% discount for seniors & members; youth and students FREE at the door.
Click here to buy tickets!
Program:
William Williams (1675-1701) / Robert Orme (?-1711)
Sonata In Imitation Of Several Birds
Adagio
Grave
Allegro
Jakob Van Eyck (1590-1657)
Engels Nachtegaeltje (Little English Bird)
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
The Birds (excerpt from The Fairy Queen)
Theodor Schwarzkopf (1659-1732)
Sonata all’imitazione del Rossignolo e del Cucco
Allegro
Gigue
François Couperin (1668-1733)
Le Rossignol en amour [transcribed for recorder and theorbo]
Les Fauvettes plaintives [transcribed for recorder, pardessus de viole & harpsichord]
Louis de Caix d’Hervelois (1677-1759)
La Sauterelle
Le Papillon
François Couperin
Les Sylvains [transcribed for theorbo by Robert de Visée (c.1650-before 1732)]
Jean-Baptiste de Bousset (1662-1725)
Pourquoi doux rossignol [instrumental version by Michel Blavet (1700-1768)]
Michel Corrette (1707-1795)
Le Coucou
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Le Coucou au fond des bois (excerpt from the Carnival of the Animals)
arr. Vincent Bouchot (1966- )
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Cuckoo (excerpt from Friday Afternoons)
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
La Poule
Camille Saint-Saëns / arr. Vincent Bouchot
Poules et coqs (excerpt from the Carnival of the Animals)
arr. Vincent Bouchot
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) / arr. Vincent Bouchot
Laideronnette impératrice des pagodes (excerpt from Ma Mère L’Oye)

Crossing the Andes - cancelled
2023-04-24 19:30 - 21:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, Canada
** CANCELLED **
We regret that we have had to cancel this event, due to an unresolvable scheduling conflict on the part of the artists. We hope to reschedule the event some time in the future.
SPECIAL EVENT
Constantinople (MONTREAL)
Jonatan Alvarado (ARGENTINA)
Federico Tarazone (PERU)

This concert explores the juxtaposition of indigenous South American musical traditions with the ‘new’ repertoire introduced by the European colonizers in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The two main sources used to explore this repertoire are The Trujillo Codex from Peru and the Codice Luz y Norte published in Madrid but written in Mexico. The charango and pan flutes featured in this concert are played by virtuoso Federico Tarazone from Peru. The charango is a small guitar with five double strings that looks like a Spanish bandurria and is one of the most popular Andean musical instruments. Its resonator, which is rounded, is made from the shell of an armadillo. It has many names and is also known as tatú, atatou, quirquincho, querú, cabasu, piche, mulita, toche, mataca. The Argentinian singer Jonatan Alvarado, specialist of South American repertoire whose passion is to revive the tradition of self-accompanied singing, will join the ensemble to recreate this colourful journey.
A co-presentation with Early Music Vancouver.

Tickets $40 for adults $10 for students and youth
NOTE: This special event is not eligible for Flex Pass

Garden Concert: Magdalena Consort
2023-07-01 14:30 - 15:30 | Location to be announced
Join us in a spectacular private garden in Oak Bay for a relaxing hour of music.
Click HERE to register to attend.
The local ensemble, Magdalena Consort, will present a concert of broken (mixed) consort music from the Renaissance.
Music by Lassus, Guererra, Lobo, Negri, Praetorius and many more . . . .
Note that the time of the concert on July 1 has been changed from 3pm to 2:30pm.
Musicians:
Martin Bonham – treble viol
Robert Fraser – tenor sackbut
Bill Jamieson – recorders
Katrina Russell – bass dulcian

Make your Canada Day weekend a special one with this sweet music from the Renaissance served up in an incomparable setting.
Admission by donation. All proceeds will go the musicians.

Garden Concert: Magdalena Consort
2023-07-02 15:00 - 16:00 | Location to be announced
Join us in a spectacular private garden in Oak Bay for a relaxing hour of music.
Click HERE to register to attend.
The local ensemble, Magdalena Consort, will present a concert of broken (mixed) consort music from the Renaissance.
Music by Lassus, Guererra, Lobo, Negri, Praetorius and many more . . . .

Musicians:
Martin Bonham – treble viol
Robert Fraser – tenor sackbut
Bill Jamieson – recorders
Katrina Russell – bass dulcian

Make your Canada Day weekend a special one with this sweet music from the Renaissance served up in an incomparable setting.
Admission by donation. All proceeds will go the musicians.

Baroque On Divers Isles
2023-07-29 15:00 - 16:00, 2023-07-30 15:00 - 16:00 | Location to be announced
Join us once again in a spectacular private garden in Oak Bay for a relaxing hour of music.
Click HERE to register to attend.
An ensemble of local musicians will be joined by the wonderful Canadian soprano, Erin Bardua, for a program of lively Baroque music.
Featured composers include Purcell, Biber, Strozzi and Jacquet de la Guerre.
Musicians:
Erin Bardua – voice
Martin Bonham – cello
Douglas Hensley – lute/theorbo
Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith – violin
Admission by donation

Workshop - Ben Grossman
2023-09-28 16:00 - 17:30 | School of Music, MacLaurin Bldg, University of Victoria, MacLaurin Building, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Ben Grossman, hurdy gurdy
Meet and listen to an informal talk with Ben Grossman, special guest artist with Duo Corvi and Friends.
Mr. Grossman is one of the leading proponents of the hurdy gurdy, that fascinating, complicated instrument that dates back to the Middle Ages. His performances have ranged from many years as a member of the renowned early music ensemble, the Toronto Consort, to more than 100 CDs, soundtracks for television and film, composition and sound design for theatre and dance. His interests extend to experimental music, spontaneous composition and improvisation, topics he explored in a TED talk in 2011.
Learn more about the unique hurdy gurdy, its history and how an ancient instrument has evolved to fit into the world of experimental modern music.
Admission is free. Please register by acquiring a ticket HERE.

Duo Corvi and Friends (VICTORIA/TORONTO)
2023-09-29 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
Bel Ami, Alamanda
Tickets on sale now.

Note: Out of respect for National Truth and Reconciliation day, which falls on Saturday, September 30, we have moved our concert from our traditional Saturday evening to Friday evening, September 29.
Return of the international award-winning ensemble, Duo Corvi, to the EMSI stage, with Occitan and Galician music from the 13th Century.
The trobairitz, like their male troubadour counterparts, were noble poet-musicians who wrote and performed within Occitan court life during the late 12th and 13th centuries. In contrast to the trobairitz, the joglar were musicians who came from outside a noble background. Early Galician joglar forms include the cantiga de amigo (‘friend song’), a type of lyric poetry rooted in female-voiced song. Duo Corvi is delighted to present this repertoire in Bel ami, Alamanda in collaboration with their brilliant friends and guest musicians Ben, Doug, and Arian. Enjoy their re-imagining of this very early music.
Performers:
Julie Ryning, voice
Katelyn Clark, orgnetto
Ben Grossman, vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy)
Douglas Hensley, gittern & vihuela
Arian Aminalroaya, percussion
Program
1. A chantar m’er de so qu’ieu non volria
Comtessa de Dia (early 13th century)
2. S’ie us quier cosselh, bel’ ami’ Alamanda
Alamanda (fl. early 13th century) & Giraut de Bornelh (c.1138–1215)
3. Rosa das rosas
Cantiga X from the Cantigas de Santa Maria
anon (mid to late 13th century)
Intermission
4. Seven cantigas d’amigo of the Martim Codax:
i. Ondas do mar de Vigo
ii. Mandad’ey comigo
iii. Mia irmana fremosa treydes comigo
iv. Ay Deus, se sab’ora meu amigo
v. Quantas sabedes amar amigo
vi. Eno sagrad’ en Vigo
vii. Ay ondas que eu vin veer
Martim (fl. early 13th century)

Le Poème Harmonique (FRANCE)
2023-10-21 19:30 - 21:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, Canada
Music for a Young King
“Le coup de Majesté”
“Daring, inventiveness and high standards are three cardinal virtues that Vincent Dumestre and his musicians have under their skin” – Le Monde, Marie-Aude Roux
“Early-music group Le Poème Harmonique doesn’t spend nearly enough time in New York. We are defining nearly enough time as about every week. Minimum.” – Time Out New York, Olivia Giovetti
“Historical rigor combined with creative freedom, elegance and beautiful sound combined with poetic sensitivity and quivering lyricism. With humility as the key word.“ – Le Figaro, Christian Merlin
Purchase tickets here

A debut Victoria performance by one of the most celebrated and recorded Early Baroque ensembles in France. Royal and popular music from the early reign of Louis XIV, before Versailles.
Music for a Young King explores popular and royal music before Versailles, with excerpts from the very first operas given in France by Lully and Cavalli, “pieces de salon” (Marais, Moulinié), drinking songs and the popular tunes hummed throughout Paris, performed in succession on this lively and exhilarating musical journey. After exploring the 17th century through the intimacy of courtly tunes, and more recently through the great royal panoramas of Lully and Delalande, the Poème Harmonique invites you to enter a living palace, the Louvre, at a time when popular music was omnipresent, and the nobility and the people sang in chorus, from the streets to the court.

Programme:
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Plainte de Vénus sur la mort d’Adonis
Michel-Richard de Lalande
Musette
Marche des Bergers
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Air sur les Stances du Cid
Etienne Moulinié
L’auzel que sul boyssou
Anonyme
Le bossu maumariée
Anonyme
Quand je menais les chevaux boire
Francesco Cavalli
Sinfonia, L’Egisto
Sinfonia, Ercole amante
Marco Uccellini
Sinfonia A gran battaglia
Aria sopra la Bergamasca
Francesco Cavalli
Dell’antro magico, Il Giasone
Luci mie, Xerse
Giovanni Battisa Buonamente
Aria di Fiorenza
Francesco Cavalli
E vuol dunque, from the opera Ercole amante
Piangete occhi dolenti, from the opera L’Egisto

Musicians:
Le Poème Harmonique
Anaïs Bertrand, alto
Vincent Dumestre, theorbo and artistic direction
Fiona-Émilie Poupard, Louise Ayrton, violins
Lucas Peres, Viola da gamba
Simon Guidicelli, doublebass
Camille Delaforge, harpsichord and organ
(Photo credit: Danza !)

La Cigale (MONTREAL)
2023-11-18 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
LA GRAZIA DELLE DONNE
– Music of the Italian Baroque by women and the men who encouraged them
Tickets on sale now.

“Who does not know that without women we can feel no content or satisfaction throughout this life of ours, which but for them would be rude and devoid of all sweetness and more savage than that of wild beasts? Who does not know that women alone banish from our hearts all vile and base thoughts, vexations, miseries, and those turbid melancholies that so often are their fellows?”—Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier (1528)
La Cigale proposes a celebration of femininity with a program of Italian music of the Baroque. The program features works by master women composers: Barbara Strozzi, Francesca and Settima Caccini, Vittoria Aleotti and Isabella Leonarda; as well as pieces by some of the men who encouraged feminine creativity: Giulio Caccini and Antonio Vivaldi.
Program:
The Caccini Family:
Ch’amor sia nudo – Francesca Caccini (1587-après 1641)
Se muove a giurar fede – Francesca Caccini
Si miei tormenti – Settimia Caccini (1591-1741)
Udite amanti – Giulio Caccini (vers 1550-1613)
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Sonate en trio RV 63 en ré mineur “La Follia”
Vittoria Aleotti (ca 1575-1620)
Bacai per haver vita
Io v’amo vita mia
Hor che la vaga aurora
Isabella Leonarda
Purpurei Flores
Sonata Prima Opus 16
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Lagrime mie
Hor che Apollo
Musicians:
Stephanie Manias, soprano
Madeleine Owen, lute, theorbo, Baroque guitar and Artistic Director
Sara Lackie, Baroque triple harp and Assistant Director
Marie-Michel Beaupaiant, Baroque cello
Vincent Lauzer, recorders
Sari Tsuji, Baroque violin
(Photo credit: Nadia Zheng)

Workshop with La Cigale
2023-11-19 10:00 - 17:00 | RSVP for address, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
EMSI presents a full-day workshop with Montreal’s La Cigale.
The workshop will be divided into two sections:
Morning session (10:30 – 12:00): A panel discussion: Women Composers of the Baroque and Baroque Practice – From the Written Page to the Performance Stage
The morning session is FREE and all are welcome to attend.
Afternoon sessions (1:00 – 5:00): Breakout sessions for playing musicians. Sessions will include recorder, plucked strings, bowed strings and vocal. Depending on mix of attendees, the sessions may be further broken down between guitar/lute, harp, violin and cello. Breakout sessions will be followed by a massed performance by participants of music by Vittoria Aleotti.
Cost for afternoon sessions: $40 (includes lunch). If you wish to come for the afternoon only, please sign up for the full day. When you register, you will be asked if you plan on attending the morning session.
REGISTER FOR FREE MORNING SESSION
REGISTER FOR FULL DAY WORKSHOP

Gothic Voices (UK)
2023-12-16 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
Nowell Synge We Bothe Al and Som
View Pricing Options
Get Tickets Now
A medieval Christmas celebration by the ensemble that, probably more than any other, has defined the modern approach to performance of vocal music of the Middle Ages.
A gathering of music-lovers during the Christmas season today will often result in a hearty carol singing evening, with its focus on the wonderful melodies of the past. Imagine such an event 600 years ago, complete with some of the music we call old being utterly modern, and when their music ‘from the past’ reached back a further 300 years… Hear the fervour of known and unknown carols in their original 15th century form, and the elegance of their ingenious forerunners in this celebratory interplay of narrative and symbolic poetry picturing the biblical stories of Mary and Jesus, and bound together with a mark of festive ritual by large-scale mass movements by early English celebrities Dunstaple and Power.
Program:
Part I – Annunciation
Anon. (13th C.): Veni, O sapientia
Anon. (14th C.): Angelus ad virginem
John Dunstaple: Gaude virgo salutata
Anon. (15th C.): Nowell, nowell, nowell
Anon. (15th C.) Alma redemptoris mater: As I lay
John Cooke: Ave regina caelorum
Anon. (12-13th C.): In natali novi regis
Anon. (15th C.): Alleluya: a newe werk is come on honed
Anon. (15th C.): Mervele not, Joseph
Anon. (13th C.): Edi be thu, heven queene
Trad.: O sapientia
John Dunstaple: Magnificat
Walter Frye: Ave regina caelorum
Part II – Nativity
Anon. (14th C.) Lullay, lullay: Als I lay
Anon. (15th C.): Ecce, quod natura
Anon. (15th C.): Ave rex angelorum
Queldryk: Gloria Motet
Anon. (15th C.) : Benedicite Deo
Leonel Power: Sanctus
Anon. (15th C.): Ther ys no rose of swich virtu
Anon. (12-13th C.): Resonet, intonet
Anon. (15th C.): Nowell syng we
Trad.: Puer natus est nobis
Anon. (15th C.): Nowell: Owt of your slepe (vv. 1-2)
Trad.: Cantate domino
Anon. (15th C.): Nowell: Owt of your slepe (vv. 3-4)
Musicians:
Catherine King, mezzo soprano
Steven Harrold, tenor
Julian Podger, tenor
Simon Whitely, bass-baritone

The Baltimore Consort (USA)
2024-01-27 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
In Angel’s Wede: Music For Mary Queen of Scots
Tickets on sale now.

A brand-new program by a perennially favourite ensemble of EMSI audiences.
Music from Scotland, France, England and Italy with a captivating narration by Emmy Award winner (and television and radio personality) Robert Aubry Davis.
The short life of Mary Queen of Scots (1542–1587) was the stuff of great drama. Why has this sixteenth-century Scottish queen captivated us for centuries? The layers of romance, deceit, political maneuvering, and the long Catholic and Protestant feud are all told in Mary’s tale.

Program:
Prelude
The gowans are gay – John Forbes, Songs and Fancies, 1662
Adew Dundee – Skene MS c. 1630–33
Youth in France
Reading: Fair flower of fifteen springs (Ronsard)
C’est moys de May – Clément Janequin (1485–1558)
Queen’s Pavane and Gaillarde – Estienne du Tertre, VIIme livre de danceries, 1557
J’ay suis desheritée – Pierre Cadéac, Quart livre …chansons nouvelles, 1540
Branles d’escosse – Estienne du Tertre
Reading: Dancing is practiced to reveal whether lovers are in good health… (Arbeau)
A suite of branles – Thoinet Arbeau, Orchésographie, 1589
Reading: Ronsard, if your good, gentle-natured heart (Mary)
Mignonne allons voir si la rose – Ronsard, pub. Jehan Chardavoine, Voix de ville, 1576
Gaillarde d’escosse – Pierre Phalèse, Liber primus leviorum carminum, 1572
Bransle d’escosse – Estienne du Tertre
Ma petite colombelle – Ronsard, Jehan Chardavoine, Voix de ville, 1576
Intermission
Back home in Scotland
Lady Cassilles Lilt – Anonymous
Alace, I ly alon – Anon. Skene MS
What mightie motion Anon. – Thomas Wode’s Partbooks c.1562-1590
Reading: For who can denie… (John Knox)
Our Father God celestiall – Pierre Cadéac (fl.1538–1558)
Lutenist, David Riccio, The Pope’s “spy”
La Spagna – Francesco da Milano (1497–1543)
Morir non può il mio core – Maddalena Casulana (1544–1590)
Fantasia No. 34 – Francesco da Milano
Imprisonment and Execution in England
Reading: O Lord my God, receive my prayer (Mary)
In Angel’s Wede – William Byrd (ca.1540–1623)
Reading: Alive a Queen, now dead I am a Saint (Robert Southwell)
A Scot’s Tune – Jane Pickeringe Lute Book, ca.1617
Green grows the rashes – Anon., Balcarres Lute Book 1692–94

Musicians:
Mary Ann Ballard, viols
Mark Cudek, cittern, bass viol
Larry Lipkis, viols, recorders
Ronn McFarlane, lute
Mindy Rosenfeld, winds
Danielle Svonavec, soprano
with Robert Aubry Davis, narrator

Workshop with Baltimore Consort
2024-01-28 09:00 - 17:00 | First Metropolitan United Church, 932 Balmoral Road, Victoria, BC, V8T 1A8, Canada
EMSI presents a full-day workshop with the renowned Baltimore Consort!
The workshop will take place on Sunday, January 28, 2024, and will be divided into two sections:

Two morning sessions in the form of lecture demonstrations by the artists. The morning session is FREE and all are welcome to attend. Take advantage of this opportunity to get to know these celebrated artists and learn about their craft.
Two participatory sessions in the afternoon for instrumentalists and singers, broken out into recorder, plucked strings, bowed strings and voice.

The cost for participating in the afternoon sessions: $60 (includes lunch). If you wish to come for the afternoon only, please sign up for the full day. When you register, you will be asked if you plan on attending the morning session.
REGISTER FOR FREE MORNING SESSION
REGISTER FOR FULL DAY WORKSHOP
The morning session will look at how the musicians approach their repertoire and put together their unique arrangements. Learn about the instruments they use and how they take advantage of the instruments’ different sounds and technical capabilities. You don’t need to sing or play an instrument to get a lot out of these morning sessions, and they are FREE for anyone to attend.
The afternoon sessions will cover some or all of the following:

Scottish and French music from the time of Mary, Queen of Scots for recorders
Ballads based on English Country dances in SATB settings–open to all instruments and singers
An introduction to ornamentation/improvisation for instrumentalists and singers
“The Secret Music at Tordesillas”: secular music of Renaissance Spain
Lute masterclass
Lute song class for lute players and singers
Introduction to the Renaissance flute (hands-on opportunity to try one of EMSI’s new consort of Renaissance flutes)
Voice masterclass/choral read-through
Viol technique class focused on playing and deconstructing fun etudes and tunes.
Classic English viol consorts for between 3 and 6 players; music by Gibbons, Coprario, Jenkins or Whyte

Ensemble Mirabilia (MONTREAL)
2024-02-17 19:30 - 21:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, Canada
L’Eterno Ritorno
Get Tickets >
Brilliant Canadian soprano, Myriam Leblanc is featured in a program devoted to that most captivating and tuneful Baroque musical form: the chaconne.
Built on ostinato basses, grounds, chaconnes and passacaglia have inspired most composers since the 16th century and have allowed the generation of hundreds of arias and instrumental pieces.

The improvised character of this dance allows within the same piece to cross all the times, all kinds of characters and various weather conditions. One of the peculiarities of this genre is its decidedly sensual aspect, with its roots in popular tradition, the repeated bass causing a certain trance.
Program:
Claudio Monteverdi, Quel sgardo sdegnosetto , ciaccona.Giovanni Legrenzi, Lumi potete piangere (La divisione del mondo).Benedetto Marcello, Che Inviolabile.Antonio Vivaldi, Piango, Gemo.Anonyme, Tarentelle, La Carpinese.Antonio Caldara, Chiacona en Sib Majeur pour 2 dessus et b.c.Antonio Cesti, Addio Corindo.G. Jeay, Chaconne. (fl, vl, b.c.).Tarquinio Merula, su la cetra amorosa, aria a voce sola in ciacona.Barbara Strozzi, Eraclito amoroso. Benedetto Ferrari: Voglio di vita uscir.Luigi Rossi: Mio ben, teco il tormento più.Giovanni Felice Sances, Misera hor si ch’il pianto.Léo Ferré, Col Tempo (Avec le temps).
Musicians:
Ensemble Mirabilia:
Myriam Leblanc, sopranoGrégoire Jeay, flutes, percussionsChloe Meyers, baroque violinAntoine Malette-Chénier, baroque harpMélisande Corriveau, baroque celloAlexander Weimann, positive organ, harpsichord

Voice and Recorder Workshops
2024-03-23 09:00 - 12:00 | School of Music, MacLaurin Bldg, University of Victoria, MacLaurin Building, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
We are offering Choral and Recorder Workshops on the morning of our Hallelujah and Trumpets! concert with Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble ArtChoral from Montreal.
The choral workshop will be led by Ensemble Caprice’s dynamic Artistic Director, Matthias Maute. Repertoire will include works by J.C. Bach, Deprez, Isaac and de Morales.
The recorder workshop will be led by recorder virtuoso and teacher, Sophie Larivière. Repertoire to be announced.
Admission by donation (suggested donation: $20)
To register, follow the links:
Choral workshop
Recorder workshop
For more information on the concert, visit the concert page.

Ensemble Caprice (MONTREAL)
2024-03-23 19:30 - 21:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, Canada
Hallelujah and trumpets!
The splendor of Handel’s music
Tickets on sale now.
The third in our series of concerts with this exciting ensemble, led by the irrepressible Matthias Maute. This time, the music of Handel is featured, including his Anthem for the Foundling Hospital.
Watch an interview with Artistic Director, Matthias Maute, discussing his philosophies about early music and its relevance and impact on modern audiences.

Program:
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Ode for the anniversary of the Queen Anne Eternal Source of Light Divine HWV 74
for soloists, choir, 2 trumpets, 2 oboes, strings and bc (London, 1713)
George Frideric Handel
Aria amoroso (from trio sonata HWV 386b)
J.D. Heinichen (1683-1729)
Magnificat (Dresden, 1729)
-intermission-
George Frideric Handel
Concerto grosso op.3, No,3 HWV 314 for recorder, violin and strings
George Frideric Handel
Lascia ch’io piange (from Rinaldo HWV 7)
Variations on The Harmonious Blacksmith HWV 430
Ombra mai fu (from Serse HWV 40)
George Frideric Handel
Anthem for the Foundling Hospital Blessed are they that considereth the poor HWV 268
for choir, 2 trumpets, timpani, 2 oboes, strings and bc (London, 1st version 1749)
Musicians:
Ensemble Caprice
Matthias Maute, Artistic Director:
8 singers
Conductor (doubling on flute)
2 violins
viola
violoncello
baroque guitar
2 oboes (1 doubling on flute)
2 trumpets

The Tallis Scholars (UK)
2024-04-20 19:30 - 21:00 | Christ Church Cathedral, 911 Quadra Street at Rockland Avenue, Victoria, British Columbia, V8V 3G8, Canada
Darkness to Light
A very special joint presentation with Christ Church Cathedral, featuring the pre-eminent interpreters of Renaissance polyphony on their triumphant 50th Anniversary Tour.
Tickets for this event are now on sale.

(Please note, this special concert is not eligible for the Flex Pass.)
Description:
The journey behind this program is an obvious one at this time of year. We proceed from the darkness associated with Lent to the hope and joy which is Easter in the Christian calendar. We start with the mood of Lent, beautifully captured in these two English settings of the Lamentations (White and Tallis), with their intense settings of the traditional words of complaint, offset by the greater reflection provided by the Hebrew letters which punctuate the text (Caph, Lamed and Mem in the White).
In the second half of the concert we join in worship of Jesus and Mary as they fulfill the Easter prophecy: Jesus in Parsons’s magnificent setting of O bone Jesu; Mary in the Ave Maria and Regina caeli settings. The message of these pieces is then summed up in the complete cycle of Byrd’s Propers for Easter Day – five motets which take us through the drama of the Crucifixion. Listen out for the fourth one, where in no more than a minute Byrd describes in music the shaking of the earth when Christ died – Terra tremuit.– Peter Phillips
Program:
Robert White Lamentations IIRobert White Exaudiat teThomas Tallis Lamentations II
Intermission
Robert Parsons O bone JesuRobert Parsons Ave MariaRobert White Regina caeliWilliam Byrd Easter PropersResurrexiHaec diesVictimae paschaliTerra tremuitPascha nostrum

Friederike Otto - Cornetto
2024-06-29 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Barnabas Anglican Church, 1525 Begbie Strett, Victoria, BC, V8R 6N4, Canada
Flourishing
The Art of the Cornetto
Tickets on sale now
A special concert featuring renowned German cornettist Friederike Otto on this rare and fascinating instrument and Vancouver-based Christina Hutten on harpsichord and organ.
A kind of hybrid between a woodwind and a brass instrument, the cornetto was prized for its tremendous expressive flexibility, very like a fine human voice. This is a rare opportunity to hear one of the world’s foremost cornetto players, Friederike Otto, who is a member of the Lautten Compagney Berlin and Capella de la Torre. Otto will be joined by Christina Hutten on organ and harpsichord for a program of music that is both lyrical and florid by composers including Heinrich Schütz and Claudio Monteverdi.
Friederike Otto is one of the few professional cornetto players. Starting at the age of 13, she studied Early Music/ Cornetto at the Conservatories in Leipzig and Lyon with Arno Paduch, Jean-Pierre Canihac and William Dongois. Since then she has been performing with various ensembles all over the world. She is a member of the prize winning Lautten Compagney Berlin with whom she explores also contemporary and popular music. Numerous recordings with different ensembles, such as Johann-Rosenmüller-Ensemble, Dresdner Barockorchester or Capella Sagittariana document her work. Currently she takes part in the complete recording of Heinrich Schütz music with Hans-Christoph Rademann. Together with the RIAS Kammerchor and as member of Capella de la Torre she recorded the CD “Da pacem” that won the Echo Klassik prize in 2017.
As an organist and harpsichordist Christina Hutten has presented recitals in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including performances in concert series hosted by the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, the Hooglandsekerk in Leiden, Early Music Vancouver, the Universities of British Columbia and Calgary, and others. She performs regularly with Pacific Baroque Orchestra and has appeared as concerto soloist with the Okanagan Symphony, the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, and the Arizona State University Chamber Orchestra. Christina is also an enthusiastic teacher. She coordinates the early music ensembles at the University of British Columbia and has given masterclasses and workshops at institutions including the Victoria Baroque Summer Program, Brandon University, the University of Manitoba, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada’s National Music Centre in Calgary, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. Funded by a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, she pursued private organ studies in Europe. Christina obtained a master’s degree in Organ Performance from Arizona State University and an Advanced Certificate in Harpsichord Performance from the University of Toronto.
Program:

Students and youth admitted free at the door.

40th Season Premiere Opera Celebration
2024-09-22 18:00 - 21:30 | Leonardo Da Vinci Centre, 195 Bay Street, Victoria, British Columbia, V9A 3K4, Canada
Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
The Early Music Society of the Islands Presents their 40th Season Opera Celebration!
Event Dates: September 22, 24, 26 & 28, 2024
Event Time: 6:00 pm to 9:30pm
Click on one of the following dates to buy Tickets:
Sunday, September 22, 2024 performance
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 performance
Thursday, September 26, 2024 performance
SOLD OUT: Saturday, September 28, 2024
(Please note, this special concert is not eligible for the Flex Pass.)
Description:
Join us in celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Early Music Society of the Islands with an immersive opera experience set in the enchanting world of Naples, Italy, in 1708. The opera, composed by George Frideric Handel for the wedding of the Duke of Alvito and Princess Beatrice Tocco di Montemiletto, promises a tale of love, loyalty, and the triumph of good over evil.
Event Details:

A 90-minute intimate opera
Three of Europe’s rising opera stars
Italian musical director Marco Vitale
Delectable Italian cuisine pre-performance experience.

The Experience: Intimate, Immersive, Italian!
Watch Marco’s invitation:

Meet the Artists:

Musical Director | Marco Vitale
Born in Palermo, Italy. Marco Vitale has had a distinguished career in early music, specializing in Baroque operas and the performance of music in the Italian style.
Marco has performed at the most prestigious venues and festivals throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Asia. He currently works in Vienna, as harpsichordist for Orchester 1756 and as lecturer at the Early Music institute of the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW).
Marco regularly performs with Jordi Savall and his ensembles Le Concert des Nations and Hespèrion XXI.He has recorded extensively for Alia Vox, Naïve, and Brilliant Classics and his own record label, ayros.

Aci | Stefanie True

Canadian-born soprano, Stefanie True won second prize at the John Kerr Award Competition in Kent, UK in 2010 and in 2011, placed first at the London Handel Singing Competition (Adair Prize). Since then she has appeared in numerous roles in Europe, with Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Göttingen Händel Festspiele, Ambronay Festival with William Christie, and(Opera2day) and Collegium Musicum Den Haag.
Specializing in Baroque opera, her roles include Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Euridice in Gluck’s Orpheo ed Euridice, Prosepine in Charpentier’s Orphée aux Enfers, Cephise in Campra’s L’Europe Gallante, Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina and Serpina in Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, as well as Aci in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo.

Galatea | Margherita Maria Sala
Born in Lecco, Margherita Maria Sala is a rising star in the European opera firmament. After winning the First Prize of the Cesti International Singing Competition 2020, where she also received the Audience Award and the Special Prize from the Festival Resonanzen at the Vienna Konzerthaus. She has performed under such eminent conductors as Riccardo Muti, Maxim Emelyanychev, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.
Margherita has sung roles that have included Narciso in Handel’s Agrippina, Galatea in Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo at the Handel Festival in Halle, Germany, Cleofe in Handel’s La Resurrezione with Concerto Copenhagen and Aristea in Vivaldi’s Olimpiade with the Opéra de Nice.

Polifemo | Trevor Eliot Bowes
Born in Victoria, BC, Trevor Eliot Bowes has gone on to a stellar career in the UK and Europe. He has performed with many opera companies including the English National Opera, the English Touring Opera,the Nevill Holt Opera, the OAE/Valletta Baroque Festival, the Royal Opera House, the Welsh National Opera.He also performed in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Hamburg as Fedro in Early Music Russia’s production of Boris Goudenow (Johann Mattheson’s 1710 version) and Nanni in Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa with Le Parlement de Musique, in Strasbourg. His roles include Mozart’s Figaro, Leporello, and Don Alphonso, Nanni in Haydn’s L’infedetà as well as Polifemo in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo.
The Role of Aci is generously sponsored by Patricia Weldon

Corporate sponsors:

40th Season Premiere Opera Celebration
2024-09-28 18:00 - 21:30 | Leonardo Da Vinci Centre, 195 Bay Street, Victoria, British Columbia, V9A 3K4, Canada
Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
The Early Music Society of the Islands Presents their 40th Season Opera Celebration!
Event Dates: September 22, 24, 26 & 28, 2024
Event Time: 6:00 pm to 9:30pm
Click on one of the following dates to buy Tickets:
Sunday, September 22, 2024 performance
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 performance
Thursday, September 26, 2024 performance
Saturday, September 28, 2024 performance
Sorry, we are sold out for this event.
Please check “Upcoming Events” to see the other offerings for our 4oth Anniversary Season.
(Note, this special concert is not eligible for the Flex Pass.)
Description:
Join us in celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Early Music Society of the Islands with an immersive opera experience set in the enchanting world of Naples, Italy, in 1708. The opera, composed by George Frideric Handel for the wedding of the Duke of Alvito and Princess Beatrice Tocco di Montemiletto, promises a tale of love, loyalty, and the triumph of good over evil.
Event Details:

A 90-minute intimate opera
Three of Europe’s rising opera stars
Italian musical director Marco Vitale
Delectable Italian cuisine pre-performance experience.

The Experience: Intimate, Immersive, Italian!
Here’s a short teaser:

Watch Marco’s invitation:

Meet the Artists:

Musical Director | Marco Vitale
Born in Palermo, Italy. Marco Vitale has had a distinguished career in early music, specializing in Baroque operas and the performance of music in the Italian style.
Marco has performed at the most prestigious venues and festivals throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Asia. He currently works in Vienna, as harpsichordist for Orchester 1756 and as lecturer at the Early Music institute of the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW).
Marco regularly performs with Jordi Savall and his ensembles Le Concert des Nations and Hespèrion XXI.He has recorded extensively for Alia Vox, Naïve, and Brilliant Classics and his own record label, ayros.

Aci | Stefanie True

Canadian-born soprano, Stefanie True won second prize at the John Kerr Award Competition in Kent, UK in 2010 and in 2011, placed first at the London Handel Singing Competition (Adair Prize). Since then she has appeared in numerous roles in Europe, with Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Göttingen Händel Festspiele, Ambronay Festival with William Christie, and(Opera2day) and Collegium Musicum Den Haag.
Specializing in Baroque opera, her roles include Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Euridice in Gluck’s Orpheo ed Euridice, Prosepine in Charpentier’s Orphée aux Enfers, Cephise in Campra’s L’Europe Gallante, Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina and Serpina in Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, as well as Aci in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo.

Galatea | Margherita Maria Sala
Born in Lecco, Margherita Maria Sala is a rising star in the European opera firmament. After winning the First Prize of the Cesti International Singing Competition 2020, where she also received the Audience Award and the Special Prize from the Festival Resonanzen at the Vienna Konzerthaus. She has performed under such eminent conductors as Riccardo Muti, Maxim Emelyanychev, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.
Margherita has sung roles that have included Narciso in Handel’s Agrippina, Galatea in Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo at the Handel Festival in Halle, Germany, Cleofe in Handel’s La Resurrezione with Concerto Copenhagen and Aristea in Vivaldi’s Olimpiade with the Opéra de Nice.

Polifemo | Trevor Eliot Bowes
Born in Victoria, BC, Trevor Eliot Bowes has gone on to a stellar career in the UK and Europe. He has performed with many opera companies including the English National Opera, the English Touring Opera,the Nevill Holt Opera, the OAE/Valletta Baroque Festival, the Royal Opera House, the Welsh National Opera.He also performed in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Hamburg as Fedro in Early Music Russia’s production of Boris Goudenow (Johann Mattheson’s 1710 version) and Nanni in Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa with Le Parlement de Musique, in Strasbourg. His roles include Mozart’s Figaro, Leporello, and Don Alphonso, Nanni in Haydn’s L’infedetà as well as Polifemo in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo.

Jonathon Adams, Chloe Kim and Friends (CANADA)
2024-10-25 19:30 - 21:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, 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, in a program on the themes of loss and reconciliation.
Born in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton), Jonathon Adams is an Indigenous (Cree-Métis) baritone whose career has taken off in North American and beyond. They have appeared as a soloist with Philippe Herreweghe, Sigiswald Kuijken, Vox Luminis, Servir Antico, and B’Rock Orchestra at Opera-Ballet Flanders. Recent and future solo engagements include performances with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, under Masaaki Suzuki, the Ricercar Consort and Collegium Vocale Gent, Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, Servir Antico, Washington Bach Consortand the Portland Baroque Orchestra.
Very familiar to audiences in Victoria, Vancouver-based Chloe Kim‘s meteoric career has taken her to most of the major centres in North America, UK and Europe, sharing the stage with celebrated figures including Rachel Podger, Masaaki Suzuki, Pablo Heras-Casado, and Richard Egarr. Technically brilliant, with an astonishing range of expression, Kim performs regularly with the English Concert, and has taken part in projects that include a Vivaldi women’s tour led by the legendary Monica Huggett and collaborations with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in France.
These two artists will be joined by a stellar group of musicians, including one of the leading harpsichordists in the UK Tom Foster, co-founder of Les Voix Humaines Margaret Little on viola da gamba, Victoria Baroque’s Kathryn Wiebe on violin, American lutenist Brandon Acker on theorbo and long-time principal cellist with Tafelmusik Christina Mahler.
The program is titled “Out of the Deep”, which comes from the text of Bruhns’ lament De Profundis (“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord…”).
Program:
Ach Herr, wie ist meiner Feinde so viel Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Sonata in A Minor, BuxWV 272 Dieterich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707)
Ricercar in e minor, FbWV 409 Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667)
De Profundis Nicolaus Bruhns (1665-1697)
INTERVAL
Ciaccona J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
transcription for two violins and cello by Jeanne Lamon
Nisi Dominus Heinrich Franz Ignaz von Biber (1644-1704)
Vox Domini super aquas David Pohle (1624-1695)

Iestyn Davies and Fretwork (UK)
2024-11-29 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
Iestyn Davies and Fretwork at Carnegie Hall
Lamento
Buy Tickets
See Special Pricing Options
Note: This concert was originally scheduled for Thursday, November 28, and has been moved to Friday, November 29 to accommodate travel plans of the artists.
Countertenor Iestyn Davies makes his debut performance with EMSI, in the company of the incomparable British viol consort, Fretwork.
Widely recognized as one of the world’s finest singers, Iestyn Davies is the recipient of two Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, a RPS Award for Young Singer of the Year, the Critics’ Circle Award and recently an Olivier Award Nomination. He was appointed MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2017 for services to music.
“. . . a sublime voice, a faultless technique and superb artistry, all of which Davies has in spades.” – Keith McDonnell, MusicOMH
Fretwork has been setting the standard for the viol consort performance for over 35 years. Their impressive recordings of late Renaissance and early Baroque consort music have been universally praised, and the ensemble has toured throughout the world to great acclaim.
“Fretwork is the finest viol consort on the planet” – Stephen Pettitt, The London Evening Standard
The concert will feature an exploration of exquisite and deeply spiritual 17th-century German repertoire.
A beloved genre in the Baroque era, the lamento’s origins lay in early 17th century Italian opera, before finding its way into sacred music. It was quickly embraced by German sacred composers, who used its expressive nature to depict the sorrow of mankind’s sin and the tragic Passion of Christ. Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)’s Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte, his best-known work that laments the sinfulness of humanity, forms the foundation of this programme that traverses across Baroque Germany.
Program:

Pacific Baroque Orchestra (CANADA)
2024-12-21 15:00 - 17:00 | Christ Church Cathedral, 911 Quadra Street at Rockland Avenue, Victoria, British Columbia, V8V 3G8, 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 Gloria in excelsis Deo cantata BWV 191 by J.S. Bach with the Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Missa Nativitatis Domini (ZWV 8) of 1726.
Premiered in Leipzig on Christmas day, 1745, Bach’s BWV 191 work is derived from a Gloria that was later used in the great B minor Mass. It is Bach’s only sacred cantata sung in Latin.
Bohemian composer, Jan Dismas Zelenka was a contemporary of Bach and the two composers evidently knew each other. Bach is said to have highly esteemed the work of Zelenka, whose unusual and creative use of harmonic invention and counterpoint make his music unique, complex and virtuosic for his time.
Vancouver’s Pacific Baroque Orchestra, under the direction of Alexander Weimann, will be joined by the Vancouver Chamber Choir and soloists Hélène Brunet & Suzie LeBlanc, sopranos; Cecilia Duarte, alto; James Reese, tenor; William Kraushaar, bass.
Celebrate Christmas with this powerful program of choral and orchestral works, presented in the magnificent setting of Christ Church Cathedral.
Note the 3pm start time for the concert.
Because this program is a joint presentation, it is not eligible for the Flex Pass.
Program:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068
Ouverture
Air
Gavotte​​​​
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Missa Nativitatis Domini (ZWV 8)
Interval
J.S. Bach
BWV 1068
Bourrée
Gigue​​​​​
Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191​​​​​​​

Sequentia Ensemble (France)
2025-01-18 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
Gregorius, the Holy Sinner
Buy Tickets
Redeem your Flex Pass Voucher(s) for This Concert
The incomparable Benjamin Bagby, well-known for his virtuosic rendering of Beowulf and as co-founder of Sequentia, returns to the EMSI stage with colleagues Jasmina Črnčič and leiken, with an astonishing 12th Century tale of one man’s victory over despair (sung in medieval German verse with projected translation in English).
This ancient tale by Hartmann von Aue (d. ca. 1210), tells of how a man tossed about by fortune and unaware of his incestuous origins, finally finds his own life, returning from near death to become a great holy man.
This story was probably transmitted orally: sung, spoken, and accompanied, for courtly gatherings of passionate listeners who, like us, could never get enough of good storytelling.
This ancient tale reaches far into the past — we feel the presence of Oedipus in its darkest moments. At its most inspiring, it is a tale of limitless possibility and inextinguishable hope, the triumph of belief over despair, a story which captivated those binge-listening courtly audiences in the late 12th century.
These days we get our stories through the indirect and impersonal sources of modern media. Here is a chance to reconnect with a time when storytelling was a person-to-person experience, in the hands of an ensemble renowned for the commanding presence, dramatic flair and musical brilliance to bring it alive vividly for us.
Sequentia are: Benjamin Bagby, Jasmina Črnčič and leiken: voices and Romanesque harps.
Here is a short video, with members of Sequentia talking discussing one of their other programs and how they reconstruct performances from 800 years ago:

Perrine Devillers and Ariel Abramovitch (FRANCE/ARGENTINA)
2025-02-15 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas St, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C1, Canada
El Parnasso – Music for voice and vihuela from 16th Century Spain

Note: Due to a delay in obtaining and entry visa, the concert originally planned for February 15, Huehuetenango, is unfortunately no longer available. We are pleased, however, to be offering in its place another fine programme featuring vihuelist Ariel Abramovich and soprano Perrine Devillers.
Buy Tickets (Youth and students admitted free at the door)
Redeem your Flex Pass Voucher(s) for This Concert
Argentinian vihuelist Ariel Abramovich and French soprano Perrine Devillers, perform works by the Spanish composer and vihuela player Estevan Daça (1537 – 1591/1596).
In sixteenth-century Spain, the vihuela was one of the principal instruments used for the domestic performance of highly cultivated art music. Estevan Daça was one of a number of talented vihuelists of the time who composed and arranged music for this instrument. His important collection, titled “El Parnasso” is divided into three books, and includes both Daça’s compositions and his intabulated arrangements of French and Spanish secular songs. This programme presents works from the first and third book.
Program:
Estevan Daça
(1537 – 1591/1596)
Prado verde y florido, a quatro, de Guerrero (Francisco Guerrero 1528-1599)
Pues ya las claras fuentes, a quatro, de Zaballos (Rodrigo de Çeballos 1525-1581)
Fantasía a tres, por el octavo tono
Dame acogida en tu hato
Quando las desdichas mías
Fantasía de passos largos
A tierras agenas
Votre rigueur (Thomas Crecquillon ca 1505-1557).
|Je pense en gré (Jacob Clemens non Papa) (c.1510/1515-1555 /1556)
Escripto esta en mi alma, a quatro
Quan bien aventurado, a quatro
Duro mal, a quatro, de Zaballos (Rodrigo Çeballos)
Fantasía por el tercer tono
Ay fortuna cruel, a quatro
Ay, mudo soy, hablar no puedo, a quatro
Quien te hizo Iuan pastor
Gritos dava la morenica
Nunca mas veran mis oxos

Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble (USA)
2025-03-22 19:30 - 21:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, Canada
The Early Moderns
Buy Tickets
Redeem your Flex Pass Voucher(s) for This Concert
The brilliant American ensemble Quicksilver — “Revered like rock stars within the early music scene” (New York Times) — performs a program of music from the mid-17th century, when the modern world was emerging in Europe and composers were writing revolutionary works that cast of the conventions of the Renaissance and brought a dramatic and virtuosic approach to instrumental music.
The program features the sonatas of composers including Schmeltzer, Kerll, Rosenmüller, Buxtehude and Weichlein.
Music had a cultural revolution in the seventeenth century: it suddenly became modern. This “new music” of dramatic oppositions and vivid emotions found its voice in a new form, the sonata, a pure instrumental work with no agenda but the imagination of the composer – and no standard form but the passionate give-and-take of friends in conversation.
Quicksilver’s concert is a celebration of this new style, bringing to life the extravagant and sumptuous sonatas which were created first by virtuoso instrumental composers in Italy, and then taken up in Germany.
Program:
PROGRAM
Sonata no. 9 à 4 Matthias Weckmann (1616–1674)
Ciacona Nicolaus à Kempis (c.1600–1676)
from Ludwig Partiturbuch, 1662
Sonata cinque a tre Philippe van Wichel (1614–1675)
from Fascilus dulcedinis, Opusculum Primum, 1678
Sonata no. 5 à 3 Carolus Hacquart (c.1640–1686)
from Harmonia Parnassia Sonatarum, 1686
Sonata no. 2 à 4 Matthias Weckmann (1616–1674)
Sonata à 4 in G Major, La Carolietta Johann Schmeltzer (c.1623–1680)
from Kromeriz, 1669
— intermission —
Sonata decima à 3 Dario Castello (1602–1631)
from Sonate Concertate in Stil Moderno, Libro II, 1629
Sonata à 4 in D minor Johann Rosenmuller (1619–1684)
from Sonate a 2. 3. 4. e 5. Stromenti da arco & altri, 1682
Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 163 Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707)
Sonata à 2 in F major Johann Kaspar Kerll (1627–1693)
from Codex Rost, c.1660
Sonata decimaquarta Dario Castello (1602–1631)
from Sonate Concertate in Stil Moderno, Libro II, Venice 1629
