• Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

    Intimate – Immersive – Italian!

    Info & Tickets

  • EMSI 2023 - 2024 Season

    Check out our exciting 2023 – 2024 season lineup!

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

    “I have attended EMSI concerts for years. We are truly blessed in Victoria to have such an organization, one that brings in wonderful, renowned and talented musicians who play incredibly beautiful and ethereal music from past centuries. ”
    – Rita Isaac

  • Celebrating Victoria’s own talented artists!

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

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Upcoming Concerts

  • Apr 20 | The Tallis Scholars (UK)
    • The Tallis Scholars (UK)

    • 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 […]

    • Read More
  • Sep 22 | 40th Season Premiere Opera Celebration
    • 40th Season Premiere Opera Celebration

    • 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 […]

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Next concert

The Tallis Scholars (UK)
April 20

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 […]

Read More
Past Concerts

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 Matthias Maute, Ensemble Caprice

,
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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Nathan Nun artwork

Cats & Lutes

Shoutout to artist Nathan Nun, for his beautiful cats & lutes artwork! Read an interview here.
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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.