Cambridge, MA – The Cambridge Society for Early Music returns from hiatus following the passing of long-time director Jim Nicholson with new leadership, a Fringe concert with the Boston Early Music Festival, and an upcoming 2025-26 Concert Season. CSEM welcomes Annette Klein as Artistic Director and Sarah Vandewalle as General Manager. It also renews its commitment to presenting inspiring early music concerts that are accessible to all, and removing barriers between performers, scholars, audiences and students.
CSEM will present “An Afternoon with Virginal & Friends” on Saturday, June 14th, at 2:30pm as part of the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Series, its first concert since 2023. This will be followed by a 2025-26 Concert Season of 3 programs at several different Massachusetts venues, to be announced later this spring.
New leadership:
Artistic Director Annette Klein brings to CSEM a wealth of experience as both a performer and curator. As the Cultural Programs Curator of the Goethe-Institut Boston, Annette has been designing and implementing arts and culture programs for two decades with a focus on fostering cultural exchange and building community and new audiences. A violist with a passion for Early Music, she previously studied and worked in Germany, performing and touring internationally with a wide variety of chamber and period orchestras. Annette is a board member of Studio 170, a non-profit dedicated to encouraging transatlantic exchange between artists of all disciplines.
General Manager Sarah Vandewalle is a practiced arts administrator who has held previous leadership roles at various Boston-area creative non-profits including Gloucester Stage Company, North End Music and Performing Arts Center, and New Repertory Theatre. A graduate of Tufts University, she is a longtime choral singer and currently performs with Chorus Pro Musica. Sarah strives to connect meaningful, impactful programming with diverse communities. She also currently serves as Academic Administrator for the Wellesley College Theatre Studies Program, and as General Manager for Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble.
CSEM presents “An Afternoon with Virginal & Friends” at Boston Early Music Festival
Saturday, June 14, at 2:30pm
Goethe-Institut Boston, 170 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116
Pay-what-you-can tickets available here (suggested $25 donation)
CSEM will present its first public concert in more than two years as part of the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Series. This program features keyboardists Peter Sykes and Peter Watchorn on several keyboard instruments. A special highlight will be the rare mother-and-child virginal of the late James Nicolson, who served as President of CSEM for three decades till his death in 2024. The concert presents a selection of Elizabethan and Jacobean music including works by Sweelinck, Farnaby, Byrd, Morley, and Bull. Program & musician info available here.
About The Cambridge Society for Early Music:
Founded in 1952 by pianist and musicologist Erwin Bodky, the Cambridge Society for Early Music is America’s oldest organization for the promotion of music composed prior to the eighteenth century. CSEM seeks to further the musical education of the general public through the study and performance of early music. Through intimate public concerts, workshops, and masterclasses, we strive to bring performers, scholars, audiences and students together into one community. Since 1968, CSEM has awarded the Bodky Prize to emerging artists in early music.
