In 1504 the great polyphonist Jacob Obrecht traveled from his home country Flanders to Ferrara, where he was appointed composer in the musical chapel of Duke Ercole d’Este. On the way, Obrecht stopped in Innsbruck, where he must have got to know the German devotional song for the Virgin Mary, “Maria zart.” The sweet notes […]

For the first time in the group’s history, the Cantata Collective is performing an all-Bach instrumental program! Join us for a night featuring several Brandenburg concerti, as well as concertos for various instruments.

Join us for a special performance in the Hindustani (North Indian) classical tradition! An evening “raga”—or melodic concept that encompasses a specific set of musical rules, emotions, and characteristics that define a unique musical mood and atmosphere—will be specifically chosen for the audience and announced. The performance will then unfold with four main parts: Alap, […]

Take a break from concert attending and bask in the late afternoon sun (with shade) while enjoying some guqin music curated by David Wong and his San Francisco-based Tranquil Resonance Studio, while sipping several varieties of Chinese tea.

Join us for a smile-inducing program of arias and virtuoso concertos by George Frideric Handel and Antonio Vivaldi! Soloists include soprano Amanda Forsythe, recorder player Hanneke van Proosdij, and Baroque violinist Augusta McKay Lodge.

Evoking the rich soils and roots of the earth to the aethereal space of the heavens, the Farallon Recorder Quartet creates anew the sounds of Guillaume Dufay, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Johann Sebastian Bach. Recorders of all sizes blend together to evince, by turns, the earthy might and consonance of the […]

During the period of Spanish colonial rule in South America from the 16th through the 19th centuries, music played a key role in the process of conquest and evangelization. The vast collections of Renaissance and Baroque music found in Bolivia that comprise the Chiquitos and Moxos archives, and the Codex Martínez Compañón found in Perú, […]

Over the course of their long history, the vast and enduring House of Habsburg (1273–1916) were dedicated patrons of the arts. This fascinating program—curated by the dynamic viol consort Parthenia—explores music written during the late 15th and 16th centuries, when the dynasty was at the peak of its prestige and power, as well as later […]

Just over 500 years ago, the Western musical world lost two compositional giants—Josquin Desprez (1521) and Jean Mouton (1522). While it is probably impossible to verify the claims that Mouton was Josquin’s pupil, a great number of other elements show the strong connection between the two. In “Canons of Beauty,” intellectually complexity is hidden behind […]

At the turn of the 17th century, English people of every station were known to have practiced the occult arts, from alchemy and the Cabala to homespun spells and witchcraft. In the “Shadow of Night,” Severall Friends shall present something of a tasting menu of Elizabethan occult practices, exploring through readings and music the idea […]