About the Festival

REIMAGINING, REINVENTING, REDEFINING EARLY MUSIC

Welcome to the 18th biennial Berkeley Festival and Exhibition—or as we like to refer to it, BFX! Founded in 1990 and produced by the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS), the Festival has become one of the world’s largest and most important early music conclaves, deemed “a remarkable institution on the American musical scene” by The New York Times. This summer, eight days of scintillating music with 19 main stage concerts, as well as special events, a three-day exhibition, community workshops, and dozens of Fringe presentations!

For the first time in Festival history, our mainstage concerts will be pay-what-you-can, continuing SFEMS’ initiative from our regular season to remove income as a barrier to arts accessibility. To support this experiment—which has already brought record-breaking crowds to SFEMS concerts this season—we again invite patrons to consider “paying-it-forward” by purchasing a paid subscription, which not only ensures premium seat(s), but will serve as an investment in our groundbreaking initiative.

One of the unique aspects of BFX is the continued strength of the Fringe, a series of independently-produced concerts by soloists and ensembles from around the world. At the 2022 Festival, over 40 Fringe concerts took place, and a similar number will keep music flowing in between main stage events.

Also be sure to check out this year’s Exhibition and Marketplace, a three-day bazaar featuring dozens of national and international makers and sellers of historical instruments, music scores, books, and paraphernalia, as well as abundant information for all early music lovers.

Originally conceived by then-Director of Cal Performances Robert Cole and the late Joseph Spencer, proprietor of the Berkeley institution The Musical Offering Café, the Festival has presented unique and amazing events: Mark Morris Dance Group’s interpretation of Rameau’s Platée; “Le Carousel du Roi,” featuring dressage horses and riders executing elaborate ballets from 17th-century France accompanied by shawms and sackbuts in their natural setting (outdoors); and the North American premiere of a long-lost Mass by Alessandro Striggio for 40 and 60 voices. Until his retirement in 2018, Cole served as the Festival’s artistic director. Derek Tam, SFEMS’ executive director, has served as artistic director since 2020.