Events
The Cincinnati Early Music Festival takes place in February each year. The ultimate goal is for this list to include any early music performance in Cincinnati whose organizers want to share it. You can also see events in calendar form instead of as a list or add the full schedule to your Google Calendar or iCal.
Michael Unger: Spirit of 1713
CCM professor Michael Unger will perform a solo harpsichord concert of repertoire by Johann Sebastian Bach and François Couperin.
Early Keyboard Day
Drs. Micaela Schmitz and Michael Unger present a day of talks and demonstrations on early keyboards that will conclude with a concert by the two presenters. Keyboard players will have opportunities to try their hand at the various instruments.
The Knox Music Series: An Early Valentine for Music Lovers
The Knox Music Series presents an Early Valentine for Music Lovers program of works by Bach, Mozart, Handel and Vaughan Williams.
Ars Perpetuum: Canzoni of the Early Baroque in Italy
Ars Perpetuum brings you music from early 17th Century Italy for Baroque Harp, Bass and Tenor Sackbuts, Cornetto and recorder played on period instruments featuring instrumental Canzoni by Girolamo Frescobaldi, Bartolome de Selma y Salaverde, and others.
Old Curiosity Shop: Elena Kraineva, Thomas Georgi, & Michael Unger
This recital for Two Violas d'Amore and Harpsichord features such famous pieces as Partia VII for Two Violas d’Amore and Basso by Biber as well as lesser-known compositions by Schuchbauer, Huberty, and Casadesus.
2025 Tapestry Concert
Rather than a single group, this Tapestry Concert will feature a variety of musicians from around Cincinnati performing early music sets of their choosing. Join us to celebrate the diverse talents of our Cincinnati early music community!
Collegium Performs Bach
Collegium Cincinnati performs concertos by Bach, including the Violin and Oboe concerto in C minor and Brandenburg Concertos 2 and 5 featuring Ashley Hall-Tigue trumpet.
The Bach Ensemble: Vespers
In the solemn ambiance of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, the Bach Ensemble Orchestra, Chorale, and St. Thomas Choristers will perform selections from Byrd, Bruckner, and Bach.
Early Music Rev 2025
Join us at The Loon in Northside for our yearly Early Music Rev! Some of the best music from the Baroque and earlier can be enjoyed in a lively bar environment.
Music Live at Lunch: Cincinnati Recorder Consort
Join Cincinnati Recorder Consort (CRC) for a lunchtime concert of music from the Renaissance through late Baroque periods on instruments including recorders, baroque flute, harpsichord, viol, vihuela, and cornamuse.
Rosary Meditation with Zachary Carrettin
St. Gertrude Church welcomes Zachary Carrettin, one of the world’s most distinguished baroque violinists, to present a musical meditation on the glorious mysteries of the rosary with organist Christopher Holman that features Italian masterpieces of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Carissimi's Jephte
Join Cincinnati Camerata and Heri et Hodie for a program of early music featuring Carissimi's Jephte.
Music Live at Lunch: Moyen Age with Heri et Hodie
Moyen Age and Heri et Hodie present a joint concert of Jewish vocal and instrumental music from the Medieval period as well as a healthy dose of the Sephardic.
Portuguese Vespers: Service & Performance
Co-directors Reina Dickey and Brett Scott present the North American premiere of newly discovered gems of Portuguese Polyphony, performed by local professionals. After the service, the group will perform additional selections of sacred polyphony.
The Four Elements: Water
7HB continues their 2024-2025 season with “The Four Elements: Water.” Explore the movement and mystery of life-giving water through music: gently rolling rivers, tempestuous storms at sea, icy realms, and flowing tears of both joy and sadness.
Brandon Jack Acker and Christopher Wilke in Concert
Chicago YouTube sensation Brandon Jack Acker and CCM Professor Dr. Christopher Wilke perform a thrilling concert of rare duets for theorbo and baroque guitar!
UK Early Music Collective
The UK Early Music Collective presents a program that includes works by J. S. Bach, Zelenka, Buhl, Crüger, Fantini, and Susato.
Portuguese Vespers: North American Premiere
Co-directors Reina Dickey and Brett Scott present the North American premiere of newly discovered gems of Portuguese Polyphony, performed by local professionals.
Early Music Sing-A-Long
Love singing early music? Let’s do it together! All are welcome to join. Bring a smartphone or tablet if you have one, and be sure to RSVP so we can have enough music and coffee to go around.
The Four Elements: Earth
7HB commences their 2024-2025 season with “The Four Elements: Earth.” Join us for music which evokes pastoral landscapes, warm hearths and windows, swirling leaves, and the repose and stillness which autumn brings. This concert will also feature a lute concerto written by our friend and frequent collaborator Chris Wilke!
Early Music Sing-A-Long: Christmas & Advent Favorites
Come and spend a Saturday morning singing early music favorites for Christmas and Advent with special guest conductors Earl Rivers, Krista Cornish Scott, and Reina Dickey. No experience required!
Bass Club Cincinnati
Please join Bass Club Cincinnati for this special concert! Jim Lambert will highlight his Viennese Violone; the special sound of this instrument will enchant you while he plays the Dittersdorf Concerto #2. The lecture/demo will include several other pieces, and Jim will answer any questions you have about the instrument and the music of the period.
Summer: Four Seasons with Seven Hills
Don’t miss 7HB’s sizzling season finale “Summer: Four Seasons with Seven Hills” featuring Baroque violinist Parastoo Heidarinejad soloing Vivaldi’s Summer concerto from The Four Seasons and Bach’s quadruple harpsichord concerto in A Minor (an arrangement of a four-violin concerto by Vivaldi)!
Spring: Four Seasons with Seven Hills
Celebrate the arrival of warmer weather and longer days with Seven Hills Baroque as we offer our third of four Four Seasons with Seven Hills installments, featuring Spring from Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons - one of the most beloved and widely recognized pieces of classical music!
Music Live at Lunch: Cincinnati Recorder Consort
Join the Cincinnati Recorder Consort for a lunchtime concert as part of Christ Church Cathedral’s Music Live at Lunch series.
Music Live at Lunch: Heri et Hodie
Join Heri et Hodie for a concert of music for Holy Week as part of Christ Church Cathedral’s Music Live at Lunch series.
A Lenten Prism
Conducted by L. Brett Scott and Krista Cornish Scott. Featuring excerpts from Musikaliches Exequien and The Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross by Heinrich Schutz, these well-known works are interwoven by rarely performed gems from Sulpitia Cesis, Leone Leoni, Maria Perucona and Lucrezia Vizzana, sung from the balcony as a "cloistered" ensemble featuring Christopher Wilke, theorbo.
Music Live at Lunch: Moyen Âge
Come enjoy a little medieval music on your lunch break at Christ Church Cathedral’s “Music Live at Lunch” with Moyen Âge, a Cincinnati-based early music ensemble that’s been performing medieval music since 2017.
Musical Oratory of Lent: Buxtehude, 'Membra Jesu nostri'
Sponsored by the Anerio Institute, the Oratory Singers & members of the Old St. Mary's Parish Orchestra will be performing the cantata cycle, 'Membra Jesu nostri patientis sanctissima', (The Most Holy Limbs of Our Suffering Jesus) written by the Danish Baroque composer and organist Dieterich Buxtehude (d. 1707), who was a major influence on the music of J.S. Bach.
Gallicantus
Enjoy a world-class performance of Renaissance music from British ensemble Gallicantus in the beautiful setting and acoustic of St. Peter in Chains Basilica.
CCM Vox Antiqua: Musikalische Exequien
CCM's Vox Antiqua and guests perform Heinrich Schütz's affecting setting of funeral music, Musikalische Exequien, which displays the influence of Baroque opera and the Venetian polychoral tradition.
"The Last Rose" (Elena Kraineva & Michael Delfin)
Elena Kraineva and Michael Delfín present a program for Viola d’Amore and Harpsichord. The audience will hear compositions by Heinrich Ignaz, Franz Biber, Christoph Graupner, Domenico Scarlatti, and more, including some of the earliest known compositions for string instruments.
Music at St. Martin’s: Women Singing the Sacred
Join Heri et Hodie, treble voice ensemble, for a concert of early and contemporary sacred works featuring women composers.
2024 Tapestry Concert
Rather than a single group, this Tapestry Concert will feature a variety of musicians from around Cincinnati performing early music sets of their choosing. Join us to celebrate the diverse talents of our Cincinnati early music community!
Nerd Night & Saucy Sing-A-Long
Join emcee Douglas Easterling at the Northwood Cider Co. for early music trivia and a sing-a-long of saucy music written by some unexpected beloved composers! This is an open event—all are welcome, from the hardcore Purcell fan to the merely "Baroque-curious.”
Music Live at Lunch: Bach Ensemble
Immerse yourself in the world of Baroque music on your lunch break as talented Bach Ensemble musicians weave intricate harpsichord solos and captivating strings into a variety of timeless works.
Bach Vespers for Lent
In the solemn ambiance of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, immerse yourself in a sacred journey during our Bach Vespers. Featuring BWV 229, one of Bach’s awe-inspiring motets for double chorus, this evening transcends time and connects you to a rich tradition of spiritual contemplation.
Hortus Deliciarum: Nature in Early Music
From Herrad of Landberg in the twelfth century to Franz Joseph Haydn in the eighteenth, this oncert will explore themes of nature in early music for solo voice and harpsichord on the beautiful grounds of Hauck Botanic Garden.
Early Music Sing-A-Long
Love singing early music? Let’s do it together! All are welcome to join. Bring a smartphone or tablet if you have one, and be sure to RSVP so we can have enough music and coffee to go around.
Solo Harpsichord Recital
Harpsichordist Michael Delfín performs solo works by JS Bach, D'Anglebert, Mattheson, Scarlatti, and more.
Cincinnati New Horizons Band Ensembles
Small ensembles—including a wind quintet, brass choir, and duets—as well as soloists (with piano) will perform music of the Baroque and Renaissance for each other as part of our music education program.
Moyen Age at Design Collective
Hear the dulcet sounds of the lute, the growl of the hurdy gurdy, the sweet strings of the viol, and several other captivating instruments. Exciting and enchanting music of the 14th century played on instruments of the time.