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.

Early Keyboard Day
Feb
8

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.

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2025 Tapestry Concert
Feb
15

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!

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Rosary Meditation with Zachary Carrettin
Feb
22

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.

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Portuguese Vespers: Service & Performance
Feb
2

Portuguese Vespers: Service & Performance

  • The Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

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.

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The Four Elements: Water
Feb
2

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.

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Early Music Sing-A-Long
Feb
1

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.

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The Four Elements: Earth
Nov
17

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!

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Bass Club Cincinnati
Nov
9

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.

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Summer: Four Seasons with Seven Hills
Jul
14

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)!

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Spring: Four Seasons with Seven Hills
May
19

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!

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A Lenten Prism
Mar
24

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.

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Music Live at Lunch: Moyen Âge
Mar
19

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.

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Musical Oratory of Lent: Buxtehude, 'Membra Jesu nostri'
Mar
5

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.

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Gallicantus
Mar
3

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.

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"The Last Rose" (Elena Kraineva & Michael Delfin)
Feb
25

"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.

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2024 Tapestry Concert
Feb
24

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!

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Nerd Night & Saucy Sing-A-Long
Feb
23

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.”

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Bach Vespers for Lent
Feb
18

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.

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Early Music Sing-A-Long
Feb
17

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.

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Moyen Age at Design Collective
Feb
11

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.

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