Streaming Tickets for the Benefit

Great News! Borrow-Transform-Create, our benefit concert featuring improvisation and diminutions of all sorts by Bálint Karosi and Héloïse Degrugillier, will be live-streamed and recorded for on-demand viewing for one month after the concert. In-person ticket holders will also receive a link to the video.

Streaming tickets are $25. Available here.
If you are in a position to do so, please consider adding a donation to your ticket purchase. Thanks!

Announcing our 2022-2023 Season

Welcome to our 2022-2023 season as we celebrate ten years of bringing early music performances and workshops to the Washington DC area. 

We start on September 17 with a concert to benefit CEM and our indispensable partner Music at Saint George’s.

Borrow – Transform – Create: Music by Handel, Karosi, and More features renowned organist and noted improviser Bálint Karosi on harpsichord and Saint George’s new Pasi Op. 28 organ, and virtouso recorder and traverso player, Héloïse Degrugillier, a long-time favorite of the CEM audience.   

The proceeds of this concert will go toward building a solid foundation for Capitol Early Music and Music at Saint George’s Please be as generous as you can!

Benefit Concert Details and Tickets here


Season tickets are also now available for our regular season concerts – all on Sunday afternoons this year. Single ticket sales open six-eight weeks before the concert:

  • November 13, 2022 at Saint George’s Episcopal Church
    Sylvain Bergeron, lute and vihuela, and Vincent Lauzer,recorder, joined by soprano Grace Srinivasan in “Tant que vivray, Jouissance vous donneray,” a program of improvisation and ornamentation on Renaissance and early Baroque tunes from France Spain, and England.
  • March 26, 2023 at Saint George’s Episcopal Church
    Medici Ensemble (Michael Lynn, flute and recorder; Alan Choo, baroque violin; Ruby Brailler, viola da gamba; and Mark Edwards, harpsichord) in A Musical Conversation,  a program of Baroque ensemble music
  • May 7, 2023 at Saint Columba’s Episcopal Church, Washington DC
    The Peabody Renaissance Ensemble, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and the Baltimore Baroque Band perform The Food of Love: Music and Scenes from Shakespeare

Purchase Season Tickets here

The artists will also conduct workshops related to their concerts on November 12 (for lutes and recorders) and March 25 (for all baroque melody and continuo instrumentalists).  Details and registration will be available six -eight weeks before each workshop.

Announcing Our 2021-2022 Season

CEM returns to live performances and workshops in the 2021-2022 season with a wealth of beautiful performances and fascinating workshops. In September, we’ll present Renaissance music of Josquin’s era performed by the viols of Nota Bene and lutenist Mark Rimple. March brings another of our ever-popular baroque dance programs with dancers Paige Whitley-Baugess and Thomas Baird along with the CEM Dance Band, featuring Anne Timberlake, recorder. We conclude the season in April with the West coast recorder ensemble The Farallon Trio. Each weekend’s events include a workshop in which the performers share their knowledge and skills.

Season concert subscriptions are now available. Single tickets and workshop registration for the Nota Bene events will be available soon.

Renaissance Song & Dance from Alkemie

Enjoy an evening of 15th century French and Italian song, dance, and instrumental music in Sweet Friendship performed by the exciting, innovative early music ensemble Alkemie. DETAILS AND REGISTRATION for the premiere performance on Friday May 21, 2021. Your registration will allow you to view the concert as often as you wish through June 4.

Inspired by the concert, on Saturday you can learn to dance the Italian Ballo or delve into Renaissance polyphony in online classes taught by members of Alkemie. DETAILS AND REGISTRATION

View “L’Arte di Suonare” Concert Video through May 1.

Flying Forms has made its vimeo video of the concert available to us. You can view it as often as you wish through May 1, 2021. If you watched our Zoom broadcast on April 17, you will find the sound quality on this video even better. Click here for the concert program and video link

As always, we appreciate your donations to help us continue presentations such as this.

Trio Sonata Class at A=440

Our class “The Art of the Trio Sonata” with members of Flying Forms and Clea Galhano will include 17th century music by Uccellini and Falconieri for two soprano lines. The music is wonderful but many people do not have sopranos at A=415. So we have adjusted to have the whole class at A=440. If you’ve been hesitant to register because you don’t have a 415 instrument, don’t hold back. In addition to the Uccellini and Falconieri pieces, we’ll explore the High Baroque with a trio sonata by Telemann. Details and Registration here.

Baroque Gems in April

Flying Forms, the creative Baroque trio from St. Paul, MN joins forces with renowned recorder player Cléa Galhano to present a video concert of 17th and 18th century Baroque music on Saturday, April 17 and two online classes on April 18. See here for more information on the concert and here for more information on the classes.

We’re Working on More….

Fragment of ‘Gloria;’ British Library Harley 2124, f.143

Capitol Early Music is working to arrange more presentations like the terrific performance and classes from East of the River. Please bear with us as we navigate the vicissitudes of current circumstances. And do check this space for future announcements of more definite plans.

We’re Back!

Capitol Early Music is thrilled to return to presenting concerts and workshops for the Washington area early music community.  We open the 2020-2021 season, in partnership with The Washington Recorder Society, with a weekend of performance and classes by the renowned New York ensemble, East of the River. On Friday evening, November 6, we offer – at no charge – Reflections~Connections, a live-streamed performance featuring music from Medieval Europe, the Middle East, Armenia, North Africa and the Balkans. On Saturday, November 7, East of the River members teach two online classes.  Read more about, and register for, the Friday performance at our concerts page.  Read details of the classes and register at our workshops page.

Medici Ensemble Events Cancelled

We are sorry to announce that Capitol Early Music has made the difficult decision to cancel its final activities of the season – our concert with The Medici Ensemble on April 24 and its baroque ensemble workshop on April 25. 

Within the next week, we will refund all payments for purchase of tickets or workshop tuition for these events. We plan to compensate the performers for this cancellation as completely as possible.  Your donations will help us do that.  Please consider donating all or part of your ticket/workshop purchase to Capitol Early Music. Or if you are in a position to make an extra donation, please do so here

We remain hopeful that we will be able to implement our plans for a 2020-2021 season starting in November. In the meantime, we hope that you all stay well and that, with the precautions we are all taking now, we will be able to share wonderful music experiences with you then.