Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival

The Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival is a series of live concerts and events with traditional music at various venues in Vancouver.

The festival features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, but also by different composers including Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Strozzi and others. It usually takes place between late July and early August. Exact dates for 2025 are to be confirmed.

Early Music Vancouver has a number of Other Concerts earlier in the year too including the following:

Doulce Mémoire: Now, Let Us Dance! The Art of Dance (April 12th, 2025)
Stefano Maiorana: Secret Pages for Theorbo (April 26th, 2025)
Estuary: Ablaye Cissoko & Constantinople (May 6th)

To learn about the Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival, continue reading or visit the earlymusic.bc.ca website.

This article includes the following information about the EMV Summer Festival:

Festival Schedule | Other EMV Concerts | About EMV | Other Information

EMV Summer Music Festival

Formerly known as the Vancouver Bach Festival, the EMV Summer Festival is an exploration of traditional music presented by Early Music Vancouver (EMV). Each year the festival has a different theme. In 2024 the theme was “Bach Untamed.” The dates and theme for the festival in 2025 are to be confirmed.

Celebrating its eighth year, the EMV Summer Festival ran from July 25th to August 8th in 2024. The shows explored different ways to arrange the music of famous composers like Bach with the integration of vocal traditions from various cultures. There were 12 concerts that took place this year. The events were held at various venues around Vancouver.

See the Early Music Festival‘s official website for full details about what’s happening and when.

Summer Festival Schedule of Events

The schedule for last year’s EMV Summer Festival is below. Exact details, however, were subject the change. 2025’s schedule will likely be comparable.

Thursday, July 25th, 2024

Rondeau in the Garden – EMV’s 2024 fundraising event took place at the VanDusen Botanical Garden at 5251 Oak Street in Vancouver. The formal event began at 6:00 pm and featured a dinner, performances and a live auction.

Saturday, July 27th, 2024

Viva Vivaldi! – this free outdoor double concert was at 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm in the Granville Island Public Market Square. The event featured Alon Sariel and members of the the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme. The special event performance took audiences through the works of Antonio Vivaldi.

Tuesday, July 30th, 2024

Vocal Landscapes of India and Italy – this show featured Shruti Ramani and Charles Daniels combining the musical styles of classical India and Italy. The concert took place at 1:00 pm at Christ Church Cathedral, located at 690 Burrard Street.
A Tribute to Giovanni Gabrieli – a show that paid tribute to the early Baroque composter Giovanni Gabrieli. Hana Blažíková led the way at the performance at Christ Church Cathedral that started at 7:30 pm.

Visit earlymusic.bc.ca for the festival’s official website.

Pacific Baroque Orchestra

Wednesday, July 31st, 2024

Alon Sariel: Plucked Bach – Alon Sariel took the stage once again, this time at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue at 989 West 28th Avenue. The show interpreted Bach using various plucked instruments. It began at 7:30 pm.

Thursday, August 1st, 2024

Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 – a concert of one of the most critically-acclaimed pieces of spiritual music ever written. The show took place at the UBC Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, located at 6265 Crescent Road, at 7:30 pm.

Friday, August 2nd, 2024

Banned from the Concert Hall! – a more farcical show, showcasing a series of vulgar drinking songs written by Henry Purcell and his contemporaries. The performance took place at the Fox Cabaret at 2321 Main Street in downtown Vancouver and started at 7:30 pm.

Saturday, August 3rd, 2024

Cognitive Dissonance Concert – a live music event at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art at 7:30 pm. The gallery’s address is 639 Hornby Street.

See the Early Music Festival‘s official website for full details about what’s happening and when.

EMV Concert — Concert at the Orpheum (Photo by Jess MacAleese)

Tuesday, August 6th, 2024

Cameron Crozman & Meagan Milatz: The Early Romantics – two young Canadian up and coming classical performing artists combined in a cello-fortepiano show. The show started at 1:00 pm at the Christ Church Cathedral.
Bach Motets: Vanish! Spirits of Gloom – vocal soloists Hana Blažíková and Sherezade Panthaki combined to take on a series of pieces by various members of the Bach family. The show was at the Christ Church Cathedral and began at 7:30 pm.

Wednesday, August 7th, 2024

Bach & French Flair! – musical styles from across Europe combined in this concert that included the flute and viola da gamba. The show took place at the Christ Church Cathedral and started at 7:30 pm.

Thursday, August 8th, 2024

EMV: The Next Generation – this show starred 21-year-old baritone Hans Grunwald along with fellow young artist Adrienne Hyde on viola da gamba and experienced teacher Christina Hutten on keyboard. They performed music by Bach, Abel and Schubert at Christ Church Cathedral at 1:00 pm.
Bach & Mandolin with Alon Sariel and the PBO – the final show of the festival united Alon Sariel and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. Their focus was Bach’s Italian Concerto. The show began at 7:30 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse.

Visit earlymusic.bc.ca for the festival’s official website.

Festive Cantatas Christmas Concert

Other Early Music Vancouver Concerts

If you like classical music, especially music played as it was originally done in the era of its composers, you’ll love this series of concerts! Early Music Vancouver hosts concerts at other times of the year too, at least one pretty much every month. Concerts in the fall and early winter of 2024 include the following:

Friday, September 20th, 2024 – Goldberg Variations at Christ Church Cathedral.
Friday, October 25th, 2024 – DanteNova: Music from Dante’s Commedia at Christ Church Cathedral.
Tuesday, November 26th, 2024 – Iestyn Davies & Fretwork: Lamento at Christ Church Cathedral.
Sunday, December 22nd, 2024 – Festive Cantatas: Bach & Zelenka at the Chan Centre at UBC.

To learn more about the above concerts and the organization behind them, visit the earlymusic.bc.ca website.

Pacific Baroque Orchestra (Photo by Jess MacAleese)

About EMV

The EMV Summer Festival is presented by Early Music Vancouver (EMV). The performing arts organization is one of the largest in North America. EMV has been a big part of Metro Vancouver’s cultural scene for over 50 years. The team hosts over 40 events each year, much to the delight of music-lovers in Metro Vancouver.

Early Music Vancouver presents artists from different parts of the world to local audiences. The organization also produces its own shows with its in-house band, known as the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. EMV tends to focus on music from the Baroque times which is from the 1800s.

The organization also usually has a number of concerts over the winter holiday season. In 2022, for example, its main Christmas concert was Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110. For information about performances at other times of the year, see our article about Early Music Vancouver Concerts.