Berkeley Festival

==Berkeley Festival & Exhibition (BFX)== The Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, commonly abbreviated as BFX, is a biennial event that has established itself as one of the world's most significant gatherings for early music. Founded in 1990 by then-Director of Cal Performances Robert Cole and Joseph Spencer, the proprietor of The Musical Offering Café in Berkeley, BFX is produced by the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS) and has been recognized by The New York Times as a "remarkable institution on the American musical scene." BFX is dedicated to reimagining, reinventing, and redefining early music. It showcases a diverse range of performances that span eight centuries of musical history, from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The festival features a rich tapestry of main stage concerts by leading exponents of early music, including both world-class Bay Area ensembles and national and international touring groups. Notable participants have included the Sollazzo Ensemble, Vox Luminis, Rachel Podger, and Chanticleer, which started as a SFEMS affiliate. The 17th edition of BFX marked its expansion into San Francisco with performances at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, complementing the traditional Berkeley venues. For the first time, the festival also provided digital concert content, adapting to the changing landscape of music presentation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Early Music America, the premier service organization for historically informed performance in North America, has been a consistent collaborator with BFX. It presents the Young Performers Festival and the Emerging Artists Showcase competition at the event, both of which have been partially sponsored by a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Additionally, BFX has fostered new partnerships, such as the one with the Berkeley-Bucknell Chamber Music Collective, and maintained an ongoing relationship with the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies. One of the unique features of BFX is the Fringe, a series of independently-produced concerts by soloists and ensembles from around the globe. In 2018, over 70 Fringe concerts were held, and a similar number are expected to fill the spaces between main stage events. The festival also includes an Exhibition and Marketplace, a three-day bazaar that attracts national and international makers and sellers of historical instruments, music scores, books, and other paraphernalia. It serves as a hub for early music enthusiasts to gather and share their passion. The festival has hosted a variety of unique and memorable events over the years, such as the Mark Morris Dance Group’s interpretation of Rameau’s "Platée," and the North American premiere of Alessandro Striggio's Mass for 40 and 60 voices. After Robert Cole's retirement in 2018, Derek Tam took over as the artistic director, ushering in a new era for the festival. BFX not only celebrates historical music but also contributes to the study of musicology, as evidenced by its presentation of scholarly events, such as the lecture on Charles Burney and his seminal work "A General History of Music." Burney, an 18th-century musicologist, was the subject of a special program during the festival, highlighting his contributions to the understanding of music history. Overall, the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition remains a vibrant and essential part of the cultural landscape, offering a rich experience that honors the past while embracing the present and future of early music performance and scholarship.