about us
Our Mission
From the World to San Diego
The San Diego Early Music Society is a non-profit organization founded to showcase the musical treasures of the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, as performed on period instruments and in accordance with historical practice. The Society was established in 1981 and has presented concerts in churches, small halls, museums, and homes—settings for which the music was composed.
Our Programs
Main & Solo Series
The Main Series brings to our stages nationally and internationally acclaimed ensembles, both established and up-and-coming, whose performances and recordings are celebrated for their high quality and exceptional artistry.
The Solo Series features renowned soloists and small ensembles from the US and abroad in more intimate settings, creating a highly personal concert experience.
Outreach program
Our Outreach Program seeks to share the beauties of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music with San Diegans of all ages through free demonstrations, master classes and performances, often by local early music practitioners. To foster connection among lovers of music before 1750, each year we host an Early Music Sing-Along and an Early Music Showcase that attract large numbers of participants and audience members.
Our People
SDEMS Staff
Pam oversees business operations, development, and marketing for the Society, working in close collaboration with the Artistic Director to shape and implement each concert season. A graduate of San Diego State University with degrees in Vocal Performance and Musicology, Pam joined SDEMS in 2017 and quickly became an integral member of the team, contributing as an editor, social media strategist, and grant writer. She was elected President of the Board in 2020 and appointed Executive Director in 2023. In addition to her leadership at SDEMS, Pam is a seasoned editor and translator whose published work includes contributions to the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. She is also an IAAP-certified web accessibility specialist and currently works in higher education as an instructional designer, bringing a strong commitment to inclusive and accessible learning environments.
Brad is an SDSU graduate with a BA in Music Education. Having studied classical guitar throughout his time at Grossmont College and SDSU, Brad studied under Fred Benedetti, Robert Wetzel, and Sean Bassett before picking up the lute in the Summer of 2021. Since then, Brad has been awarded two scholarships from the Lute Society of America, performed in a masterclass for Bor Zuljan, Paul O’Dette, and Nigel North, and currently studies online with Jacob Heringman with dedication toward the Renaissance lute. Brad also serves as the San Diego Chapter Leader for the Lute Society of America and has published German Lute for Beginners for the LSA.
Having previously graduated with honors from California
State University Long Beach, Khalayla is continuing her education by pursuing an MFA in
Creative Writing at San Diego State University. Hoping to gain more insight into the
publishing and communications industry through work experience, Khalayla spends
much of her time editing and writing both informative and literary content. Since joining
the society in 2022, Khalayla has helped generate promotional material for SDEMS,
managed the social media pages, and drafted communicatory material for the society’s
donors and patrons. In addition to this role, Khalayla serves as a contracted ghostwriter
and is Teaching Assistant in the Rhetoric and Writing Studies Department at SDSU.
bio forthcoming
SDEMS Board of Directors
Kathy was first introduced to baroque chamber music as an undergraduate student at Humboldt State University, and went on to study harpsichord for 3 years at UC Riverside while majoring in psychology. After graduation she did fieldwork in Tanzania and her Ph.D. in behavioral ecology at Cambridge University in the U.K. She worked as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland for nearly 30 years. During that time she played violin and viola in the Loudoun Symphony and served on the Symphony’s board of directors as secretary for 6 years. Upon retirement in 2014, Kathlyn returned to California and has become very involved in playing chamber music in small ensembles as well as being a member of the Kensington Baroque Orchestra in San Diego.
Laurent has overseen program design and production for SDEMS for over 15 years. With extensive experience in contract negotiation and season planning, he serves as the primary liaison for artists and agents. He was born in Strasbourg, France, where he received his earliest musical education. He is a graduate of the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France. In 1996 he moved to the US (first Portland, then San Diego), where he pursued a career in electronic design automation for various companies; he is now a technical lead at Cisco Systems. Laurent is an amateur harpsichord enthusiast, both as player and one-time builder, and was formerly active in the San Diego Harpsichord society. In his free time, he trains his three dogs for scent work competitions.
David Jacobson learned to love early music mostly from listening to KDFC San Francisco back in the 1960s. He holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Washington. The last dozen years of his career were in the cell phone industry where he was involved in computer security and cryptography. He also enjoys photography, English country dancing, and just being retired.
Elisabeth has a BS in Computer Science, a BS in Chemical Engineering, and a Minor
in History from South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. A software engineering manager, she has also studied various instruments and voice, and taught music, tax law, and computer science. Ms. Fidler has been a choirmaster and parish administrator, as well as a soloist and ensemble singer with numerous professional choirs. She appears on two Cappella Gloriana CDs featured on Amazon.com. She has also served on the board of various arts nonprofits.
Samuel is a San Diego-based musician who maintains a varied presence both as an instrumentalist and vocalist. A graduate of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, the University of Kansas, and a Fullbright scholar, his recent appearances include The San Diego Symphony Festival Chorus, Musica Vitale, Opera à la Carte, the St. Paul Schola, the Schola Cantorum of St. James-by-the-Sea, and SACRA/PROFANA. Following keyboard study with Andrés Cea Galán in Seville, Spain, in 2021 he recorded and produced the album Translatio Melancholiae: Music and Exile at the Ends of Empire–an exploration of relationships between vocal and instrumental music in the 15th and 16th centuries, with a special emphasis on the Iberian peninsula, taking advantage of access to original historic instruments and spaces. His research and work in translation appear in publications of the Instituto del Órgano Hispano and the University of California Los Angeles.
Jean holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked in the biotech industry to develop cancer diagnostics. She served on the board for the largest HOA in Southern California (2004-2016), acting variously as President, Vice President, and CFO. Jean plays both Boehm and baroque flutes. On the modern flute, she has played in ensembles that include the La Jolla Symphony, the Penn Symphony Orchestra, and the San Diego Flute Quartet. On Baroque flute, she performs regularly with the Kensington Baroque Orchestra as well as with various smaller groups. Her teachers have included Stephen Schultz, John Krell, John Barcelona, and Demarre McGill. Independent of the medium, every day includes J.S. Bach. She is passionate about helping to bring world-class musicians to
perform locally, and to support continued growth and appreciation of early music in the
San Diego area.
Takae graduated from Toho Gakuen School of Music, and holds a masters degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and a DMA from Stony Brook University. Takae has performed extensively in major cities in Japan and in the US as a soloist, chamber musician, and continuo player. Takae is Lecturer of harpsichord and Baroque ensemble at the University of California, San Diego.
Bill has played bassoon with the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Opera NEO, and Orchestra Nova. For seven years he was principal bassoon of Lyric Opera San Diego, and is currently co-principal of the City Ballet of San Diego. As a singer, he has performed with Musica Vitale, San Diego Pro Arte Voices, Schola Pacifica, Pacific Camerata, and La Jolla Renaissance Singers, an ensemble he directed from 2001 through 2009. He is also an artist-illustrator whose work has appeared in Harper’s and The New Republic. An expert on ancient Near Eastern languages, Bill is a retired scholar of the Old Testament who taught at UCSD from 1983 through 2017 in the History Department and Judaic Studies Program, and is currently the head of the SDEMS Outreach program.
Maxime Zondlowski brings a strategic and analytical financial background and extensive international experience to the SDEMS board, guided by a belief in art’s power to connect humanity across time and culture. For Maxime, the Society’s power lies in how it does more than perform old beautiful music; it unlocks the profound emotional language of earlier eras and makes it resonate with our lives today. It embodies a truth that resonates across cultures and centuries—as the Renaissance thinker Marsilio Ficino put it, music is a force that “gives a soul to the universe…and life to everything.” With his international perspective and fluency in multiple languages, Maxime is actively engaging a diverse professional network as a dedicated ambassador for the Society. He is committed to helping SDEMS build a broader and more inclusive community, ensuring these powerful musical conversations are accessible and relevant to every corner of San Diego.
Previous Artists
- Accademia Bizantina
- Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
- Amanda Forsythe
- amarcord
- Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
- Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet
- Andrew Lawrence-King
- Anner Bijlsma
- Anonymous 4
- Arion
- Artaria Quartet
- Artek
- Arthur Haas
- Aya Hamada
- Baltimore Consort
- Benjamin Alard
- Benvenue Fortepiano Trio
- Bertrand Cuiller
- Blandine Rannou
- Cappella Artemisia
- Cappella Pratensis
- Chanticleer
- Chiara Banchini
- Chouchane Siranossian
- Christophe Rousset
- Ciaramella
- Colin Tilney
- Collegium Vocale Gent
- Concerto Italiano
- Concerto Köln
- Concerto Palatino
- Constantinople
- Dan Laurin
- Daniel Taylor
- Derek Lee Ragin
- Diabolus in Musica
- Dorothee Oberlinger
- Doulce Memoire
- El Mundo
- Emma Kirkby
- Enrico Gatti
- Ensemble Caprice
- Ensemble 415
- Ensemble Clement Janequin
- Ensemble Project Ars Nova
- Europa Galante
- Fabio Biondi
- Fortune’s WheelFreiburg Baroque Orchestra
- Fretwork
- Galateo Trio
- Gary Cooper
- Gonzalo Ruiz
- Guido Balestracci
- Harp Consort
- Hélène Schmitt
- Hespèrion XXI
- Hopkinson Smith
- House of Time
- I Fagiolini
- Il Giardino Armonico
- Jaap ter Linden
- Jacques Ogg
- Jakob Lindberg
- Jean Rondeau
- Jeanine De Bique
- Jed Wentz
- John Holloway
- Jordi Savall
- Julia Gooding
- Kathryn Cok
- Kenneth Weiss
- King’s Consort
- Konrad Junghänel
- Kuijken Quartet
- La Morra
- La Reveuse
- La Venexiana
- Lars Ulrik Mortensen
- Le Poème Harmonique
- Lea Desandre
- Les Sacqueboutiers
- Les Talens Lyriques
- Les Voix Humaines
- Liber Unusualis
- Lisa Tur Bonet
- London Baroque
- Lucy van Dael
- Mahan Esfahani
- Marcia Hadjimarkos
- Marion Verbruggen
- Masques
- Matthew White
- Maude Gratton
- Michael Chance
- Monica HuggettMusica Ad Rhenum
- Musica Ficta
- Musica Pacifica
- My Lord Chamberlain’s Consort
- Netherlands Bach Society
- Nevermind
- New York Baroque Inc
- New York Polyphony
- Newberry Consort
- Opera Prima
- Orlando Consort
- Palladian Ensemble
- Paolo Pandolfo
- Paul Goussot
- Paul O’Dette
- Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
- Philippe Herreweghe
- Pierre Hantaï
- Pieter Wispelwey
- Piffaro
- Quatuor Mosaïques
- Quicksilver Baroque
- Rachel Podger
- Rebel Consort
- Ricercar Consort
- Richard Savino
- Sequentia
- Stile Antico
- Suzie LeBlanc
- Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
- Tanya Tomkins
- Tapestry
- The Academy of Ancient Music
- The Boston Camerata
- The City Musick
- The Concord Ensemble
- The Dufay Collective
- The English Concert
- The King’s Noyse
- The Sixteen
- The Tallis Scholars
- Theatre of Early Music
- Thomas Dunford
- Tragicomedia
- Trevor Pinnock
- Trio Sonnerie
- Twelfth Night
- Venice Baroque Orchestra
- Vox Luminis
- Wilbert Hazelzet