BFX 2026: Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble & Cantata Collective: St John Passion (1725)

Nicholas McGegan leads KALEIDOSCOPE VOCAL ENSEMBLE AND CANTATA COLLECTIVE IN BACH’s rarely heard 1725 St John PASSION. With altered opening and closing movements and substituted arias, this version reveals the work’s drama anew—urgent, expressive, and deeply human—guided by one of early music’s most revered interpreters.This concert is part of the 19th biennial Berkeley Festival and Exhibition—or as we like to refer to it, BFX! Founded in 1990 and produced by the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS), the Festival has become one of the world’s largest and most important early music conclaves, deemed “a remarkable institution on the American musical scene” by The New York Times. This summer, enjoy 21 main stage concerts—including two in Palo Alto and San Francisco—as well as special events, a three-day exhibition, community workshops, and dozens of Fringe presentations. There is truly something for everyone! From Boethius and Bach to gamelan and Gershwin, this year’s lineup promises to entice and enthrall. Building off the success of BFX 2024, our mainstage concerts will continue to be pay-what-you-can, which have brought record-breaking crowds to SFEMS in recent years. As always, we encourage patrons to “pay it forward”—consider purchasing a subscription to ensure premium seating, and to undergird our commitment to financial accessibility in early music. Pay-What-You-Can tickets are also now available!