Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale: “Baroque Garlands” Live (Berkeley)

It’s 1707 in Italy. Opera is banned, but audiences still crave drama. Enter 22-year-old Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a high-voltage choral piece that injects theatrical energy into sacred music.

In Baroque Garlands, you’ll hear Handel’s choral masterpiece paired with Rameau’s La Guirlande, a lighter Baroque work of French dance rhythms, operatic arias, and a romance nearly undone by a bewitched garland. 

Performed on period instruments and in the style of the time, you’ll hear the music just as the first audiences would have heard it.

Baroque Garlands
Friday, February 6, 2026 | 7:30p – 9:30p
Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave, SF
Tickets: Start at $40 | Under-30s pay only $20 in SF and Berkeley | Three-concert subscriptions are on sale for as low as $84.

Full Schedule:

• Friday, February 6 | 7:30pm
  Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
• Saturday, February 7 | 2:30pm
  First Congregational Church, Berkeley – SOLD OUT!
• Sunday, February 8 | 1:00 pm
  Bing Concert Hall, Stanford

Concert Highlights

• A study in contrasts: Rameau’s La Guirlande offers playful charm and lyrical beauty, while Handel’s Dixit Dominus unleashes choral power in full force.
• Philharmonia performs on period instruments, and the Chorale sings with historically informed style, together recreating the vibrant sound world of the 18th century so you can hear it as the first audiences once did.
• Music Director Emeritus Nicholas McGegan returns to Philharmonia, bringing his trademark infectious energy and flair for drama to this program.
• Rising stars Nola Richardson (soprano) and Aaron Sheehan (tenor) join the Chorale. Richardson has been praised by The Washington Post for her “radiant” singing, while The New York Times hailed Sheehan as “superb.”

Program

• Nicholas McGegan, conductor
• Nola Richardson, soprano
• Aaron Sheehan, tenor
• Philharmonia Chorale, Valérie Sainte-Agathe, director

HANDEL – Dixit Dominus

RAMEAU – La Guirlande

philharmonia.org/garlands or call the Box Office at (415) 295 2111.

 

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