See you in May for our spring concerts:

Arise, my Love II - May 17 & 18, 2025

We return to a theme from our 2017 program of motets from the biblical Song of Songs, this time in new-to-us settings in German and Latin by H. Praetorius, M. Franck, and J. Handl

5/17/25, 4 p.m.: St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, San Francisco
(SF Advance tickets)
5/18/25, 4 p.m.: St. Columba Catholic Church, Oakland
(Oakland advance tickets / Virtual viewing tickets)

Tactus SF welcomes spring with "Arise, My Love," a program of late Renaissance and early Baroque vocal music on texts from the joyful and tender biblical Song of Songs. The music, sung in German and Latin, was composed north of the Alps, in what is now known as Germany. There, in the early 17th century, the long-established tradition of secular music about love merged with the needs of the church to foster interest in the Old Testament Song of Songs (also known as the Song of Solomon), rich with images of romantic love and natural fecundity.

The program includes a lush setting of the first chapter of the Song of Songs by Leonhard Lechner, who, like many German composers, learned his craft in Italy but returned to work in his home country. Tactus SF will also sing four motets by Lechner's contemporary, Melchior Franck, who was active as chapel master at a princely court in Bavaria.

"Arise, my Love" will also feature several compositions for double choirs, the call-and- response style invented in northern Italy but immediately popular in Germany.

A reception will follow each concert.


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Tactus SF performing in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Oakland. (Photo credit: Elizabeth Kimble)

Tactus SF announces 2024-2025 season

Spanish Music for the Day of the Dead - Nov 2 & 3, 2024

Reflect on the Day of the Dead with meditative Spanish polyphony for four, five, and six voices by Victoria, Morales, Franco, and Vasquez and Gregorian chant from the Officium Defunctorum

Palestrina 500 - Feb 27 & 28, 2025

Celebrate the 500th birthday of legendary Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina with a concert devoted to his sacred and secular choral works including selected madrigals and the Missa Tu es Petrus

Arise, my Love II - May 17 & 18, 2025

We return to a theme from our 2017 program of motets from the biblical Song of Songs, this time in new-to-us settings in German and Latin by H. Praetorius, M. Franck, and J. Handl
5/17/25, 4 p.m.: St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, San Francisco
5/18/25, 4 p.m.: St. Columba Catholic Church, Oakland

Watch this space and sign up for our mailing list for updates.


    Welcome our new Music Director

    Tactus SF is thrilled to welcome Sven Edward Olbash as our Music Director beginning with the 2024–2025 season. Sven is a specialist in music before 1600 and has an interest in the therapeutic potential of music, particularly for those dealing with grief. His album you who sow in tears will reap in joy with medieval vocal ensemble Euouae is available for streaming at euouae.bandcamp.com. He teaches Vocal Physiology and Voice Pedagogy at San Francisco Conservatory and individual singing lessons through Voice Science Studio.

    Sven has been a guest conductor for San Francisco Renaissance Voices and the Gregorian Institute of Canada and has completed two Music Performance Residencies with SF Opera. As a singer, Sven has performed in recital at Old First Concerts & Center for New Music, at Other Minds Festival, and with new music ensemble Volti. He holds degrees in singing and voice pedagogy from Boston University and New England Conservatory and lives in Lower Haight with his chihuahua Tupperware.



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Send any queries to us at info@tactus-sf.org.