As 2025 draws to a close, we can celebrate another year of outstanding early music in New York!

We couldn’t have done it without you. Your donations gave rise to a season filled with extraordinary concerts by emerging and established artists and critically important online and on-site services for local and touring ensembles.

GEMS put your support to work throughout the year… 

• PRESENTING 40 Midtown Concerts performances with music from Hildegard to Bach to Ysaÿe, featuring New York early music virtuosi and international stars including violinist Shunske Sato and harpsichordist Jory Vinikour. We paired French and Italian repertoire with music from the Americas, enjoyed a dialogue between Corelli and Couperin, and were moved by a program exploring music’s power to help us remember and renew after loss. Performances were FREE in-person, live streamed and archived on-demand on the Midtown Concerts YouTube channel; in-person attendances grew by double digits and Shunske Sato’s astounding December performance instantly went viral online.
• SUPPORTING a roster of 25 early music ensembles with fiscal sponsorship and administrative services, allowing artists to focus on their music. Twelfth Night debuted at Carnegie Hall, Ruckus performed at the Frick Collection’s new Schwarzman Auditorium, and Opera Essentia presented distillations of Handel operas in city neighborhoods underserved by the arts — for free! Our partnership with Avie Records yielded two critically acclaimed album releases by Concordian Dawn and Sonnambula, with continued world-wide sales for East of the River’s earlier release.
• PROVIDING essential online and on-site concert services to a myriad of New York’s early music projects and touring groups, with our e-newsletter Notes on the Scene reaching more than 8,000 opt-in recipients twice monthly — filled with concert listing links to online ticket purchases, Artist Profiles, and industry news and reviews. Our online calendar listed an impressive 157 performances in 2025 with helpful maps and current accessibility information. Requests for GEMS’ on-site Box Office/Will Call and front-of-house services reached an all-time high and we deepened our partnerships with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Bach Virtuosi Festival to broaden the reach of early music in New York.
• LAUNCHING GEMSTalks — a series of engaging conversations with New York’s leading early musicians in front of live audiences. Our first season included Daphna Mor and Nina Stern, co-directors of East of the River, violin virtuosi Aisslinn Nosky and Edson Scheid, award-winning flutist Emi Ferguson, and brilliant bassist, prolific composer and Theotokos director Doug Balliett. GEMSTalks gave artists space to speak at length about their craft and vision and interact with early music fans bringing enthusiasm and questions.

We have much more in store for 2026! Highlights include…

• PRESENTING a stellar lineup of Midtown Concerts performances, featuring Ruckus ~ New England Polyphony, Opera Essentia ~ Handel opera excerpts, Brooklyn Baroque ~ La Dédicataire, the Berwick Fiddle Consort ~ Earrach Come Again, Quintessence ~ Schubert’s Cello Quintet, Theotokos ~ Music in the time of Charlemagne, Music of the Regiment ~ A Portrait of Bernard Crusell, and many more, as always FREE in-person at Manhattan’s acoustically superb St. Malachy’s Church, live streamed on the Midtown Concerts YouTube channel, and available archived on-demand.
• DELIVERING essential, day-to-day support services to the artists who make the music, providing fiscal sponsorship, marketing, venue rental, contract oversight, artist payroll, travel logistics, and so much more for dozens of early music projects — Theotokos’ Carnegie Hall debut, a southern United States tour by Relic, Ruckus’ performances throughout the Pacific Northwest, an Avie album release by Caroline Nicolas, director of Ars Poetica, performances by Sonnambula as ensemble-in-residence for the Frick Collection’s Schwartzman Auditorium inaugural season, a new commission for the Cramer Quartet to be paired with a work from Haydn’s Op. 20, and a continued artistic tenure by House of Time at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church near Lincoln Center.
• PARTNERING with the Bach Virtuosi Festival NY for their third season — featuring concertos and cantatas for instruments and voices, alongside a special performance of the Goldberg Variations by renowned harpsichordist Arthur Haas; marketing and ticketing for the Easter portions of Handel’s Messiah with Trinity Church NYC; managing online sales, discounts, and free event registration for dozens of organizations; and all the while, providing comprehensive access to early music happenings around the city through our easy-to-navigate website, gemsny.org, and GEMS’ twice-monthly e-newsletter Notes on the Scene — New York’s foremost source of up-to-the minute early music information.

GEMS’ work is driven by our love for early music and the artists who perform it. Our mission, our raison d’être, is to see this valuable genre continue to grow and thrive in New York; to expand its reach in keeping with our most fundamental goal — unencumbered public access to superb historical performance for all who enjoy it. Our small, dedicated staff works tirelessly to help present a rich and varied selection of concerts throughout the city and throughout the year, supporting our artists and our audiences in their shared pursuit of the virtuosic experience.

And GEMS’ efforts have not gone unnoticed…

Generous donors believed so deeply in our mission that they offered special MATCHING GIFTS for 2025 totaling $15,000 to help GEMS succeed now and for years to come. The match is one to one — for each dollar you donate to GEMS as part of your year-end, tax-deductible giving, it will be matched by the same amount up to $15,000. It will make a world of difference for us and for you!

I hope you will consider including GEMS in your tax-deductible year-end giving. Help us meet our match so that you can continue to experience the music you love throughout New York!

With my sincere gratitude,

John Thiessen
Executive Director