Save the Date for Tactus's 10th Anniversary Celebration!

Tactus is proud and excited to announce our 10th Anniversary Celebration, featuring a selection of favorites from our first ten years, with works from Victoria, Guerrero, Lassus, Issac, Tallis, Byrd, Lechner, Lotti, and Laskar!

Join us on the following dates:

Saturday, March 7, 4 PM

St. Mark's Episcopal Church2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley

Sunday, March 8, 4 PM

St. Matthew's Lutheran Church3281 16th St, San Francisco

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

Tactus SF at Ten: "Touching Hearts Then and Now"

Tactus gave the first of many Bay Area concerts in 2016 under the direction of founding director Tanmoy Laskar. Now comprising about two dozen auditioned singers, the choir specializes in the polyphonic music of the Renaissance and is conducted by vocologist and teacher Sven Edward Olbash.

The name “Tactus” comes from the Latin for touch, signifying the rhythmic pulse of music. As Tactus SF has grown through these ten years, it holds to the image of the touch—extending it, figuratively, to include singers, conductors, and audiences.

During the first two years of the pandemic, Tactus moved to rehearsals in open air venues such as an East Bay parking garage and a Diamond Heights strip mall. Online “Salon” performances also kept the music going until the choir could resume in-person rehearsals and performances.

The Tenth Anniversary season opens in December 2025 with "A Renaissance Christmas," three works that celebrate the mystery and joy of the season.

In March, Tactus SF will perform favorite Renaissance numbers from its ten-year history, with appearances by former choir members as well as Tactus's current roster. Featured works will include masterpieces such as Lasso's profound "Timor et Tremor," Victoria's moving six-part "Salve Regina," and Guerrero's joyful "Surge Propera."

The Tenth Anniversary season will conclude with concerts in June on the theme of "Orpheus with his Lute," with songs and madrigals by Palestrina, Monteverdi, Ponce, Vasquez, Escobar, Encina, Hassler, Lassus, Josquin, and Dowland.

Save the Dates for our 2025-2026 Concerts:

Our 10th anniversary season!

A Renaissance Christmas - December 12 and 14, 2025

Including Prophetiae Sibyllarum (Lassus) and Vom Himmel hoch for 8 voices (M. Praetorius)

10th Anniversary Celebration - March 7 and 8, 2026

Featuring favorite works by Victoria, Guerrero, Lassus, Issac, Tallis, Byrd, Lechner, Lotti, and Laskar

Orpheus with his Lute - TBD, June 2026 (Berkeley Festival)

Songs and madrigals by Palestrina, Monteverdi, Ponce, Vasquez, Escobar, Encina, Hassler, Lassus, Josquin, and Dowland

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

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

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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