Carmel Bach Festival: July in Paris
2026-07-20 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Doroles St & 9th Ave, Carmel-by-the-Sea, 93921
Step into Paris at the turn of the 18th century, when candlelit salons and royal courts were filled with elegant, expressive music. Works by François Couperin and Jean-Féry Rebel capture the refined beauty, rich harmonies, and vivid character of the French Baroque, offering a glimpse into the sound world of the city alive with new musical ideas.

Carmel Bach Festival: Vivaldi Four Seasons & Handel Water Music
2026-07-20 19:30 - 22:00 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos paired with short poems that describe the scenes each movement depicts: birds singing, dogs barking, storms breaking, and people celebrating. Vivaldi brings these images to life with musical details such as trills for birds, a repeating viola line for a dog, droning lines for Summer’s heat, and chattering teeth in Winter. The solo violin leads the story in each concerto, acting almost like a narrator. These concertos have captivated listeners for centuries and appear frequently in films, including The Four Seasons (1981) and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019).
Handel’s Water Music was composed in 1717 for a royal barge trip on the Thames, performed outdoors for King George I as the boats traveled along the river. The suites include a series of dance movements for strings, horns, oboes, and bassoons, designed to carry across the water. Its lively rhythms and bright orchestration have made it one of Handel’s best-known works, and it has appeared in films such as Dead Poets Society (1989).

Carmel Bach Festival: 19th Century Guitar
2026-07-21 13:30 - 14:30 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
This concert features 19th-century works for fortepiano and mandolino by Beethoven, Hummel, Giuliani, and Carulli. The program highlights the interplay between the two instruments and the elegance of early Romantic chamber music.

Carmel Bach Festival: Roaring 20’s
2026-07-21 15:00 - 16:00 | All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Doroles St & 9th Ave, Carmel-by-the-Sea, 93921
The 1920s marked a decade of bold reinvention as composers responded to a rapidly changing world with wit, clarity, and new musical languages. Works by Poulenc, Martinů, and Stravinsky capture the energy of the era—from Parisian surrealism and jazz-inflected dance to the crisp lines of neoclassicism—revealing three distinct voices shaped by the same moment in history.

Carmel Bach Festival: Bach at Sunset
2026-07-21 19:30 - 22:00 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
Baroque music forms the foundation of the Carmel Bach Festival, and this program honors that tradition. J.S. Bach’s Cantata No. 39, Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, and Cantata No. 105, Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht, showcase his mastery of choruses, arias, and recitatives, blending intricate musical craft with profound spiritual and moral themes. Antonio Lotti’s Missa Sapientiae, a Venetian mass setting, pairs elegant polyphonic choruses with lyrical solo lines, exemplifying the devotional clarity and refinement of early 18th-century sacred music. Together, these works highlight the artistry and historical significance of the Baroque era.
Through these performances, we celebrate the composers and musical traditions that have shaped and continue to inspire the Carmel Bach Festival.

Toddler Gymnastics
2026-07-22 10:15 - 10:45, 2026-07-29 10:15 - 10:45 | MY Museum, 425 Washington Street, Monterey, CA, 93940, United States
Join us on Wednesdays as we partner with Shea’s Gymnastics
Toddlers will learn about the basics of gymnastics through games and movement in this fun and engaging Caregiver & Me program.
Recommended for children ages 2-5.
Fee: Included with daily admission.

Carmel Bach Festival: Forest Quartets
2026-07-22 17:00 - 18:00 | Church in the Forest, 3152 Forest Lake Rd, Pebble Beach, 93953
Held at Church in the Forest, a striking venue nestled among the cypress and pine trees of Pebble Beach, this concert features two landmark string quartets: Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10, the “Harp,” and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 1, a work that balances classical structure with Romantic intensity.

Make & Take Crafts
2026-07-23 10:15 - 10:45, 2026-07-30 10:15 - 10:45 | MY Museum, 425 Washington Street, Monterey, CA, 93940, United States
Get crafty with us on Thursday mornings!
Art making plays a central role in cognitive, motor, language, and social-emotional development. Enjoy creative exploration and make something fun to take home, too.
Recommended for children ages 2 and older.
Fee: Included with daily admission. free admission for members.

Carmel Bach Festival: Field of Sound, curated by Featured Composer Angélica Negrón
2026-07-23 15:30 - 16:30 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
Curated by Angélica Negrón in line with the Festival’s theme, this program focuses on the nature of sound itself. The program unfolds as an immersive experience— blurring boundaries between acoustic and electronic sound, individual and collective voice, memory and environment. The use of strings, voices, and electronics reflects Negrón’s broader work, where sound is treated as a flexible material shaped by space, texture, and listening.

Carmel Bach Festival: Twilight in the Cathedral
2026-07-23 17:00 - 18:00 | San Carlos Cathedral, 500 Church St, Monterey, 93940
Experience the serene beauty of Twilight in the Cathedral, a concert that evokes the tranquility of a sacred evening in the historic San Carlos Cathedral. This annual concert highlights Baroque music for strings and organ.

Carmel Bach Festival: Bach, Brazilian, and Bluegrass
2026-07-23 19:30 - 22:00 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
This program brings musical worlds together in one exhilarating evening. Festival favorites Fire & Grace—Edwin Huizinga and William Coulter—are joined by mandolin luminaries Mike Marshall, long celebrated for his Brazilian collaborations, and Caterina Lichtenberg. Experience Bach’s brilliance as it meets bluegrass drive and the rhythmic warmth of Brazil.

Miss Sarah Sunshine
2026-07-24 10:15 - 11:00 | MY Museum, 425 Washington Street, Monterey, CA, 93940, United States
Please join our very own local celebrity, Miss Sarah Sunshine from It’s Circle Time, every Friday from 10:15 to 11:00 at MY Museum.
This educational and fun program will include singing, dancing, stories, and much more.
It’s Circle Time is a playful learning space where songs, stories, and meaningful connections come together. Designed for young children and the adults who love them, their content supports early literacy, emotional growth, and joyful learning—one circle at a time.
Fee: Included with daily admission, free admission for members.

Carmel Bach Festival: Baroque & Classical Academy Showcase
2026-07-24 13:00 - 14:00 | Carmel Presbyterian Church, Junipero St & Mountain View Ave, Carmel-by-the-Sea, 93921
The Baroque & Classical Academy provides training from internationally acclaimed Bach Festival musicians and learning opportunities at the Carmel Bach Festival. BCA musicians have a full rehearsal schedule, including guided sessions with mentors, in preparation for the Baroque & Classical Academy Quartet Showcase Concert. Throughout July, BCA musicians learn how to curate programs, create socially conscious programs, develop audiences, build donor relationships, and more. Musicians attend educational workshops with Festival musician mentors, film composers, board members, and others to learn skills to help them succeed as professional classical musicians.
The quartet also enriches the traditional Carmel Bach Festival community by offering free public masterclasses and performing a Showcase Concert featuring a program curated by the BCA musicians with guidance from Festival mentors.

Carmel Bach Festival: Sounds of the Seasons
2026-07-24 13:30 - 14:30 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
This concert features French composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier’s cantatas inspired by the seasons, written around the same time as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Scored for voice, obbligato instrument, and continuo, they explore music’s ability to depict the changing seasons and the natural world.

Carmel Bach Festival: Bach Cantatas
2026-07-24 15:00 - 16:00 | All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Doroles St & 9th Ave, Carmel-by-the-Sea, 93921
Bach Cantatas features two expressive works by J.S. Bach—Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, and Cantata BWV 187. Rich in theological depth and musical invention, these cantatas showcase Bach’s gift for illuminating text through vibrant choral writing and nuanced instrumental color.

Paper Wing Theatre: Jagged Little Pill
2026-07-24 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-07-25 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-07-26 15:00 - 17:00 | Paper Wing Theatre 711 Cannery Row Suite I Monterey, Ca. 93940, 711 Canner Row Suite I, Monterey, CA, 93940, United States
Jagged Little Pill is a powerful and emotionally charged musical inspired by the iconic album by Alanis Morissette. With a compelling story by Academy Award–winning writer Diablo Cody and music that defined a generation, this groundbreaking show explores the complexities of modern life with raw honesty and unforgettable songs.
Set in a seemingly picture-perfect suburban home, the story follows the Healy family as they navigate love, secrets, and the pressures of keeping up appearances. Beneath the surface, each family member is struggling with their own challenges, addiction, identity, trauma, and the search for connection. As their carefully constructed world begins to unravel, they must confront uncomfortable truths and discover what it really means to heal.
Featuring electrifying performances of Morissette’s beloved hits, including “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” and “Ironic”, Jagged Little Pill blends rock concert energy with deeply human storytelling. Bold, moving, and intensely relevant, this Tony and Grammy Award–winning musical shines a spotlight on resilience, empathy, and the power of community.
Recommended for mature audiences due to strong language and adult themes.

Jagged Little Pill
2026-07-24 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-07-25 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-07-26 15:00 - 17:00 | Paper Wing Theatre 711 Cannery Row Suite I Monterey, Ca. 93940, 711 Canner Row Suite I, Monterey, CA, 93940, United States
Jagged Little Pill is a powerful and emotionally charged musical inspired by the iconic album by Alanis Morissette. With a compelling story by Academy Award–winning writer Diablo Cody and music that defined a generation, this groundbreaking show explores the complexities of modern life with raw honesty and unforgettable songs.
Set in a seemingly picture-perfect suburban home, the story follows the Healy family as they navigate love, secrets, and the pressures of keeping up appearances. Beneath the surface, each family member is struggling with their own challenges—addiction, identity, trauma, and the search for connection. As their carefully constructed world begins to unravel, they must confront uncomfortable truths and discover what it really means to heal.
Featuring electrifying performances of Morissette’s beloved hits—including “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” and “Ironic”, Jagged Little Pill blends rock concert energy with deeply human storytelling. Bold, moving, and intensely relevant, this Tony and Grammy Award–winning musical shines a spotlight on resilience, empathy, and the power of community.
Recommended for mature audiences due to strong language and adult themes.

Carmel Bach Festival: Beethoven 6 Symphony & Appalachian Spring
2026-07-24 19:30 - 22:00 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
Beethoven subtitled his Pastoral Symphony “Recollections of Country Life”. Each of its five movements depicts a countryside scene. The first movement conveys the calm joy of arriving in the countryside, with gentle, flowing melodies. The second evokes a babbling brook, while woodwinds mimic birdsong. In the third, people dance and celebrate with lively rhythms. The fourth depicts a sudden, dramatic thunderstorm, one of Beethoven’s earliest musical portrayals of nature’s power. The final movement offers a peaceful shepherd’s song and a sense of restored serenity. For fans of Disney, this piece will sound familiar, as it was featured in Fantasia (1940).
Appalachian Spring takes its title from a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse and evokes the optimism and spirit of pioneer life in early America. Featuring the iconic Shaker melody Simple Gifts, Copland’s work is one of his most celebrated, known for its open textures, folk-inspired melodies, and enduring association with the quintessential “American sound.”
Celebrating a different perspective on the America landscape, Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón is our featured composer this year. Her work, Marejada, captures the movement and energy of the sea through inventive textures and rhythmic drive. Negrón offers a fresh and compelling voice that complements Copland’s vision while reflecting her own cultural and musical soundscape.

Instrument Petting Zoo and Registration Clinic
2026-07-25 10:30 - 12:30 | YOSAL, 1122 E. Alisal St., Salinas, 93905
Join us for our annual Instrument Petting Zoo! Bring your children to see, hear, and play classical music instruments and learn about our free after school program. This is a free event and all are welcomed!
We will also have a Registration Clinic to help families complete the registration process.

Carmel Bach Festival: Virginia Best Adams Showcase
2026-07-25 13:00 - 14:00 | Carmel Presbyterian Church, Junipero St & Mountain View Ave, Carmel-by-the-Sea, 93921
In a typical season, the Virginia Best Adams (VBA) quartet comes to Carmel in July to train with Festival artists, and explore ways to communicate Baroque repertoire more vividly. In a light-hearted atmosphere of discovery, the VBA Masterclass participants experience a wealth of vocal music and examine all aspects of style, technique, communication, language, performance skills, and artistry. The Masterclasses are held at the Carmel Presbyterian Church and are free and open to the public. At the end of each festival season, our VBA Fellows perform in a Showcase.

Carmel Bach Festival: Counterpoint
2026-07-25 15:00 - 17:00 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
Counterpoint is a collaboration between pianist and composer Conrad Tao and choreographer and dancer Caleb Teicher.
The duo explore the dichotomy of their different perspectives and artistic practices, expanding their individual expressive capacity through a collective experience. Harmonic, rhythmic, and theatrical counterpoint between the artists seeks to map out constellations linking their disparate traditions, driving the imagination and opening the heart. The stylistically diverse music of Counterpoint includes the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Art Tatum’s demented stride piano, Arnold Schoenberg’s ironic take on the Viennese waltz, a delicate miniature from Tao and Teicher’s More Forever, and threading it all together, a work that bridges traditions, approaches, and styles—Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Carmel Bach Festival: Best of the Fest
2026-07-25 19:30 - 22:30 | Sunset Center, San Carlos St at Ninth Ave, Carmel by the Sea, CA, 93921
Favorite selections from the Festival are performed in this closing night concert that celebrates music, Carmel, the musicians of the Bach Festival, and the Festival’s loyal patrons. The program is a sampler of musician and audience favorites from throughout the two-week Festival. The concert is followed by a celebratory party on the Sunset Center Terrace toasting the conclusion of the 89th Season.
Best of the Fest is a special, not-to-be-missed party that commemorates and honors music, the enduring legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach, the tradition of the Carmel Bach Festival, and the beautiful and mystical setting of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Summer Art Camp: A Tabletop LEGO Minecraft Adventure Game Ages 5–7
2026-07-27 09:00 - 2026-07-31 12:00 | Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, 93940
Monterey Museum of Art offers safe, creative experiences and tons of fun for children at our downtown Pacific Street location! Summer Camps are taught by professional educators, offering a wide range of skill-building and creative outlets for children ages five through fourteen.
Join MMA at the $175 Contributor Membership level to receive a 20% discount per class and MMA member benefits for one year. Visit our Membership Page for more information on membership options.
BrickCraft: A Tabletop LEGO® Minecraft Adventure Game
Jump into a Minecraft-inspired world where you get to decide what happens next! Campers will team up in a tabletop adventure, rolling dice to collect resources, build awesome LEGO® creations, and craft tools to help them on their journey. With imagination, teamwork, and a little luck, they’ll go on an epic quest to defeat the Ender Dragon and save the Minecraft world!

Summer Art Camp: A Tabletop LEGO Minecraft Survival Game Ages 7–12
2026-07-27 09:00 - 2026-07-31 12:00 | Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, 93940
Monterey Museum of Art offers safe, creative experiences and tons of fun for children at our downtown Pacific Street location! Summer Camps are taught by professional educators, offering a wide range of skill-building and creative outlets for children ages five through fourteen.
Join MMA at the $175 Contributor Membership level to receive a 20% discount per class and MMA member benefits for one year. Visit our Membership Page for more information on membership options.
BrickCraft: A Tabletop LEGO® Minecraft Survival Game
Get ready to build, battle, and survive! In this exciting Minecraft-themed game, campers will explore a LEGO® world filled with challenges, mobs, and surprises. They’ll gather resources, design strong bases, and work together to protect their biomes. Every decision counts as they race to stop the Ender Dragon and become true Minecraft heroes!
