Like the body of water that inspires its name, the Salish Sea Early Music Festival doesn’t recognize national boundaries.

The seven venues span the region from Tacoma in the south to Vancouver in the north, where soprano Lydia Brotherton opens the sixth annual edition on Sunday afternoon (January 11) at Ryerson Church (2195 West 45th Avenue). The program for Airs of the Baroque features cantatas by Nicolas Bernier and Antonio Vivaldi, airs by Le Sieur Bouvard, and selections from Nine German Arias by George Frederick Handel. Brotherton, visiting from Berlin, will be accompanied by Jeffrey Cohan on baroque flute and SSEMF artistic director Stephen Stubbs on the majestic theorbo, a lute with extended neck and second pegbox.