Thursday, April 1, 2010 – 8pm
Audible Visions
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble celebrates the connection between eye and ear. Musicians, focused on sound, are sometimes oblivious to the visual world, but there is the occasional composer who has sight nearly as acute as his or her hearing. Barbara Kolb's work for guitar and violin depicts an artist's palette, complete with cerulean blue; William Grant Still wrote a suite in which each movement was suggested by a different sculpture: "African Dancer," "Mother and Child," and so on. Gabriel Faure was one of the so-called "impressionist composers" who preferred that a simplistic link not be made between his music and the art of his time; nonetheless, it is a real pleasure to hear his colorful piano quartet in the context of other works that were, in fact, literally motivated by color. The Finnish composer Saariaho creates sonic images of seven aspects of butterflies, while Matthew Barnson exploits an unusual sound palette in his abstract work for string quartet.
142 Throckmorton Theater
Mill Valley
$15 to $20
Information: (415) 383-9600
www.leftcoastensemble.org
***
Friday, April 2, 2010 – 12pm
Noon Concert: Beethoven Quartet
Chamber Music from student musicians in the Music Department:
Beethoven, String Quartets
Op. 59 in C major &
Op.74 in E Flat major
UC Berkeley Music Department
Hertz Hall, Berkeley
Information: (510) 642-4864
www.music.berkeley.edu
***
Friday, April 2, 2010 – 7:30pm
L@TE: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA (Ken Ueno and ONDA; Joan Jeanrenaud)
Composer and vocalist Ken Ueno, who recently joined the UC Berkeley music faculty, brings his trio ONDA to the gallery for a set of improvised music featuring extended vocal techniques (Ueno), violin (Hillary Zipper), and percussion (Tim Feeney). ONDA brings together the trio’s research into extending the timbral possibilities of their respective instruments to create a kind of ritual music of an imaginary tribe of the future. After ONDA’s set, Ueno will improvise for the first time with composer/cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, who will then perform a solo set, including pieces from her CD Strange Toys as well as a soon-to-be-released recording. The works all use amplified cello along with looping, beats, and electronics. Jeanrenaud will be joined on some selections by PC Munoz on electronic beats and drums.
Preceded at 6 p.m. by one of our favorite KALX DJs spinning in the lobby, where wine and beer are available for purchase.
Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
$5
Information: (510) 642-0808
***
Saturday, April 3, 2010 – 2pm
Avedis Chamber Music Series
Alexandra Hawley, flute
Roy Malan, violin
Susan Freier, viola
Paul Hersh, viola
Stephen Harrison, cello
Ferdinand Ries - Quartet in C major, Op. 145
Max Reger - Serenade in G major, Op. 141a
Katherine Hoover - Divertimento
Andreas Jakob Romberg - Quintet in E minor, Op. 41
Florence Gould Hall at the Palace of the Legion of Honor
San Francisco
$15 to $20
Information: (415) 452-8777
www.avedisconcerts.org
***
Saturday, April 3, 2010 – 8pm
Alexander String Quartet
San Francisco Performances' Artists-in-Residence for two decades, the Alexander String Quartet will perform for SFP's 30th anniversary a new quartet by Composer-in-Residence Jeeyoung Kim and late masterworks by Mozart and Beethoven.
San Francisco Performances
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
$49/$32
Information: (415) 392-2545
www.performances.org
***
Sunday, April 4th, 2010 – 12pm
Bridge chamber Virtuosi
Founding and core members of this new exciting San Francisco Bay Area ensemble are Wei He, Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and San Francisco Symphony members Yun Jie Liu, Associate Principal Viola, and Amos Yang, Assistant Principal Cello.
They will present a program of solo, duo and trios at San Francisco's most beautiful museum, Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Bach, Cello Suite #4 in
Mozart, Duo for violin and viola in G major, K423
Kodaly, Intermezzo for Violin, Viola and Cello
Dohnányi, Serenade for string trio in C major, Op. 10.
This concert is sponsored by San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music in partnership with Classical Revolution and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Legion of Honor
Rodin Gallery (Gallery 10)
Lincoln Park
34th Avenue & Clement Street, San Francisco
Free for museum members and visitors
Information: (415) 710-0551
www.sffcm.org
***
Sunday, April 4, 2010 – 8pm
Berkeley New Music Project/Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players
New works presented by the Berkeley New Music Project performed by Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players, David Milnes, music director
UC Berkeley Music Department
Hertz Hall, Berkeley
$15 to $5
Information: (510) 642-9988
www.music.berkeley.edu
***
Monday, April 5, 2010 – 8pm
Audible Visions
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble celebrates the connection between eye and ear. Musicians, focused on sound, are sometimes oblivious to the visual world, but there is the occasional composer who has sight nearly as acute as his or her hearing. Barbara Kolb's work for guitar and violin depicts an artist's palette, complete with cerulean blue; William Grant Still wrote a suite in which each movement was suggested by a different sculpture: "African Dancer," "Mother and Child," and so on. Gabriel Faure was one of the so-called "impressionist composers" who preferred that a simplistic link not be made between his music and the art of his time; nonetheless, it is a real pleasure to hear his colorful piano quartet in the context of other works that were, in fact, literally motivated by color. The Finnish composer Saariaho creates sonic images of seven aspects of butterflies, while Matthew Barnson exploits an unusual sound palette in his abstract work for string quartet.
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
Green Room of the War Memorial Building
San Francisco
$15 to $20
Information: (415) 642-8054
www.leftcoastensemble.org
***
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 – 12:30pm
Vanessa Polgar, piano
The Etude Considered – 15 etudes by Schuman, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Debussy and others.
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral
660 California Street
San Francisco
Donation: $5
www.NoontimeConcerts.org
***
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 – 8pm
Robert Mann, violin
Founder and first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet for 52 years, Robert Mann has appeared frequently as a soloist and has recorded a number of solo violin works. Guest performers include violinists Axel Strauss, Ian Swensen and Rosey Watson, pianists Yoshi Nagai and Paul Hersh, cellists Michelle Kwon and Jennifer Culp, violist Jodi Levitz, and guitarist David Tanenbaum.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall
San Francisco
$20, $15 students/seniors/Friends of the Conservatory
Information: (415) 503-6275
***
Friday, April 9, 2010 – 12pm
Noon Concert: Baroque
University Baroque Ensemble
Davitt Moroney, director
Music by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi
UC Berkeley Music Department
Hertz Hall, Berkeley
FREE
Information: (510) 642-4864
www.music.berkeley.edu
***
Saturday, April 10, 2010 – 7pm
Harmonikos April Concert
Harmonikos, the Bay Area organization founded to help young composers have their pieces heard, will hold their second concert on April 10 at 7:00 in the Auditorium of the Crowden Music Center. This concert will feature works by five talented young composers for two (or more) pianos. Performing will be the Scorpio Duo along with some of the composers. Come check it out!
Harmonikos
Crowden Music Center, Berkeley
requested donation $5-15
Information: (510) 545-2024
www.crowden.org
***
Saturday, April 10, 2010 – 8pm
Festival of Remembrance--Music at the Edge of Life: In Remembrance of Jewish Composers Who Perished in the Holocaust
Concert Three: Music at the Edge of Life: In Remembrance of Jewish Composers Who Perished in the Holocaust.
Presented to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah)
The concert will be introduced by Rabbi George Gittleman of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa
The featured compositions, written in concentration camps by Pavel Haas, Erwin Schulhoff, Hans Krasa and Viktor Ullmann, show that the spirit of these artists could not be broken, even under the most dreadful conditions. They maintained their human dignity in spite of all. Music was their weapon of resistance.
Jubilee Klezmer Ensemble will perform as part of the concert program and in the lobby afterward. Also in the lobby and gallery will be exhibits on tolerance and prejudice by Sonoma Country Day School Students, and video interviews with local Holocaust survivors done by Healdsburg Junior High School students.
Santa Rosa Symphony
Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School
Santa Rosa
$25 and $32
Information: (707) 546-8742 54-MUSIC
www.santarosasymphony.com
***
Saturday, April 10, 2010 – 8pm
11th Annual SFJAZZ Spring Season Presents Bobby McFerrin’s VOCAbuLarieS
Bobby McFerrin is a revolutionary musical force who exudes pure joy while reconfiguring the definitions of jazz, a cappella and classical music. Perhaps McFerrin’s greatest achievement is that he has dispelled previously held beliefs about the limits of the human voice. The pivotal decision in his career was when pianist Keith Jarrett inspired him to perform completely improvised solo concerts, leaving onlookers slack-jawed in disbelief. From there, the vocalist has collaborated with jazz and classical musicians; been a conductor, an educator and arts evangelist; scored an era-defining pop hit with “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and has earned an incredible ten Grammy Awards. Founded in 1986, McFerrin’s Voicestra has re-invented the choir concept with stylistic influences from jazz to R&B to Indian classical opera. This SFJAZZ appearance is the American premiere of VOCAbuLarieS, a new choral project with compositions by McFerrin and his frequent collaborator Roger Treece. A new Decca album of the same name will be released in March, 2010.
SF Jazz
Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium
San Francisco
$25 to $95
Informaiton: (866) 920-5299
www.sfjazz.org
***
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 3pm
Free: Beethoven Violin Concerto - Strauss Metamorphosen
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major Op.61
April Paik, Soloist
Berkeley Classical Players
Richard Strauss Metamorphosen for 23 Solo Strings
UC Berkeley Symphony String Players
David Milnes, Conductor
Under the direction of Maestro David Milnes, members of the UC Berkeley Symphony and the Berkeley community present two works of powerful and majestic quality.
To open the concert, soloist April Paik will perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major Op.61 with the Berkeley Classical Players. Written in 1806, the work was not well-received in Beethoven's day. It was not until 1844, 38 years after the premiere, did the 12 year-old Joseph Joachim changed the public perception of the piece forever. Playing with the Philharmonic Society of London with Felix Mendelssohn conducting, Joachim revealed the unparalleled beauty and prevailing lyrical of the piece. Thanks to his persistence in championing the work, the concerto is now widely regarded as the "King of Concertos" and a keystone masterpiece in the violin repertoire.
Featuring string players of UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the concerts will close with Richard Strauss' powerful "Metamorphosen" for twenty-three solo strings, a work representing a deeply personal statement and public memorial gesture by the aging composer. Fitting the title, the piece displays themes and fragments developing from echoes of one familiar work into shadows of another. The solemn beauty of the piece has been superficially qualified as a memorial to the destruction of a large part of Munich. However, in actuality, this work is a poignant elegy that represents a memorial to the end of a long tradition of Germanic music of the time.
UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra
Orinda Community Church Sanctuary
Orinda, CA
FREE
www.music.berkeley.edu
***
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 3pm
Morrison Artists Series: Poulenc Trio
Combining brilliant 21st-century vibrancy with the best of European instrumental tradition, the trio’s performances leap beyond the ordinary concert experience, transporting audiences into a world of beautiful sonorities, playful rhythms and dramatic excitement. The ensemble’s precision and versatility heighten the lyricism of Poulenc, the virtuosity of Rossini, the wit of Jean Francaix and the jazzy elegance of Andre Previn. The Washington Post writes: “Convincing elegance...near-effortless lightness and grace.” The Poulenc Trio chose its name for Francis Poulenc, whose musical wit and elegance suffuse his Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano (1926), which is included on the program at the Morrison Artists Series.
Bringing Bay Area audiences the world’s finest chamber music since 1955, the Morrison Artists Series at San Francisco State University is “indispensable,” the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The series presents six free performances each year by acclaimed ensembles.
Join composer and Professor Ronald Caltabiano for a pre-concert talk at 2 p.m.
SFSU School of Music and Dance
McKenna Theatre, San Francisco
FREE
Information: (415) 338-2467
musicdance.sfsu.edu
***
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 4pm
CMASH: Ann Moss, soprano, Steven Bailey, piano
CMASH: Ann Moss, soprano, Steven Bailey, piano
with The Picasso Quartet
This unique musical collaborative offers the latest in contemporary song with 4 Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay for Soprano and String Quartet by Liam Wade, 2 Songs for Soprano, Viola and Piano (World Premiere) by Vartan Aghababian, Practice Your Flamenco by Weslie Brown, Drei Träume by Liam Wade (World Premiere, poems by CMASH resident poet Lisa DeSiro), plus selected songs by Jake Heggie.
Noe Valley Chamber Music
Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco
$15 or $18
www.nvcm.org
***
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 4pm
Old First Concerts:
Oliver-Oh Duo
Sonatino No. 1 in D major, Op. 137 by Schubert; Sunlun Sonata by Sarn Oliver; Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 121 by Schumann
Join the Oliver-Oh Duo for a recital celebrating lyricism throughout the ages! San Francisco Classical Voice says: “Oliver’s polished playing conveyed an aristocratic reserve, eloquently lyrical in the quiet passages and passionately forceful at the climaxes”. Works by Schubert and Schumann are accompanied by Oliver’s Sunlun Sonata, “hauntingly reflective with a melodic sense that is clearly modern yet immediately captivating … the highlight of the evening” (Honolulu Music Examiner).
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco
Information: (415) 474-1608
$17; $14 students & seniors
www.oldfirstconcerts.org
***
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 5pm
A Violino Solo Senza Basso: Hélène Schmitt performs unaccompanied violin works
Prize-winning French violinist and professor of baroque violin Hélène Schmitt will perform solo works of J. S. Bach and others, including the Partita in D Minor, BWV 1004, with the famous Ciaconna.
MusicSources
Berkeley
$15 to $20
Information: (510) 528-1685
***
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 4:30pm
TERENCE BLANCHARD QUINTET
At the Douglas Beach House
New Orleans trumpeter, arranger and Golden Globe-nominated Spike Lee firm score composer who combines a love for the music of his native New Orleans with modern hard bop and a spirit of innovation. His latest CD, "Choices," came out this past Fall.
Terence Blanchard - trumpet, Brice Winston – Sax, Fabian Almazan – Piano, Michael Olatuja – Bass, Kendrick Scott- Drums
Many Americans have heard Terence Blanchard's music, even if they don't know it — he's scored many of Spike Lee's films since the early '90s. But only a relative few have connected Blanchard the movie composer with Blanchard the acclaimed jazz trumpeter. Since he emerged on the scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Blanchard has been a leading artist in jazz. He was an integral figure in the 1980s jazz resurgence having recorded several award-winning albums and having performed with the jazz elite. He is known as a straight-ahead artist in the hard bop <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_bop> tradition but has recently utilized an African-fusion style of playing that makes him unique from other trumpeters on the performance circuit. His trumpet can be heard on nearly fifty film scores; more than forty bear his unmistakable compositional style. Since 2000, Blanchard has served as Artistic Director at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. He lives in the Garden District of New Orleans with his wife and four children.
Douglas Beach House on Miramar Beach
307 Mirada Road, Half Moon Bay
$30
Information: (650) 726-4143
www.bachddsoc.org
www.Terrenceblanchard.com
***
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 – 12:30pm
THE ALBANY CONSORT
Jonathan Saldedo, music director, harpsichord
with David Wilson, Laura Rubinstein-Salzedo, Aaron Westman, Tyler Lewis, violins /Amy Brodo, cello / Farley Pearce, violone / Ondine Young, viola / Greer Ellison, flute
Johann Sebastian Bach: Triple Concerto BWV 1044, Suite in A minor for Recorder and Strings BWV 1067a
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral
660 California Street
San Francisco
Donation: $5
www.NoontimeConcerts.org
***
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 – 12pm
Noon Concert: Piano Trio
Axel Strauss, violin; Jean-Michel Fontereau, cello; Jeffrey Sykes, piano
Robert Schumann, Piano Trio No. 1
Leon Kirchner, Piano Trio No. 1
UC Berkeley Music Department
Hertz Hall, Berkeley
FREE
Information: (510) 642-4864
***
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 – 7:30pm
Spring Concert
Please join the Castro Valley Community Band for a Family Concert. This free event will include Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf;" Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals;" a medley of Beatles hits, and other Pops and Light Classical selections.
Castro Valley Community Band
Castro Valley Center for the Arts
www.castrovalleyband.com
***
Thursday, April 15, 2010 – 8pm
Kuss Quartet
The young Kuss Quartet seek to restore the string quartet at the cutting edge of cultural and compositional life, with past music played modernly in diverse venues such as concert halls, nightclubs and hip-hop spaces.
San Francisco Performances
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
$42/$32
Information: 415 392 2545
www.performances.org
***
Friday, April 16, 2010 – 8pm (Pre-Concert Lecture at 7pm)
American Bach Soloists
Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi
Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
Guest soloists: Mary Wilson (soprano), Johanna Novom (violin), Corey Jamason (harpsichord)
American Bach Soloists wrap up their 2009-2010 season with a concert featuring virtuoso works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. The American Bach Soloists (ABS) is joined by acclaimed guest artists in this season-finale performance of four baroque masterpieces.
Johanna Novom, winner of American Bach Soloists’ 2008 Young Artists Competition, plays Bach’s Concerto in A Minor for Violin. This celebration of baroque masters also features renowned harpsichordist Corey Jamason in Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for Harpsichord. Soprano Mary Wilson, who has earned standing ovations in her performances with ABS, is the featured soloist in Handel’s solo cantata “Delirio amoroso”, and Vivaldi’s pyrotechnical motet, “In furore iustissimae irae.”
A free, pre-concert lecture – “Insights” – by Musical Director Jeffrey Thomas will begin one hour prior to each performance. These performances are generously sponsored by John & Lois Crowe and Jan Goldberg.
St. Stephen’s Church
3 Bayview Avenue, Belvedere
$20 - $45 general; $18 - $40 for students, seniors, children
www.americanbach.org
***
Friday, April 16, 2010 – 8pm
Old First Concerts:
Natalya Feygina, Olga Rakitchenkov & Sergey Rakitchenkov
Olga Rakitchenkov and Segey Rakitchenkov both share a career arc that began in Moscow as celebrated child prodigies and led them through prizes at numerous international music competitions to principal musicians at the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. Natalya Feygina’s career likewise began as a student in St. Petersburg and a position as company pianist with the Kirov Ballet (now Mariinsky Ballet). Today, as members of the internationally renowned San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, these three musicians come together to present a program that includes works by W. F. Bach, J. S. Bach, Franz Benda, M. Glinka and M. Bruch.
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco
Information: (415) 474-1608
$17; $14 students & seniors
www.oldfirstconcerts.org
***
Saturday, April 17, 2010 – 7pm
CD Release Concert
Since its inception in 1997, the San Francisco Guitar Quartet (David Dueñas, Jon Mendle, Patrick O'Connell, and Mark Simons) has distinguished itself as a cutting-edge chamber ensemble committed to engaging performances of contemporary and classic works. The SFGQ launches its 2010 season with an April 17th CD release concert party and fund raiser to celebrate the release of their new recording, Chasing Light. The event will also feature an artist reception and CD signing at the Community Music Center's Mission Branch in San Francisco.
Chasing Light promotes the SFGQ's artistic mission by featuring four world premieres written expressly for the SFGQ by living composers: Chasing Light, Garry Eister; African influenced Marenje and Attained Elusiveness, Mark Knippel; Flowing Through, Christopher Gainey. The recording also includes two Mazurkas from Karol Syzmanoski’s Op. 50 for piano transcribed by SFGQ member Patrick O’Connell. Clarice Assad's Bluezilian and LAGQ member Andrew York's Pacific Coast Highway round out this CD's richly diverse and engaging program.
San Francisco Guitar Quartet
Community Music Center, San Francisco
$10-15
Information: (415) 203-3015
***
Saturday, April 17, 2010 – 8pm (Pre-Concert Lecture at 7pm)
American Bach Soloists
Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi
Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
Guest soloists: Mary Wilson (soprano), Johanna Novom (violin), Corey Jamason (harpsichord)
American Bach Soloists wrap up their 2009-2010 season with a concert featuring virtuoso works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. The American Bach Soloists (ABS) is joined by acclaimed guest artists in this season-finale performance of four baroque masterpieces.
Johanna Novom, winner of American Bach Soloists’ 2008 Young Artists Competition, plays Bach’s Concerto in A Minor for Violin. This celebration of baroque masters also features renowned harpsichordist Corey Jamason in Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for Harpsichord. Soprano Mary Wilson, who has earned standing ovations in her performances with ABS, is the featured soloist in Handel’s solo cantata “Delirio amoroso”, and Vivaldi’s pyrotechnical motet, “In furore iustissimae irae.”
A free, pre-concert lecture – “Insights” – by Musical Director Jeffrey Thomas will begin one hour prior to each performance. These performances are generously sponsored by John & Lois Crowe and Jan Goldberg.
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley
$20 - $45 general; $18 - $40 for students, seniors, children
www.americanbach.org
***
Sunday, April 18, 2010 – 2pm
Chamber Music at the Legion of Honor
Members of the San Francisco Symphony Play Chamber Music
Florence Gould Hall at the Palace of the Legion of Honor
San Francisco
$15-56
Information: (415) 864-6000
***
Sunday, April 18, 2010 – 4pm
Old First Concerts:
Sarah Cahill
Sarah Cahill, recently called "fiercely gifted" in The New York Times, presents a program of music written in the last two years, including the West Coast premiere of Annie Gosfield's Five Characters Walk Into a Bar and new works by Ingram Marshall, Larry Polansky, and Eve Beglarian.
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco
Information: (415) 474-1608
$17; $14 students & seniors
www.oldfirstconcerts.org
***
Sunday, April 18, 2010 – 4:30pm
Viviana Guzman Trio: Flute with Classical and Flamenco Guitars
Viviana Guzman, internationally acclaimed flutist with Emanuele Segre - guitar, Grisha Goryachev - flamenco guitar, performs works by Bach, Piazzola, Paco de Lucia, Monti and more at the beachfront Douglas Beach House venue - the perfect intimate room for chamber music accompanied by the sounds of the surf.
Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society
Douglas Beach House
Half Moon Bay
$30
Information: (650) 726-2020
www.VivianaGuzman.com
www.GrishaGuitar.com
www.EmanueleSegre.it
***
Sunday, April 18, 2010 – 7pm (Pre-Concert Lecture at 6pm)
American Bach Soloists
Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi
Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
Guest soloists: Mary Wilson (soprano), Johanna Novom (violin), Corey Jamason (harpsichord)
American Bach Soloists wrap up their 2009-2010 season with a concert featuring virtuoso works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. The American Bach Soloists (ABS) is joined by acclaimed guest artists in this season-finale performance of four baroque masterpieces.
Johanna Novom, winner of American Bach Soloists’ 2008 Young Artists Competition, plays Bach’s Concerto in A Minor for Violin. This celebration of baroque masters also features renowned harpsichordist Corey Jamason in Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for Harpsichord. Soprano Mary Wilson, who has earned standing ovations in her performances with ABS, is the featured soloist in Handel’s solo cantata “Delirio amoroso”, and Vivaldi’s pyrotechnical motet, “In furore iustissimae irae.”
A free, pre-concert lecture – “Insights” – by Musical Director Jeffrey Thomas will begin one hour prior to each performance. These performances are generously sponsored by John & Lois Crowe and Jan Goldberg.
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco
$20 - $45 general; $18 - $40 for students, seniors, children
www.americanbach.org
***
Sunday, April 18, 2010 – 5pm
Cypress String Quartet
For over thirty years the Mill Valley Chamber Music Society has presented chamber music concerts at affordable tickets prices.
The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society presents the Cypress String Quartet in concert Sunday, April 18, 2010.
Featuring Cecily Ward, violin; Tom Stone, violin; Ethan Filner, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello - the Cypress String Quartet is a vibrant member of the San Francisco arts community, representing the voice of the new generation of American culture while bringing passion, inspiration and enjoyment to every audience.
Widely celebrated for the power of its performances and its passionate dedication to the genre, the Cypress String Quartet combines technical precision with imaginative programming to create unforgettable concert experiences.
The internationally acclaimed Cypress String Quartet performs over 90 concerts each year at venues across America and around the world including the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Stanford Lively Arts, Krannert Center and Ravinia Festival.
The members of the Cypress Quartet play on exceptional instruments, including violins by Antonio Stradivarius (1681) and Carlos Bergonzi (1733), a viola by Vittorio Bellarosa (1947) and a cello by Hieronymus Amati II (1701).
The Cypress Quartet takes its name from the set of twelve love songs for string quartet, "The Cypresses," by Antonin Dvorak.
Program: Mendelssohn: op. 13; Kevin Puts: Lento Assai; Beethoven: op. 135
Mill Valley Chamber Music Society
Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church
410 Sycamore Avenue, Mill Valley
$10 to $25. ($25 general; $10 youth under 18)
Information: (415) 381-4453
www.chambermusicmillvalley.org/index.shtml
***
Monday, April 19, 2010 – 8pm (pre-concert lecture at 7pm)
American Bach Soloists
Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi
Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
Guest soloists: Mary Wilson (soprano), Johanna Novom (violin), Corey Jamason (harpsichord)
American Bach Soloists wrap up their 2009-2010 season with a concert featuring virtuoso works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. The American Bach Soloists (ABS) is joined by acclaimed guest artists in this season-finale performance of four baroque masterpieces.
Johanna Novom, winner of American Bach Soloists’ 2008 Young Artists Competition, plays Bach’s Concerto in A Minor for Violin. This celebration of baroque masters also features renowned harpsichordist Corey Jamason in Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for Harpsichord. Soprano Mary Wilson, who has earned standing ovations in her performances with ABS, is the featured soloist in Handel’s solo cantata “Delirio amoroso”, and Vivaldi’s pyrotechnical motet, “In furore iustissimae irae.”
A free, pre-concert lecture – “Insights” – by Musical Director Jeffrey Thomas will begin one hour prior to each performance. These performances are generously sponsored by John & Lois Crowe and Jan Goldberg.
Davis Community Church
412C Street, Davis
$20 - $45 general; $18 - $40 for students, seniors, children
www.americanbach.org
***
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 – 12:30pm
Tien Hsieh, piano
Robert Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien,
Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral
660 California Street
San Francisco
Donation: $5
www.NoontimeConcerts.org
***
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 – 12pm
Noon Concert: New Music
New Music by composers from the graduate composition seminar directed by Ken Ueno.
UC Berkeley Music Department
Hertz Hall, Berkeley
FREE
Information: (510) 642-4864
www.music.berkeley.edu
***
Thursday, April 22, 2010 – 8pm
8:00 Noah Phillips & Jason Hoopes Duo
8:45 Lucio Menegon's Sonic Demons (CD release set)
9:15 LawsonJacob Zimmerman, Drew Cecatto, Matt Nelson, Cory Wright (saxes), Michael Coleman and Dan VanHassel (keyboards), Dan Good (electronics and trumpet)
Luggage Store New Music Series
1007 Market Street, San Francisco
$6-10
www.outsound.org
***
Friday, April 23, 2010 – 8pm
The Harlem Quartet
Comprised of First Place Laureates of the Sphinx Competition, The Harlem Quartet made their debut in 2006 at Carnegie Hall, earning rave reviews from The New York Times. Each quartet member is also a seasoned solo artist, having appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburg, Sinaloa de las Artes (Mexico) and Baltimore Symphonies and the Boston Pops, among others. This innovative and daring all-Black and Latino string quartet has “played with panache" (The New York Times) and brings their impassioned sound to Montalvo.
Montalvo Arts Center (Previously Villa Montalvo)
Saratoga
$30; $25 members; $20 if purchasing three or more of the Villa Chamber Music Series (Available through Montalvo Box Office only).
Information: (408) 961-5858
www.montalvoarts.org
***
Friday, April 23, 2010 – 8pm
Trio M Jazz Benefit
Trio M
Mark Dresser, bass
Matt Wilson, drums
Myra Melford, piano
perform a benefit concert for the
UC Berkeley Jazz and Improvised Music Program (JIM).
Opening set by ensemble of students and alumni of the program
UC Berkeley Music Department
Hertz Hall, Berkeley
$15 to $5
Information: (510) 642-9988
www.music.berkeley.edu
***
Saturday, April 24, 2010 – 2pm
Harlem String Quartet - W. Hazaiah Williams Memorial Concert
Four Seasons Arts
St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley
FREE
Information: (510) 845-4444
www.fsarts.org
***
Saturday, April 24, 2010 – 4pm
Dedicated to Haydn
Over a dozen sets of quartets were dedicated to Haydn during his lifetime, most famously Mozart's Haydn Quartets. With this concert we begin a new series featuring selections from these compositions.
New Esterházy Quartet
St. Luke's Episcopal Church, San Francisco
$10 - $25
Information: (415) 520-0611
www.newesterhazy.org
***
Saturday, April 24, 2010 – 8pm
Les Nations et une Apothéose
This accomplished ensemble play trios and solos from six nations by Lully, Corelli, Buxtehude, da Selma, Schmelzer & Purcell, followed by The Apotheosis of Lully—a grand tour of 17th century Europe and a grand unification project by Couperin attempting to synthesize the various national styles.
Trinity Chamber Concerts
Trinity Chapel, Berkeley
$8-$12
Information: (510) 549-3864
www.trinitychamberconcerts.com
***
Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 7pm
SFJAZZ
Charles Lloyd New Quartet with Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers & Eric Harland.
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco
$30-70
www.sfjazz.org
***
Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 2pm
Bach-Bachianas
The Gold Coast Chamber Players, whose 10 year anniversary season opened earlier this year to a sold out audience, present Bach-Bachianas on Sunday, April 25 at 2PM at the Community Hall at the Lafayette Library. Members of the San Francisco Symphony join the Gold Coast Chamber Players in remembering a wonderful colleague and cellist, Lawrence Granger, who died suddenly last June.
Mr. Granger’s last appearance with the Gold Coast Chamber Players included a performance at the East Brothers Lighthouse (photos available). The group donated this performance to Special Olympics. Inspired by Mr. Granger’s generous spirit, the proceeds from Bach-Bachianas will be donated to the Lawrence Granger Memorial Scholarship Fund at Cal State East Bay.
This cello centered program includes Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras #5 for Soprano and 8 cellos. Soprano Leah Crocetto (San Francisco Opera) joins members of the San Francisco Symphony cello section in this sensual piece. Music by J.S. Bach including Brandenburg Concerto #6, Double Violin Concerto and a cello quartet arrangement of the 6th Suite provide a wonderful showcase for this talented group of musicians.
Gold Coast Chamber Players
Community Hall at the Lafayette Library
Lafayette
$10-$30
Information: (925) 284-7404 (Lafayette Chamber of Commerce)
www.gcplayers.org
***
Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 3pm
Cypress String Quartet: Schubert Cello Quintet with Associate Principal of the San Francisco Symphony, Amos Yang
The Cypress String Quartet returns to Montalvo for its popular Salon Series. As part of the overall Villa Chamber Music Series, the Cypress present one of the most unique concert formats. Rather than a traditional classical chamber music concert of three works with an intermission, the Cypress features one work that the group discusses in depth and performs. The quartet contextualizes the featured piece through musical examples, discussion and performances of additional single movements or short works. They then follow this explanation with a performance of the featured piece in its entirety. During the performance, the audience has the opportunity to develop an intimate relationship with the featured music as well as with the performers through their explanations. Past audience members have commented that it’s a unique concert experience that demystifies classical music and offers insight into the creative process.
Montalvo Arts Center (Previously Villa Montalvo)
Saratoga
Information: (408) 961-5858
www.montalvoarts.org
***
Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 3pm
P.D.Q. Bach: "The Jekyll and Hyde Tour"
Do not miss such classic P.D.Q. works as Four Next-to-Last Songs (including “Gretchen am Spincycle” and “Es war ein dark und shtormy Night”) and Shepherd on the Rocks, With a Twist, which features Prof. Schickele playing the tromboon, a cross between a trombone and a bassoon. Also featured are excerpts from the Little Notebook for “Piggy” Bach.
Chamber Music San Francisco
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
$35 to $51
Informaiton: (415) 392-4400
www.chambermusicsf.org
***
Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 4pm
Trio Navarro welcomes guest Nancy Ellis, Viola, to a Concert of Piano Quartets
For its final concert of the 2009/2010 season at Sonoma State University Trio Navarro welcomes San Francisco Symphony Violist Nancy Ellis for a concert of Piano Quartets. Quartets by Mozart, Faure and Saint Saens will be performed.
Trio Navarro is currently enjoying its fifteenth season as Trio in Residence at Sonoma State University, where it presents a series of concerts each year at Ives Concert Hall. Founding members Jill Rachuy Brindel,cello and Marilyn Thompson, piano have been with the trio for fifteen years and welcomed violinist Roy Malan to the group in 2006. Trio Navarro is named after the lovely Navaro River which runs through Mendocino County. The group has performed at Old First Church, Chamber Music Sundaes, the UCSF Chancellor Series, the Ralston Concert Series, the San Francisco Symphony Chamber Music Series at Davies Symphony Hall, the Arizona State Music Teachers Association in Tucson, the City of Sonoma Chamber Series and the Mendocino Music Festival for which Ms. Brindel is Principal Cellist and Mr. Malan is Concertmaster. In addition to the standard chamber music repertoire, the trio has performed works by Foote, Teneyev, Rebecca Clarke, Mechem, Turina, Chick Corea, and premiered works of Scott Wheeler and James Matheson for Composers Inc. in San Francisco. Their work has been hailed as…”masterful, marvelous, memorable….amazing artistry” and they have been deemed by critics as the “premier trio in Northern California.”
Trio Navarro
Sonoma State University, Ives Hall 119
Rohnert Park
Information: (707) 664-2353
***
Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 4pm
Dedicated to Haydn
Over a dozen sets of quartets were dedicated to Haydn during his lifetime, most famously Mozart's Haydn Quartets. With this concert we begin a new series featuring selections from these compositions.
New Esterházy Quartet
All Saint's Episcopal Church
Palo Alto
$10 - $25
Information: (415) 520-0611
www.newesterhazy.org
***
Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 4pm
Old First Concerts:
Esther Landau, Candace Guirao, Solon Gordon & Poppea Dorsam
Sonatas by J. S. Bach, Bohuslav Martinu, and the chamber ensemble premiere of local composer June Bonacich's Rumpelstiltskin. Program will conclude with some traditional Bulgarian melodies played on the kaval (Bulgarian flute).
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco
Information: (415) 474-1608
$17; $14 students & seniors
www.oldfirstconcerts.org
***
Sunday April 25, 2010 – 4:30pm
Contemporary Insights: Music and Conversation
Composer Philippe Hurel joins Christian Baldini and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players for a performance and discussion of "Figures Libres" for flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola, and cello.
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
ODC Dance Commons, San Francisco
$10-$28
Information: (415) 278-9566
www.sfcmp.org
***
Monday, April 26, 2010 – 8pm
Classical at the Freight: Gabriela Frank and Robin Sharp
Produced jointly with Berkeley’s Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, which has recently moved into a spectacular new home in the downtown Berkeley Arts District. The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra presents monthly chamber music programs from September through May; an hour of great music and musicians in an informal and intimate setting. These under-$10 concerts are designed to be enjoyed by experienced listeners as well interested newbies. April 26: Gabriela Frank and Robin Sharp.A very special evening featuring our composer-in-residence and our wonderful concertmaster performing together and discussing the upcoming world premiere of Gabi’s new violin concerto.
San Francisco Chamber Orchestra
Freight and Salvage Coffee House, Berkeley
$8.50 adv/$9.50 door. SFCO Members get 2-for-1.
Information: (510) 644-2020
www.sfchamberorchestra.org
***
Monday, April 26, 2010 – 8pm
His Own Space of Freedom
The four kinetic and engaging works on this concert explore different aspects of freedom and its limits. Includes a piece for bassoon, video, and electronics in honor of Martin Luther King; and a work for four percussionists by Academy Award-winner Tan Dun in which water is used as a medium for sound.
Christian Baldini conducts.
There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m.
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
$10-$28
Informaiton: 415-278-9566
***
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 – 12:30pm
CYPRESS STRING QUARTET
Cecily Ward / Tom Stone, violins
Ethan Filner, viola / Jennifer Kloetzel, cello
with Jean-Michel Fonteneau, cello
Franz Schubert: Cello Quintet
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral
660 California Street
San Francisco
Donation: $5
www.NoontimeConcerts.org
***
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 – 8pm
Stern-Prior-Moore-Mok Quartet
PIANO QUARTET TO CELEBRATE ROBERT SHCUMANN’S BICENTENNIAL IN APRIL 28 CONCERT AT THE BERKELEY CITY CLUB
Submitted by Marion Fay, publicist, Berkeley Chamber Performances
Berkeley Chamber Performances (BCP) continues its 17th season of intimate chamber concerts with the STERN-PRIOR-MOORE-MOK QUARTET on Wednesday, April 28, at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club. The program, designed to celebrate the bicentennial of Robert Schumann’s birth, features three composers whose lives famously intermingled: Clara Schumann, Brahms, and Robert Schumann.
Along with the music, the performers will present background information about the composers and readings of letters between the Schumanns and Brahms. Audience members are invited to attend a complementary wine and cheese reception following the concert with an opportunity to meet and talk with the musicians.
The Quartet is comprised of four distinguished Bay Area musicians, three of whom are members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra: Kay Stern, Violin, Elizabeth Prior, viola, Thalia Moore, cello, and Gwendolyn Mok, piano. Their April 28 concert begins with Clara Schumann’s 1847 Piano Trio. Next on the program is Johannes Brahms Trio in C Minor, Op. 101. The concert concludes with Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E flat Major.
Berkeley Chamber Performances
Berkeley City Club
$10 to $25 (high school students free)
Information: 510 525-5211
www.berkeleychamberperform.org
***
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 – 8pm
Conservatory Baroque Ensemble
Baroque chamber music for strings and winds
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
FREE
Informaiton: (415) 503-6275
***
Friday, April 30, 2010 – 8pm
Old First Concerts:
Picasso Quartet
Join the young and dynamic Picasso Quartet as they move from dark to light with a program of Shostakovich's cornerstone Quartet No. 8 and conclude with Mozart's great and uplifting Quartet in C major 'Disssonance'. Between these two major works, Picasso will be joined by exceptional soprano Ann Moss in Liam Wade's 4 Songs on Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Picasso Quaret: Alisa Rose, violin; Natasha Makhijani, violin; Alexa Beattie, viola; Michelle Kwon, 'cello. For more information visit www.picassoquartet.com
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco
Information: (415) 474-1608
$17; $14 students & seniors
www.oldfirstconcerts.org
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