Choices for March 24, 2018

The schedule for the first few months of 2018 does not appear to have been as busy as the last quarter of 2017 was. However, it looks like things may pick up as we head into the end of this month. The options for March are diverse and will include the launch of the final concert series being hosted by Sunset Music and Arts.

That series will cover both choral and opera music. Since the first concert is the earliest one to begin on March 24, the entire series will be summarized before moving on to the other alternatives for that afternoon and evening. Like the other series discussed earlier on this site, all recitals will take place at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, located at 1750 29th Avenue, about halfway between Moraga Street and Noriega Street. Ticket prices for all concerts will be $20 for general admission with a $15 rate for students and seniors; and tickets may be purchased online. As is the case with the other offerings, subscriptions are not being sold; but each date and time in the schedule has a hyperlink to the event page for single ticket purchases. Further information may be obtained by calling 415-564-2324. Specifics are follows:

Saturday, March 24, 4 p.m.: This will be a repeat performance of A Nun, A Queen, The Lady & A King, the latest program in the 2017–18 season of San Francisco Renaissance Voices. This will be the second performance in San Francisco. The first will take place on Sunday, March 18 and was already described in the article summarizing the options for that day. Departing from the usual Sunset conventions, ticket prices will be the same as those announced for the Sunday afternoon performance.

Friday, April 27, 7:30 p.m.: The San Francisco Girls Chorus will present the students from its Chorus School Level III. This consists of approximately 50 girls aged from 8 to 13. Their Director is Luçik Aprahämian; and the repertoire for this concert will include music by George Frideric Handel, Samuel Barber, and Randall Thompson.

Sunday, May 13, 7 p.m.: This will be a concert performance of Handel’s 1718 opera Acis and Galatea, prepared and conducted by Music Director Deborah Benedict.

Saturday, May 19, 4 p.m. (probably): San Francisco Renaissance Voices will conclude its season with a program entitled To Henry, from Florence: Summer of Love 1533. This will be the modern day premiere of madrigals from a collection of Italian masterpieces, sent as a gift to Henry VIII from Florence, Italy, in 1533. Date and time have not yet been finalized, so tickets are not yet on sale.

Saturday, August 25, 7:30 p.m.: This will be a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 588 opera Così fan tutte presented by the Bay Shore Lyric Opera.

In addition, as of this writing, there will be two additional options for March 24 as follows:

7:30 p.m., Green Room: This will be the D’Addario Performance Series recital of the season programming by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts. The program will be shared by two contrasting styles. Russian Grisha Goryachev is one of the very few guitarists in the world who is currently reviving the tradition of solo flamenco guitar performances in a concert setting. He will take the second half of a program, which will begin with a set by Italian Andrea de Vitis, who specializes in the classical guitar repertoire.

The Green Room is on the second floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel. All tickets will be sold for $45. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through a City Box Office event page.

8 p.m., Eristavi Winery: This will be the continuation of the Cool Grey City concert series presented by the Nomad Session octet. This ensemble combines four woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon) with four brass instruments (horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba) and is the first ensemble of its kind in the Bay Area. The concert series is named after a newly commissioned work by Nicolas Benavides, each of whose movements has been inspired by one of the hidden spaces of San Francisco. The first movement was given its first performance this past November; and this concert will present the second movement, which is about hidden staircases. Vide projection will be part of the performance. The program will also include arrangements of music by Gustav Holst, the “Jupiter” movement from his Opus 32 suite The Planets and the final movement from the second of his two suites for military band collected as his Opus 28. This suite is in F major, and the title of the last movement is “Fantasia on the Dargason,” which weaves “Greensleeves” into the English folk tune named in the title (which bears a strong family resemblance to “The Irish Washerwoman”).

Eristavi Winery is located at 1300 Potrero Avenue in the Mission on the southwest corner of 25th Street. All tickets will be $20, and wine will be served beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through an Eventbrite event page.