Sunday, August 6, 2023

SFCM Highlights: October, 2023

As was the case a year ago, October will bring a far more generous serving of highlighted events at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) than were scheduled for September. Furthermore, the month will begin the same way it did last year, with a performance taking place in the Joe Henderson Lab of the SFJAZZ Center. As was announced on this site yesterday, students in the Roots, Jazz & American Music program will join forces with the SFJAZZ Collective at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 13, for the second of the four Thelonious Monk Festival programs.

All of the other highlighted events will take place at SFCM facilities. As in the past, the Performance Calendar Web page will provide the most up-to-date information about the many concerts and recitals that will be presented to the general public. Each Web page will also include a hyperlink for making reservations, most of which will be without charge. If the performance will be live-streamed, there will be a separate hyperlink to enable viewing. Specifics for the remaining highlighted events are as follows:

Tuesday, October 17, 7:30 p.m., Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue: This will be the first Chamber Music Tuesday event of the season. Pianist Inon Barnatan will appear as guest artist for the two selections on the program. The first half will be devoted entirely to Amy Beach’s Opus 67 piano quintet in F-sharp minor. The intermission will be followed by the first of Ludwig van Beethoven’s three Opus 1 piano trios, composed in the key of E-flat major.

Friday, October 20, 7:30 p.m., Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue: As part of his residency with the Voice Department, tenor Ian Bostridge will give a public presentation of a masterclass and lecture focused on Franz Schubert’s D. 911 song cycle Winterreise. The event will be moderated by Catherine Cooke, Chair of the Voice Department. The following evening, Bostridge will launch the San Francisco Performances Art of Song Series with a performance of D. 911 in its entirety, accompanied by Canadian pianist Wenwen Du.

Saturday, October 21, 7:30 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street: Edwin Outwater will again conduct the SFCM Orchestra. The soloist will be pianist Lara Downes, who will be featured in a performance of a new arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” prepared by Edmar Colón. There will also be a recording of this new arrangement with all of the same participants. It will be released on Pentatone in 2024 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the composition of “Rhapsody in Blue.”

The program will begin with the world premiere performance of “Ruminations.” Composed by SFCM student Jameson Caps, this piece won the 2022 Highsmith Composition Competition. The program will conclude with Mason Bates’ “Anthology of Fantastic Zoology,” which he has described as “a kind of psychedelic Carnival of the Animals.”

Sunday, October 29, 2 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street: This will be the first SFCM Baroque Ensemble concert of the season, led by co-directors Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed. The program will begin with Antonio Vivaldi’s RV 129 concerto for string in D minor, given the title “Madrigalesco.” This will be followed by a suite in D minor by Georg Philipp Telemann. The second half of the program will begin with two sinfonias by Tomaso Albinoni in the keys of G major and D major, respectively. The program will then conclude with an “Overture Suite” by Christoph Graupner.

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