Resonance to Release New Roland Kirk Albums

This coming Friday Resonance Records will release two (as P. T. Barnum would have said, “Count them!”) albums of never-before-heard live performances by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Kirk, who died at the early age of 42 on December 5, 1977, was best known for his skill in playing multiple instruments at the same time, most of them in the wind family. I was teaching computer science at the University of Pennsylvania in those days; but I had become aware of Kirk during my undergraduate years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, when I spent my spare time working at the campus radio station. As a result of those more “serious” commitments, I never had the opportunity to see him “in action.”

Cover of Roland Kirk’s Vibrations in the Village, showing his command of two saxophones (from the Amazon.com Web page for the vinyl release)

The title of the first of the albums is Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate, and the second is Seek and Listen: Live at the Penthouse. Many readers probably know that the Village Gate was located in New York City (in Greenwich Village, of course!). The Penthouse was a jazz club in Seattle, which was demolished in 1968. (The Village Gate did not close under February of 1994.) The Penthouse was the venue for the Impulse! Records album Live in Seattle, a sextet performance led by John Coltrane on September 20, 1965, which was not issued until 1971.

Both of the new Resonance albums see Kirk playing two saxophones simultaneously. The Seattle album draws upon two different performances on August 12 and 19, 1967, respectively. (This seems to be a more reliable set of dates than those in the Seek and Listen booklet.) Kirk led a quartet with rhythm provided by pianist Rahn Burton, Steve Novosel on bass, and drummer Jimmy Hopps. Vibrations in the Village was recorded on two successive nights, November 26 and 27, 1963. Henry Grimes played bass with Sonny Brown on drums. However, over the course of those two evenings, Kirk was joined by three different pianists: Horace Parlan, Melvin Rhyne, and Jayne Getz (not related to Stan).

Kirk became blind at the age of two. (His Wikipedia page describes this as the “result of improper medical treatment.”) This may have led to his auditory acuity, which, in turn, led to his exploration into playing multiple instruments at the same time. This was definitely not a “stunt.” His command encompassed a prodigious number of wind instruments (not just reeds), leading him to improvisations in which melody, harmony, and counterpoint all collaborated in the service of a rich palette of sonorities.

In consulting my archives, I discovered, a bit to my embarrassment, that I have not written about Kirk since my Examiner.com days. That was in March of 2015, when Kirk’s debut album, Triple Threat, finally found its way to release on compact disc (CD). That album is now coupled with We Free Kings for a single CD release. The Resonance pairing serves up an even more generous encounter with Kirk’s capacity for invention and his imaginative approaches to sonorities.

Alpha to Release Album for Pärt’s 90th Birthday

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt was born on September 11, 1935, meaning that he has now made it to the age of 90 years old. It would probably be fair to say that he first came to public attention when ECM New Series released its first album devoted entirely to his compositions, Tabula Rasa. The album title was also the title of the last of the four works on the album. This was preceded by two different versions of “Fratres,” one for violin and piano (Gidon Kremer and Keith Jarrett) and one for twelve cellos, and the “Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten” for string orchestra and bell (note the singular).

The latest album devoted entirely to Pärt’s music will be released one week from today by Alpha. The title of the album is Credo; and, as is usually the case, Amazon.com has already created a Web page for processing pre-orders. There are ten selections on the album, two of which revisit “Fratres” and “Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten,” respectively. The Estonian Festival Orchestra is conducted by Paavo Järvi. Nine of the ten tracks are instrumental, the one exception begin a setting of the “Credo” bringing together the Estonian National Male Choir, the Ellerhein Girls’ Choir, and the Ellerhein Alumni Choir.

First page of “Silhouette” (from the Web page for this composition)

The sixth of the ten tracks on this new album is a world premiere recording. “Silhouette” is dedicated to both Järvi and the Orchestre de Paris. Appropriately for the “French context,” this piece was given the title “hommage à Gustave Eiffel.” According to the Web page for this piece, Pärt was inspired by a “splendid book of illustrations of the plans and blueprints for the [Eiffel] tower.” I must confess that, after having listened to this track several times, I have yet to see the connection; but over the course of many years of listening to Pärt’s music, I know better than to try to second-guess him!

As far as I am concerned, all that matters is that I was struck by Järvi’s ability to establish the different rhetorical stances that run through this entire album, making it clear to the attentive listener that there is more to those ten tracks than “one thing after another!”

Retreat from Holiday Mania

Thanksgiving Day is now under way, marking the beginning of what I cited this past Monday as “holiday mania.” The good thing about today is that my news track is relatively quiet, particularly where the performing arts are concerned. In the past I have taken advantage of such a situation to reflect on music that I have not encountered for some time, and that seems to be the case today.

Cover of the last of the four Cozzolani albums (from its Bandcamp Web page)

In reviewing my files, I realized that my collection of recordings includes eight CDs accounting for the complete works of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. Sadly, I wrote about those albums back in my Examiner.com days, meaning that anything I documented is now inaccessible. They were released as four two-CD albums; and I am somewhat disappointed to see that a Google search could only turn up the first two of those albums, available through Bandcamp. (Bandcamp has its own Web page, which accounts for all of the albums.) It goes without saying that I was disappointed that such a prolific female composer should be neglected; but, for all I know, musica omnia, which released the complete set, may have gone out of business! In the immortal words of Kurt Vonnegut, “So it goes!”

The good news is that my own personal listening experience was as drawn to Cozzolani’s compositions as it had been when I first encountered the albums!

Omni Releases Second “Best of Bach” Video

Cover design for the video being discussed, showing the participating guitarists: Ana Vidović, Zuzanna Bonarska, and Sandel Redžić (from the YouTube Web page)

This past March, the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts released a YouTube video of guitarist David Russell performing the four lute suites by Johann Sebastian Bach: BWV 996 in E minor, BWV 997 in C minor, BWV 995 in G minor, and BWV 1006a in E major. The title of the video was Best of Bach. Two days ago, a second “volume” in this Best of Bach series was released. This presented three guitarists, each in a different setting: Ana Vidović, Zuzanna Bonarska, and Sandel Redžić.

The last of the three performances was the lengthiest, consisting of two movements from the BWV 1004 solo violin partita in D minor: Sarabanda and Ciaccona. Most readers probably know that the first of these was much shorter than the second. Thus, while the Sarabanda was less than five minutes, the Ciaccona clocked in at over fifteen.

The latter is particularly challenging, not only for its duration but also for the journey through an extensive number of dispositions, all of which elaborate on a common bass line. Like many, I have been familiar with the music that Bach composed for this movement for some time; and I have enjoyed listening to it in a diversity of settings. That said, I still came away impressed by not only Redžić’s command of technique but also his ability to capture that sense of journey through dispositions.

Nevertheless, while this was a major undertaking, it did not overshadow the efforts of the other two guitarists. Bonarska performed David Russell’s arrangement of what is probably Bach’s most familiar chorale prelude. It first appeared as the fourth movement (“Zion hört die Wächler singen,” “Zion hears the watchman singing”) from the BWV 140 cantata, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (awake, calls the voice to us), which was later transcribed as BWV 645, the first of the six “Schübler” chorales for solo organ. Bonarska’s command of the interplay between the hymn theme and the elaborate accompaniment could not have been clearer or more engaging.

Vidović concluded the opening set with all four movements of the BWV 1001 solo violin sonata in G minor. This was preceded by the first two movements of the BWV 1013 partita in A minor for solo flute: Allemande and Corrente. Since each of the six movements had its own rhetorical structure, the entire set had an overall integrated structure of its own.

Taken as a whole, this “synthesized performance” was definitely a satisfying journey worth taking!

Snapshot 2026 to Showcase Four New Operas

West Edge Opera logo for Snapshot performances

A little over a month ago, West Edge Opera announced the return of the Snapshot program. Readers may recall that this series has served as a showcase for new and developing works with particular attention to West Coast composers and librettists. This season’s program will showcase four operas as follows:

1. Cry, Wolf is a variation on the werewolf narrative with two students at the University of California at Los Angeles as the protagonists. Clare Fuyuko Bierman created the libretto. The music was composed by JL Marlor.
2. Lisa Flanagan wrote the libretto for Threshold of Brightness. The narrative is about the Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, a woman that defied conventions of expression usually associated with male poets. Niloufar Nourbakhsh composed the score for this controversial story.
3. The Joining is a contemporary reflection on past golem narratives. In this story they serve as artificial companions for the citizens of the Underground, who, in turn, rely on the prosperity of the Overland. The setting amounts to a confrontation between “artificial” and “human” intelligence. Isaac Io Schankler composed the music, working with a libretto by Aiden K. Feltkamp.
4. Case Closed is a “disaster narrative” about an aging local television news reporter and an accidental death; the libretto for that narrative was written by Steven Blum with music set by Martin Rokeach.

Only one performance of this program will be given in San Francisco, beginning at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 1. As in the past, the performance will take place in the Diane and Tad Taube Atrium Theater, which is located on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Tickets will go on sale in January.

Pocket Opera Announces 2026 Season

Pocket Opera seems to have announced its new season earlier than usual. As a result, season subscriptions went on sale this past Saturday, November 22; and single tickets will be available next month, beginning on Saturday, December 13. (Bearing those dates in mind, readers might wish to provide friends and family with season gifts of tickets!)

As in the past, each production will tour to both Mountain View (at the Mountain View Center) and Berkeley (at the Hillside Club). Also as in the past, the performances in San Francisco will take place in the Gunn Theatre on the lower level of the Legion of Honor Museum. There will again be four productions; and a Web page has been created for purchasing full subscriptions as well as those for either three or two productions. All performances will take place on Sunday afternoons beginning at 1:30 p.m. as follows:

• February 22: Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
• April 26: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten
• May 17: Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti (this will be the only performance of the production)
• July 26: La Rondine by Puccini

The Bleeding Edge: 11/24/2025

As we approach the “holiday mania” that spans from Thanksgiving Day to New Year’s Day, things seem to be quieting down on the Bleeding Edge in favor of more traditional pastimes. As a result, there will be only one event this week, which has come to be one of the most reliable “usual suspects.” As many readers might expect, that event is the Other Dimensions in Sound series of performances curated by reed player David Boyce. Perhaps in recognition of all those traditions, this week Boyce will present a solo set of his own.

How Medicine for Nightmares lives up to its name (from the bookstore’s home page)

As always, the performance will take place at Medicine for Nightmares, the bookstore located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 28. Boyce’s “sonic sustenance” should be provide a welcome recovery from the Thanksgiving Day feast! As usual, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

SFS Youth Orchestra Off to an Engaging Start

Yesterday afternoon Davies Symphony Hall saw the beginning of the 2025–26 season of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) Youth Orchestra led by Wattis Foundation Music Director Radu Paponiu. The program followed the traditional overture-concerto-symphony structure, with the exception that, for this particular program, each half had its own overture: one for the concerto and one for the symphony. These latter major works were both composed in the nineteenth century, Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 64 violin concerto in E minor prior to the intermission and Antonín Dvořák’s Opus 88 (eighth) symphony as the final offering.

That symphony, completed in 1889, was preceded by its own overture, Johannes Brahms’ Opus 80, the “Academic Festival Overture” composed in the summer of 1880. In the first half of the program, the concerto was preceded by the most recent work on the program, “Kayumari,” completed in 2021 by Gabriela Ortiz. I have to confess that my first impression of the recent work was somewhat mixed. There was an abundance of both energy and fun in Ortiz’ rhetoric, but those high spirits tended to be undermined by too much repetition. At the risk of sounding too old-fashioned, I have to confess that, when it comes to preparing the audience for the music that is to follow, Brahms gave a far more satisfying account than Ortiz did.

On the other hand, all of the nineteenth-century selections were thoroughly engaging. Aaron Ma was the soloist for the Mendelssohn concerto, and his command of the score could not have been better. The same can be said of his interplay with the ensemble passage.

However, the coupling of Brahms with Dvořák was definitely the high point of the afternoon. In that context it is worth recalling that Brahms first became aware of Dvořák when the former served on the jury of an Austrian State Competition in 1874. Brahms was so impressed with Dvořák’s skills as a composer that he recommend Dvořák to his publisher, Nikolaus Simrock, who gave Dvořák a commission that resulted in the Opus 46 Slavonic Dances collection.

As was announced about a month ago, today’s concert was the first of five. The next one will be the annual performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” at 2 p.m. on December 14. The remaining events will take place next year as follows:

• January 18, 3 p.m.: Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival
• March 8, 2 p.m.: Gustav Mahler’s fourth symphony in G major with soprano Hanna Cho as vocalist for the final movement
• May 17, 7:30 p.m.: Two major symphonies: Beethoven’s first (Opus 21 in C major) and Dmitri Shostakovich’s fifth (Opus 47 in D minor)

Chernikoff Returning to Chez Hanny Next Month

Jazz pianist and composer Tim Chernikoff

Some readers may recall that jazz pianist and composer Tim Chernikoff celebrated New Year’s Day by bringing his trio to Jazz Chez Hanny. One week from this coming Saturday, that trio will return for the other “bookend” for 2025. I am happy to report that the members of this trio have not changed. They are still drummer Kenneth Salters and Jakob Dreyer on bass. For those that did not see the announcement of his last appearance, it is worth repeating that his influences “date back to Maurice Ravel and advance through Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman to Frank Zappa.”

As many readers probably know by now, Chez Hanny is located at 1300 Silver Avenue; and the performance takes place in the downstairs rumpus room. It will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 7. Admission will be $25, payable by Zelle sent to jazz@chezhanny.com, check to Jazz Chez Hanny, or cash.

There will be two sets separated by a potluck break. As a result, all who plan to attend should bring food and/or drink to share. Seating is first come, first served, meaning that reservations are strongly recommended. They may be placed through an electronic mail address: jazz@chezhanny.com. Mail messages received after noon on the day of a performance are unlikely to be seen until after the show is over, and cancellations should be given at least 24 hours advance notice. Finally, volunteer efforts for cleaning up after the show and moving furniture to accommodate both players and listeners are always appreciated.

Pepe Romero’s Solo Guitar Recital at Herbst

Many readers probably know by now that last night in Herbst Theatre was originally scheduled to host a performance by the guitar quartet known as The Romeros, presented jointly by San Francisco Performances (SFP) and the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, the visit had to be cancelled due to a serious illness in the Romero family. As a result, last night hosted a solo performance by one of the quartet’s founding members, Pepe Romero.

The program was richly diverse, accounting for ten different composers, one of whom returned for the encore selection. Two of them were founders of the quartet. The final work on the program was Celedonio Romero’s “Fantasia Cubana,” which required non-standard finger technique. Pepe contributed to the program with a piece entitled “Granadinas.” Celedino also provided two transcriptions of piano compositions. The first of these was the “Andaluza” movement from Enrique Granados’ Danzas Españolas. This was followed by “Granada,” the first of the eight movements in Isaac Albéniz Opus 47, the first of his Suite española compositions.

The first half of the program was shared by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Joaquín Turina. The first composer was represented by the five preludes he composed for solo guitar. The second was “Sevillana,” the first of only five works for solo guitar composed by Turina.

Francisco Tárrega (photographer unknown, from a Wikimedia Commons Web page, public domain)

The encore selection was taken from the works of Francisco Tárrega. It was his “Gran jota Aragonesa.” He had previously appeared near the end of the program with the performance of “Capricho árabe. Taken as a whole, the diversity of the evening was consistently engaging, with Romero providing just the right course through all of that diversity.

CBS: Christmas Music from Three Centuries

Design by David Lance Goins used for the California Bach Society poster

As expected, California Bach Society (CBS) has prepared its next program for the holiday season. The full title of the program will be Laudate Coeli: Songs of Light in Winter’s Deep. (Note that, like the first program of the season last month, the title couples Latin and English!) Artistic Director Nate Widelitz will conduct. The vocal soloists will be soprano Rita Lilly, mezzo Mindy Ella Chu, tenor Corey Head, and bass Chung-Wai Soong. Instrumental accompaniment by strings, organ, and harp will be provided by members of the Jubilate Baroque Orchestra.

The program will be based on three centuries, but they will not be consecutive. The earliest composers will be from the seventeenth century: Dietrich Buxtehude (the BuxWV 13 for mixed chorus, strings, and continuo, “Das neugeborne Kindelein”) and two selections by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “In nativitatem Domini canticum” (H.314) and one of the ten settings of the Magnificat canticle. The seventeenth century is then elided with two nineteenth-century compositions: the Oratorio de Noël by Camille Saint-Saëns and “O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf,” the second of the two Opus 74 sacred motets for unaccompanied mixed choir composed by Johannes Brahms. Finally, the twentieth-century composer will be Hugo Distler, whose oratorio Die Weihnachtsgeschichte (the Christmas story) is based on the hymn, “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”(a rose has sprung up).

The San Francisco performance of this program will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 5. The venue will be the Trinity+St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, which is located 1620 Gough Street. Individual tickets are available for general admission at $40 with discounted rates for seniors and students. A Web page has been created for such tickets, as well as for three-concert subscriptions, which will also include the February and May performance at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Doors will open at 7 p.m.

Friction to Perform its First Candlelight Concert

The altar of the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin (from the Fiction Quartet event page for the performance to be held there)

Hopefully, there are readers that are already familiar with the Candlelight Concert Series presented by the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which is located in Cow Hollow at 2325 Union Street. The series takes place on Sunday evenings at 5 p.m. The next offering will be on this coming Sunday (November 23); and it will mark the first time that the Friction Quartet has performed in the Series. There will be no charge for admission.

For those that do not already know, the members of the quartet are violinists Otis Harriel and Kevin Rogers, Mitso Floor on viola, and cellist Doug Machiz. The oldest work on the program will be Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum,” composed in 2006. The most recent will be the first selection, “DIRTWORK” by Michi Wiancko, completed last year. “Strum” will be followed by “Alma,” the title given to Samuel Carl Adams’ third string quartet. The program will then conclude with an assortment of folk songs arranged by the Danish String Quartet.

Pepe Romero to Perform Solo Tomorrow

Due to an illness in the Romero family, tomorrow’s guitar recital, presented jointly by San Francisco Performances (SFP) and the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts, will be a solo performance. Pepe Romero will be the soloist. As of this writing, the program has not been finalized; but it will include works by Enrique Granados, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco Tárrega, Isaac Albéniz, and others.

Pepe Romero giving a solo recital in 2000 (photograph by Hans Bernard, from a Wikimedia Commons Web page, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

The program will still begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 22. Ticket prices remain $85, $75, and $65. They are still available online through the SFP Web page. (The program on that Web page has not yet been updated.) They may also be purchased by calling 415-392-2545. They will also be available at the door along with 50% off student rush tickets and 20% off senior rush tickets. Those currently holding tickets but do not wish to attend the performance have several options:

• The tickets may be exchanged for any future performance in the 2025–26 season, and all exchange fees will be waived for the transaction.
• Those who wish, can donate the ticket(s) and claim a tax deduction for the total ticket value.
• The ticket(s) can be exchanged for a cash refund.

Contemporary Reflections on Music of the Past

Alexi Kenney with his violin (from the SFS Web page for the concert being discussed)

Yesterday afternoon violinist Alexi Kenney returned to Davies Symphony Hall to lead the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) on an adventurous journey of music from the past given interpretations from the immediate present. Most of the program was devoted to the two leading composers of instrumental music in the eighteenth century, Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. These were preceded by a brief venture into the seventeenth century with Kenney leading his own arrangement of music by Barbara Strozzi. The only recent composition on the program was the opener, the second nonet that Olli Mustonen composed for strings.

The second half of the program was devoted to some of the most familiar works by Vivaldi. This was The Four Seasons, the first four violin concertos from the twelve collected in Opus 8, given the overall title Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (the contest between harmony and invention). Whether or not these pieces should be viewed as a “contest” can be left to the reader to decide; but the performance of this familiar music was as dynamic as I had ever encountered.

More importantly, while Kenney had to deal with most of the solo work while leading the ensemble, he was not shy in sharing the spotlight, so to speak. I was particularly interested in the generous amount of duo work he performed with Anne Richardson, Associate Principal of the cello section. More frustrating was the rich continuo work by a musician alternating between theorbo and period guitar, much of which was subdued but engaging improvisation. Sadly, that performer was never identified! Nevertheless, the chemistry of Kenney and the SFS ensemble significantly outweighed any of the annoyances.

The Bach selection was BWV 1050, the fifth of the six compositions usually given the title “Brandenburg Concerto.” Kenny led as violin soloist performing with Principal Flute Yubeen Kim and Jonathan Dimmock on harpsichord. Because I know this music so well, I have to confess that there were some significant balance problems, primarily because the resources of the harpsichord were too limited to take on both the soloists and the accompanying string ensemble. This was more than a pity since Dimmock’s solo work was as engaging as the contributions from the other two musicians.

The program began with two SFS debut performances. The Bach concerto was preceded by “Che si può fare,” the sixth of the compositions in Barbara Strozzi’s Opus 8 collection of twelve diverse compositions: five cantatas, six arias, and one serenata. Kenney provided his own instrumental arrangement of one of the arias. The full resources of the string section began the program with a three-movement nonet composed by Olli Mustonen. This was originally composed in 2000 for two string quartets and bass, but the composer himself provided the revised version for full string orchestra. I must confess that this music made little impression on “first contact;” but, to be fair, Mustonen was competing with three highly adventurous composers from the past!

Nevertheless, Mustonen’s nonet did get the “little grey cells” going in attending to the act of listening. If it provided a “warm-up” for music from two earlier centuries, then at least it served a purpose! The deeper impression of the afternoon, however, was how Kenney could take so much familiar Bach and Vivaldi and turn out a thoroughly refreshing experience!

Gay Men’s Chorus: Two Seasonal Programs

This year the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC), led by Artistic Director Jake Stensberg, will present two different seasonal programs next month. The chorus has 300 members, and they will be accompanied by an eight-piece band. The first of the programs will be Holiday Spectacular, the annual seasonal event that is taken on tour. In addition, there will be a “Special Christmas Eve Edition,” which will wrap up performances for the calendar year.

The Holiday Spectacular tour will begin In San Francisco, where it will be given three performances. There will be evening performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 12, and Saturday, December 13, as well as a Saturday matinee beginning at 1 p.m. This year the event will take place in the Golden Gate Theatre at 1 Taylor Street, where it intersects with both Golden Gate Avenue and Market Street. Ticket prices will begin at $35. A single Web page has been created with three hyperlinks, one for each of the events; and readers should be informed that, as of this writing, availability is low for all of them!

The City Box Office banner for the SFGMC Christmas Eve concert

Davies Symphony Hall will host the Christmas Eve performance, entitled Home for the Holidays. There will be two performances on that day, beginning at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Ticket prices will begin at $30, and there will be a 20% discount for those purchasing ten or more. This program will not be presented by the San Francisco Symphony. Rather, it is being handled by City Box Office, which has created a Web page with hyperlinks for purchasing tickets to each of those performances.

Is the Balanchine Legacy Going Stale?

During my graduate student years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I would take breaks by going down to New York to see performances by the New York City Ballet. This was back in the days when George Balanchine was still in charge, and I was consistently hooked on the ways that he could take concert music as repurpose it for his choreography. He had a particular interest in the Baroque period; and, while the  performance of the music coming out of the orchestra pit was seldom (if ever) “historically informed,” the choreography always seemed to find the right imaginative structures to go with compositions by the likes of Johann Sebastian Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, and Antonio Vivaldi.

Indeed, the last two of them provided the source material for one of Balanchine’s most interesting undertakings, “Square Dance.” The choreography was set to a collection of movements extracted from their compositions. In Balanchine’s New Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, the author observed that the music “was of course derived from old folk dance forms and rhythms that were later refined for the courts of Europe.”

That said, it is worth noting that, when “Square Dance” was first performed, the staging could not have been more literal. While the structure of the choreography may have been organized around Baroque music, Balanchine recruited Elisha C. Keeler, described in Complete Stories as “the famous square dance caller,” to call the steps drawing upon the texts he would invoke for any other square dance. Sadly, by the time I had an opportunity to see this piece performed, Keeler was no longer a participant. Mind you, I took that adverb in the last sentence very seriously because a square dance really is not a square dance without a caller!

An example of the “geometric” choreography of “Concerto Barocco” (photograph by Ewa Krasucka, from a Wikimedia Commons Web page, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license)

In other words, “Square Dance” is now just another ballet in which the performers dance to Baroque music. Put another way, it is little more than a revamping of one of Balanchine’s earliest creations, “Concerto Barocco.” True to its title, that earlier ballet was set to Bach’s BWV 1043 concerto for two violins and strings in D minor. It would be fair to say that just about any serious music lover knows this concerto, and I suspect that this would also have been the case when music lovers in the audience saw “Concerto Barocco” for the first time. As it is now performed, “Square Dance” is basically “‘Concerto Barocco’ redux;” and to be quite frank personally, I am much happier with choreography that follows a single coherent composition, rather than one that is a pastiche of multiple movements from multiple composers!

Vocalist ganavya to Give Second Performance

Vocalist ganavya (from the Noe Music Web page for tickets to her recital)

The Noe Music recital by vocalist ganavya, scheduled for 8 p.m. this coming Friday, has become a sold-out event. As a result, she will give an earlier performance, at the same venue, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. Some readers may recall that she will be leading a trio, accompanied by Charles Overton on harp and bassist Max Ridley, and her repertoire encompasses South Indian classical traditions, jazz, and devotional song. Reserved seating will be $60; and first-come-first-serve general admission prices will be between $15 and $45. Noe Music has created a Web page for on-line ticket purchases.

“Metamorphosen” as Originally Planned

Among the late works composed by Richard Strauss, “Metamorphosen” tends to be the one that draws the most attention. The completed version requires 23 solo string performers, divided among ten violinists, five on viola, five cellists, and three on double bass. However, the composer first explored a more transparent ensemble in the form of a septet for pairs of violins, violas, and cellos joined by the bass.

LCCE musicians Michel Taddei, Tanya Tomkins, Leighton Fong, Phyllis Kamrin, and Anna Presler

At the beginning of February of next year, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) will present the second program in its 33rd season, and the title of that program will be Metamorphosen. The septet will be performed by violinists Anna Presler and Alisa Rose, Phyllis Kamrin and Kurt Rohde on viola, cellists Tanya Tomkins and Leighton Fong, and Michel Taddei on bass. Taddei will also give a solo performance of a composition that could not be more different than anything written by Strauss. He will play the “Sequenza XIVb,” which was originally composed by Luciano Berio for solo cello as “Sequenza XIV.” The program will then leap from the lower register into a solo flute composition by Hendel Almetus entitled “Tounen.” The final selection will be “Sonitudes” by Robert Hughes, who died in 2022 and had received commissions from both the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Ballet.

I must confess that I have a particular place in my heart (not to mention several different recordings) for “Metamorphosen.” Whether in the concert hall or the opera house, Strauss could be very good at “pulling out all the stops,” so to speak. Those familiar with his preferred rhetorical stance are likely to be surprised when encountering the (presumably sincere) intimacy of “Metamorphosen.” The work is seldom performed, probably because of the unconventional resources; but LCCE seldom (if at all) shies away from the unconventional!

The performance in San Francisco will not take place until 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 1. That will give readers ample time to become acquainted the “Metamorphosen” through the many available recordings. I am willing to confess a personal preference for a live recording made in 2014 for a two-CD album of the composer’s lesser-known works performed by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Christian Thielemann. (On Amazon.com, this is currently only available for MP3 download.) The performance will take place at the Noe Valley Ministry, which is located in Noe Valley (of course) at 1021 Sanchez Street, just south of 23rd Street. Admission will be $40 with a $15 rate for students and $5 for Arts Access. Tix has created a Web page for online purchases.

Another Satoko Fujii Quartet Album from Libra

I am happy to report that the personnel on the new Satako Fujii Quartet album, Burning Wick, is the same as it was when I last wrote about the combo in September of last year. However, while Dog Days of Summer had no trouble establishing itself on a Bandcamp Web page, the best I could manage at present was a CDJapan Web page, perhaps because Burning Wick will not be released until this coming Friday. CDJapan may have been “first out of the gate;” but the album will only be available as a “mini LP.” Presumably, more sites will be available after the “official” Libra Records release date.

Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura (possibly photographed by Ludwig Sik at the same time as the photograph from the September article on this site, courtesy of Braithwaite & Katz Communications)

The advance material for the album describes the performers as a “powerhouse avant jazz-rock fusion quartet” performing compositions by pianist Fujii. The other members of the quartet are her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, Hayakawa Takeharu on bass, and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida. Fujii, Takeharu, and Yoshida also contribute vocal work, presumably along with playing their respective instruments. (Tamura does not have the luxury of vocalizing while playing!) As usual, all the performers have solo opportunities over the course of the album; but I can say without embarrassment that I was particularly drawn to Takeharu’s bass work!

I must admit that I am impressed with Fujii’s productivity. My last article about her was only a little more than two months ago, when she released her tenth duo album with Tamura. At that pace, I am glad that I can keep up with her in my efforts to offer descriptive material of value to potential listeners.!

The Bleeding Edge: 11/17/2025

Things will quiet down a bit this week on the Bleeding Edge, possibly because finalizing plans for Thanksgiving is more important than going to concerts! Only one of this week’s events was previously announced, the performance at the Center for New Music by the duo of saxophonist Phillip Greenlief and drummer Scott Amendola beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday, November 20, at 55 Taylor Street. With one exception, the remaining four events will take place at familiar venues as follows:

This month’s poster for Jazz at the Make-Out Room

Tuesday, November 18, 7 p.m., Make-Out Room: This month’s Jazz at the Make-Out Room will present two new faces followed by several familiar ones. The opening set will be a duo performance by guitarist Isabelle WK performing with Eleanora on harp. They will be followed by Jaroba playing his usual variety of instruments, most of which are reeds. The final set will be taken by Reotrio, named after the initials of its four performers: Donald Robinson on drums, guitarist Karl Evangelista, and Larry Ochs on saxophone. For those unfamiliar with the venue, it is located in the Mission at 3225 22nd Street.

Wednesday, November 19, 7 p.m., Birdhouse Gallery: Lenny Gonzalez, who performs as Eagle Friend Radio, will present A Sonic Response to the Exhibition. The program will consist of original compositions, conceived in response to “the things we held, the things we carry,” the title of the current exhibition on view. All the works being exhibited were created by Catherine Lipsetz Dauer. The venue is located in the Sunset District at 2548 Judah Street.

Friday, November 21, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This week’s Other Dimensions in Sound concert will be performed by Mystery School. This is the duo of reed players Phillip Greenlief and David Boyce, who will provide a heavy dose of sonic sustenance. (Most readers probably know by now that Boyce is curator of Other Dimensions in Sound.) As always, the venue is the bookstore located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Saturday, November 22, 7:30 p.m., Little Mission Studio: Ninth Planet will launch a new season with a program entitled Naturalis Digitalis. The program has been planned as a multimedia refection on the intersection of nature and technology. The composers contributing to the program will be Bobby Ge, Valerie Coleman, Nina Young, Lois Vierk, and Elise Arancio. The Little Mission Studio is located at 455 Hampshire Street. General admission will be $33.85 with a senior discount of $28.52, and a $17.85 rate for educators and students (at an institution or under eighteen). Tickets may be purchased through an Eventbrite Web page.

Classical Ming Chinese Literature as Opera

Yesterday afternoon I visited the War Memorial Opera House to see the second of the eight San Francisco Opera (SFO) performances of the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s opera The Monkey King. The libretto by David Henry Hwang alternated between English and Mandarin, and supertitles were projected in both English and Chinese. The opera was composed on a commission by SFO in partnership with the Chinese Heritage Foundation of Minnesota. The title character has been a favorite figure in the mythology of Chinese culture for roughly 400 years.

Kang Wang as the Monkey King with members of the SFO Chorus as his subjects (photograph by Cory Weaver, courtesy of SFO)

The title character was sung by Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang, making his SFO debut; but he was also depicted by dancer Huiwang Zhang, also making his SFO debut. The staging of the narrative also involved puppetry designed and directed by Basil Twist (another SFO debut). In other words, this was a “media-rich” production, reinforced by a large orchestral ensemble, which included a pipa, which, sadly, was seen more than heard. The conductor was Carolyn Kuan, making her SFO debut.

The narrative of the libretto is basically a didactic account of the journey of Monkey from birth to enlightenment. Somewhat in the spirit of Voltaire’s Candide, the plot is episodic; and the episodes unfold in the seven scenes of the opera, five in the first act and three in the second. I must confess that, on the basis of a single viewing, I have not yet fully grasped those episodes with the same clarity that came with my reading Voltaire! This may have been due, at least in part, to the extended emphasis on the visual, which included both the sets designed by Twist and the projections of Hana S. Kim (also an SFO debut). While all those visual cues decidedly provided a grasp on the overall narrative, I found it far easier to follow Candide’s journey than the episodes of Monkey’s history!

Many readers probably know that, where opera is involved, I often find it helpful to take the journey through the synthesis of narrative and music more than once. Sadly, neither of those two elements left enough of an impression to encourage me to revisit the setting. Indeed, I fear that I found the synopsis of Hwang’s narrative in the program book more compelling than the unfolding of its staging by Director Diane Paulus. Perhaps this is a tale better told by a narrator with pipa interludes between the episodes!

SFCO MainStage to Ring in New Year

Having accounted for the commitment of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra (SFCO) to Thanksgiving weekend a few days ago, I can now return attention to the MainStage season. The second program in that season has been scheduled over three performances which will bridge the current year to the new one. However, there will be no “seasonal influence” on the programming.

Violinist Lisa Saito (from the Eventbrite Web page for her performance)

Instead, the second half of the program will be devoted to one of the most familiar and popular of Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies. This will be the Opus 92 (seventh) symphony in A major. The first half will be limited to two single-movement selections. The first of these will be the final movement of Louise Farrenc’s Opus 36, the last of her three symphonies, composed in the key of G minor. This will be followed by the first movement of Niccolò Paganini’s Opus 6, his first violin concerto in E-flat major (requiring the violin to be tuned a semitone high). Violinist Lisa Saito will make her debut as soloist.

The San Francisco performance of this program will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 30. The venue will Herbst Theatre, located in the Civic Center at 401 Van Ness Avenue, across the street from City Hall. There will be no charge for admission, but those planning to attend should consider making reservations through the Eventbrite Web page for this offering.

DSO Couples Beethoven and Mozart Favorites

Pianist Francesco Piemontesi attentive to DSO conductor Jader Bignamini (screen shot from last night’s YouTube video of the webcast)

Yesterday my wife and I enjoyed our latest dinner with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) conducted by Jader Bignamini. The live-stream presented a straightforward “meat and potatoes” program (to go with our dinner meal) with Ludwig van Beethoven in the first half of the program and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart occupying the second. The program had the usual overture-concerto-symphony format; and the concerto soloist was pianist Francesco Piemontesi.

His concerto selection was Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 15 (first) piano concerto in C major. While this was a rather early piece, Beethoven provided a rich palette of instrumental sonorities from the orchestra accompanying the soloist. Piemontesi had a solid command of every one of the composer’s notes, extending them with his own cadenza. Sadly, the latter came across as an effort to upstage the composer, making for a rather unbalanced account of the overall listening experience. Indeed, from the listener’s point of view, the encore may have come across as more engaging than the concerto. That encore was the Adagio movement from Mozart’s K. 332 piano sonata in F major (which was not announced under the assumption that everyone recognized it).

Fortunately, the overall balance was more secure in the instrumental account of the overture, Beethoven’s Opus 62, “Coriolan Overture,” composed for a performance of Coriolan, the 1804 tragic drama by Heinrich Joseph von Collin. It would be fair to say that this is music that seethes with intensity. Fortunately, Bignamini knew how to convey that intensity without overplaying his hand. As usual, the camera work was as cognizant of the score as the conductor was, leading the viewer through the sources of the diversity of sonorities.

That diversity was just as evident to both ear and eye in the performance of Mozart’s K. 550 (40th) symphony in G minor. Indeed, it was the camera work that brought freshness to music that most listeners first encountered in childhood. The camera crew clearly “knew the score” as well as Bignamini did, not to mention many, if not most, of the listeners. Thus, it was the “visual journey” that breathed new life into one of the oldest of old favorites.

In other words, while the offering may have been “meat and potatoes,” the “seasoning” made for a thoroughly engaging (and possibly memorable) listening experience.

Zephyr to Celebrate Xmas with Single Concert

The vocal soloists for Zephyr’s first performance of Messiah: Shawnette Sulker, Kyle Tingzon, Alexander John Perkins, and William Raskin (from the Zephyr Symphony Web page for the concert to be performed)

Having established St. Mark’s Lutheran Church as its home, next month the Zephyr Symphony, led by conductor Don Scott Carpenter, will present its first “seasonal” program. As might be guessed, the “season” will be Christmas; and the music will be George Frideric Handel’s HWV 56 oratorio Messiah, whose first part sets texts appropriate for the Christmas season. This will be the first concert at which the Zephyr Chorus will perform with the instrumental ensemble. They will be joined by four vocal soloists: soprano Shawnette Sulker, countertenor Kyle Tingzon, tenor Alexander John Perkins, and baritone William Raskin.

This performance will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 21. Most readers probably know by now that St. Mark’s Lutheran Church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner of Franklin Street. The lobby will open at 3 p.m., and doors to the sanctuary will open at 3:30 p.m. A Web page has been created that shows where seats are available along with their respective prices. Prices (including fees) range from $26.06 to $67.76.

Modigliani Quartet Returns with More Beethoven

When the Paris-based Modigliani Quartet made its San Francisco Performances (SFP) debut in April of 2023, they focused on the First Viennese School by coupling an early string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven, the third (in the key of D major) of his six Opus 18 quartets, with Franz Schubert’s D. 810 quartet in D minor, best known for its set of variations on the theme from his D. 531 “Der Tod und das Mädchen” (Death and the maiden) song. Last night they returned to Herbst Theatre for their second SFP recital with another First Viennese School program. This time Beethoven was coupled with his Viennese School predecessor (and teacher), Joseph Haydn; and the ensemble is still led by first violinist Amaury Coeytaux, joined by violinist Loïc Rio, violist Laurent Marfaing, and cellist François Kieffer.

György Kurtág (from Wikimedia Commons)

The two composers were situated on either side of the intermission. Haydn was represented by the second quartet, in F major, in the Opus 77 “Lobkowitz” collection (Hoboken III:82). The intermission was then followed by the last of the three string quartets, in the key of C major, in Beethoven’s Opus 59, composed on a commission by Count Andreas Razumovsky. These two significant “sign-posts” of “the classical style” (with a nod to Charles Rosen) were preceded by music by the one living composer on the program. That composer was György Kurtág, who will turn 100 this coming February 19. The selection was “Homage à Andràs Mihàly: 12 Mikroludien für Streichquartett,” the composer’s Opus 13.

This selection presented Kurtág at his most playful. Only half of the pieces were given specific tempo markings. However, because each was brief (“mikro”), there was little opportunity to establish much of a sense of tempo. One might almost say that the Modigliani players selected this piece to “warm up” audience attention for the compare-and-contrast approach to the coupling of Haydn and Beethoven. Personally, I relish any opportunity to listen to Kurtág’s music, my most recent encounter being baritone Benjamin Appl’s Alpha album Lines of Life, which interleaved Kurtág songs with those of Franz Schubert. Last night Kurtág’s music did not interleave with the First Viennese School, but it certainly knew how to get the audience to sit up and take notice!

The Razumovsky quartet was followed by an encore of more Beethoven. The Modigliani players turned back the clock to Opus 18, playing the second movement (Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato), composed in the key of D minor, from the first of those six quartets in F major. This could not have been a better choice for sending the audience on its way with a feeling of satisfaction!

Choices for December 7, 2025

Having concluded last month with an article about two overlapping performances this coming December 6, I find myself with a similar overlap on the following afternoon. Two different programs will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 7. One will be the second installment of the Piano Portrait series presented by Noe Music, while the other will honor a major member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) faculty. Specifics are as follows:

Poster design for Past, Present, and Future

Hume Concert Hall, SFCM: Past, Present, and Future is a special concert to honor David Conte, Chair of the SFCM Composition Department. There will be an exclusive preview of two scenes from his new opera A Christmas Carol, based on the novella by Charles Dickens. The program will also include the first suite extracted from his score for the ballet The Masque of the Red Death. This will be performed by Cyrus Ginwala conducting the Bay Areal Rainbow Symphony. The venue is located at 50 Oak Street, and there will be no charge for admission.

Noe Valley Ministry: Noe Music will present the second installment in its Piano Portraits series. The featured pianist will be Inon Barnatan. His program will be devoted entirely to Franz Schubert, with a performance of the D. 960 sonata in B-flat major filling the second half of the program. The program will begin with the first of the four impromptus collected in D. 935, composed in the key of F minor. The venue is located in Noe Valley at 1021 Sanchez Street. Reserved seating is sold out, but general admission tickets are available online from $15 to $45 on a first-come first-served basis.

Guitarist Zuzanna Bonarska Plays Familiar Bach

Guitarist Zuzanna Bonarska playing David Russell’s arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (from a YouTube video released by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts)

This past Sunday saw the release of the latest Omni on-Location video. Guitarist Zuzanna Bonarska played one of the best known compositions for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach. This was the BWV 645 chorale prelude based on the hymn “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” (wake up, calls the voice). (One of my colleagues at the campus radio station preferred to translate this as “Watch out for the raft on the steamer!”) I have to confess that I have been familiar with this music ever since my parents bought their first long-playing album of Bach music. I also have to confess that all of the selections were arranged by Eugene Ormandy for the Philadelphia Orchestra, and it was decades before I first heard this music played on an organ as it was intended.

Bonarska played an arrangement by guitarist David Russell, whose respect for Bach was far greater than Ormandy’s! The chorale preludes were composed for organ with two manuals and a pedal. Usually, one of the manuals would play the basic theme of the hymn, while the other would unfold a series of elaborations on that hymn. The pedal would then be responsible for the bass line.

Bonarska knew how to exploit the different sonorities of her guitar. As a result, her account of the interplay of the three voices was as clear as it would have been under the hands of any competent organist. Put another way, Bonarska’s arrangement showed far more respect to Bach’s original setting than Ormandy ever did! As a result, my listening experience found itself a “comfort zone” far more conducive than any of my past experiences with a full symphony orchestra!

Pacifica Quartet to Release Korngold Collection

Cover of the album being discussed, showing Pacifica Quartet members Brandon Vamos, Simin Ganatra, Mark Holloway, and Austin Hartman (from its Instagram Web page)

Tomorrow will see the release of the latest album of performances by the Pacifica Quartet, whose members are violinists Simin Ganatra and Austin Hartman, Mark Holloway on viola, and cellist Brandon Vamos. San Francisco readers may recall that, in December of last year, they partnered with clarinetist Anthony McGill for a thoroughly engaging account of Johannes Brahms’ Opus 115 quintet in B minor. The title of their new album is The Korngold Collection, which is definitely a significant departure from Brahms.

The album is a two-CD set, which accounts for Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s three string quartets: Opus 16 in A major, Opus 26 in E-flat major, and Opus 34 in D major. Each of these is basically a “standard string quartet.” However, because the first CD could accommodate only eleven movements, a second CD was required for the Finale movement of Opus 34! Fortunately, there were additional Korngold selections on that second CD. The first of these was the Opus 15 piano quintet in E major, with pianist Orion Weiss joining Pacifica. This was followed by the Opus 10 sextet in D major, whose other performers were Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt on viola and cellist Eric Kim.

According to my archives, my interest in Korngold’s quartets dates back to March of 2010 when the Bridge Players coupled the “third quartets” of both Korngold and Victor Ullmann. Since that time I have had better luck with Korngold than with Ullmann! There is an old joke that Korngold’s father, the Austrian music critic Julius Korngold, would accuse his son of “bathing” in his music, rather than composing it. Nevertheless, contemporary ears are likely to be more sympathetic, accepting the son’s capacity for engaging rhetoric and the sort of diversity that has the attentive listener wondering what will happen next.

More recently, in April of 2023, I had encountered all three of the quartets on a single Naxos CD performed by the Tippett Quartet, whose members are violinists John Mills and Jeremy Isaac, violist Lydia Lowndes-Northcott, and cellist Bozidar Vukotic. I feel more than a little sheepish at having discovered that I had previously written about these quartets! Nevertheless, I relish the opportunity that awaits me to “compare and contrast” how ensembles as different as Pacifica and Tippett have approached the same repertoire!

SFCO to Begin Family Concerts in Holiday Spirit

Some readers may recall that the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra (SFCO) began its MainStage season a little less than a month ago. However there is also a Family Concerts season, which will get under way during Thanksgiving weekend. Traditionally, the first of those concerts is entitled Nutcracker “Sweet,” which offers a performance of music from the ballet score composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky designed for young audiences.

The Puppet Company’s version of the protagonist in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker ballet (from the Eventbrite Web page for the performance being discussed)

As might be guessed, the performance will be visual, as well as auditory. The ensemble to provide music for a performance by The Puppet Company, bringing Tchaikovsky’s music “to life.” Furthermore, there will be a show-and-tell of the different puppet types to illustrate the roles they will play in the setting of the score. (Spoiler alert: one of those roles will be a fire-breathing dragon.)

The event has been scheduled with “family hours” in mind. The San Francisco performance will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 29. The venue will be the Noe Valley Ministry, located at 1021 Sanchez Street, just north of 24th Street and two blocks to the west of the trolley stop at 24th and Church Street. There will be no charge for admission, but those planning to attend should consider making reservations through the Eventbrite Web page for this offering.

Outsound Presents: November 2025

Diaspora Foci Collective musicians Jaroba, Eli Pontecorvo, and Kersti Abrams (from the Outsound Presents Web page for this week’s performances)

Once again, the only Outsound Presents concert this month will be the next installment in the SIMM (Static Illusion Methodical Madness) Series. This will be the usual two-set evening, beginning with a solo performance on electric guitar by Alex Yeung. The second set will be performed by the Diaspora Foci Collective, which was created by the trio of Kersti Abrams alternating among alto saxophone, flute, and mbira, Jaroba alternating between tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, and bassist Eli Pontecorvo. They will be joined by drummer Mike Villarreal and Mika Pontecorvo, alternating between guitar and electronics.

As usual, the concert will take place at the Musicians Union Hall, located in SoMa at 116 9th Street. Admission will be by a suggested donation between $10 and $25. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. this coming Sunday, November 16.

Violin-Piano Recital Coming to Noontime Concerts

Karen Bentley Pollick and Daniel Glover (from their Noontime Concerts Web page)

My last notification of a recital presented by Noontime Concerts™ in Old St. Mary’s Cathedral on the south side of Chinatown involved a solo recital by Slovenian classical guitarist Mak Grgić. This was a program of Macedonian and Slovenian music. One week from today, Noontime Concerts will present a duo recital by violinist Karen Bentley Pollick, accompanied at the piano by Daniel Glover. The program will feature three sonatas by the early twentieth-century Austrian composer Hugo Kauder, two of which will be United States premieres. These will be followed by an arrangement of the Canzonetta movements from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 35 violin concerto in D major.

Like all events in the Noontime Concerts series, the performance will take place in the sanctuary of Old Saint Mary’s beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18. The cathedral is located at 660 California Street, on the northeast corner of Grant Street. There is no charge for admission, but this concert series relies heavily on donations to continue offering its weekly programs.

Cadillac Hotel Concert without Piano

Poster for last year’s visit to Concerts at the Cadillac by Christie Aida & The Free Press with Aida (center) accompanied by (left-to-right) Alex Spoto, Dave Mihaly, Fernando Rodriguez, and Billy White

Keeping track of Concerts at the Cadillac continues to be a “sometime thing.” However, this Friday will be one of those occasions when the Patricia Walkup Memorial Piano in the lobby of the Cadillac Hotel will not be required for the occasion. The title of the performance will be Christie Aida & The Free Press, led by vocalist Aida. The Free Press is the trio that provides instrumental backup. Fernando Rodriguez alternates between guitar and bass, joined by Dave Michaly on drums for rhythm. Alex Spoto will join Aida on the front line with his fiddle.

As usual, this show will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, November 14. The Cadillac Hotel is located at 380 Eddy Street, on the northeast corner of Leavenworth Street. All Concerts at the Cadillac events are presented without charge. The purpose of the series is to provide high-quality music to the residents of the hotel and the Tenderloin District; but all are invited to visit the venue that calls itself “The House of Welcome Since 1907.”

The Bleeding Edge: 11/10/2025

This will be another busy week on the Bleeding Edge. Three events have already been announced, all taking place during the weekend:

1. Pianist Tanya Gabrielian’s solo recital for Old First Concerts at Old First Presbyterian Church.
2. American Reflections: Exuberance, the first concert in the new San Francisco Contemporary Music Players season at the Brava Theatre Center.
3. The “mid-renovation” performance by electro-acoustic composer and visual artist Félicia Atkinson and Jon Porras at The Lab.

That leaves six more events, two of which will be taking place at a venue new to this site. Specifics are as follows:

Thursday, November 13, 8 p.m., Peacock Lounge: As usual, this will be a three-hour show consisting of four sets. Yama Uba is the duo of vocalists Akiko Sampson and Winter Zora, both of whom have performed for Ötzi. Zora also plays guitar, while Sampson alternates between synthesizer and bass. Vio is a trio with IDHAZ providing immersive soundscapes. Emily Bouton and Christopher Moore provide vocals accompanied by sound sources taken from Game Boys, beat machines, and other synthesizers. Bobby Loachfillet will present a solo project entitled “Camera Obscura.” The final set will be the solo performance of “Nerfbau” by Mike D, drawing upon a noise project originally conceived with Jsun McCarty and Ryan King. For those that do not yet know, the venue is located at 552 Haight Street. Admission will be between $5 and $15, but the venue believes that no one should be turned away for lack of funds.

Pretty Gritty poster for this weekend (from the BayImproviser Web page for the first event)

Friday, November 14, 7 p.m., Pretty Gritty: This is the new venue, and it is getting off to a roaring start. The most familiar name on the program is Jacob Felix Heule, who will be performing with a group called Antimatter. The other sets will be taken by Caroliner Rainbow Unruly Twists in Odible Brewes Cloth, Amphibious Gestures, Sharkiface, KROB, and Birdspanker. Once again, I feel obliged to cite the immortal words of Anna Russell: “I’m not making this up, you know!” The venue is at 428 Third Street at the corner of Perry Street, just south of Harrison Street near the freeway. Admission will be between $10 and $25.

Friday, November 14, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This will be the next Other Dimensions in Sound performance curated by reed player David Boyce. This week will present a two-set program with Boyce taking the first set as a solo performance. This will be followed by the Darren Johnston Duo. In the absence of any further information, one can assume that Johnston will be performing with Boyce! As always, the venue is the bookstore located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Friday, November 14, 8:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: This will be an album release concert for Robert Heirendt’s Name & Form Ensemble. This is a trio that Heirendt will lead by playing mbira. He will perform with two saxophonists, Randy McKean on alto and Don Plonsey alternating between alto and soprano. Given the limited space of the venue, reservations are desirable and can be made by calling 415-586-3733. The phone will be answered during regular store hours, which are between noon and 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday. As of this writing, the Web site provides no information about a price of admission.

Saturday, November 15, 7 p.m., Gray Area Art and Technology: SMARTBOMB will present a release party for two Mike Boo albums, Dunhill Drone Committee and Heavy Arts Ensemble. A Web page has been created for purchasing tickets for $28.98 (including a $3.98 processing fee). The event will take place in the Mission at the Gray Area/Grand Theater at 2665 Mission Street.

Saturday, November 15, 7 p.m., Pretty Gritty: This new venue will present an entirely different performance on its second night. This time there will be four sets as follows: Jeweled Snakes, Midmight!, Head Boggle Anvil Chew for Sand Toothed Ewe, Human De-Selection & Realization Nature Group. (Anna Russell, I hope you are looking down from heaven and enjoying this!) The venue is again at 428 Third Street at the corner of Perry Street, just south of Harrison Street near the freeway; and admission will again be between $10 and $25.