Choose Your Groupmuse Night Out!

Readers may recall that this coming Sunday will be a day of “competing” Groupmuse events. It turns out that, two weeks later, there will be another such competition. On Saturday, March 21, there will be two overlapping events; but they will take place in different parts of the city. In other words, one will not be able to go from one to the other during intermission! Each of the events will begin at a different time with specifics as follows (with hyperlinks to the Groupmuse pages):

7:30 p.m.: San Francisco Philharmonic will present an overture-symphony program without the intervening concerto. The overture will be Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet,” based on the play by William Shakespeare. The symphony will be Johannes Brahms Opus 98, the last of his four symphonies, composed in the key of E minor. “Supermusers” will be entitled to the $13.50 admission rate, rather than the $17 charge for all others. Ticket sales will close on March 19 at 7:30 p.m. The performance will take place in Herbst Theatre, located at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street.

Dan Tepfer (from the Groupmuse Web page for his recital this month in Noe Valley)

8 p.m.: Pianist Dan Tepfer will present a solo performance entitled Inventions/Reinventions. According to his Groupmuse page, he will use the keyboard inventions by Johann Sebastian Bach for his own “personal interpretations and spontaneous improvisations.” “Supermusers” will be entitled to the $16 admission rate, rather than the $20 charge for all others. Ticket sales will close on March 20 at 8 p.m. The performance will take place in the Noe Valley Ministry, located at 1021 Sanchez Street in Noe Valley.

The Bleeding Edge: 3/2/2026

This week will see only two new events to report. Most of the second half of the week will be devoted to the performance of Pamela Z’s Arbeitsklang at Audium. The other previously reported event will be Saturday’s performance by Jeremy Tousaint-Baptiste and Evicshen at The Lab on Saturday evening. That leaves only two new events to announce, the second of which will be familiar to most readers. Both will take place at familiar venues as follows:

Thursday, March 5, 5 p.m., Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: Krys Bobrowski and Karen Stackpole will join forces for a performance of diverse sonorities. Featured will be a one-of-a-kind instrument called the Gliss Glass. This involves water-filled vessels; but, unlike a glass harmonica, the performer can create continuously sliding pitches. This is because Bobrowski can shift water levels while playing. Stackpole will add to the performance with resonant gongs. For those that do not already know, the venue is located at 701 Mission Street. As can be seen above, the galleries will open at 5 p.m., but the performance will not begin until 7 p.m. in Gallery 2.

David Boyce, Chris Trinidad, and Francis Wong (from the BayImproviser Web page for their performance this week)

Friday, March 6, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This week curator David Boyce will host a performance by Red Fast Triple Luck. This is a non-standard quartet led by David Boyce on reeds and special effects. He will be joined on the front line by another reed player, Francis Wong. Rhythm will be provided by guitarist Chris Trinidad and a diversity of percussion, including boom stick and intergalactic hook rug, performed by PC Munoz. As always, the venue is 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.

Tiffany Poon’s Third CMSF Recital in Herbst

Tiffany Poon on the cover of her Nature album (from the Amazon.com Web page)

Yesterday afternoon pianist Tiffany Poon returned to Herbst Theatre for her third appearance as a Chamber Music San Francisco (CMSF) recitalist. Some readers may recall my disappointment with her last performance two years ago, which I described as “a very long program that offered absolutely nothing to satisfy any seriously attentive listener.” The second half of the new program was devoted to the recent release of her Nature album, while the first half was dominated by Frédéric Chopin’s Opus 35 sonata in B-flat minor, his second sonata given the title “Funeral March.”

This was definitely an improvement over her last visit, when she performed the full cycle of Chopin’s Opus 28, his set of 24 preludes in all major and minor keys. Over the course of the four movements of Opus 35, she delivered a firm grasp on intensity without devolving into banging. The second half of the program accounted for about half of the tracks on the Nature album. These were presented in roughly chronological order.

She began in the Baroque period with one of the keyboard compositions by François Couperin, “Les fauvétes plaintive” (the mournful warblers), coupled with a similar setting by Jean-Philippe Rameau, “Les tendres plaintes” (tender complaints) from the RCT 3 suite in D major in the Pièces de Clavecin collection. The program then leapt forward about a little less than two centuries with selections by Gabriel Fauré, Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Lili Boulanger.

Fauré’s first barcarolle, Opus 26 in A minor, was impeded by a heavy damper pedal. This was particularly frustrating, since the theme was carried by the left hand. Saint-Saëns was represented by “Le cygne” (the swan), the best-known movement from The Carnival of the Animals, arranged for solo piano by Lucien Garban. This was followed by Debussy’s first “Arabesque” composition, with a middle section that was overly rushed. Poon found herself on sounder ground with Maurice Ravel, beginning with “Jeux d’eau” and followed by the second and third of the Miroirs compositions. Boulanger’s “D’un jardin clair” concluded the program, followed by an encore performance of Franz Liszt’s “Liebestraum No. 3” in A-flat major.

Taken as a whole, that seriously attentive listener did not have to contend with “absolutely nothing.” Nevertheless, the performance, taken as a whole, was an uneven one. Poon clearly wanted her audience to appreciate Boulanger; and, as far as I am concerned, she succeeded. Similarly, her approach to playing Rameau with a contemporary instrument could not have been more engaging; and, as was already observed, Ravel was a high point in her program. Taken as a whole, the program may have been uneven; but the assets were still worthy of attentive listening.

Next BARS Concert will be in About 3 Weeks

The next program in the current Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (BARS) season will also be the first concert to be programmed by Music Director Robert Mollicone. Some readers may recall that Mollicone shared the podium with Eun Sun Kim for the Pride Concert performance by the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, which took place at the end of June of last year. The title of Mollicone’s BARS program will be We’ll Always Have Paris.

Not surprisingly, the program will conclude with George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” This American “tone poem” will be complemented by a similar offering by Lily Boulanger, whose was born in Paris. The title of her composition will be “D’un matin de printemps” (on a spring morning). Each of these compositions will be preceded by a work with its own “French connection.” The overture for the program will be the one that Gioachino Rossini composed for his opera William Tell, which premiered in Paris. Gershwin, on the other hand, will be coupled with Benjamin Britten. Like Gershwin, Britten is not French; but his song cycle Les Illuminations sets texts by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud.

The performance of this program will take place on Saturday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. The venue will be the SFCM Concert Hall at 50 Oak Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni station. BARS has created its own Web page for processing ticket sales.Ticket prices range between $43.50 and $12. The Web page includes a chart showing which seats are available at what prices.

Assad Farewell Tour Comes to Herbst Theatre

Sérgio Assad performing in Brazil in 2012 (photograph by Leonardo Beraido, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

Last night Herbst Theatre hosted the latest program of classical guitar duos performed by Brazilian brothers Sérgio and Odair Assad. This was also the latest offering in the Dynamite Guitars concert season, presented by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts. I first encountered Sérgio when he was teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Listening to both him and David Tanenbaum led to my interest in attending as many guitar recitals as my schedule would allow.

Three of the works on the program were composed by Sérgio. The first half of the evening concluded with One Week in Rio, a suite in seven (of course) movements beginning with Monday. In the second half there was a shorter three-movement suite entitled Dyens en trois temps. This was composed for classical guitarist Roland Dyens, who died in 2016. His name appears in each of the movements:

1. Roland au nord
2. La chanson et Roland
3. Roland au sud

Those familiar with very early literature will recognize the second movement as a nod to the Song of Roland, an eleventh-century French epic, which may be the oldest surviving work of French literature. One may describe the suite as a journey from north to south with an epic battle between the extremes. Assad concluded the program with “Tahhiyya li ossoulina,” an homage to his family life, which began in Lebanon and moved to Brazil by way of Portugal.

The program also included two of Assad’s contemporaries, Paulo Bellinati and Egberto Gismonti. The remainder of the program offered twentieth-century composers, the most familiar being Heitor Villa-Lobos and Astor Piazzolla. Each of them began the second and first halves of the program, respectively. The remaining two composers on the program were less familiar to me: Américo Jacomino and Radamés Gnattali. The encore wrapped up the evening with both of the brothers playing on a single instrument.

This program was prepared for the Assad’s North American farewell tour. It marks the conclusion of a 60-year career. I appreciate every opportunity I have had to listen to them, and it is hard to avoid disappointment that this was my final encounter.

LCCE to Join Forces with Volti Next Month

Composer Shawn Okpebholo (from the Gallery Web page on his Web site)

Those that have been following the 47th season of Volti probably know by now that the choral ensemble will share the stage in the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) next month. The program will begin with the world premiere of “Babel,” composed by Chris Castro for narrator and instrumental ensemble. The narrator will be storyteller Susan Strauss. This will be followed by selections from Robert Schumann’s Opus 12 Fantasiestücke and Mark Winges’ “Seasons Falling Through the Clouds.” LCCE will then conclude the program with Shawn Okpebholo’s “Fractured Water.”

The performance will take place at the Noe Valley Ministry, which is located in Noe Valley at 1021 Sanchez Street. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20. LCCE has created a Tix Web page for online purchase. Standard admission will be $40 with a discounted $15 rate for students. Those affiliated with Arts Access can purchase tickets for $5.

Bach-Archiv Leipzig Authenticates 2 New Works

The 75th anniversary of the Leipzig Bach Archive was celebrated with the addition of two recently authenticated keyboard works. That means that two entries have been added to the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach works catalog). Both of these are chaconnes, the first in the key of D minor (BWV 1178) and the second in the key of G minor (BWV 1179).

Benjamin Alard at the harpsichord recording music for his The Couperin Family album

This amounts to less than fifteen minutes of new music, so it is unlikely that there will be a major overhaul of any of the current “complete works” collections. However, harmonia mundi will release two digital tracks this coming Friday. These will be performances by Benjamin Alard on two different instruments. He recorded BWV 1178 with a two-manual harpsichord made by Émile Jobin in 2017, using Antoine Vater’s instrument, made in Paris in 1732, as his model. BWV 1179, on the other hand, is performed on “assembled clavichords;” and, to be perfectly honest, I am not quite sure what that means!

As of this writing, I have not found a Web page that is taking advance orders for this new release. Given the brevity of the content, availability will probably be limited to downloads. Release is currently scheduled for this coming Friday, March 6.

Theo Bleckmann Returns to SF Performances

According to my archives, vocalist Theo Bleckmann made his last San Francisco Performances appearance in October 2021, when he was one of the contributors to the PIVOT Festival. Last night in Herbst Theatre he presented a full-evening performance of the West Coast premiere of note to a friend with words and music both by composer David Lang. This is a cycle of seven songs with three instrumental movements performed by a string quartet. The vocalist for this occasion was Theo Bleckmann joined by the Attacca Quartet, whose members are violinists Amy Schroeder and Dominic Salerni, Nathan Schram on viola, and cellist Andrew Yee.

The title was inspired by a letter written by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, best known for the two short stories that were appropriated for the script of the film Rashomon. The letter was a suicide note, and that theme of death provides the context for the movements in the song cycle. These were clearly the makings of an intense musical journey, but I came across with the feeling that Lang never captured any of that intensity.

Instead, the performance amounted to a rather dreary one-thing-after-another affair. I was reminded of John Madden’s Hey, Wait A Minute? I Wrote a Book, except that Madden always had interesting things to say. Mind you, composing a chamber opera is not the same as writing a book; but I came away from both the music and the libretto with the impression that note to a friend was created for the sake of creating it with little sense of motivation other than Akutagawa’s influence.

Back in 2021 Bleckmann’s PIVOT performance left me with an overall sense of satisfaction. Sadly, last night was an entirely different affair. Perhaps Lang was not the right fit for this vocal work (or Akutagawa was not the right fit for Lang).

Manfred Honeck Augments Performance of K. 626

Last night in Davies Symphony Hall, Manfred Honeck returned to the podium of the San Francisco Symphony, where he had made his debut in May of 2017. The second half of the program was devoted to a somewhat augmented approach to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 626 Requiem, described in the program book as “presented in the context of a funeral liturgy.” The “augmentation” included other Mozart compositions along with Gregorian chant and readings of texts delivered by Adrian Roberts.

Mozart’s autograph of the K. 618 motet (from  the Wikimedia Commons Web page, public domain)

All the chant performances took place off-stage, sung by the members of St. Dominic’s Schola Cantorum under the directorship of Simon Berry. Of far greater significance was the full force of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus directed by Jenny Wong. They were joined by four vocal soloists: Ying Fang (soprano), Sasha Cooke (mezzo), David Portillo (tenor), and Stephano Park (bass). Nevertheless, it was the choral work that consistently rose above both soloists and instrumentalists to seize listener attention. In that context the high point of the entire evening came with the a cappella delivery of the K. 618 motet “Ave verum corpus.”

I suspect that I was not the only one to come away with the feeling that this performances as “all over the map.” Nevertheless, I was impressed by Honeck’s strong command of a wide dynamic range. Indeed, I found the “what’s next” context of dynamic levels to be the primary factor in my own attentive listening. Still, I hope that my next encounter K. 626 will be free of interjections!

The first half of the program accounted for two other First Viennese School composers, one on “either side” of Mozart. The program began with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 62 concert overture “Coriolan.” This introduced me to Honeck’s command of dynamics that continued to impress me throughout the program. The music was familiar, but it was definitely a sit-up-and-take-notice experience.

The same could be said of Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken I/93 symphony in D major. Once again, dynamic range ruled over the entire performance. However, this was another Haydn “surprise” symphony, with the interruption of what can only be called a “bassoon fart” in the second movement! Honeck seemed to enjoy leading this symphony, and I could certainly see why!

March 8 Will be Even Busier than Expected!

Readers may recall that this site has already accounted for two events taking place on Sunday, March 8, which is now about a week and a half away. The earlier of those events is the next performance by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, which will begin at 2 p.m., and the other will be a Chamber Music San Francisco program at the Presidio Theater, which will begin at 3 p.m. The latter of these will be a Groupmuse event. It will be “competing” with two other Groupmuse events, one of which is already sold out.

Photograph of a living room, presumably where Scarfe’s recital will be performed (from its Groupmuse Web page)

The full title of the other event is A Victorian Living Room Concert: Solo Piano with Ian Scarfe. The living room is in a historic Victorian home that even has its own name: “Agape.” Scarfe is no stranger to the venue, which is where he played his very first Groupmuse recital. Program details have not yet been finalized, but the composers he has selected are Philip Glass, Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados, and Manuel de Falla.

As readers will expect, Groupmuse has created a Web page for purchasing tickets, twelve of which are available as of this writing. Ticket prices will be $20 at the door, but reservations may be made for $5. The performance will begin at 2:30 p.m. after doors open at 2 p.m., and the performance will conclude at 4 p.m.

Another Dim Shenson Spotlight Performance

Pianist Mao Fujita (photograph by Doville Sermokas)

Yesterday evening saw the second performance of the fifth iteration of the Shenson Spotlight Series. Like the first performance, which took place about a month ago, this was a solo piano recital, performed this time by Mao Fujita. The “pillars” of the program were the first sonatas composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. The Brahms selection was complemented by music of Richard Wagner, the most salient of which was Franz Liszt’s transcription of the “Liebestod” music from the opera Tristan und Isolde.

Once again, however, the promise of the program selections did not rise to a level of satisfying attentive listening. Indeed, where any dynamic levels from forte to above are concerned, Fujita’s motto seemed to come across as, “Nothing succeeds like excess.” Even in early Beethoven (Opus 2, Number 1 in F minor, the very first “numbered” sonata) Fujita deployed a wide dynamic range, which came across as little more than overwrought. All of the elegant gestures in this sonata, which are so evident when played on a period instrument, were lost in the muddle. Things were not much better in the Brahms sonata, which, for me at least, recalled Peter Schickele’s joke about having a black belt in piano. (I do not think Brahms would have appreciated that joke!)

Fujita concluded the evening with one encore, unannounced and unfamiliar.

Bob Roden Quintet Returning to the Cadillac

Trombonist Rob Roden performing with Ron Jackson on alto saxophone (from the quintet’s home page)

The next Friday afternoon Concerts at the Cadillac performance will see the return of The Bob Roden Quintet led by trombonist Roden, who also contributes vocals. The other members are Ron Jackson on alto saxophone with rhythm provided by pianist Larry Walter, Richard Freeman on drums, and bassist Jamie Dowd. The program will be a “walk down memory lane” with performances of a diversity of past standards;

• People Will Say We’re in Love
• Love is Here to Stay
• Misty
• Don’t Worry ‘bout Me
• Take the “A” Train
• It’s All Right With Me
• Crazy
• MisterEd
• I Fall in Love Too Easily
• Basin Street Blues

This performance will begin at 1 p.m. one week from this coming Friday, March 6. For those that do not already know, the Cadillac Hotel is located at 380 Eddy Street, on the northeast corner of Leavenworth Street. There is no charge for admission, and one need only enter the hotel’s lobby.

Natalia Lomeiko Surveys Early Ysaÿe Works

Natalia Lomeiko on the cover of her new album

This coming Friday, Orchid Classics will release an album of compositions for violin and piano by Eugène Ysaÿe. As the accompanying booklet observes, he was “justly celebrated as one of the greatest violin virtuosos of his time.” He is probably best known for his Opus 27 set of solo violin sonatas, but he currently receives relatively little attention. In fact, the last time he appeared on this site was almost exactly a year ago, when Tessa Lark performed the fourth of his solo violin sonatas for her Shenson Spotlight Series recital at Davies Symphony Hall.

The new release accounts for seven compositions for violin and piano leading up to Opus 27. The violinist is Natalia Lomeiko accompanied at the piano by Iván Martín. One of the selections, the Opus 26 “Amitié,” requires two violins; and Lomeiko is joined by Yuri Zhislin.

While they are not presented in chronological order, the seven tracks on this new album may be regarded as an “ascent” to the spectacle of virtuosity that permeates Opus 27. Indeed, that ascent begins on the very first track with the invocation of a spinning wheel on the Opus 13 “Au rouet.” There are also selections that reflect on popular nineteenth-century genres, such as the concluding Opus 3 “Grande valse de concert” and the Opus 11 mazurka, given the title “Lointain passé.”

It would not surprise me if this new album draws more attention from violinists than from others. (I am one of those “others,” just to set the record straight!) From a technical point of view, there is much to appreciate in Ysaÿe’s inventiveness as a composer, as well as the lyric qualities of his inventions. Lomeiko delivers a solid account of the full diversity of those inventions, suggesting that this album would serve very well as a “prologue” to those interested in getting to know the Opus 27 sonatas better.

Audium to Present a Month of Pamela Z

The Audium listening space (from the City Box Office Web page for the performances being discussed)

Readers that follow Bleeding Edge articles on this site probably already know about Audium. This is a highly unique performing space with 176 loudspeakers that can surround listeners with sounds that can move past, over, and under them. These “sound sculptures” are then given “live” performances in total darkness, thus affirming the name of the venue through its reliance on audiences prepared to exercise their respective auditory systems.

To encourage the use of this technology, Audium invites creative artists through residency support. At the end of this month composer and performer Pamela Z will conclude her residence. Her results will then be performed at Audium. The title of her full-evening program will be Arbeitsklang, which translates into English as “worksound.”

Those performances will all begin at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays throughout the entirety of next month. General admission (to which the usual fee will be added) will be $30. There will be ADA (Americans with Disabilities) accessible seating at the same price. Students and the underemployed will be admitted at the discount rate of $20. For those that do not follow the Bleeding Edge regularly, Audium is located at 1616 Bush Street at the corner of Franklin Street. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m., and there will be no late entry.

Mezzacappa Plays with Music and Semantics

Lisa Mezzacappa with her bass (from the Bandcamp Web page for the recording being discussed)

This past Friday Queen Bee Records released bassist Lisa Mezzacappa’s latest album. There are nine tracks collected under the somewhat playful title othrwrldly, with at least some of the play attributed to the fact the “y” is the closest letter to a vowel that appears. Four of the tracks have the title “biome;” and more of the play involves the fact that there two “biome II” tracks, distinguished by their subtitles: “in the loam(ing)” and “alluvial.” Note that these are the third and seventh tracks on the album, suggesting another playful gesture!

Then there is the combo. Mezzacappa is joined in the rhythm section with Brett Carson on piano and drummer Jordan Glenn. Kyle Bruckmann alternates between oboes of different sizes (probably including the English horn). He is joined by Aaron Bennett on tenor saxophone and vibraphonist Mark Clifford. Finally, guitarist Fred Frith makes a “special guest” appearance, contributing to the two “biome II” tracks.

My guess is that the “play” in this album would be only partially ascribed to how these musicians perform. It would not surprise me if these tracks were created because someone started recording and then stopped when the time seemed appropriate. It would also not surprise me to learn that all of the musicians knew each other well enough to exchange jokes through their performance gestures. I have now listened to this album several times and catch myself chuckling each time I return to it.

After all, taking the music too seriously almost always undermines the listening experience; and each time I go through the tracks, I feel less and less haunted by the serious!

The Bleeding Edge: 2/23/2026

This will be a very busy week on the Bleeding Edge. It will include a new venue on Brannan Street and a major visit to The Chapel over both days of the weekend. Specifics are as follows:

Wednesday, February 25, 7 p.m., Make-Out Room: This month’s Jazz at the Make-Out Room will be divided across two extended sets. My last encounter with Chris Trinidad was when he visited Mr Tipple’s Jazz Club in August of 2025. This week he will led a quintet entitled Chris Trinidad’s Chroma Tonic. Trinidad will play electric bass in a rhythm section with guitarist Alex Heigl and Cy Thompson on drums. Naima Shalhoub will provide vocals on the front line, joined by Scott Oshiro, who will alternate between his flute and electronic gear. The second set will be taken by Jordan Glenn’s BEAK. He will lead the ensemble with the conduction techniques originated by Butch Morris. It will include two guitarists, Karl Evangelista and David James. Percussion will be performed by Jon Arkin on drums and Robert Lopez on other instruments. Rhythm will also be provided by bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and Mark Clifford on vibraphone. Finally, Sudhu Tewari will contribute “new instruments” to the combo. For those unfamiliar with the venue, it is located in the Mission at 3225 22nd Street.

Thursday, February 26, 8 p.m., Noisebridge Hackerspace: Noisebridge will host its next monthly open mic event, Resident Electronic Music! As has already been reported, this takes place on the fourth Thursday of the month. Set duration is limited to twenty minutes. The hosts for this month will again be Franck Martin, TanukiSpiderCat, and Jah’s Tin. As in the past, the full account of performers has not yet been finalized. Performers can set up their preparations beginning at 7 p.m., and the BayImproviser Web page includes the necessary requirements for participants. There is also a Web page where they can sign up for participation. The performance will be free, but donations are suggested! Noisebridge is located in the Mission at 272 Capp Street.

Friday, February 27, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: Reed player David Boyce will continue to host his semi-regular Friday evening series entitled Other Dimensions in Sound. On this occasion he will host “bu” saxophonist Amadeo Roberson. Once again, the venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Saturday, February 28, 4 p.m., San Francisco Public Library, Golden Gate Valley Branch: Saxophonist Rent Romus will give a duo performance with Eli Knowles adding vocals to his keyboard work. They will perform music to celebrate Kalevala Day, named after the national epic of Finland. The program will also include some jazz ballads. For those not familiar with the venue from past articles, it is located at 1801 Green Street in Pacific Heights.

Saturday, February 28, 7 p.m., Center for New Music: The venue will host the Fourth Annual Electric String Summit. Performers will be electric violinists, violists, and cellists from all over the country, many of whom will be in San Francisco for the annual American String Teachers Association (ASTA) Conference. There will be no charge for admission, but tickets will be required and may be ordered through the venue’s Web page for this event. The venue is located at 55 Taylor Street, just north of Market Street.

Saturday, February 28, 7:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: Saxophonist Idris Ackamoor will bring his quartet to this venue. He will be joined by guitarist Bobby Cobb, Heshima Mark Williams on bass, and drummer Donald Robinson. The venue is located at 653 Chenery Street. There will be no charge for admission, but visitors should give in to the temptation to buy a book!

Saturday, February 28, 8 p.m., The Natural Batting Cage and Bullpen: This is probably not an optimal site for a performance; but the venue was selected by Z+N, about which I could find nothing! That said, there will be three performances by Ragger, Wobbly, and Joel Robinow, respectively. Admission will be $15. The venue is located at 358  Brannan Street, but the entrance will be from the back alley on Varney Street.

Interior of The Chapel, which is now a secular venue (from the BayImproviser Web page for the Sun Ra concert)

Saturday, February 28, 8:30 p.m., and Sunday March 1, 7 p.m., The Chapel: As part of the (((folkYEAH!))) Noise Pop Fest 2026, The Chapel will host two evenings of performances by the Sun Ra Arkestra. The band is now over 60 years old and continues to circle the globe of its Inter-Galactic tour. The Chapel is located in the Mission at 777 Valencia Street.

Sunday, March 1, 7:30 p.m., Musician’s Union Hall: As was reported at the beginning of this month, March will begin with the next installment in the SIMM (Static Illusion Methodical Madness) Series.

Aris Quartet Launches New CMSF Season

The first chamber music recital in the 2026 Chamber Music San Francisco (CMSF) season took place yesterday afternoon in Herbst Theatre. The program was performed by the Aris Quartet, whose members currently are violinists Sophia Jaffé (substituting for the ensemble’s leader) and Noëmi Zipperling, Caspar Vinzens on viola, and cellist Lukas Sieber. The program was a straightforward one, framed by two of the three “B” composers.

The program began with Ludwig van Beethoven in a performance of the second of his six “early” string quartets, Opus 18, Number 2, composed in the key of G major. Johannes Brahms provided the conclusion with the second of his Opus 51 quartets, set in the key of A minor. The “middle ground” was taken by Dmitri Shostakovich with a performance of what is probably his best-known string quartet, Opus 110 (the eighth) in C minor.

There is much to enjoy in Beethoven’s Opus 18. One can appreciate his sense of humor during his early period, most evident in the G major quartet with the Allegro “disruption” of the second Adagio cantabile movement. Also, the third movement is a scherzo, making a significant departure from Joseph Haydn’s use of the minuet. (Haydn’s Opus 33 quartets originally had scherzi, but he replaced them with minuets!) The Brahms quartets, receive far less attention; so I was particularly glad to see the Aris Quartet compensating for that shortcoming. They were as attentive to Brahms as they were to Beethoven, and the journey was just as engaging.

Shostakovich was in Dresden when he composed his Opus 110 quartet, and it was inspired by those in Dresden that were victims of the firebombing in World War II. By the time he composed this music, he was not shy in working his initials (D-S-C-H) into the score. Also, those familiar with the “Leningrad” symphony (Opus 60 in C major) know that it included a shave-and-a-haircut motif, which returns in Opus 110, now in a minor key.

Bust of Erwin Schulhoff at the fortress Wülzburg near Weißenburg in Bavaria (photograph by Aarp65, from Wikimedia Commons Web page, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

For the encores the ensemble turned to Czech composers. They began with the “Alla Czecha” movement from Erwin Schulhoff’s Five Pieces for String Quartet. This was followed by Antonín Dvořák’s B. 152, his string quartet setting of Cypresses. The quartet played the penultimate movement, “Nature Lies Peaceful in Slumber and Dreaming.” This provided the perfectly polite and proper way to say farewell to an attentive audience!

NCCO to Feature Two Local Composers

Nathaniel Stookey (courtesy of the Las Vegas Philharmonic)

March will see the next performance by the New Century Chamber Orchestra (NCCO). The program will feature premiere performances of works by composers currently living in San Francisco. Both of them created their works on New Century commissions, and one of them will be receiving its world premiere. That will be “Bubble Chamber,” which was composed by Nathaniel Stookey to honor Gordon Getty.

For those unfamiliar with the title, a bubble chamber played a major role in the study of nuclear physics in the last century. Its inventor Donald A. Glaser was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics for his efforts. Sadly, it is now little more than a relic, having been replaced by wire chambers, spark chambers, drift chambers, and silicon detectors, all of which are more conducive the current research practices.

The program will begin with the other commissioned work, a composition by Jake Heggie entitled simply “Overture.” (The title clearly speaks for itself!) Each of the two commissioned works will be paired with a predecessor, the first from the eighteenth century and the second from the nineteenth. Music Director and Concertmaster Daniel Hope will be the soloist in one of the many violin concertos composed by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, presumably to display his skills as a violinist! The concerto is in the key of A major; and, because Saint-Georges composed two of them in that key, I cannot be more specific about Hope’s selection! On the other hand, I can be specific about the final work on the program, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 70, a string sextet for pairs of violins, violas, and cellos, composed in the key of D minor and given the title “Souvenir de Florence.”

The San Francisco performance of this program will take place on Saturday, March 14, beginning at 2 p.m. This early start is due to the fact that the concert will be followed by this season’s New Century Gala event! The venue will be the Presidio Theatre, which is located in the Presidio at 99 Moraga Avenue. Tickets may be purchased through a City Box Office Web page with prices between $35 and $80.

International Guitar Night at Herbst Theatre

Alexander Misko with his guitar (courtesy of the Omni Foundation)

Last night in Herbst Theatre, the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts presented its 45th annual International Guitar Night program. Readers familiar with this offering probably already know that four musicians give solo performances, after which they all come together on the stage to give an “all hands on deck” performance. The performers for this year’s program were, in order of appearance, Thu Le (Vietnam), Lucas Imbiriba (Brazil), Taimane (Hawaii), and Alexander Misko (Russia).

This made for a more than generous share of music. Indeed, after the round of the five performances, I thought the program would be concluded. However, it turned out that it was only an intermission break, after which there would be a “second round.” I must confess, however, that, at the conclusion of that “first round,” my head was already saturated with both the diversity of the offerings and the dexterity of the performers!

That said, there were definitely particular events that stood out in memory long enough for me to account for them this morning. Imbiriba began with “Canción del Mariachi,” which gained popularity through Antonio Banderas and the movie Desperado. He then joined the “Bohemian Rhapsody” club with his own take on the “Mama I just killed a man” ballad segment, followed by a take on Cat Stevens involving a plethora of percussion effects.

Taimane then picked up the baton from Imbiriba to begin her set with a piece she called “Led Zeppelin Meets Beethoven.” (She performed barefoot, also providing choreography.) She then launched into a suite (of sorts) beginning with flamenco, moving on to thematic excerpts from Georges Bizet’s Carmen, and wrapping up with a nod to the fugue in Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 565 D minor coupling of a toccata and fugue.

That was about the time that I began to feel the first tinges of saturation. However, Misko had not yet begun his set. His instrument had been augmented with an abundance of electronics, and he referred to it as his “Frankenstein guitar.” He played a piece he called “Intergalactic March,” and the plethora of his gear yielded sounds that almost invoked a full symphony orchestra.

Fortunately, the following “all hands” performance allowed for a sigh of relief with the Brazilian choro song “Tico-Tico no Fubá.” Each guitarist had a personal take on the familiar tune, and the spirits could not have been higher. Readers may now understand why, after all of that abundance, there was little left in me to return for that “second round!”

Next PBO Program to Include Spirituals

Banner for the Web page being discussed

The title of the next program to be presented by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra is Pearls of Sorrow. As was observed when the season was first announced this past July, it may be the first time that American spirituals will be included on the program. That program will be structured into five episodes, each of which interjects one or more spirituals to “rub shoulders” with works by composers from the Baroque period. Those composers will include both Johann Sebastian Bach and Johann Christoph Bach as well as many others, including Pietro Locatelli, Heinrich Schütz, and Dieterich Buxtehude. The vocalist will be countertenor Reginald Mobley, and Christine Brandes will conduct. The titles of the episodes will be as follows:

1. Trauma
2. Sorrow
3. Pain
4. All My Trials
5. Finding

To borrow a text from Eugene O’Neill, one may describe the overall program as “a long day’s journey into night.”

As usual, this performance will take place in Herbst Theater, located at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13. Ticket prices range from $40 to $125. They may be purchased through a City Box Office Web page, which includes a diagram showing where seats are still available.

Jennifer Koh Surveys Three French Composers

Jennifer Koh (photograph by Juergen Frank, from Wikimedia Commons Web page, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license)

Last night violinist Jennifer Koh returned to Herbst Theatre to give her fourteenth recital performance for San Francisco Performances. Accompanied at the piano by Thomas Sauer, her program was structured around three French composers from roughly a century ago. She began with the least familiar of those composers, Lili Boulanger, who lived only a quarter century but left a significant repertoire of music from the early twentieth century. The repertoire of the other two composers, Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré (in “order of appearance” on the program) consisted of violin sonatas more familiar to chamber music lovers. Each half of the program also included a more recent composition. Tania León’s “Para Violin y Piano” was situated between Boulanger and Ravel, while Kaija Saariaho’s “Tocar” began the second half of the program.

As has been the case in my many previous recital encounters with Koh, her command of the repertoire was unquestionably solid. Nevertheless, as is often frequently the case, there were offerings that overstayed their welcome. I first became aware of León when I was living in Connecticut in 1981; and I have tried to follow her work since then, even as I moved from one coast to the other. That included keeping up with an album of her orchestral music released this past July. Nevertheless, last night’s selection went on longer than even sympathetic attention could sustain. To be fair, however, I felt the same way about the final movement of Ravel’s second violin sonata in G major, which concluded the first half of the program!

Far more interesting (for me at least) was my encounter with a performance of Kaija Saariaho’s “Tocar.” I became familiar with this piece when I made it a point to start collecting recordings of that composer’s music, during the first decade of the current century. Koh’s performance triggered fond memories of when I first came to know “Tocar” through that collection. The contrast with the Fauré sonata that followed it made the second half of the program the high point of the evening for me.

It is always good (if not healthy) to leave a recital with a sense of satisfaction!

Next CBS Program to Explore Aspects of Loss

The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (painting by Georges de La Tour on the Web page for the concert being announced)

The full title of the next program to be presented by the California Bach Society is On Leaving: Music for Parting and Passage. If the overall theme reflects on loss, longing, and transcendence, the plan is that the music will offer comfort, harmony, and hope. Yuko Tanaka will be the organist, there will be one vocalist, tenor Corey Head, and three instrumental soloists: Stacy Pelinka on flute, David Morris playing Baroque cello, and Farley Pearce on violone.

The program will begin with Max Reger’s setting of the poem by Matthias Claudius whose first line is "Der Mensch lebt und bestehet nur eine kleine Zeit" (Man liveth and endureth but a short time). This is the first of the eight motets in his Opus 138 collection, inspired by the motets of Johann Sebastian Bach. This will be followed by the motet for four unaccompanied voices “Ecce quomodo moritur justus” (see how the just dies), composed by Jacob Handl (Jacobus Gallus) for his Opus Musicum II collection. The first half of the program will then conclude with a motet that is by Bach, the BWV 229 “Komm, Jesu, komm” (come, Jesus, come).

The second half of the program will begin with “Na Ishod” (on leaving) by the Ukrainian composer Galina Grigorjeva. This five-movement composition was inspired by Orthodox chant, complementing the German and Latin selections in the first half of the program. However, the program will conclude by going “back to Bach” with the performance of another one of his motets, “Jesu, meine Freude” (Jesus, my joy) BWV 227.

The San Francisco performance of this program will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27. The venue will be St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, which is located 1111 O’Farrell Street. Individual tickets are available for general admission at $40 with discounted rates for seniors and students. Tickets may also be purchased an advance until midnight of February 26 through a Web page, in which case general admission will be only $35.

Van Zweden Returns with Beethoven Coupling

Conductor Jaap van Zweden (photograph by Simon van Boxtel, courtesy of the San Francisco Symphony)

Once again, conductor Jaap van Zweden returned to Davies Symphony Hall. This time he prepared a program of two symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven separated by a decade. The first of these tends to receive relatively little attention (other than “marathon” events covering all nine of the symphonies). This was Opus 36, the second symphony in D major, composed in 1802. Ten years later Beethoven was up to his Opus 92 (seventh) symphony in A major, music that is far more familiar to most concert-goers.

As in the past, van Zweden gave his all to both of the selections. From my vantage point it seemed as if the San Francisco Symphony musicians could not have been more attentive to his baton work and the expressiveness he brought to the contrast between these two symphonies. Mind you, it is very likely that a large percentage of the audience had albums of all nine symphonies back at home; and some percentage of that percentage makes regular visits to all of those symphonies with their own listening gear. Nevertheless, van Zweden had his own in-the-moment approach to both symphonies, making it clear that he knew how to establish and maintain all of those listeners’ attention (including the ones with the record collections).

For my part, listening could not have been more engaged. That said, I spent less time watching van Zweden’s baton work and more time watching his results. Having spent more than a little time following the scores of these symphonies while listening to recordings, I seem to have arrived at a point at which I knew exactly where to look for every measure in the score. Van Zweden was clearly in charge, but my eyes were more interested in following the results of his leadership as they manifested from one section of the orchestra to another.

Perhaps that is why I have come to look forward to van Zweden’s visits. He is confident enough to recognize that the music is more about the performers themselves than about the conductor. Yes, the conductor is the “leader;” but van Zweden’s approach to leadership tends to cede the emphasis to the musicians, using his post on the podium to establish the path for that emphasis and let the players follow that course. He could also share his own insights into the factors that established the contrasts emerging from the decade separating the two symphonies. It seemed as if every member of the Symphony had internalized every one of those contrasts and knew exactly how to deliver them to the ears of the attentive listener.

Earplay’s “Second Answer” to Ives

Some readers may recall that last month saw the beginning of Earplay’s 41st season, entitled Answering The Unanswered Question. I described this series of three programs as inspired by Charles Ives’ enigmatic orchestral composition, “The Unanswered Question;” and each program would feature a new composition serving as an “answer,” commissioned by Earplay. For the second of these programs, the “answer” will be provided by composer Hyo-shin Na. The title of her work is “Search for the Way;” and she scored it for flute (Tod Brody), clarinet (Peter Josheff), violin (Terrie Baune), and cello (Thalia Moore).

Once again, the “answer” will follow a performance Bruce Bennett’s arrangement of “The Unanswered Question,” this time with a slight change in instrumentation. The instruments will again include flute (Tod Brody), clarinet (Peter Josheff), violin (Terrie Baune), viola (Ellen Ruth Rose), and cello (Thalia Moore). This time, however, Margaret Halbig will add keyboard work alternating between organ and synthesizer.

Composer Shuying Li (from the Earplay Web page for next month’s concert)

The program, entitled Kaleidoscopic, will conclude with another world premiere performance. This one involved an adaptation of a text by Joseph Moncure March provided by Jeffrey Hastings. This will be a full-ensemble offering entitled “The Wild Party,” composed by Shuying Li. Brody, Josheff, Baune, Rose, Halbig, and Moore will again perform. They will be joined by soprano Chelsea Hollow with Mary Chun conducting. “Haikus Notebook” by Benet Casablancas, which won Earplay’s 2025 Donald Aird Composers Competition, will be given its United States premiere performance by flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. This will be followed by Mark Winges’ “Loki’s Lair,” which he composed in 2018 for a trio of flute, viola, and cello.

This concert will take place on Thursday, March 12, again begining at 7:30 p.m. at the Noe Valley Ministry, which is located at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. As usual, there will be a pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m. General admission will be $32 with a $10 rate for students. Tickets can be purchased through a ThunderTix Web page.

YouTube Finds its Way to Television

I must confess to a bit of pleasure in encountering this article from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/19/youtube-uk-tv-set-most-popular

My wife and I get our television from xfinity, and it did not take me long to discover that the service included a plethora of apps. Most of these were of little interest, but I was glad to see that YouTube was one of them.

One of the screenshots captured from a Detroit Symphony Orchestra performance on YouTube 

There are any number of settings in which a television screen is preferable to a computer screen. However, the asset that probably means the most to my wife and I is our ability to watch performances by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. We have been watching the live broadcasts since September of 2012. Because these begin at 5 PM on the West Coast, we usually have dinner while watching. Some may see this as a decadent approach to “serious music,” but neither of us feels that eating distracts from listening! Some readers probably already know that, after the concert, I can go back to the computer and find a screenshot to include with the article I write about the performance!

Salhov Returning to Chez Hanny with New 4tet

Shay Salhov playing his saxophone (from his home page)

This year March will come in like a lion with the return of saxophonist Shay Salhov to Jazz Chez Hanny. Once again, his drummer will be Jason Lewis, who is likely to be familiar to those attending Chez Hanny gigs regularly. Percussionist Dillon Vado will play vibraphone, and the remaining member of the quartet will be guitarist Scott Sorkin. All four members of the quartet have performed at Chez Hanny in the past.

Those familiar with Jazz Chez Hanny probably “know the drill” by now. Performances take place on a Sunday afternoon beginning at 4 p.m., and the next one will be on March 1. The venue is Frank Hanny’s house at 1300 Silver Avenue, and the musicians play in the downstairs rumpus room. The price of admission is $25. There will be two sets separated by a potluck break. As a result, all who plan to attend are encouraged to bring food and/or drink to share. Seating is first come, first served; and the doors will open at 3:30 p.m. Reservations are preferred by sending electronic mail to jazz@chezhanny.com. Masks are optional, but attendees should be vaccinated. Vaccination will be based on the honor system. Finally, volunteer efforts for cleaning up after the show and moving furniture to accommodate both players and listeners are always appreciated.

Attacca Quartet to Continue its SFP Series

Vocalist Theo Bleckmann (photograph by Caterina diPerri, courtesy of SFP)

At the end of this month, the Attacca Quartet will return to Herbst Theatre to present the second of the three performances in their Contemporary Chamber concert series prepared for San Francisco Performances (SFP). Presumably, at least some readers probably already know that the members of this quartet are violinists Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni, Nathan Schram on viola, and cellist Andrew Yee. This next offering will put the title of the series to the test, since the program will be devoted in its entirely to the contemporary Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. The full-evening work to be performed will be “note to a friend,” composed for string quartet and vocalist; and it will be receiving its West Coast premiere. The vocalist to perform with Attacca will be Theo Bleckmann.

According to the advance material on the Groupmuse Web page, the work was “born from three reimagined texts by novelist Ryūnosuke Akutagawa that probes love, death, family, and deeper human meaning.” For those unfamiliar with the name, Akutagawa was the author of the short story “In a Grove,” which later led Akira Kurosawa to create the film Rashomon, named after a gate where a woodcutter and a Buddhist monk take shelter from a downpour.

This recital will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27. As those familiar with SFP will probably guess, the venue will be Herbst Theatre, on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Ticket prices will range from $45 to $65, and a Web page has been created for online purchases.

Dealing with Trump on a Solemn Occasion

There were no end of news sources this morning reflecting on the death of Jesse Jackson. Nevertheless, I could not avoid checking out how this news would be presented “on the other side of the pond.” As a television viewer, I appreciate my cable provider giving me access to the British Broadcasting Corporation. However, when it comes to reading text, I have discovered that the Web site for The Guardian has become a preferred source.

So it was this morning that I found, on that site, the headline “‘One of America’s greatest patriots’: US political leaders pay tribute to Jesse Jackson.” Guardian Web pages tend to begin with a photograph, and the choice could not have been better. On March 4, 1990, Jackson led the way in the recreation of a march in Alabama in 1965, beginning in Selma and ending at the State House in Montgomery:

Jesse Jackson at the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Alabama (photograph by Jamie Sturtevant, provided by Associated Press)

For many of my generation, this was one of the most significant historical moments in the twentieth century; but, as Richard Luscombe, the author of the article following the photograph, made clear, this was but one of the significant events in Jackson’s life. He documented a generous number of interviews over the course of his article, including Jackson’s colleague Al Sharpton and, from the following generation, Kamala Harris.

I suppose it was inevitable that Luscombe would also write about the current President of the United States. As a result, the article concluded with the following three paragraphs:

Donald Trump, in a post on his own Truth Social network, called Jackson “a good man” and a “friend”, also claiming to have provided office space in New York for his Rainbow Push Coalition.

Trump’s post, as is often the case, quickly turned political, and about himself. The president attacked the “scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left” who, he said, “falsely and consistently” called him a racist, and sought recognition for “funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which Jesse loved”.

Trump also took a swing at a familiar political foe, former president Barack Obama, whom, he claimed, Jackson “could not stand”.

To be perfectly frank, that last sentence did not surprise me; but I am pretty sure that Obama is far too dignified to respond to such a slur! Fortunately, there are more than enough encomiums in Jackson’s honor to let one sour grape get in the way!

The Judiciary Stands Up to the Executive

Most readers in the United States known that our Federal government has three branches, each independent of the other two. The Executive is the branch of the President, the Legislative is the branch of the Congress, and the Judiciary is the branch of the Supreme Court, as well as the “next level down” of District judges.

Visitors to the President’s House Site in Philadelphia (photograph by Matt Rourke for Associated Press)

Yesterday saw an example of what happens when one branch disagrees with another. On the Executive side, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to restore “truth and sanity to American history” as it is exhibited at museums, parks, and landmarks. More specifically, it involved an exhibit in Philadelphia prepared by the National Park Service. According to an Al Jazeera news article, the exhibit showed “nine people who were enslaved by former President George Washington at a historical site.”

In the immortal words of Bullwinkle Moose, this was the sort of thing that got Trump’s dandruff up. As the article put it, he “directed the Interior Department to ensure the sites do not display elements that ‘inappropriately disparage Americans past or living’.” Fortunately, the Judiciary exercised its independence from the Executive. At this point, it is more than worthwhile to cite the Al Jazeera text at greater length:

US District Judge Cynthia Rufe ruled that all materials must be restored in their original condition while the lawsuit challenging the removal’s legality plays out. She prohibited Trump officials from installing replacements that explain the history differently.

In her scathing 40-page decision, Rufe accused the federal government of trying to erase US history, much like the fictional authoritarian regime that ruled George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims – to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” Rufe wrote. “It does not.”

Rufe had warned Trump administration lawyers during a hearing in January that they were making “dangerous” and “horrifying” statements when they said government officials could choose which parts of US history to display at NPS sites.

As of now, it is unclear what will happen next, since, according to the article, there was “no immediate comment from the Trump administration.”

I have to confess that, when I was studying American History in high school, the classes devoted to the Constitution were the ones I enjoyed the most. (It helped that my teacher had a similar enthusiasm.) In that context, I find it hard to avoid cringing whenever I listen to of news clip of Trump and wonder whether he would have been better off continuing his career in television entertainment! Come to think of it, could it be that he sees his current role as just another phase in such entertainment?

The Bleeding Edge: 2/16/2026

Tonight’s live (and free) performance by the duo of George Grydkovets and Lorin Benedict was announced in last week’s Bleeding Edge article. There will be only three more events taking place this week. They will be held on consecutive evenings beginning this Thursday. All of the venues will be familiar as follows:

Thursday, February 19, 7 and 8:45 p.m., Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club: My last account of a performance by the Simple Excesses Quartet led by pianist and composer Motoko Honda took place this past September at the Center for New Music. Personnel has not changed since then. The other performers will still be Cory Wright on a diversity of wind instruments with rhythm provided by drummer Jordan Glenn and Matt Small on bass. For those that do not yet know about this venue, Mr. Tipple’s is located at 39 Fell Street, on the south side of the street between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street. A single Web page has been created for making reservations for both sets. Tickets prices will range between $15 and $30. Both food and drink are available and may be purchased separately.

Friday, February 20, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This week’s Other Dimensions in Sound program, curated and hosted by reed player David Boyce, will consist of two sets. Nader (or Nadar, since both spellings appear on the BayImproviser Web page) will play synthesizer in both of them. The first will be a solo set, followed by a duo performance with Boyce alternating between reeds and special effects technologies. 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.

Pamela Z, Mari Kimura, and Thea Farhadian on the poster for the performance they will share at the Center for New Music

Saturday, February 21, 7:30 p.m., Center for New Music: This will be an evening of solo works and trio improvisations for violins, voice, live electronics, and gesture-controlled instruments. Two of the musicians will be violinists: Mari Kimura and Thea Farhadian. The vocalist will be Pamela Z. Admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for members and students. For those that do not yet know, the venue is located at 55 Taylor Street, just north of Market Street.

Another Cookie for Another Mouse

Some readers may recall that, at the beginning of this year, I used Laura Joffe Numeroff’s children’s picture book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie as a metaphor for conditions in Venezuela and President Donald Trump providing refuge for Nicolás Maduro when he had to flee that country. Apparently, the metaphor has now extended beyond Venezuela. An article for The Guardian by Aisha Down suggests that the consultancy business also has to contend with tempting cookies and hungry mice.

The KPMG Australia building (photograph by Diego Fedele, Australia Associated Press)

Here are the first three paragraphs:

A partner at the consultancy KPMG has been fined for using artificial intelligence to cheat during an internal training course on AI.

The unnamed partner was fined A$10,000 (£5,200) for using the technology to cheat, one of a number of staff reportedly using the tactic.

More than two dozen KPMG Australia staff have been caught using AI tools to cheat on internal exams since July, the company said, increasing concerns over AI-fuelled cheating in accountancy firms.

As a “veteran” from the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), my immediate reaction to this report was: “Well, what did you expect?” AI is just another cookie, and any “hungry mouse” will probably figure out how to use it with little effort.

When I began my freshman year, I quickly learned that there was a rich “hacking” culture at MIT. For the most part, this involved relatively innocuous pranks enabled by basic technology tools and techniques. Every and then, the pranks would go “over the top;” and, very early in my freshman year, I encountered four students that had been suspended for a year due to one of those pranks. As I recall, all four of them were relatively resilient and completed their degrees after returning, perhaps with a broader perspective than that of most undergraduates.

Personally, I am not surprised that someone at KPMG that had ascended to partnership may have acquired a portfolio of “hacking” skills during his student days. After all, “hacking” usually arises from “thinking outside the box;” and consultancy is little more that providing clients with “outside the box” perspectives they have overlooked. It all comes down to the “Cui bono?” question: Who benefits from those perspectives? An innocuous prank is one thing; but, if a “corporate ox” is being gored, the issue is far more serious!