Opera Aloha to Return to San Francisco

Poster for the event being discussed (from the Grace Cathedral Web page for this performance)

Some readers may recall that last year pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg accompanied four vocalists in a program entitled OPERALOHA With Love. This took place at the beginning of February in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. This year Greenberg will again accompany several opera singers, but the music will be oriented around the traditions of the Hawaiian islands. As a result, while the program has not yet been finalized, three vocalists, joined by a choreographer, will perform in an extraordinary range of languages, including Italian, French, English, Māori, Samoan, Native Hawaiian, Portuguese, Tagalog, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.

This year’s show will again begin at 7:30 p.m., this time on Thursday, March 5. General admission will be again $85; but, if two or more tickets are purchased, each will be $65. “Young professionals” (aged 30 and under) will be able to purchase tickets for $40. Eventbrite has created a Web page with further details through which these payments can take place. The performance will be at Grace Cathedral, which is located on Nob Hill at 1100 California Street, just to the west of Franklin Street.

Collegium 1704: Two Zelenka Mass Settings

Many of us are familiar with the “A to Z” game, which involves assigning the last name of a composer to every letter of the alphabet. Thanks to a recent release on the Accent label, listeners are likely to have less trouble dealing with that last letter. An album of two Mass settings by Jan Dismas Zelenka was released a little over two weeks ago, and it serves up a little over an hour’s engaging listening experience.

The interior of the chapel for the Dresden court, for which Zelenka’s first mass setting (ZWV 1) was probably composed (from a Wikipedia Web page, taken from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

This may be a bit of a jolt for those that associate a setting of the Mass ordinary with Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 232 version, which has come to be known simply as the “Mass in B minor.” Ironically, Bach not only knew Zelenka but also, according to the latter’s Wikipedia page, held him “in high esteem. Furthermore, Bach entrusted his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, to copy the “Amen” movement from Zelenka’s third Magnificat setting (ZWV 108); and Bach performed it at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where he was cantor. Bach, of course, composed four additional Missae breves, limited to the Kyrie and Gloria sections, while Zelenka was more productive, composing approximately twenty Mass settings.

The two Zelenka settings are (in “order of appearance”) ZWV 11 (“Missa Circumcisionis Del Nostri Jesu Christi”) and ZWV 3 (“Missa Corporis Domini”). Both of these were composed during Bach’s lifetime, but any connection between either of these pieces and Bach’s sacred music would probably be coincidental! Mind you, my experiences with BWV 232 go back to my undergraduate days; and I rarely shy away from an opportunity to listen to a full performance in either a church or a concert hall. Nevertheless, I had no trouble keeping my long-standing interest in Bach from interfering with a more recent acquaintance with Zelenka.

In that context I found myself readily drawn to Václav Luks and his leadership of Collegium 1704 and Collegium Vocale 1704. At that time Bach was based in Thuringia, providing music for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, although he tends to be better known for his work as an organist at the courts in Weimar and the composition of chamber music for the reformed court at Köthen. In spite of that rich context, most attentive listeners are likely to find both ZWV 11 and ZWV 3 refreshing experiences!

SFP PIVOT Festival: the First Program

Andy Meyerson, Tanner Porter, and Travis Andrews (courtesy of The Living Earth Show)

Yesterday evening Herbst Theatre saw the first of the three programs in this season’s the annual PIVOT Festival. This year the curator is Andy Meyerson, who will probably be known to many readers as the percussionist of The Living Earth Show, playing with his partner, guitarist Travis Andrews. For the opening performance, Living Earth was joined by vocalist Tanner Porter (occasionally contributing her own guitar accompaniment).

The title of the program was Legacies and it consisted of twelve songs, each written by a different composer. Six of those composers were members of the Sleeping Giant Composer Collective: Timo Andres, Christopher Cerrone, Jacob Cooper, Ted Hearne, Robert Hornstein, and Andrew Norman. Each of those composers selected a former student to contribute to the program. That program was performed without an intermission, presenting the six teacher-student couplings as follows:

1. Andrew Norman/Anuj Bhutani
2. Jacob Cooper/Christina J. George
3. Ted Hearne/Rohan Chander
4. Robert Hornstein/Akshaya Avril Tucker
5. Timo Andres/Daniel Castellanos
6. Christopher Cerrone/Nathaniel Parks

This presented a more-than-generous serving of “new music.” Indeed, even the most attentive listener probably had some difficulty sustaining so much novelty. For my own part, I must confess that I was beginning to feel overwhelmed as I followed the program and realized that I had only approached the halfway mark! This morning, as I reflected back on the experience, I discovered that I could not recall any of the selections. Sometimes, there is weakness in large numbers, rather than strength.

March 1, 2026: Definitely “in Like a Lion!”

Last year, I invoked the epithet of March going in like a lion as it applied to the diversity of performances taking place during the first weekend of that month. This year the lion will roar on the first day of the month to announce four concerts taking place in the afternoon. The starting intervals will be one hour apart, meaning that there will definitely be overlap. Specifics are as follows:

2 p.m., Old First Presbyterian Church: This is the annual Chopin Birthday Gala concert. The program will present solo piano compositions by Frédéric Chopin performed by Jason Chiu, Omri Shimron, Robert Schwartz, Ariel Chien, and others yet to be announced. As a result of that qualifier, the program has not been finalized; but it will include a full account of the 24 Opus 28 prelude compositions (covering all major and minor keys) and at least two of the ballades, Opus 23 in G minor and Opus 52 in F minor. As usual, this performance will be available for live stream viewing as well as seating in the church at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue. This will be the first of four performances scheduled for March at that venue, the other three of which will be as follows:

Pianist Ava Nazar (from her Old First Concerts Web page)

1. Saturday, March 14, 2 p.m.: The Princeton Nassoons serve as ambassadors of Princeton University’s musical tradition, performing both choral and jazz selections from the early twentieth century.
2. Sunday, March 15, 4 p.m.: This will be the annual Junior Bach Festival. The Junior Bach Festival Association has been presenting these concerts at Old First for over a decade. The ages of the performers usually range from eight to eighteen; and, as of this writing, the program has not yet been finalized.
3. Sunday, March 29, 4 p.m.: Iranian pianist Ava Nazar will present a program entitled Nahoft. She will perform music by Aso Kohzadi, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Nina Barzegar, and Yassaman Behbahani, all women from the Iranian diaspora. The title of the program is the name of a melodic motif that arises in Iranian music.

3 p.m., Taube Atrium Theater: This will be the latest annual installment in the West Edge Opera Snapshot series; the four operas to be showcased were announced about two months ago.

3 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Pianist Tiffany Poon will return to Chamber Music San Francisco. The earliest work on her program will be Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Les tendres plaintes.” At the other end of the “time line,” she will play selections by Maurice Ravel, his “Jeux d’eau” and two of the movements from his Miroirs suite. She will conclude her program with Lili Boulanger’s “D’un jardin clair.” As might be expected, there will also be “obligatory appearances” by Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy with nods also to Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré.

4 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: The title of the next Discovery Series program presented by American Bach will be The Harmonic Labyrinth. This is a reference to the “Labyrinth” concerto by Pietro Locatelli, the last in his collection of twelve violin concertos entitled L'arte del violino, which bears the inscription: “Laberinto armonico: ‘Facilis aditus; difficilis exitus’” (harmonic labyrinth: easy to enter, difficult to escape). YuEun Gemma Kim will be the solo violinist for this performance. The program will also include solo vocal performances by soprano Maya Kherani and mezzo Sarah Coit. It will begin with Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater sequence. The second half of the program will begin with Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 209 cantata, Non sa che sia dolore (he knows not what sorrow is). The program will then conclude with Giovanni Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater hymn to the Virgin Mary. As many (most?) readers probably know by now, the church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just to the west of Franklin Street.

Ax Returns to SFS under van Zweden’s Baton

Last night conductor Jaap van Zweden returned to Davies Symphony Hall to lead the San Francisco Symphony in a program coupling an eighteenth-century concerto with a nineteenth-century symphony. Both works were completed nearing the end of their respective centuries. The program began with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 503 piano concerto in C major, composed in 1786. The soloist for the performance was Emanuel Ax. The second half of the program was devoted entirely to Anton Bruckner’s seventh symphony in E major (WAB 107), composed in 1883 and revised in 1885.

Pianist Emanuel Ax (photograph by Nigel Parry, courtesy of SFS)

C major tended to be Mozart’s key for high spirits, and Ax definitely delivered a spirited account. He last visited Davies in October of 2024 to give a Great Performers Series Concert divided equally between Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann. Particularly memorable, though, was his duo performance with Itzhak Perlman in Davies in January of 2016, when they gave a delightfully fresh account of Mozart’s K. 296 sonata in C major. Ax was clearly “on the ball” last night, and his engagement with van Zweden was consistently attentive. Nevertheless, for all the many times he returned for bows, it seemed as if his heart was not in the music as it had been in past visits.

Fortunately, van Zweden’s heart was definitely in his approach to Bruckner. Just about any Bruckner composition requires more than a few listening encounters before one can begin to appreciate his efforts. Having experienced that journey myself, I felt as if I could share my own appreciation with van Zweden’s. Mind you, I encounter performances of Bruckner’s music so seldom that I usually need a bit of time to “settle into” his rhetoric at the beginning of any of his compositions. Under van Zweden’s direction, that “settling” did not take very long. Once I could establish the “terrain” of his interpretation, I could appreciate the vast expanse of the composer’s rhetoric; and I found myself leaving Davies with the wistful reflection that I needed to hear more of this music.

SFCO Beginning 2nd Half of Season Next Month

The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra (SFCO) concluded the first half of its season at the very end of last year. The title of that program was The Revolutionary Artist, and it would be fair to wonder if that “revolution” involved a departure from the usual holiday spirit of that time of the year. In any event I would say that the next concert, which will be performed at the end of next month, may be even more revolutionary, beginning with the program’s cryptic title Seeing Double!

Jory Vinikour at the harpsichord

The fact is that the closest the program gets to the concept of “double” is the concerto for harpsichord and orchestra (a “duo of sorts”) by Philip Glass, which happens to be the second of the three works on the program! The harpsichordist will be Jory Vinikour; and, as usual, the ensemble will be led by Jory Fankuchen. The evening will begin with the world premiere performance of Jens Ibsen’s “Scene Symphony.” The program will conclude with the most familiar composer of the evening, Joseph Haydn. The selection will be the Hoboken I/49 symphony, given the title “La Passione.” Perhaps the “passionate” rhetoric of this symphony can be viewed as the more “revolutionary” side of Haydn’s approaches to composition.

As many readers probably know by now, the San Francisco performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27. The venue will be the Taube Atrium Theater, which is located on the fourth (top) floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue. As always, there is no charge for admission; and all that is required is an RSVP, which is conveniently achieved on a concert-by-concert basis through the Eventbrite Web page for this performance.

Junction Trio Couples Past and Present (again)

Junction Trio musicians Conrad Tao, Stefan Jackiw, and Jay Campbell (photograph by Shervin Lainez, courtesy of Noe Music)

According to my records, the Junction Trio was formed in 2015. All three of the musicians have also presented recitals for San Francisco Performances (SFP). Violinist Stefan Jackiw made his SFP debut in April of 2014 and cellist Jay Campbell made his debut in January of 2020 performing with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Pianist Conrad Tao made his first live performance with SFP towards the end of 2022. For the trio’s first performance, Tao composed what amounted to a tone poem entitled “Eventide,” which he regarded as his “Opus 1.”

In a little less than a month’s time, Noe Music will welcome this trio to the Noe Valley Ministry. The “pillars” of the program will be two piano trios from that period of music history known as the First Viennese School. The first half of the program will conclude with the first of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 70 trios, given the title “Ghost” and composed in the key of D major. The second half will conclude with Franz Schubert’s D. 898, the first of his two piano trios, this one composed in the key of B-flat major. Each of these compositions will be preceded by three of the six pieces for violin and keyboard instrument by John Cage, given the collective title Six Melodies. In addition, John Zorn’s “Ghosts” will be interjected in to the Beethoven trio, following the Largo assai movement, which inspired the “Ghost” title of the trio.

This will be the next Noe Music event of the season, taking place at the Noe Valley Ministry, which is located at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. The concert will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 22. General admission will be $45 with a $15 rate for students. They may be purchased online through a Noe Music Web page.

Schedule for the CMSF 2026 Season

Two weeks ago I received information about the 2026 season in San Francisco that will be presented by Chamber Music San Francisco (CMSF). As in the past, the full schedule will consist of ten recitals, five of which will also be given performance in Walnut Creek and Palo Alto. This year only six of those recitals will take place in Herbst Theatre, which is located in the Veterans Building on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. The other four will take place in the Presidio at 99 Moraga Avenue. Only one of the concerts will take place on a Saturday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m.; and all the others will be Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Specifics are as follows:

February 22, Herbst Theatre: The Aris Quartet made its Bay Area debut with CMSF in February of 2023. The members are still violinists Anna Katharina Wildermuth and Noémi Zipperling, violist Caspar Vinzens, and cellist Lukas Sieber. This time they will frame their program with quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. They will begin with the second of Beethoven’s six Opus 18 quartets, composed in the key of G major. The Brahms selection will also be a “second quartet,” composed in the key of A minor from his Opus 51 set. The Beethoven quartet will be followed by Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opus 110, his eighth quartet, composed in the key of C minor.

Tiffany Poon (photograph by Remy Holwick)

March 1, Herbst Theatre: Hong Kong born pianist Tiffany Poon made her debut with CMSF in 2022; program details for her return have not yet been announced.

March 8, Presidio Theatre: Violinist Stella Chan, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist Brannon Cho formed their trio in 2023. They will present the United States premiere of Andreia Pinto-Correia’s “Cantares.” The program will begin with music by Ernst von Dohnányi, his “Serenade,” composed in the key of C major and conclude with a trio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his K. 563 divertimento in E-flat major.

March 15, Herbst Theatre: Pianist Angela Hewitt will use the second half of her program as a reflection on François Couperin. She will play selections from Ordre 6ème de clavecin in B flat major, the first of the seven “ordres” in the Second Livre. (Four of these “Livres” were published between 1713 and 1730.) She will follow those pieces with Maurice Ravel’s tribute to the composer, his suite entitled Le Tombeau de Couperin. The program will begin with one of Couperin’s contemporaries, Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 829 partita in G major. Hewitt will then shift to G minor for a performance of Robert Schumann’s Opus 22, his second piano sonata.

March 28, Presidio Theatre: This will be a less “standard” trio performance. Flutist Demarre McGill and violist Che-Yen Chen will be joined at the harp by Julie Smith Phillips. The program will conclude with Ami Maayani’s arrangement of Beethoven’s Opus 25 Serenade in D major. This will be preceded by “Elegy,” composed for those three instruments by Lita Grier. Details have not been provided as to whether or not the opening selections of keyboard compositions by Jean-Philippe Rameau will be performed as a harp solo. The program announcement also includes Jan Bach’s “Eisteddfod;” but, as of this writing, that composition does not appear on his Web site.

April 12, Herbst Theatre: Quatuor Danel is the string quartet led by violinist Marc Danel. The second violinist is Gilles Millet, joined by Vlad Bogdanas on viola and cellist Yovan Markovitch. Their program is framed by the different ends of the nineteenth century, beginning with Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 13 (second) quartet in A minor and concluding with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 11 (first) quartet in D major. These selections will “frame” Ravel’s F major quartet.

April 19, Presidio Theatre: The piano accompanist for violinist Nathan Meltzer has not yet been announced. However, the program will conclude with Franz Schubert’s D. 934 Fantasia, which includes variations on the composer’s D. 741 song “Sei mir gegrüßt.” The first half of the program will conclude with Gabriel Fauré’s Opus 108, second violin sonata. This will be followed, after the intermission, by Sky Macklay’s “FastLowHighSlow.” The announcement I received claims that the program will begin with music by Francis Poulenc, an “Improvisation” based Johannes Brahms’ best known song, “Wiegenlied” (cradle song), the fourth in his Opus 49 collection.

April 26, Herbst Theatre: The members of the Carion Wind Quintet are Dóra Seres (flute), Egils Upatnieks (oboe), Egīls Šēfers (clarinet), David M.A.P. Palmquist (horn) and Niels Anders Vedsten Larsen (bassoon). They are geographically diverse with Upatnieks and Šēfers based in Riga, Palmquist and Larsen in Copenhagen, and Seres in Malmö. The most familiar work on the program will probably be Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken II:46 in B-flat major, the sixth “Feldparthie,” whose second movement is the “Chorale St. Antoni,” the source of the familiar set of variations composed by Brahms. There will also be an arrangement of Béla Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances suite. The other composers contributing to the program will be György Ligeti, Medaglia Belle, and Gene Cavadlo. Carion has a YouTube Web page on which they perform Cavadlo’s Klezmer Dances for Wind.

Sunday, May 10: Pianist Olga Kern will return performing two works with the Dalí Quartet. The first of these will be Astor Piazzolla’s Tango Ballet, which will be coupled with the second of Antonín Dvořák’s two piano quintets, Opus 81 (B. 155) in A major. Kern has not yet announced her solo performances.

Sunday, May 17: The Escher Quartet will return, joined by flutist Brandon Patrick George. The quintet will begin the program with Amy Beach’s “Theme and Variations” Opus 80 and conclude it with Alberto Ginastera’s “Impresiones de la Puna.” George will also contribute to Mozart’s K. 285 flute quartet in D major. The two quartet selections will be Giuseppe Verdi’s string quartet in E minor and the second movement of Samuel Barber’s Opus 11 quartet, best known under the title “Adagio for Strings.”

The Bleeding Edge: 1/26/2026

This week’s Bleeding Edge will be a relatively quiet. There are only three events to report, two of which will overlap. Specifics are as follows:

Wednesday, January 28, 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., Black Cat Jazz Supper Club: I have not been able to account for avant-garde vocalist Lorin Benedict since this past October. He will perform with a jazz trio led by Rumi Abe on piano, joined by bassist Alan Jones and Miles Turk on drums. I have previously cited Benedict’s “imaginative command of his microphone,” which results in a genre that might be called “avant-garde scat!” Admission will be $30. The address for the venue is 400 Eddy Street.

Friday, January 30, 6 p.m.,  Bird & Beckett Books and Records: Trumpeter Erik Jekabson last introduced his original works to this venue at the beginning of October of 2023. On that occasion he was joined by Matt Clark on piano. For his latest visit he will perform on the front line with Kasey Knudsen playing alto saxophone. Clark will be joined in the rhythm section by John Wiitala on bass and drummer Jeff Marrs. As usual, the venue is located in Glen Park at 653 Chenery Street. As of this writing, the venue’s home page does not provide information about a charge for admission.

Karl Evangelista with his electric guitar (from this week’s BayImproviser Web page)

Friday, January 30, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: Guitarist Karl Evangelista will give a solo performance of the music from Sonny Sharrock’s Guitar album. There will also be a somewhat unconventional trio set with vocalists Elango Kumaran and David Israel Katz engaging with trumpeter Ari Brown. This will be the latest installment of Other Dimensions in Sound curated by the venue. The venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there probably will be no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Red Norvo’s “Secret” Session

Vibraphonist Red Norvo was one of the leading figures in “swing” jazz prior to the United States involvement in World War II, but I am embarrassed to admit that he has received almost no attention on this site. Indeed, it may well be the case that the only time I wrote about him involved his contribution to the Benny Goodman Orchestra on an SWR JAZZHAUS album in its Big Band Series. Fortunately, this Friday will see the release of an album with Norvo as leader.

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

The title of the album is The Secret Session; and, as readers can probably guess, there is a story behind that title. In the early Forties, Norvo was leading a septet performing with trumpeter Shorty Rogers, Eddie Bert on trombone, Aaron Sachs on reeds (clarinet and alto saxophone), pianist Hank Kahout, Clyde Lombardi on bass, and drummer Specs Powell. However, once it was evident that the United States would enter the war, Norvo would lose at least some of those musicians to the draft. As a result, he arranged a recording session in late 1942, knowing that it would be the last for some time. All seven of these musicians can be seen in the photograph on the above album cover.

Most important is that Norvo was generous in giving all of his musicians solo opportunities. As a result, the album is a “snapshot” of how jazz was improvised during the “swing era.” Mind you, listeners that are more interested in the “high fidelity” of the recording than they are of the content itself are likely to be disappointed. Nevertheless, it would be fair to say that any attentive listener will be able to appreciate the many nuances that emerged from this “secret session.”

The good news is that, exactly one year after D-Day (June 6, 1944), Norvo was back in action at the WOR Recording Studios in New York. On that occasion he led his “Selected Sextet,” whose other members were trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker on alto saxophone, and Flip Phillips on tenor saxophone on the front line with rhythm provided by pianist Teddy Wilson, Slam Stewart on bass, and drummer Specs Powell. One of the selections at that session was Harold Arlen’s “Get Happy.” which could not have been more appropriate for the end of World War II.

News That's "Fit to Print?"

Kristi Noem at a news conference held at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters this past Saturday (photograph by Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press)

Once again, I find myself wondering if reporting of "difficult situations" is more reliable coming from the United Kingdom sources such as The Guardian than from any of the "home front" sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/26/trump-administration-alex-pretti-shooting-statements 

A LIEDER ALIVE! Birthday Celebration Recital

Jeffrey LaDeur accompanying Kindra Scharich yesterday afternoon at Old First Presbyterian Church (from the YouTube video of the performance)

Late yesterday afternoon at the Old First Presbyterian Church LIEDER ALIVE! presented a program to celebrate the 75th birthday of its founder and director, Maxine Bernstein. Pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, who has provided accompaniment for many of the LIEDER ALIVE! recitals, performed with mezzo Kindra Scharich. The program consisted of vocal works by two major composers from the nineteenth century: Robert Schumann in the first half and Johannes Brahms (whose work was encouraged by Schumann) in the second.

The first half of the program was devoted entirely to Schumann’s Opus 39, his Liederkreis cycle of twelve songs, setting twelve poems from Joseph von Eichendorff's collection entitled Intermezzo. The second half drew upon several collections by Johannes Brahms, drawing upon Opera 3, 33, 43, 47, 63, 72, 86, and 105. (Opus 43 was the only one to account for more than one song.) This assortment may have run the risk of coming across as “one thing after another;” but I have found that each of the texts that Brahms selected has its own unique perspective. Scharich seemed to grasp the diversity of those perspectives, making the “journey” as engaging as the narrative behind Schumann’s song cycle.

Many readers probably know that Schumann encouraged Brahms during the early stages of the latter’s career. Indeed, he was so close to both Robert and Clara Schumann that he took it upon himself to look after the welfare of the latter after the former’s relatively early death. That encouragement led to an engaging diversity of subject matter in Brahms’ approach to composing his songs. Scharich clearly appreciated that diversity, ordering her individual selections in such as way that unfolded as a journey as convincing as Schumann’s narrative.

LIEDER ALIVE! is, indeed, “alive and well;” and here is hoping that it will continue to thrive through the talents of vocalists such as Scharich.

Sam Weiser to Join Ian Scarfe at Century Club

Poster for the event being described, showing the two performers (screenshot from the Groupmuse Web page)

Some readers may recall that this afternoon pianist Ian Scarfe will begin the new year with his next visit to the Century Club of California. This may turn out to be a regular event, because, a little less than two weeks ago, I learned that Scarfe will return to the Century Club almost exactly one month later. However, while he will be performing with cellist James Joffe this afternoon, next month his duo partner will be violinist Sam Weiser, who, according to my records, last performed with Scarfe this past June for his Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, performed at Monument SF.

Next month’s program will be framed by two significant compositions in the sonata repertoire. The program will begin with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 304 two-movement violin sonata, which will be coupled with the last of Ludwig van Beethoven’s three Opus 30 violin sonatas, composed in the key of G major. The second half of the program will begin with Rebecca Clarke’s “Midsummer Moon,” followed by Amy Beach’s Opus 23 “Romance,” her first chamber music composition.

For those that do not already know, the Century Club is located at 1355 Franklin Street, between Post Street and Sutter Street. However, all arrangements must be made through a Groupmuse Web page. Ticket prices begin at $25, with $5 to hold a reservation. As of this writing, 73 of 75 spots are still available. The performance will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 22. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. Drinks will be provided at the intermission (both with and without alcohol). However, the club itself is not wheelchair accessible.

duo B. on Queen Bee Records

Once again, I can enjoy announcing the release date for the latest album produced by Queen Bee Records. The title of the album is Incomplete, Open; and it is a performance by duo B., which consists of Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass performing with drummer Jason Levis. The album will be released this coming Friday, and Bandcamp has created a Web page for processing pre-orders.

My awareness of Mezzacappa goes all the way back to when I was writing about music for Examiner.com. In the summer of 2015, I was covering the Outsound New Music Summit; and she contributed to a program entitled Comprovisation: the art of compositional improvisation. On that occasion she led her Bait & Switch quartet, whose other members were Aaron Bennett on tenor saxophone, John Finkbeiner on guitar, and Jordan Glenn on drums.

Mezzacappa was working with Levis long before I had that first encounter with her. Indeed, they have been “exploring and expanding the expressive possibilities of the drums-and-bass duo format” since the beginning of this century. Their influences have included Anthony Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith, Cecil Taylor, and Henry Threadgill, each of whom has explored adventurous departures from “traditional” jazz. More explicitly, the album they released in February of last year, Luminous Axis, was a performance of a graphically-notated score by Smith.

Mezzacappa and Levis describe Incomplete,Open as “a suite of improvised←→composed music inspired by the drawings and sculptures of Sol LeWitt.” Indeed, LeWitt created his series of Incomplete Open Cubes between 1974 and 1982, resulting in 122 different ways of “not making a cube, all the ways of the cube not being complete.” The Incomplete,Open suite emerged as “a sonic parallel to Lewitt’s intriguing visual vocabulary.”

I recall begin aware of LeWitt’s work since my student days, but those were in the last century. Since my move to San Francisco, I have had almost no encounters with his work. Fortunately, Wikipedia has provided a low-resolution fair use reproduction of LeWitt’s “Horizontal Lines, Black and Gray,” which captures the spirit of the seven tracks on Incomplete, Open:

This imagery served as a new approach to musical notation, which was then interpreted and realized through each of the seven tracks on the album.

To be fair, I have not devoted much time to aligning the tracks on Incomplete, Open with any of LeWitt’s work. I have focused, instead, on the interplay between the two instrumentalists. Over the course of those seven tracks, there has been more than a generous share of originality in how each of the musicians develops a melodic line and in how those lines engage with each other in a duo performance.

Trio Wanderer to Release New Album

Trio Wanderer is a French piano trio made up of Vincent Coq, piano, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, violin, and Raphaël Pidoux, cello, all graduates of the Conservatoire de Paris. They have been recording for Harmonia Mundi since 1999, and their latest album will be released this coming Friday. The full title of the album is Art nouveau: French chamber music around 1900; and, as many (most?) readers will expect, Amazon.com has already created a Web page for processing pre-orders.

Similarly, most readers will probably (and correctly) associate this period with Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, the latter being a little more than a decade younger than the former. Those familiar with Debussy are likely to appreciate the performances of his L. 135 cello sonata in D minor, which was followed shortly thereafter by the L. 140 violin sonata in G minor. Less familiar will be one of his earliest compositions, the L. 5 piano trio in G major. Ravel is probably best known for his M. 67 piano trio in A minor, but the album also includes the M. 73 sonata for violin and cello.

Photograph of Mel Bonis taken around 1900, by which time both Debussy and Ravel had honed their skills as composers (photographer unidentified, from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

The earliest work in the collection is Édouard Lalo’s Opus 26, the last of his three piano trios, composed in 1880. This is the first work on the album and basically serves as a “threshold” for what is to come. There are also two short compositions by Mel Bonis: the Opus 76 “Soir - Matin” piano trio and the Opus 71 barcarolle for solo piano. Bonis is likely to be the least known to most listeners. However, her lifetime extended from 1858 to 1937, during which she composed over 300 original works.

Thus, while the selections by both Debussy and Ravel are likely to be familiar to many listeners (particularly those interested in chamber music), both Lalo and Bonis will contribute significantly to the selection and ordering of the tracks, serving up a thoroughly engaging journey of discovery.

45 Years of International Guitar Night

Lucas Imbiriba with his guitar (from the Web page for International Guitar Night)

Readers that follow this site for news of guitar performances probably know about International Guitar Night. This is an annual event presented by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts, which provides a platform for four acoustic guitarists from various cultural backgrounds, each reflecting a different approach to performance. This year the participating guitarists will be Thu Le, Taimane, Lucas Imbiriba, and Alexandr Miske.

The performance will take place on Saturday, February 21. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Herbst Theatre, whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue. Tickets prices are $55, $65, and $75. They may be purchased online through a City Box Office Web page.

Another Reason to Choose the UK over Trump

 

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer (from an article in The Guardian demanding that Donald Trump apologize for his “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks about British troops in Afghanistan)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/23/donald-trump-outrage-nato-troops-avoided-afghanistan-frontline

SFP: Remainder of February, 2026

Having written about San Francisco Performances (SFP) events during the first half of February exactly one week ago, it is now time to account for the last two performances that will take place towards the end of that month. These will take place on the last two Fridays. As usual, both programs will begin at 7:30 p.m.; and each will be a different sub-genre of chamber music. Specific dates are as follows:

Jennifer Koh with her violin (photograph by Juergen Frank, from her SFP Web page)

February 20: Unless I am mistaken, violinist Jennifer Koh has not visited San Francisco since the SFP performance of Summer Music Sessions 2021, when she was part of a trio with Jay Campbell on cello and pianist Timo Andres. She will return next month for a violin recital performed with piano accompaniment provided by Thomas Sauer. She has structured her program around two violin sonatas by French composers. She will conclude the first half of the program with Maurice Ravel’s M. 77 second sonata in G major, and the second half will conclude with Gabriel Fauré’s first sonata, his Opus 13 in A major. Each of these sonatas will be preceded by a shorter work by a contemporary composer. Tania Léon’s “Para Violin y Piano” will precede Ravel, and the second half of the program will begin with Kaija Saariaho’s “Tocar.” The program will begin with a selection of compositions by Lili Boulanger.

February 27: The entire program will be the West Coast premiere performance of note to a friend by David Lang. Vocalist Theo Bleckman will be accompanied by the Attacca Quartet, whose members are violinists Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni, Nathan Schram on viola, and cellist Andrew Yee. The texts of the “note” are taken from works by the Japanese novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who is probably best known as the author of Rashomon.

John Storgårds’ Engaging SFS Podium Debut

John Storgårds, this week’s SFS conductor (from the SFS Web page for the concert program)

Last night saw Finnish conductor John Storgårds make his debut on the podium of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS). He prepared a “standard” overture-concerto-symphony program, using the “overture” to introduce a Finnish composition to the audience. “The Rapids of Life” was composed by Outi Tarkiainen in 2023, and last night’s performance saw its United State premiere.

In the program book, Tarkiainen described her composition as “a work about that paramount moment, about a female’s instinctive birth-giving and a little child of nature who opens his eyes for the first time.” I must confess that my attention to this context was almost ferociously overshadowed by a massive and engagingly diverse percussion section, consisting of a pair of cymbals crashing each other, a suspended cymbal, gong, tam-tam, glass wind chimes, shell chimes, egg shakers, ratchet, bass drum, glockenspiel, bowed vibraphone, and tubular bells. While I could appreciate the intentions behind the composer’s context, it was hard for me to avoid anything other than the deft choreography of the percussionists at their work.

The remaining two works on the program were both in the key of C minor, but they could not have been more different. The intermission was preceded by Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opus 35, his first piano concerto given the title “Concerto for piano, trumpet and string orchestra.” The second half of the program was devoted entirely to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 67 (fifth) symphony.

This made for an engaging “compare and contrast” experience. The Shostakovich concerto was first performed in 1933, a time when Joseph Stalin had his hands full with a famine and had not yet begun to interfere with the performing arts. The instrumentation itself suggests a witty rhetoric, and Mark Inouye made every one of Shostakovich’s gestures for the trumpet an engaging one. The solo piano was performed by Seong-Jin Cho, serving up the perfect counterpart to Inouye’s rhetoric. The two of them performed a duo encore after the concerto, but no title was announced.

Shostakovich’s wit provided just the right contrast to the Beethoven symphony, which can be counted as the ultimate “scowling Beethoven” composition. If this is not the most familiar piece of music in the classical repertoire, it is certainly in the “top ten,” if not the “top five.” Indeed, it is so popular that the opening gesture runs the risk of an overused cliché. Fortunately, Storgårds was more interested in the overall framework of the symphony than in its most familiar motif. Thus, while much (most?) of the audience was well acquainted with the full panoply of themes in the Opus 67 symphony, Storgårds’ interpretation made for a freshly engaging encounter with “the old warhorse.”

Taken as a whole, Storgårds’ performance was engaging from start to finish; perhaps he will return soon with a program that couples a Beethoven piano concerto with a Shostakovich symphony!

Anne Hege Coming to 836M

Anne Hege preparing the set design for The Glance

Some readers may recall my account of performances at the 836M Gallery, named after its address at 836 Montgomery Street, for this past fall. The next music event will begin about a month from now. Composer, musician, and instrument designer Anne Hege will have a four-month residency, which will conclude with performances at the ODC Theater at the end of May.

Hege will use her residency to develop a 90-minute “laptopera” entitled The Glance and based on the myth of Orpheus. (Those familiar with the myth will recognize that the title reflects its tragic climax.) Her performances involve an imaginative synthesis through both analog and digital technologies. Her first “laptopera” was entitled The Furies and was first performed in 2022 by the Stanford Laptop Orchestra. Her current performances are with her electronic duo New Prosthetics and the laptop ensemble Sideband.

This is basically a “heads up” preview. Dates and times of the performance have not yet been announced. The best source for that information will by the ODC Performance & Event Calendar. Thus far, only one event has been scheduled at that venue at the very beginning of May. Those wishing to see the performance of The Glance can make regular visits to that Calendar to check out the final weekend of that month.

Meanwhile, next month will see a preview event entitled Soft Opening. Audiences are invited to witness how Hege works with vocalist Sidney Chen, who will be singing the role of Hades. This open rehearsal will take place in the 836M Gallery beginning at 6:30 PM on Thursday, February 19. Because it is a gallery, 836M never charges for admission.

A Dim Shenson Spotlight Performance

Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (by Waldy Martens Photography, courtesy of the San Francisco Symphony)

Yesterday evening in Davies Symphony Hall saw the beginning of this season’s Shenson Spotlight Series, its fifth iteration. The was the first of four recitals, the remaining three of which will take place on February 25, April 15, and June 3. Last night saw a solo performance by pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, who framed his program with works by two major Russian composers. He began with Alexander Scriabin’s Opus 28 “Fantasy,” composed in the key of B minor, and concluded with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 23 collection of ten preludes. These selections framed the “keystone” of the program (to mix metaphors), which was César Franck’s “Prélude, Choral et Fugue.”

Sadly, this was a promising undertaking that did not live up to its promise. To be fair, the Scriabin selection receives more attention in my collection of recordings than in concert performances. Thus, Izik-Dzurko deserves credit for advocating that attention. However, when it came to the listening experience on audience side, his delivery amounted to little more than sound and fury signifying you-know-what.

The Rachmaninoff preludes did not fare much better. Each of the ten selections is in a different key, but the composer conceived an intricate overall design based on how the individual preludes were paired. To be fair, it is easier to appreciate that design by looking at the program book; but it would not surprise me if Rachmaninoff himself encouraged his audiences to do just that while he was unfolding the journey from one prelude to the next. Sadly, many of the thematic lines were blurred by Izik-Dzurko’s heavy-handed execution, thus undermining any thoughts the composer might have had of the unfolding of texture.

The Franck selection tends to be more familiar with those that like to follow the piano repertoire. This past August, for example, it was one of the major selections performed at the eighth annual San Francisco International Piano Festival. I have to confess that, while the music is way beyond my “pay grade,” I still enjoyed taking the time to work through the score to enhance any experience of listening to the music in recital. Last night it was difficult for me to avoid disappointment with Izik-Dzurko’s delivery, which amounted to a plethora of notes with little sense of expression.

Sadly, that plethora reared its head again in the first of the two unannounced encores, the second of which was a lame attempt at trying to explore jazzy rhetoric; hopefully, next month’s Shenson pianist will deliver more engaging offerings.

Music in the Mishkan Announces 27th Season

Poster design for the Music in the Mishkan season (from last year’s announcement of the 26th season)

Violinist Randall Weiss recently announced plans for the 27th season of Music in the Mishkan. He is a long-time member of The Bridge Players. The season will consist of only two performances, which will be performed by the same piano quartet. The pianist will be Amy Zanrosso, and Weiss will be joined by violist Natalia Vershilova and Victoria Ehrlich on cello. Both concerts will be Sunday afternoon events, beginning at 4 p.m. Dates and program selections will be as follows:

February 15: In 1999 Lera Auerbach composed three cycles of 24 preludes accounting for all major and minor keys. According to my records, the chronological order of these cycles accounts for piano, cello, and violin, the last two being duo performances with piano accompaniment. For the first Mishkan performance, Weiss will perform selections from the violin cycle and Ehrlich will do the same drawing upon the cello cycle. These selections will be preceded by a violin sonata in D minor composed by Leon Reinach, who was murdered in the Holocaust. The remainder of the program will offer more familiar selections: Gabriel Fauré’s Opus 120 piano trio in D minor and Robert Schumann’s Opus 47 piano quartet in E-flat major.

April 12: The second program will feature the world premiere of a piano trio by Alex Malinas. It will begin with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 478 piano quartet in G minor. The second half of the program will be devoted to Camille Saint-Saëns’ Opus 41 piano quartet in B-flat major.

As in the past, these performances will take place at the Sha’ar Zahav synagogue. It is located in the Mission at 290 Dolores Street. Ticket prices are $30 for members and $35 for others. All purchases are processed through a single Web page. There will be no physical tickets, but a list will be kept at the door.

Dave Stryker’s New Trio Album

Dave Stryker on the cover of his latest album

My last encounter with guitarist Dave Stryker took place almost exactly two years ago with the release of his Groove Street album. Early this month he released a new album, whose full title is Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session. The subtitle refers to the fact that the nine tracks were recorded at the Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in a single day on July 14 of last year.

Once again, Stryker is leading a trio performing with Jared Gold on organ and McClenty Hunter on drums. He is responsible for composing four of the tracks: “Van Gelder’s Place,” “Blue Fire,” “Waiting for Ruby,” and “Summer Night.” Gold contributes an original of his own: “Back and Forth.” The other tracks are by Charlie Parker (“Dexterity”), Jerome Kern (“The Folks who Live on the Hill”), Paul McCartney (“The Fool on the Hill”), and the partnership of Harry Warren and Al Dubin (“Summer Night”).

Through my past experiences, I have come to enjoy listening to Stryker’s guitar work; and his solo riffs consistently deserve attention. That said, both Gold and Hunter have takes of their own to contribute to the album. The result is a consistent account of performances involving an engaging diversity of solos in a well-balanced trio context. Stryker strikes again!

Do We Need the UK to Keep Trump in Check?

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer opposing Donald Trump’s plans for Greenland (photograph provided by the United Kingdom’s House of Commons)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/21/starmer-criticises-trump-pressure-over-greenland

Fred Randolph Quintet Returning to Chez Hanny

Fred Randolph on bass guitar performing with Phil Thompson on saxophone and Marcos Silva on trumpet (from a YouTube video of a performance of the Hispanic song “Pelo Mar” at the California Jazz Conservatory)

Next month will begin with the return of the Fred Randolph Quintet to Chez Hanny. Bassist Randolph leads the group, which last visited Chez Hanny almost exactly two years ago. Three of the members of the group performed with Randolph on that occasion: Sheldon Brown, who plays a diversity of wind instruments and devotes the rest of his time to composition, trumpeter Erik Jekabson, and pianist Murray Low. The “newcomer” to the quintet is drummer Brian Fishler.

As usual, the performance will begin at Chez Hanny at 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 1. As always, the venue will be Hanny’s house at 1300 Silver Avenue, with the performance taking place in the downstairs rumpus room. Admission will be $25, payable by cash, a check to Jazz Chez Hanny, or the Zelle account at jazz@chezhanny.com. 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.

Can the EU Stand Up to Trump Successfully?

Reuters photograph of Donald Trump by Elizabeth Frantz (from an Al Jazeera Web page) 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/20/trump-undermines-key-allies-uk-and-france-ahead-of-davos-visit

Earplay: Answering the Unanswered

Yesterday evening saw the beginning of Earplay’s 41st season, entitled Answering The Unanswered Question. The season was inspired by Charles Ives’ enigmatic orchestral composition, “The Unanswered Question” with the intention that each of the three programs of the season would also feature a new composition serving as an “answer.” Last night’s “response” was provided by Emma Logan, whose “What Lies at Dream’s End” was performed immediately after Bruce Bennetts’s arrangement of “The Unanswered Question” scored for flute (Tod Brody), clarinet (Peter Josheff), violin (Terrie Baune), viola (Ellen Ruth Rose), cello (Thalia Moore), and piano (Keisuke Nakagoshi).

In Ives’ original score, the “question” was posed by a solo instrument. Ives’ preference was a trumpet using a mute “unless playing in a very large room, or with a larger string orchestra.” The “response” was provided by a woodwind quartet, preferably four flutes but with possible substitutions of oboe and clarinet. Last night the exchange was performed by Josheff posing the question and Nakagoshi taking on attempts to answer.

My acquaintance with Ives’ music goes back to high school days. Unless I am mistaken, Eugene Ormandy introduced his second symphony to the Philadelphia Orchestra with a broad variety of responses from the audience. My work at the campus radio station of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gave me the opportunity to get to know many of that composer’s works. I discovered that most of my professors (including Elliott Carter during a term as Visiting Professor) did not know what to make of him; but I had no trouble taking his raucous rhetoric at face value!

“The Unanswered Question” is far from raucous, but it still mystified just about anyone that tried to explain it. Personally, I have no trouble just taking the question-response structure at face value. If the question is never answered, I can still enjoy the music itself.

I would not be surprised if Logan adopted the same attitude. “What Lies at Dream’s End” is a trio for flute, viola, and piano. I came away with the impression that her music amounted to personal reflections after her encounter with Ives. Her music did not necessarily reflect Ives, but “The Unanswered Question” probably triggered her own personal thoughts. Personally, I cannot think of a better approach to “answering” Ives!

Terri Baune, Thalia Moore, Keisuke Nakagoshi, Peter Josheff, and Tod Brody playing John Harbison’s “Prelude-Variations” (screen shot from last night’s YouTube’s feed of the Earplay recital)

The first half of the program concluded with “Prelude–Variations,” composed by John Harbison in 2024. Given its West Coast premiere, this music was scored for flute, clarinet (doubling on bass clarinet), violin, cello, and piano. Unless I am mistaken, Harbison arrived at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shortly before I left with my doctoral degree in hand. My encounters with him were brief, and our differences in opinion were immediately obvious! Earplay provided a solid account of this piece, but it had little impact on me.

The second half of the program was devoted entirely to Roger Reynolds’ “Shadowed Narrative.” Unfortunately, the audio on my live YouTube feed mysteriously vanished. Fortunately, I still have his For a Reason album in my collection!

The Bleeding Edge: 1/19/2026

This will be a moderately busy week on the Bleeding Edge. Nevertheless, all of the events will take place between today and Friday! The earliest of these has already been announced: the beginning of Earplay’s 41st season this evening at the Noe Valley Ministry. The remaining events of the week will be as follows:

Monday, January 19, 7:30 p.m., Dead End Vintage: This venue seems to have changed its name, since it was reported as DEAD NOISE STATION last year. However, if the name has changed, the venue will still be presenting a four-set evening, which will involve a few visitors. Cecyl Ruehlen is based in Tucson, Arizona; and his performance will involve creating and working with “chimeric instruments.” The other visitors will be the String Thing duo of Fae Ordaz and Penina Biddle-Gottesman, who live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Isabelle Waldner Kalb seems to have last visited San Francisco as one of the performers in an “acoustic string show” this past October. The final set will be a trio performance. Aine Nakamura presented her hands on tape installation at The Lab this past July. She will again perform with percussionist Jacob Felix Heule, and they will be joined by another percussionist, Kevin Corcoran. The address for the venue is still 3370 19th Street, located in the Mission, between Mission Street and Capp Street.

Tuesday, January 20, 7 p.m., Make-Out Room: This month’s Jazz at the Make-Out Room will present several sets opening with three familiar faces. The trio of Tom Djll on electronics, guitarist Karl Evangelista, and Suki O’Kane on percussion will begin the evening. They will be followed by a solo set with Sean Keenan working with a diversity of electronic gear. Electronics will be set aside in the final set, performed by the quartet of Bruce Ackley on a diversity of wind instruments, cellist Ben Davis, Darren Johnston on trumpet, and David Michalak dividing his attention among a lap steel guitar, a skatchbox, and a phantom harp. For those unfamiliar with the venue, it is located in the Mission at 3225 22nd Street.

Thursday, January 22, Friday, January 23, and Saturday, January 24, 7 p.m., Black Cat Jazz Supper Club: Trumpeter Etienne Charles will lead a trio performance. Rhythm will be provided by Mikailo Kasha on bass and drummer Miles Turk. Admission will be $30. The address for the venue is 400 Eddy Street.

Poster design for Resident Electronic Music!

Thursday, January 22, 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, January 23, 7 p.m.,  Medicine for Nightmares: This week’s Other Dimensions in Sound program will be devoted entirely to “an entity of instrumetal noise rock known as Wall of Fog.” 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.

Davies Hosts Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival

Once again, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO), led by Radu Paponiu, hosted the annual Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival in Davies Symphony Hall. They shared the stage with four other Bay Area ensembles:

1. Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra with Music Director Jim Stopher
2. Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra with Music Director Jaco Wong
3. Young People’s Symphony Orchestra with Music Director David Ramadanoff
4. California Youth Symphony with Music Director Leo Eylar

Newscaster Wendy Tokuda served as Master of Ceremonies.

Marin began the program with the overture to Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Nabucco. This could not have been a better opening, putting the full ensemble to good use. Stopher conducted without a score, keeping his full attention focused on all of the performers.

Wong took a smooth segue from Gabriela Lena Frank (the “Pinkillo Serrano” movement from Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra) to Sergei Prokofiev, his Opus 100 (fifth) symphony in B-flat major. The latter was limited to its last (Allegro giocoso) movement. This involved a fair amount of cello work, which came across as weak. This may have been just as well since there were major problems with the overall balance of the ensemble. Far more confident was the SFSYO approach to Johannes Brahms’ Opus 80, his “Academic Festival” overture with an “encore” of Martin Schmeling’s orchestration of the fifth of the Brahms “Hungarian Dance” compositions.

Antonín Dvořák’s summer residence, where he composed his Opus 88 (photographer not identified, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

The second half of the program began with David Ramadanoff leading the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra in the first movement of Antonín Dvořák’s Opus 88 (eighth) symphony in G major. Sadly, the conductor did not appear to be particularly connected to his score, but the ensemble seemed quite capable of maintaining the necessary inertia. More problematic was Leo Eylar’s approach to Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” which never seemed to find the right balance across the composer’s engaging instrumental diversity. The program then concluded with an “all hands on deck” performance of the final movement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opus 93 (tenth) symphony in E minor.

Since I made my move to the Bay Area, I have tried to keep up with this annual gathering of youth orchestras. I like to think of them as forecasting what to expect in future concert performances. As can be seen from the above account, this year’s forecast was a mixed one. On the other hand, forecasts can only be speculative; so all I can do is wait to see if I ever encounter any of yesterday afternoon’s performers in the future!

Old First Concerts: February, 2026

Having accounted for the three performances to be presented by Old First Concerts this month shortly before Christmas, it is now time to look forward to next month’s offerings. There will be only two of them, both piano trio performances. However, content will be significantly different, as most readers will be quick to observe. As usual, all of the events will remain “hybrid,” allowing both live streaming and seating in the Old First Presbyterian Church at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue. Hyperlinks to the event pages (which include hyperlinks for live streaming and ticket purchasing) will be attached to the date and time of the performances as follows:

Friday, February 13, 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 15, 4 p.m.: The first program will be performed by the Sixth Station Trio. Some readers may recall that this ensemble is a piano trio, all of whose members have had experiences with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). The pianist is Katelyn Tan, who received her Masters degree from SFCM in 2020 and now serves as a staff accompanist there. That same year, violinist Anju Goto completed his SFCM undergraduate degree. Finally, cellist Federico Strand Ramirez holds both a Bachelor of Music and an Advanced Certificate degree from SFCM. They have prepared their own arrangement of the music that Joe Hisaishi composed for the Japanese animated fantasy film Howl’s Moving Castle. The narrative for this film is a romantic one, making it appropriate for the weekend of Valentine’s Day!

Ensemble Les Six members Ihang Lin, Katie Youn, and Catalina Barraza (from the Web page for their Old First Concerts recital)

Friday, February 20, 8 p.m.: Ensemble Les Six was founded in March of 2022 by pianist Ihang Lin. The group, named after the six composers that joined forces in France during World War I, consists of ten professional musicians, many associated with local universities, as well as the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera Guild. Three of these musicians will visit Old First, including Lin along with Catalina Barraza on violin and cellist Katie Youn. All three of them will perform Claude Debussy’s only piano trio, composed in 1880 but only discovered in 1982. This will be the final work on the program, which will begin with Lin performing études selected from Frédéric Chopin’s Opus 10 collection. This will be followed by two duo performances for violin and cello. The more familiar of these will be Johan Halvorsen’s arrangement of the passacaglia movement from George Frideric Handel’s HWV 432 harpsichord suite in G minor. This will be preceded by the more recent duo for violin and cello composed by Jessie Montgomery.