April is turning out to be such a busy month that it was necessary to provide separate articles for Saturday and Sunday of next weekend. On the following weekend the month will conclude with busy days on Friday and Saturday. One of the events was already reported at the beginning of this month: the performance of The Days Pass Quickly Immersed int he Shadow of Eternity, composed by Lea Bertucci for sampled and live early flutes in 8-channel sound. As usual, there will involve a diversity of other performances at a diversity of venues. As of this writing, specifics are as follows:
Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, 7:30 p.m., St. Ignatius Church: The San Francisco Choral Society, led by Artistic Director Robert Geary, is preparing for a new work by the Ukrainian composer Oleksandr Shchetynsky entitled Signs of Grace. The performance will be preceded by more familiar sacred music from Eastern Europe, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 37, the “All-Night Vigil,” setting fifteen texts from the Russian Orthodox ceremony. Tickets are being sold by City Box Office at prices from $40 to $65 with discounts for seniors, students, and those under the age of 30. Tickets may be purchased online, and City Box Office has created separate Web pages for Friday and Saturday. In addition, the Saturday performance will be livestreamed with digital tickets sold for $40. The church is located on the campus of the University of San Francisco at 650 Parker Avenue, on the northeast corner of Fulton Street.
Friday, April 24, 7:30 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music: The next Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts program is entitled A to Z Guitar Duo. That title refers to two of the most commanding guitarists currently in Europe, Aniello Desiderio and Zoran Dukić. Program details have not yet been announced. General admission will be $70. Tickets may be purchased through a Humanitix Web page. The Concert Hall is located in the Conservatory building at 50 Oak Street.
Friday, April 24, Saturday, April 25, Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, 8 p.m., Saturday, April 25, Sunday, April 26, Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3, 2 p.m., and Tuesday, April 28, Wednesday, April 29, and Thursday, April 30, 7:30 p.m., War Memorial Opera House: Mere Mortals is a full-evening ballet created by choreographer Aszure Barton. The narrative amounts to a technology perspective on the Pandora myth. This will be the return of a ballet originally commissioned for the inaugural season of Artistic Director Tamar Rojo. A single Web page has been created for ticket purchases. As many (most?) readers know, this venue is located on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street.
1971 photograph of Astor Piazzolla with his bandoneon (from a Wikimedia Commons Web page, copyright by Pupeto Mastropasqua)
Saturday, April 25, 2 p.m., Presidio Theatre: The New Century Chamber Orchestra will conclude its season with a program entitled Radiance in Rhythm. The guest soloist will be guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, who will be the soloist in the final selection, the “Concierto de Aranjuez” composed by Joaquín Rodrigo. Sáinz-Villegas will also perform Michael Daugherty’s “Bay of Pigs,” a reflection on a darker period in the past history of our country. There will also be a world premiere performance of “Blues Variations,” composed by Henry Dorn on a New Century commission as part of the Emerging Black Composers Project. The other composers on the program will be Astor Piazzolla (“Fuga y misterio”) and Alberto Williams (“Primera Suite Argentina”). As usual, Daniel Hope will serve as both music director and concertmaster. The venue is located in the Presidio of San Francisco on the south side of the Golden Gate and the bridge that crosses it. City Box Office has created a Web page for online ticket purchases.
