Saturday, March 17, 2018

San Francisco Conservatory of Music: April and May, 2018

As we near the end of the academic year at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), it will make sense to group the final two months into a single article, particularly since there is only one event to announce for the month of May. Unless otherwise specified, all events will be free of charge; and reservations will not be required. The SFCM building is located at 50 Oak Street, between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni Station. Readers are encouraged to consult the Performance Calendar Web page at the SFCM Web site for the most up-to-date information about any of these offerings. Here is a chronological listing of events likely to be of interest to serious and attentive listeners:

Monday, April 2, 7:30 p.m., Recital Hall: The first Faculty Artist Series concert of the month will be presented by David Conte, Chair of the Composition Department. Conte will be joined by SFCM faculty, alumni, and staff in a survey of his recent work. The program will feature the world premiere of his latest song cycle, Madrigals for the Seasons. There will also be three Bay Area premieres, the song cycle for baritone and piano Everyone Sang, and two pieces of chamber music, an elegy for violin and piano and a sonata for clarinet and piano. The program will also include the aria sung by Kate from the opera East of Eden and the collection of settings of three of the poems of Christina Rossetti.

Friday, April 6, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 8, 2 p.m., Concert Hall: The full-length opera for the spring semester will be Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied. First performed about a decade ago, the libretto tells the story of Jim Thompson, the longest-held prisoner of war in the history of our country. Tickets will be required for this performance, $20 for general admission and $15 for seniors, students, and SFCM members. Tickets may be purchased online through a Click4Tix event page set up to take orders for both of the performances.

Monday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., Recital Hall: The final Centennial event of the season will present compositions by past and present faculty members of the Composition Department: Elinor Armer, David Garner, David Conte, and Aaron Jay Kernis.

Sunday, April 15, 2 p.m., Concert Hall: The Historical Performance Department will present the winners of this season’s Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition. Those winners will be violinists Alyssa Wright and Shelby Yamin, playing concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Tartini, respectively, guitarist Matthew Xie playing a Vivaldi lute concerto, and cellists Chiyuan Ma and Stephanie Li, joining forces in a Vivaldi concerto for two cellos. All performances will be on historical instruments.

Saturday, April 21, 7:30 p.m., Concert Hall: Michael Mohammed, Director of the Musical Theatre Workshop, will present a revue entitled Enchanted Evening. Details will be announced at a later date. The Music Director for this production will be Michael Horsley.

Sunday, April 22, 4 p.m., Recital Hall: The final faculty performance of the academic year will be a program consisting entirely of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach played on historical instruments. The performers will include the two co-Directors of the Historical Performance department, Elisabeth Reed on cello and Corey Jamason on harpsichord. They will be joined by Elizabeth Blumenstock on violin. Again, all performances will be on historical instruments.

Sunday, April 29, 2 p.m., Concert Hall: Edwin Outwater will be guest conductor for the final concert of the academic year to be given by the Conservatory Orchestra. The program will present two of Richard Strauss’ tone poems, “Don Juan” and “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.” It will conclude with Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken I/98 symphony in B-flat major. Tickets will be required for this performance, $20 for general admission and $15 for seniors, students, and SFCM members. Tickets may be purchased online through a Click4Tix event page.

Friday, May 4, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, May 6, 2 p.m., Concert Hall: Heather Mathews will direct two chamber opera performances, both based on libretti by Mark Campbell. The first of these will be William Bolcom’s Lucrezia followed by John Musto’s Bastianello. The conductor will be Curt Pajer. Both performances will be free, but reservations will be required. Separate Google Forms Web pages have been created for registering for the Friday and Sunday performances.

[added 5/5, 11:25 a.m.:

Thursday, May 10, 8:30 p.m., Concert Hall: Mouthscape was founded by SFCM graduate composition student Lukáš Janata in collaboration with Bryan Lin, Bobby Chastain, Eric Choate, John Masko, Joshua Saulle and SFCM students in the fall of 2017 for the purpose of championing new works for a capella chorus, with special emphasis on works by composers within SFCM community. The program will present seven recent (between 2016 and 2018) works by SFCM students and alumni. It will then conclude with “Epitaphs,” which Composition Faculty member David Garner composed in 1996.]

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