Old First Concerts: February, 2019

Under the assumption that many readers may be using the current “quiet time” to make concert-going plans for next year, it is probably a good idea to follow up last week’s article about the January schedule for Old First Concerts (O1C) with the one for February. (This certainly works for my own planning, since January does not begin to get particularly busy until the middle of the month, while things get much busier in February.) All O1C events take place at the Old First Presbyterian Church, located at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southeast corner of Van Ness Avenue. If purchased in advance online from an O1C event page, general admission will be $23 with a discounted rate of $18 for seniors aged 65 or older. Hyperlinks for online purchase through specific event pages will be attached to the date-and-time information given below. Tickets for full-time students showing valid identification will be $5; and children aged twelve and under will be admitted for free. There is also a discount available for those parking at the Old First Parking Garage at 1725 Sacramento Street, just up the street from the church. Here are the specifics for the month of February:

Friday, February 1, 8 p.m.: The month will begin with a solo recital by guitarist Adam Levin. Levin is currently preparing an encyclopedic series of recordings entitled 21st Century Spanish Guitar. The the current plan is to release four albums, the first three of which are now available. His O1C program will present West Coast premieres of two solo sonatas, one, “Sonata Sefardí,” by Catalan composer, Salvador Brotons, and the other, “Yemanja Sonata,” by Spanish-Cuban composer, Eduardo Morales-Caso. Levin will also perform works by Joaquín Turina, Isaac Albéniz, Antón García Abril and Cristobal Halffter.

Sunday, February 3, 4 p.m.: Ensemble San Francisco is a piano quintet that brings pianist Elizabeth Schumann together with the string quartet of Rebecca Jackson and Moni Simeonov (violins), Matt Young (viola), and Jonah Kim (cello). They will be joined by Jose Gonzalez Granero, Principal Clarinet of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, who is also a composer. The string players will present his first string quartet, which was inspired by “Night of Sleepless Love,” a poem by Federico García Lorca. He will then join the full ensemble to perform the sextet composed by Sheridan Seyfried. The opening selection will be Gabriel Fauré’s Opus 45 (second) piano quartet in G minor.

Friday, February 8, 8 p.m.: Harpsichordist Faythe Vollrath will present a program consisting entirely of music from the twentieth and 21st centuries. The previous century will be represented by Toru Takemitsu (“Rain Dreaming”) and Lou Harrison’s sonata. The newest work on the program will be “Pajdushko” by Sunny Knable.

Sunday, February 10, 4 p.m.: The Wooden Fish Ensemble will return to Old First. This group’s repertoire involves a partnership between composer Hyo-shin Na and an eclectic trio consisting of pianist Thomas Schultz, violinist Terri Baune, and koto player Shoko Hikage. They will be joined by two guest artists, pianist Kevin Sun and Yuki Endo, who plays the Japanese transverse flute known as the shinobue. There will be world-premiere performances of three of Na’s compositions, her third “Cloud Study” and the two most recent pieces in her Melody of Wave series. The program will also include five other Na compositions, Galina Ustvolskaya’s sixth piano sonata, and selected folk songs from both Korea and Japan.

Friday, February 15, 8 p.m.: Mack McCray has given many compelling solo piano recitals at Old First. This time he will be joined by violinist Madeleine Mitchell and cellist Theodore Buchholz. The program will consist of two of the most significant works in the piano trio repertoire, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 97 (“Archduke”) in B-flat major and Johannes Brahms’ Opus 8 in B major.

Friday, February 22, 8 p.m.: The Curium trio will return to give its second O1C recital. Apparently the occasion will also mark the group’s first personnel change. Cellist Carlyn Kessler will come on board, playing with violinist Agnieszka Peszko and pianist Rachel Kim. The group will devote the second half of their program to another Brahms trio, his Opus 101 in C minor. However, the first half will continue the trio’s mission to present the works of female composers. They will begin with “Pale Yellow,” the title Jennifer Higdon gave to her first piano trio, composed in 2003. The twentieth century will be represented by Germaine Tailleferre’s only piano trio, originally completed in 1917 but subsequently revised in 1978.