A Fascinating Choice Required for January 29

For those who like concert offerings that stray from the beaten path, the last Tuesday of this month will offer some intriguing alternatives.

The more conventional of these will be the third offering in the San Francisco Performances (SFP) Great Artists and Ensembles Series. This will be the one program in the Series that will bring a leading solo artist together with an ensemble. The soloist will be pianist Inon Barnatan; and most of his program will be devoted to four keyboard concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 1052 in D minor, BWV 1058 in G minor, BWV 1055 in A major, and BWV 1056 in F minor. Instrumental accompaniment will be provided by the Calidore String Quartet, which will be making its SFP debut. Barnatan will also give a solo performance of six of the pieces collected in the BWV 1080 The Art of Fugue, five fugues and one canon.

This performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 29. The performance will take place in Herbst Theatre, whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building, located on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. Tickets are on sale for $70 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front of the Dress Circle, $55 for the remainder of the Orchestra, the remainder of the center Dress Circle, and the Boxes, and $45 for remaining seats in the Dress Circle and the Balcony. Tickets may be purchased online in advance through a City Box Office event page.

The other alternative will be the launch of a new concert series called Local Sirens. This has been planned as a free, quarterly music performance events presented by Women’s Audio Mission. Each program will feature emerging and established local woman-identified (transgender or cisgender), non-binary or gender non-conforming artists. All of the performers at the first concert are classically trained but have ventured into diverse alternative genres to create original compositions and arrangements. The program will consist of three sets:

1. The most familiar set will probably be that of the Real Vocal String Quartet (RVSQ), which is probably the oldest of the groups presenting. It was founded in 2004 by violinist and vocalist Irene Sazer, who was an original member of the Turtle Island String Quartet. RVSQ is a string quartet, all of whose members also sing, often while playing their instruments. Their repertoire covers just about every imaginable genre, as well as improvisations.
2. Hae Voces is the duo of Kristina Dutton and Majei Connery, both of whom are composers and multi-instrumentalists. The name of the group is the Latin for “these voices.” They describe themselves as being “too complex to be ambient, and too atmospheric to be rock.” Primary instruments are violin and synthesizers, to which they add their own vocal work.
3. The remaining set will also be taken by a duo called For Now. The members are Zeina Nasr and Alex Vittum, and the genre is pop. However, the songs they create have been conceived to challenge both heart and mind.

This concert will begin at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 29. The venue will be PianoFight, located at 144 Taylor Street, just south of the southeast corner of Eddy Street. Doors will open at 7 p.m.