Choices for April 12–14, 2019 (and beyond)

April does not promise to be quite as busy as March has been. Indeed, the need to make any hard choices will probably not arise until the middle of the month. However, even that weekend will not be as filled with options as the first weekend in March had been. On the other hand, it will (at least for now) mark the beginning of the series of concerts scheduled at the Red Poppy Art House; so, as in the past, this article will provide a “forward pass” for the rest of the month. Also, the options begin with one item already mentioned as follows:

Friday, April 12, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre: As previously observed, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale will conclude its season in San Francisco with a full-length performance of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 53 oratorio Saul.

Friday, April 12, 7 p.m., Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco: InterMusic SF will host a concert to raise funds for its operations, which includes the annual production of SF Music Day and the Musical Grant Program that supports the commissioning and performance of new works, such as the composition of Aaron Gervais’ “Talking in Circles,” which was given its premiere by the Stenberg | Cahill Duo of violinist Kate Stenberg and pianist Sarah Cahill at the beginning of this year. The performers for this fund-raising concert will be the members of the Musical Art Quintet, violinists Jory Fankuchen and Anthony Blea, violist Charith Premawardhana, cellist Lewis Patzner, and Sascha Jacobsen on bass. The program will feature new original works by Jacobsen, including “Contra un Bajo de Magia,” which was composed under InterMusic SF sponsorship. The program will also include Duke Ellington’s “Fleurette Africaine,” from the (in)famous Blue Note trio album with Charles Mingus on bass and Max Roach on drums, “Alfonsina y el Mar” by Ariel Ramirez, and “From Within” by Michel Camilo.

The Swedenborgian Church is located in the “border area” between Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights. The address is 2107 Lyon Street, near the northwest corner of Washington Street. Admission will be $40 for a single ticket and $65 for a pair. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through an Eventbrite event page.

Friday, April 12, 7:30 p.m., Red Poppy Art House: As of this writing, this will be the first concert of the month at the Poppy. The performers will be the members of Bal du Kor, a trio that provides a blend of traditional and original West African melodies and rhythms. Members are Michael Smolens, Ben Issacs, and Daniel Berkman, playing on a wide variety of indigenous instruments.

The Red Poppy is located in the Mission at 2698 Folsom Street on the southwest corner of 23rd Street. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $20 and $25. Tickets will be available in advance online through and Eventbrite event page. Given the demand for these concerts, it is often the case that only a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. The Poppy is a small space. Even those who have purchased their tickets in advance should probably make it a point to be there when the doors open one half-hour before the performance is scheduled to begin. Other events scheduled for the month are as follows, with hyperlinks to the appropriate Eventbrite event pages attached to the date-and-time information:

• Saturday, April 13, 7:30 p.m.: Brazilian guitarist Carlos Oliveira will return to the Poppy, this time giving a duo performance with guitarist Ricardo Peixoto (also Brazilian). They will be joined by percussionist Alex Calatayud. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $20 and $25.
• Friday, April 19, 7:30 p.m.: More Brazilian music will be presented by the Kata-Vento quintet. The name is Portuguese for the phrase “wind catcher,” so named because the quintet features three flutists, Rebecca Kleinmann, Chloe Scott, and Daniel Riera. Rhythm will be provided by Amarante on guitar and Brian Rice on percussion. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $20 and $25.
• Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m.: The French Oak Gypsy Band is a prodigiously eclectic group whose repertoire melds French jazz manouche and chanson, New Orleans jazz, Roma traditional music, and global folk. Vocals are provided by Stella Heath and Gabriel Pirard, the latter also playing guitar. Jimmy Inciardi plays a variety of saxophones, and rhythm is provided by Skyler Stover on bass and Jamie Foster on drums. All online purchases will be $20, but admission at the door will be between $15 and $20.
• Saturday, April 27, 7:30 p.m.: This will be an evening of two sets of jamming with harp. Luminance, which was formed in the Mission District, is the duo of harpist Amelia Romano and trumpeter Matthew Ebisuzaki. They will share the evening with improvisations by Motoshi Kosako on pedal harp in conversation with Michael Manring on bass. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $20 and $25.
• Sunday, April 28, 2 p.m.: This will be the next installment of the free Monthly Community Rumba, with music provided by Rumberos de Radio Habana. While this is a free event, donations are warmly accepted. All donated money goes to the performing musicians, and a recommended amount is between $5 and $10.

Any additions or modifications to this schedule will be announced through posts to my “shadow” Facebook site.

Friday, April 12, 8 p.m., McKenna Theatre: The next concert in the 2018–2019 season of the Morrison Artists Series, presented by the College of Liberal and Creative Arts at San Francisco State University (SFSU), will be given by the Paris-based Trio Ancuza Aprodu. The trio, which is associated with the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, is named after its founder, pianist Aprodu. The other members are violinist Gaël Raessert and cellist Valerie Dulac.

They will present a program prepared to acknowledge the centennial of the death of Claude Debussy on March 25 of last year. The program will begin with one of Debussy’s earliest compositions, a piano trio written in 1880 when the eighteen-year-old Debussy was a guest of Nadezhda von Meck at her home in Fiesole, Italy. The remainder of the program will devoted to two composers with whom Debussy tends to be associated. Raessert and Dulac will play Maurice Ravel’s duo sonata, and the program will conclude with Gabriel Fauré’s Opus 120 trio in D minor.

The McKenna Theatre is in the Creative Arts Building at SFSU, a short walk from the SFSU Muni stop at the corner of 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue. Tickets are free but advance registration is highly desirable. Reservations may be made through the event page for this concert. As usual, there will be a pre-concert lecture, which will begin 7 p.m. in Knuth Hall.

[added 4/10, 12:20 p.m.:

Saturday, April 13, 3:30 p.m., San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM): SFCM and the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the American Liszt Society will again co-sponor the sixteenth annual Young Pianists play Liszt concert. This event is organized annually by SFCM Faculty member William Wellborn, who is also President of the Bay Area chapter. The concert features talented young pianists from both the college and pre-college divisions of SFCM. Selections will include the second of the Hungarian rhapsodies, the second polonaise in E major, the second of the Saint Francis “legends,” “Sposalizio” from the second “year” in the Années de pèlerinage collection, and transcriptions of songs by Frédéric Chopin.

The performance will take place in the Osher Salon. SFCM is located at 50 Oak Street, between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street and a short walk from the Muni Van Ness Station. There will be no charge for admission to this concert.

Saturday, April 13, 4 p.m., San Francisco Public Library, Richmond Branch: As already reported, Bruce Ackley will present a lecture-demonstration about the soprano saxophone.]

Saturday, April 13, 7:30 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: The title of the next guitar recital to be hosted by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts will be entitled The Professors of 50 Oak Street. Those who follow this site regularly will know that 50 Oak Street is the address of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The program will showcase performances by the Guitar Department faculty members, each of whom will be given a solo set: David Tanenbaum, Judicael Perroy, Larry Ferrara, Marc Teicholz and Richard Savino.

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner of Franklin Street. Seating will be general admission.Ticket prices are $55 on Orchestra level and and $45 in the balcony. Tickets may be purchased online through a City Box Office event page. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-242-4500.

[added 4/5, 9:55 a.m.: This concert has been cancelled due to illness; an alternative recital by pianist Alexandre Tharaud has been scheduled for a different date.

Saturday, April 13, 7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: San Francisco Performances (SFP) will present the final recital in its 2018–2019 Piano Series. Piotr Anderszewski will return to give his second SFP recital, having made his SFP debut in March of 2003. Somewhat surprisingly, he will be presenting the only work by Ludwig van Beethoven in the entire series. The second half of the program will be devoted entirely to the Opus 120 set of 33 variations composed on the waltz theme given to him by the publisher Anton Diabelli. For the first half of the program, Anderszewski will perform selections from the second book of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Herbst Theatre is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Tickets are on sale for $75 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front of the Dress Circle, $60 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.]

Sunday, April 14, 4 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: The San Francisco Early Music Society will continue is 2018–19 season with a return visit by Ensemble Caprice. Directed jointly by recorder players Matthias Maute and Sophie Larivière (who also plays flute), the ensemble is celebrating its 30th anniversary this season. The other performers will be Susan Napper (cello), David Jacques (baroque guitar), and Ziya Tabassian (percussion). The title of the program will be iLove Baroque: Short Histories and Voices of Eternity. The selections (including some folk songs) will all be oriented, in one way or another, around the theme of love.

Single ticket prices will range between $45 and $12. In addition, there are still membership and subscription options for attending three or more concerts with discounts of up to 25%. All information about ticketing options has been summarized on a single Web page. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 510-528-1725.

As of this writing, no other Sunday performances have been announced; but information will be posted when it becomes available.