Neighborhood Performance Project: April, 2019

Readers may recall announcements of concerts at the Community Music Center made possible by Jazz in the Neighborhood. As the name implies, this is an organization dedicated to bringing the performance of music to an audience, rather than the other way around. Jazz in the Neighborhood continues to maintain an active calendar that serves a diversity of local communities.

This morning, however, I discovered that there is a group with a similar agenda enabling performances by small-scale chamber ensembles in a wider variety of genres. Participating groups perform not only jazz but also popular Latin, folk, and contemporary forms, as well as a diversity of classical music styles. The group is called the Neighborhood Performance Project (NPP); and it has scheduled two events for this month, both of which deserve attention. Dates, times, and venues are as follows:

Sunday, April 7, 6 p.m., Bissap Baobab Village: Rebecca Kleinmann will lead a quartet in a performance of original music by living Brazilian composers. Kleinmann is both a flutist and a vocalist; and the other members of her group are Rafael Amarante (guitars), Scott Thompson (bass), and Julien Cantelm (drums). This will be a release party for her new self-produced album Intuição Verdadeira (true intuition). Those who follow the news probably know that this venue will be closing soon, so this will be one of the final performances to be hosted.

Bissap Baobab Village is located in the Mission at 3372 19th Street, between Mission Street and South Van Ness Avenue. Both food and drinks will be available for purchase. There will be no cover charge, but all donations to support future NPP efforts will be welcome.

Tuesday, April 30, 7 p.m., Congregation Emanu-El: This synagogue will host the world premiere performance of Kanta Judezmo, an oratorio composed by Sascha Jacobsen. The libretto for the oratorio is in both English and Ladino; and it tells the story about the Sephardic diaspora through the lens of its central female character, with universal threads that traverse centuries, borders, language, culture and genre. The score draws upon Jewish melodic themes, with motifs and rhythms from Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, and South America. The role of the central character will be sung by mezzo Melinda Becker with narration provided by Bobby Coleman. Instrumental accompaniment will be provided by the Musical Art Quintet, in which Jacobsen plays bass. He will be joined by the string quartet of violinists Jory Fankuchen and Anthony Blea, violist Charith Premawardhana, and cellist Lewis Patzner.

This concert will be free and open to the general public. However, RSVPs will be appreciated and can be provided through an electronic mail address. Congregation Emanu-El is located at 2 Lake Street on the northwest corner of Arguello Boulevard in Presidio Terrace.