BARS Plans for 2019–2020 Season

Dawn Harms conducting BARS on the stage of the Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (courtesy of BARS)

I have to confess that my efforts to keep track of performances by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (BARS) tend to be last-minute when they are not absent without leave. Thus, while there are details that still need to be provided for the coming (twelfth) season of the ensemble whose home page describes it as “dedicated to promoting and supporting LGBTQIA+ [I used to be able to account for all initials, but no longer] musicians and composers,” I feel an obligation to provide the information currently at hand (which, to be fair, has not yet migrated to the Web site). As in the past, there will be four concerts; and in the 2019–2020 season all of them will take place in the Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The second concert will be led by Guest Conductor Norman Gamboa, and Music Director Dawn Harms will conduct the remaining three. All performances will take place on Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. Program information is as follows:

September 14

Engelbert Humperdinck, overture to the opera Hansel and Gretel

Amy Beach, piano concerto, with soloist Daniel Glover

Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 10 in E minor (Opus 93)

November 9

Samuel Barber, Opus 12 (first) “Essay” for orchestra

Kyle Kindred, flute concerto, soloist to be announced

Manuel de Falla, music for the ballet “The Three-Cornered Hat”

February 29

Violins of Hope Concert

Ethel Smyth, overture to “The Boatswain's Mate”

Chris Brubeck, “Interplay for 3 Violins and Orchestra,” with soloists Kay Stern, Robin Mayforth, and Dawn Harms

Felix Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”) in A minor (Opus 56)

June 6

Pride Concert

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No, 9 in D minor (Opus 125), vocal resources to be announced

Special performance by Renee Lubin and Tammy Nelson, members of Beach Blanket Babylon

Information about prices for both subscriptions and single tickets has not yet been released. Seating will be reserved. Readers are advised to visit the BARS Web site closer to the date of the first performance. The San Francisco Conservatory of Music is located at 50 Oak Street, between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street, a short walk from the Muni Van Ness station.