Choices for February 7 and 8, 2020

Almost exactly a month ago this site announced that Sunday, February 9, would be the busy day during the second weekend of February. This turned out to be a premature assertion. As of this writing, it is clear that both Friday and Saturday each will be busier. Fasten your seatbelts while I try to account for the specifics for all the alternatives that have now been brought to my awareness:

[added 1/24, 2:35 p.m.:

Friday, February 7, 6 p.m., Community Music Center (CMC): Dashon Burton will return to the Community Music Center to given another Concert with Conversation event in partnership with San Francisco Performances (SFP). As was the case during his last appearance about a year ago, Burton will preview some of the music that he will sing at an SFP program that will take place the following morning (see below). This event will take place at the CMC Concert Hall, which is located at 544 Capp Street, between Mission Street and South Van Ness Avenue and between 20th Street and 21st Street. All events are free and open to the general public. However, due to the popularity of these offerings, reservations are recommended. These are being handled through an Eventbrite event page.]

Friday, February 7, 7:30 p.m., Zion Lutheran Church: The first performance of the new year in the Benefit Concerts at Zion series will feature the husband-and-wife duo of guitarist Matthew Linder and soprano Amy Foote. Program details have not been announced. However, both members have considerable experience with a highly diverse repertoire to which they bring a passion for the unusual. As a result the program is likely to sample music as early as the Renaissance and as up-to-date as the immediate present. In addition, at least some of the offerings will have Linder playing a completely one-of-a-kind eight-string multi-scale guitar. The concert will be followed by a wine-and-cheese reception.

Zion Lutheran Church is located at 495 9th Avenue near the northwest corner of Anza Street. Admission will be $20. The Eventbrite Web page for this concert also includes the option for a “Family Ticket” at $30. Presumably, this will account for at least a “parental couple” and possibly at least one child; but, unfortunately, Eventbrite has not provided any specific details regarding this option!

Friday, February 7, 7:30 p.m., Red Poppy Art House: February programming at the Poppy will begin with the return of the Fula Brothers. This is the duo of master West African kamale ngoni (known as a hunter’s harp) player Mamadou Sidibe and fingerstyle guitar wizard Walter Strauss (who are not related). Combining their resources they weave a bounty of improvisation into an ecstatic groove-based dialogue which the heart, and the feet, cannot resist.

The Red Poppy is located in the Mission at 2698 Folsom Street on the southwest corner of 23rd Street. Ticket prices at the door will be $25 for general admission and $20 for students and seniors with valid identification. Tickets may be purchased in advance through an Eventbrite event page.

Given the demand for these concerts, it is likely that only a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. The Poppy is a small space, so 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. This is also a good time to review the remaining Poppy events scheduled for February. If any events are subsequently added, notification will be provided through my “shadow” Facebook site. Here are the specifics for the events that have been posted thus far with Eventbrite hyperlinks attached to the date-and-time information:

• Saturday, February 8, 7:30 p.m.: This will be another duo concert, this time presenting traditional, folk, and modern Persian music. The performers are Pezhham Akhavass (tombak and daf) and Navid Kandelousi (kamancheh and violin). The Iranian melodies are modal, while the sung poetic texts are based on circular rhythmic patterns. Ticket prices at the door will be $30 for general admission and $25 for students and seniors with valid identification.
• Friday, February 14, 7:30 p.m.: This duo concert will feature Brazilian guitarists Ricardo Peixoto and Julio Lemos. Their repertoire will cover classic sambas, choros, bossa novas, and some original compositions. Ticket prices at the door will be $25 for general admission and $20 for students and seniors with valid identification.
• Saturday, February 15, 7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.: A descarga is a jam session based on variations on themes from Cuban music. Pianist Alex Conde, percussionist John Santos, and Jeff Chambers on bass formed to perform a descarga based on the music of Thelonious Monk. This was fruitful enough that they will bring a descarga for Bud Powell to their evening at the Poppy. Note that there will be two performances during the evening. Tickets for each performance at the door will be $30 for general admission and $25 for students and seniors with valid identification. Tickets for both concerts may be purchased in advance through a single Eventbrite Web page.
• Thursday, February 20, 7:30 p.m.: Beyond the Pale is a Canadian quintet that takes klezmer and Balkan styles as its point of departure. From there the repertoire ventures into everything from jazz and classical music to bluegrass and reggae. The members of the group are Dejan Badnjar (accordion), Aleksandar Gajic (violin), Bret Higgins (bass), Eric Stein (mandolin), and Martin van de Ven (clarinet). Ticket prices at the door will be $25 for general admission and $20 for students and seniors with valid identification. [added 1/26, 8:25 a.m.:
• Saturday, February 22, 7:30 p.m.: The Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco is a performing group of talented musicians ages 10 to 18. Their repertoire includes both Latin jazz classics and original compositions. Their mission is to preserve the traditions of Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban music by teaching it to youth and to create role models for aspiring student musicians. Ticket prices at the door will be $25 for general admission and $20 for students and seniors with valid identification.]
• Sunday, February 23, 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. [added 1/24, 3:15 p.m.:
• Friday, February 28, 7:30 p.m.: Portuguese vocalist Ramana Vieira will present a program of her original compositions along with pieces by Amalia Rodrigues, the legendary Portuguese fado singer. Instrumental accompaniment will be provided by the trio of guitarist Jeff Furtado, percussionist Stephen La Porta, and Dan Keller on bass. Ticket prices at the door will be $30 for general admission and $25 for students and seniors with valid identification.] [added 1/26, 8:30 a.m.:
• Saturday, February 29, 7:30 p.m.: The members of the Proteus Trio are Jonathan Alford on piano, Evan Price on violin, and Lewis Patzner on cello. There repertoire combines the classics with original compositions and arrangements by all three of the performers. Ticket prices at the door will be $25 for general admission and $20 for students and seniors with valid identification.]
  

Friday, February 7, 8 p.m., Old First Presbyterian Church: As has already been announced, Old First Concerts will present a solo guitar recital by Zane Forshee.

Friday, February 7, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall: This will be the first Beethoven250 program to be presented by the San Francisco Symphony in the month of February. Herbert Blomstedt will be the guest conductor, presenting a program that couples symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. The Beethoven selection will be the Opus 36 (second) symphony in D major; and the Brahms will be the Opus 98 (fourth) symphony in E minor.

The Inside Music talk will be given by James M. Keller one hour prior to each concert. Ticket prices range from $20 to $165, and an event page has been created for online purchase. They may also be purchased by calling 415-864-6000 or by visiting the Davies Box Office, whose entrance is on the south side of Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. KDFC’s Rik Malone’s podcast about the Beethoven symphony will be posted to the Program Note Podcasts Web page prior to the first performance of this program. The event page also includes sound clips from previous SFS performances of the Brahms symphony. Flash must be enabled for both streamed content and online ticket purchases. The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and two hours prior to Sunday performances. Details about the remaining Beethoven250 concerts in February will be forthcoming.

Friday, February 7, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Richard Egarr will make his first appearance leading the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) since it was announced that he will become Music Director of PBO at the beginning of next season. He has prepared a program entitled The Well-Caffeinated Clavier. The program will consist entirely of music by Johann Sebastian Bach with particular emphasis on the BWV 211 secular cantata Schweigt, stille, plaudert nicht (which I like to translate loosely as “all right, you guys, shut up and listen to me”), best known as the “coffee” cantata. Egarr will conduct from the harpsichord; and the program will include two Bach concertos for solo harpsichord, BWV 1058 in G minor and BWV 1052 in D minor. The program will conclude with the BWV 1068 (third) orchestral suite in D major.

Herbst Theatre is located at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Ticket prices will range from $32 to $120 for premium seating. Tickets are currently available for advance purchase through a City Box Office event page, which displays a color-coded seating plan that shows which areas correspond to which price levels.

[added 2/4, 1:15 p.m.:

Friday, February 7, 8:30 p.m., San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM): Bluevenuo is the guitar duo whose members are Zhanxiang (Joshua) Shi and Sebastian Robles. Their program will include their transcription of three of the piano preludes collection in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 32 collection of preludes. They will also perform Robles’ three-movement Bluven Suite. There will also be a transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 992 solo keyboard composition, his “Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother.” The one piece that will have been originally composed for a guitar duo will be Dusan Bogdanovic’s three-movement “Sonata Fantasia.” The SFCM building is located at 50 Oak Street, between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni Station. This will be a free concert, and neither tickets nor reservations will be required.]

[added 1/24, 2:40 p.m.:

Saturday, February 8, 10 a.m.: Bass-baritone Dashon Burton will collaborate with lecturer Robert Greenberg to present a program entitled Words & Music. All of the music will be by Ludwig van Beethoven. The performance will include the Opus 98 An die ferne Gelibte (to the distant beloved), along with selections from other collections of original songs and arrangements of both Irish and Scottish folk songs.

The entrance to Herbst is the main entrance to the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. All tickets are being sold for $45. They may be purchased in advance online through an SFP event page.]

Saturday, February 8, 8 p.m., The Lab: This will be a two-set evening of “bleeding edge” music. The featured artist will be cellist, vocalist, and composer Theresa Wong. Her performance will focus on the elemental qualities of her instruments through amplification, extended techniques, and the interplay of improvisation and composed forms. The result will be a timbral merging of the voice and cello, giving birth to new acoustically synthesized sounds. She will also perform “O Horizon,” an improvised performance in which audience members are invited to bring objects of any kind (common or otherwise) as instruments for her sound making. The other set will be taken by DunkelpeK, the iconoclastic duo that bring percussionist Nava Dunkelman together with guitarist Jakob Pek. They perform experimental improvised music that reimagines the possibilities of the duo and music itself.

The Lab is located in the Mission at 2948 16th Street, which is a short walk to the east from the corner of Mission Street. This is particularly good for those using public transportation, since that corner provides bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel as well as a BART station. The admission charge free for members of The Lab, and general admission will be $12 for all others. Online registration is highly recommended using the above hyperlinks for the different categories of tickets (including those that are free).

Saturday, February 8, 7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: San Francisco Performances (SFP) will complement the SFS Beethoven250 programming with a program devoted entirely to music Beethoven composed for piano trio. The performers will be the members of one of the most exciting piano trios currently concertizing. They are violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and pianist Alexander Melnikov, all of whom are like to be familiar to those that attend SFP chamber music recitals regularly. The program will be organized around the two Opus 70 piano trios, the first (often known as the “Ghost” trio) in D major and the second in E-flat major. The trio will also perform the WoO 38 trio in E-flat major and the Opus 44 set of variations, also in E-flat major.

The entrance to Herbst is the main entrance to the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Ticket prices will be $70 for premium seating, $55, and $45. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through an SFP event page.

Saturday, February 8, 8 p.m., St. Teresa of Avila Church: This venue will present the first of two new music concerts presented by NACUSAsf, the Bay Area chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA. The programming will serve as a memorial for local branch founder Nancy Bloomer Deussen. It will include the world premiere of “For Chris,” which Deussen composed upon the death of her son, which took place only a few months prior to her own death.

The church is located in Potrero Hill at 1490 19th Street, near the northeast corner of Connecticut Street. Tickets will be sold at the door. General admission will be $20 with a $15 rate for students and seniors.

Saturday, February 8, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall: This will be the second performance of the concert described above taking place at 8 p.m. on Friday, February 7.