Choices for November 5 and 6, 2022

November will begin with the first “busy weekend++” of the new season, the suffix referring to the fact that one of the items will also be the kickoff for the month’s programming, whose remaining events will be documented in this article. As usual, these items are “subject to change without notice.” Also as usual, this page will be updated with notifications of changes on the “mirror” Facebook site. The current events planned for the first weekend of next month are as follows:

Saturday, November 5, 2 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall: Once again, the annual celebration by the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) of the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) will take place on the first Saturday in November. The festivities will be organized around the usual Saturday afternoon concert supplemented by family-oriented activities in the Davies lobbies. The conductor this year will be Carlos Miguel Prieto. The featured soloist will be trumpeter Pacho Flores in a performance of the “Concierto de Otoño” by Arturo Márquez. The other orchestra selections will include the familiar “Huapango” composed by José Pablo Moncayo, “Sensemayá” by Silvestre Revueltas, “Kauyumari” by Gabriela Ortiz, “Santa Cruz de Pacairigua” by Evencio Castellanos Yumar, and Arturo Márquez’ second “Danzón” composition. Once again, there will be dances performed by Casa Circulo Cultural throughout the concert.

There will also be a guest appearance by Canción de Obsidiana, which was created in 1989 by its director, Victor-Mario Zaballa. The ensemble strives to create an atmospheric landscape of timeless sounds with original compositions incorporating traditional Mexican hand-made acoustic indigenous instruments and electronic musical instruments. Those indigenous instruments are replicas of pre-Columbian wind and percussion instruments made by Zaballa.

As usual, doors will open at 1 p.m. to admit guests to the full range of family-friendly activities in the lobbies. Davies Symphony Hall is located at 201 Van Ness Avenue and fills an entire city block. The other boundaries are Grove Street (north), Hayes Street (south), and Franklin Street (west). The main entrance (which is also the entrance to the Box Office) is on Grove Street, roughly halfway down the block. Concert ticket prices start at $35. VIP Packages begin at $350. These include pre-concert activities, premium tickets for the concert performance, and a post-concert Fiesta dinner. A single event page on the SFS Web site has hyperlinks for purchasing both concert tickets and VIP Packages. VIP Packages may also be purchased by calling the Volunteer Council at 415-503-5500. Those interested only in concert tickets can call 415-864-6000. In addition, the Box Office in the Davies lobby is open for selling tickets.

Saturday, November 5, 7:30 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: The first of this season’s Dynamite Guitars concerts that is not a solo guitar recital will be a duo evening of guitarist Sérgio Assad performing with his daughter Clarice, who is both vocalist and pianist. Program specifics have not yet been provided. However, the program will explore the diversity of Brazilian music, including jazz vocals, sambas, bossa nova, piano, and guitar.

St. Mark’s is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of Franklin Street. The eastbound Geary Bus (number 38) stops within a block of the church after it leaves Geary Boulevard to proceed along O’Farrell. There are also nearby stops for buses on Van Ness Avenue. All tickets are being sold for $60 and may be purchased online through a City Box Office event page. Note that Create-Your-Own subscriptions are still available, providing a 14% discount for a package of four or more events. These packages are available by calling 415-242-4500.

Sunday, November 6, 2 p.m., San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM): Vocal students will join forces with the Baroque Ensemble. They will present a program of works by two of the most unique composers from seventeenth-century Italy. Both of them are women: Francesca Caccini and Isabella Leonarda. The performance will take place in the Sol Joseph Recital Hall, which is located at 50 Oak Street. There will be no charge for admission. However, reservations are recommended; and a Web page has been created that will accept up to ten such reservations. There are three remaining events of special interest during this month. The hyperlinks attached to the date and time of each of the performances will link to the reservations Web page:

• Thursday, November 10, 7:30 p.m.: Wind Ensemble Director Brad Hogarth will lead his players in a program that will feature the work of the winner of the 2022 SFCM Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition, Michail Thompson. The program will also include the first of the “Concertpiece” works composed by Vassily Brandt. Also featured will be Robert O Brian’s arrangement for winds of William Grant Still’s first symphony. The performance will take place in the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, which is also located at 50 Oak Street. There will also be a Vimeo Web page for a livestream of this concert.
• Thursday, November 17, and Friday, November 18, 7:30 p.m.: The Fall Opera program will present two one-act operas, both by nineteenth-century French composers. The first of these will be “Une éducation manquée” (an incomplete education) by Emmanuel Chabrier. The intermission will be followed by “Le docteur Miracle” (Doctor Miracle) by Georges Bizet. Both productions will be staged by Heather Mathews, and the conductor will be Music Director Curt Pajer. The performance will again take place in the Concert Hall. There will also be a Vimeo Web page for a livestream of the Thursday performance.
• Saturday, November 19, 7:30 p.m.: Following his Dynamite Guitars appearance, Sérgio Assad will be in residency at SFCM between November 7 and November 19. That residency will conclude with a concert celebrating his 70th birthday. Performers will include members of the SFCM Guitar Faculty, as well as both students and alumni. The program has not yet been finalized, but the venue will be the Concert Hall. In addition, there will be a Vimeo Web page for a livestream of the entire event.

Sunday, November 6, 5 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry: The title of the next LIEDER ALIVE! program in the Eleventh Annual Liederabend Season will feature soprano Alina Ilchuk. Her program will feature two Ukrainian composers, Mykola Lysenko and Valentyn Silvestrov, along with the Polish composer Karol Mikuli, who served as Director of the Lviv Conservatory during the middle of the nineteen century. She will sing settings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine translated into either Ukrainian or Polish. She will be accompanied at the piano by Peter Grünberg. The Noe Valley Ministry is located at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. Tickets are being handled through an Eventbrite event page. Reserved seats are available for $80 reserved seats are available. General Admission is $40 with a $25 rate for students, seniors, and working artists.

Sunday, November 6, 7:30 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall: The second Great Performers Series event will present the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra led by Lahav Shani. The first half of the program will consist entirely of the first symphony by Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim. The intermission will then be followed by Gustav Mahler’s first symphony. Ticket prices start at $50, and tickets at all price levels may be purchased through an SFS Web page.