Centuries of Sound to Return to Century Club

Centuries of Sound is a concert series affiliated with the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival and the visits made by Festival musicians to San Francisco. These events take place in the ballroom of the historic Century Club of California, which has just the right acoustics and intimate setting for chamber music performances. To my regret, I seem to have lost touch with these regular visits; but, thanks to Groupmuse, I can put out the word for when the next offering will take place.

Two Roads Trio members Karl Knapp, Jamie Rose Guarrine, and Ian Scarfe on the poster for the program being discussed (from a Groupmuse event page)

The performers for this offering call themselves the Two Roads Trio. The group is led by pianist Ian Scarfe, who is the Founder and Director of the Trinity Alps Festival. The other members are soprano Jamie Rose Guarrine and cellist Karl Knapp. The vocal selections will focus on settings of the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Those texts will form the basis for a cycle of commissioned songs entitled To Keep the Dark Away and composed by Scott Gendel. This will be the opening selection, and the program will conclude with “The Angel’s Serenade” by Gaetano Braga. Between these two “bookends,” there will be three more familiar composers, Leonard Bernstein (“Dream With Me”), Amy Beach (“Chanson d’Amour”), and Franz Schubert (D. 965, “Der hirt auf dem Felsen,” which translates as “the shepherd on the rock” and was composed for trio performance).

The Century Club is located at 1355 Franklin Street, between Post Street and Sutter Street. The performance will begin at 2 PM on Sunday, April 23. Payment is being managed by an RSVP hyperlink on the Eventbrite Web page created for this recital. A seat may be reserved for $5. For those that would prefer to pay at the door, admission will be $20. Groupmuse will provide free drinks. Note that masks will not be required, nor proof of either COVID vaccination or COVID testing. It goes without saying, however, that anyone feeling sick should stay at home.