Sunset Music and Arts: June, 2023

Readers may recall that this month Sunset Music and Arts presented only two programs. Their announcements were folded into the “busy weekend” articles accounting for the first two weekends of the month. Next month, however, there will be four programs, one for each of the weekends of the month. Specifics are currently as follows:

Friday, June 9, 7:30 p.m.: This will be a solo recital by Spanish virtuoso pianist Alex Conde, who specializes in the fusion of jazz with flamenco. Examples of that fusion can be found on two of his albums entitled Descarga for Monk and Descarga for Bud, which present arrangements of compositions by Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, respectively. These arrangements will be interleaved with his own original compositions.

Saturday, June 10, 4 p.m.: The two pianists in the Happy Dog Piano Duo are Nathan Cheung and Eric Tran. They will present a program of four works composed for four hands on a single keyboard. The first selection will be Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 92, an Allegro brillant preceded by an Andante introduction. This will be followed by the original version of Maurice Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) suite. The intermission will be followed by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 6 sonata in D major, and the concluding selection will be Samuel Barber’s Opus 28 Souvenirs suite.

Saturday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.: Phillip Dyson is a British pianist with an impressively eclectic repertoire. He tours California every year, and this year will bring him to Sunset Music and Arts. As might be expected, the classical side of his repertoire will be represented primarily by Frédéric Chopin. He will begin with the first (in A-flat major) of the Opus 25 set of études. This will be followed by the second (in E-flat major) of the three Opus 9 nocturnes and the Opus 66 Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor. On the other side of the coin, so to speak, his program will also include three compositions by Scott Joplin, “The Entertainer,” “Heliotrope Bouquet,” and “Maple Leaf Rag.” These pieces will “rub shoulders” with the first of Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie” composition, Felix Arndt’s “Nola,” and Dyson’s own arrangements of tunes by George Gershwin.

Saturday, June 24, 4 p.m.: The month will conclude with a performance by the twelve-member vocal ensemble Sing Out Strong. The group was formed in 2017 by Director Ellaine Jerome and pianist Betty Fujimoto. Their program will follow up the American Songbook side of Dyson’s program represented by Gershwin with tunes by Richard Rogers and Jerome Kern. It will then venture into more recent times with the likes of Louis Prima, Neil Diamond, and others.

All performances will take place in the Sunset district at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, located at 1750 29th Avenue, about halfway between Moraga Street and Noriega Street. Ticket prices are $25 for general admission with a $20 rate for students and seniors. Because the demand tends to be high, advance purchase is highly advised. Tickets may be purchased online through Eventbrite. Each of the hyperlinks on the above dates leads to the event page for single ticket purchases. That includes the June 24 program, which will be free of charge but will still require prior registration. Further information may be obtained by calling 415-564-2324.