Two Earplay Concerts Added for This Month

Some readers may have noticed that my efforts to keep up with the Earplay chamber ensemble tend to be (in the immortal words of Ira Gershwin) “a sometime thing.” Last year around this time, they began the 2024 season at the Old First Presbyterian Church, presenting a program entitled The Poetry of Physics. This year they will be presenting two different program during the month of February at two decidedly different venues. Specifics are as follows:

Saturday, February 15, 1 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry: The first program has a title that speaks for itself: Chamber Music of Peter Josheff. Those familiar with Earplay probably known that Josheff is not only the clarinetist but also a founding member. For this performance, he will be joined by Earplay colleagues Tod Brody on flutes and pianist Brenda Tom. Cellist Thalia Moore will also participate, but only as a narrator! Baritone Wilford Kelly will also perform as a special guest artist. Titles and dates of pieces to be presented are as follows:

• Sutro Tower in the Fog (2011)
• Root Cellar (2024)
• Air (originally entitled “Big Brother”) (2014)
• Caught Between Two Worlds (final version, 2009)

There will also be selections from longer works. Between 2018 and 2023, Josheff composed four books of “songs” for spoken voice and piano: Images from the Past, Warped Oracle, Rag Wrung Dry, and Exquisite Corpus. The texts are drawn from Josheff’s own poems, dreams, nature writing, stories, and journal entries. Finally, there will be two excerpts from 3 Hands, based on a libretto by Jaime Robles about three hands of poker played by six “cheerful good-natured guys.” The selections will be the overture and the “Ice Cream” aria.

The exterior of the Dandelion Chocolate factory on 16th Street (from the Tock Web page for the venue)

Saturday, February 22, 7:30 p.m., Dandelion Chocolate: The title of this program will be Schoenberg…and Chocolate; and, as can be seen above, the performance will take place in a chocolate factory. It has been prepared by composer Ben Sabey, who is also a member of the Earplay Board. The program will be organized around two string trios. Moore will return to her usual position as cellist, performing with Terrie Baune on violin and violist Ellen Ruth Rose. The program will feature Arnold Schoenberg’s Opus 45 string trio. This will be coupled with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 563 in E-flat major, a six movement divertimento composed in 1788 (the year in which he composed is last three symphonies).

Most readers probably know by now that the Noe Valley Ministry is located at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. Dandelion Chocolate, on the other hand, is less familiar; and the factor is located at 2600 16th Street on the northeast corner of Harrison Street. (I see it every week when I have a medical appointment at UCSF in Mission Bay.) Information about ticketing will be found through the above two hyperlinks.