PBO to Offer to Free “Previews” Next Month

Many readers probably know by now that the coming season of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) will get underway in San Francisco on October 16. However, next month PBO will offer two free concerts, neither of which will last for more than an hour. The second of these will be an outdoor event, while the other will take place in The Conservatory in the Financial district. Specifics are as follows:

Tuesday, September 16, 10 a.m., The Conservatory at One Sansome: The title of the program will be Bach Before Noon; and, as can be deduced from above, the performance will conclude way before noon! Johann Sebastian Bach will be represented by an instrumental setting of one of his four-part harmonizations of the Lutheran chorale “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” followed by the “Ricercar a 6” (six-voice fugue) from BWV 1079, The Musical Offering. These selections will be preceded by the earlier six-part “Canzon” in A minor, composed by Johann Hermann Schein. “Bach the father” will be followed by one of the symphonies composed by his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, the last of the set of six cataloged collectively as Wq. 182 by Alfred Wotquenne. The program will then advance into the nineteenth century, first with a prelude and fugue in E minor by Clara Schumann and followed by Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 20, his E-flat major octet. As can be deduced from the title, the address of the venue will be One Sansome Street in the Financial District.

A typical example of the relationship between the Flower Piano audience and the performers (including Kati Kyme and William Skeen)

Saturday, September 20, 3 p.m., San Francisco Botanical Garden: PBO will contribute to this season’s Flower Piano event. The pianist for the occasion will be Keisuke Nakagoshi. He will be joined by Noah Strick on violin, violist Kati Kyme, and William Skeen on cello. The four of them will play quartets by both Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. It seems as if every year Flower Piano draws a larger crowd that requires more organization. The PBO players will be in Zellerbach Garden, and there is no shortage of maps on the grounds to lead one to this particular location. This year will be Flower Piano’s tenth anniversary, and those unfamiliar with the event will probably benefit from visiting its home page.