Monday, April 15
Sylvestris Quartet
“The Young Romantics” Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck married in 1840 after a long romance and a family feud with Clara’s father, who happened to be Robert’s piano teacher. Both of them were major pianists and composers, she more a pianist, he more a composer (after sustaining a hand injury). Aaron Westman, Gretchen Claassen, both members of Sylvestris Quartet, and Michael Seregow will perform chamber works by Robert and Clara, and baritone Harry Baechtel will join to perform Robert’s romantic song-cycle Liederkreis, Op. 24, sublime and full of tributes to Clara, as well as songs by Louis Spohr, and Scottish folk songs arranged by Ludwig van Beethoven.
ATTUNED: A NON-CONCERT EXPERIENCE is the Bay Area’s new and unique invitation to the world of Classical music. Curated by sister ensembles Agave Baroque and Sylvestris Quartet in collaboration with the California Jazz Conservatory, each program invites you to enjoy a cabaret-style show with a multimedia experience and narration that brings you the stories behind the music.
8 PM
Rendon Hall/Fiddler Annex @ California Jazz Conservatory
2040 Addison St., Berkeley
Tickets online $20
510-845-5373, http://www.sylvestrisquartet.org
Friday, April 19
New Esterházy Quartet
The New Esterházy Quartet will perform The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, Haydn’s own arrangement of the orchestral work he wrote for a 1786 Good Friday service in far-away Cadiz. The performance will take place in the Sanctuary of Berkeley’s Saint Mary Magdalen Church, as part of their commemoration of Good Friday, following a 7 PM observance of the Stations of the Cross, to take place outdoors in the Parish’s Dominican Garden. All are welcome! Note: some listings give the time of the Quartet’s performance as 7 PM, but instead it will take place at 8 PM. The Church is accessible to the disabled. We hope to see you there.
8 PM Note corrected time
Saint Mary Magdalen Church
2005 Berryman Street, Berkeley
Free
Saturday, April 20
Eugene Petrushansky, Harpsichord
Eugene Petrushansky plays Byrd, Bull, and other early 17th-century repertoire on a harpsichord by Philippe Humeau after a c.1600 Italian double-manual anonyme. A concert on Lenten themes for Holy Saturday, performed on an exceedingly rare type of harpsichord, a copy of an Italian double manual ca. 1600 that Petrushky recently finished regulating. The sound is unlike any other plucked keyboard instrument; dark, dry, atmospheric, mystifying and, to repurpose a line that induces nausea among many listeners every December, “you could even say it glows!” Venison aside, this is a splendid instrument for early 17th-century English and Continental repertoire and will no doubt make for a memorable, if contemplative recital.
7 PM
St Joseph of Arimathea Chapel
2316 Bowditch St (chapel entrance on Durant Ave), Berkeley, CA
free
SFEMS Medieval and Renaissance Workshop
“Sine Nomine—Celebrating Anonymous Composers and Songs with No Name.” Medieval & Renaissance Workshop Collegium for voices, recorders, viols, harps, sackbuts, dulcians and all manner of early instruments, with SFEMS MedRen Workshop Director Adam Gilbert. Spend the day making glorious music, and get a taste of this summer’s workshop theme. Bring your instruments, music stands, pencils, and a bag lunch. Electronic files of the music will be provided in advance. Workshop pitch: A=440. Enrollment is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot early! This collegium day raises scholarship funds to help SFEMS pay the tuition of participants who could not otherwise afford to attend the summer Medieval & Renaissance Workshop. Adam is generously donating his services toward this purpose.
10 AM to 4 PM
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
1501 Washington Avenue, Albany
SFEMS members $50 advance; $60 at the door; Non-members $65 advance; $75 at the door
HALF-DAY $30 members; $45 non-members; Full-time students are welcome to participate for a full day a reduced rate of $30
For more information or to reserve your spot in the workshop, contact Stacey Helley: [email protected], or Download, print, and mail registration form, or Register online by looking for Class 150 on the registration page.
Sunday, April 21
St. John Schola
St. John Schola Chants Terce & High Mass of Easter Gregorian Mass VII, Kyrie Rex Splendens, and Propers for Easter Sunday in the Latin Gregorian chant of the Traditional Roman Rite, in the authentic context of a fully Traditional Catholic Latin High Mass.
9:30 AM Hour of Terce in Gregorian Chant, 10 AM High Mass.
St. John’s Oratory at the historic Fishermen’s & Seamen’s Memorial Chapel
Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 45 B (one block NE of Jefferson & Taylor, next to the bell-tower), San Francisco FREE. Wheelchair accessible. Free parking beside the Oratory.
www.traditio.com/stjohn.htm
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
