Tuesday, December 4
Sacramento Recorder Society
Regular meeting for recorder players, with guest conductor Jerry Schwartz. Newcomers welcome. Bring recorders, stand, and other early instruments. Music provided. Refreshments.
6:45–9:30 PM
Friends Meeting House
890 57th St., between H and J, Sacramento.
sacrecorders.wordpress.com
Wednesday, December 5
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, Patrick Dupré Quigley, guest conductor
“Philharmonic Fire” GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire’s Patrick Dupré Quigley ignites a fresh flame with Philharmonia. Two Bach cantatas present two sides of the multifaceted master: the florid, Italianate Vivaldi enthusiast, and the stern, stately Lutheran of Saxony. Sandwiched with choral delights by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and Purcell, this sparkling holiday program will warm you to the core. Program includes Claudio Monteverdi, “Confitebor tibi Domine,” No. 2, from Selva Morale e Spirituale; J.S. Bach Cantata Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 61; Antonio Vivaldi Nisi Dominus; Henry Purcell The Frost Scene (Act III, Scene II), from King Arthur; and Bach Cantata No. 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. With soloists Margot Rood, soprano; Reginald Mobley, countertenor; Steven Soph, tenor; and Steven Eddy, baritone.
7:30 PM
Bing Concert Hall,
327 Lasuen Drive, Stanford
Tickets online $32–$120
415-392-4400
Friday, December 7
East Bay Chapter, ARS
Monthly playing session with guest conductor Letitia Berlin. New members and guests welcome.
7:30–10 PM
Zion Lutheran Church
5201 Park Blvd., Oakland
http://www.symbolicsolutions.com/ebrs-web2015/index.html
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, Patrick Dupré Quigley, guest conductor
“Philharmonic Fire” GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire’s Patrick Dupré Quigley ignites a fresh flame with Philharmonia. Two Bach cantatas present two sides of the multifaceted master: the florid, Italianate Vivaldi enthusiast, and the stern, stately Lutheran of Saxony. Sandwiched with choral delights by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and Purcell, this sparkling holiday program will warm you to the core. Program includes Claudio Monteverdi, “Confitebor tibi Domine,” No. 2, from Selva Morale e Spirituale; J.S. Bach Cantata Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 61; Antonio Vivaldi Nisi Dominus; Henry Purcell The Frost Scene (Act III, Scene II), from King Arthur; and Bach Cantata No. 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. With soloists Margot Rood, soprano; Reginald Mobley, countertenor; Steven Soph, tenor; and Steven Eddy, baritone.
8 PM
Herbst Theatre,
401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
Tickets online $32–$120
415-392-4400
Sonoma Bach Choir, Robert Worth, Director
“Early Music Christmas: Let There Be Light.” Our seventh annual Early Music Christmas takes up the tale at the Visitation, as Mary shares her joy with her cousin Elizabeth in the countryside. As we proceed through the Nativity, Epiphany and Candlemas, we are guided by our narrator, soprano Jenni Samuelson, relating the story from Luke and Matthew as set by Heinrich Schütz (from Historia der Geburth Jesu Christi) and others. The narration is interwoven with canticles, crowd scenes, and responses by Michael Praetorius, J.S. Bach and the early-music aficionado Hugo Distler (1908—1942). Come join us for this joyous celebration of ‘the return of the invincible sun’!
8 PM BachGrounder lecture/demonstration 35 minutes before each concert
Schroeder Hall, Green Music Center
1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park
$25/$15
Tickets online
www.sonomabach.org or 877-914-2224
Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE), Shira Kammen and Phoebe Rosquist, Directors
The Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE) will present a concert of carols and polyphony that explores the symbolism of the holly, oak, ivy, and other flora of the season. Music by Hildegard, Guerrero, da Rore, Cozzolani, and Leonarda, plus traditional holiday singalongs. With David Morris, viola da gamba, and Andrew Canepa, organ. Shira Kammen and Phoebe Rosquist directing as well as playing vielle, harp, and bells.
8 PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
$20/$15/$5
Tickets online, by phone 800-838-3006, or at the door. No reserved seating.
www.wavewomen.org, [email protected]
Saturday, December 8
The 33rd Annual Christmas Revels
“Ancient Mysteries of Andalusian Spain” Our Revels story begins in 1600 in that part of Spain called Andalusia. Three individuals—a young Moorish woman, a Sephardic Jew, and a Castilian scullery maid—happen to meet, each armed with a mysterious clue that is guiding them on a quest. They are all hoping to find their way back through time to the era of La Convivencia, a time when, as they understand it, all three cultures—Muslim, Jewish, and Christian—lived in a spirit of tolerance and peace. Directed to pay attention to the celestial bodies, and swept up in the Revels celebration of the Solstice, they learn how each culture celebrates the Sun, the Moon, and the stars in song, dance, poetry and story. By looking to the heavens, they learn the secret of finding the Convivencia. They come to realize that despite the things that make each of us different and unique, in the end, we all live under the same sky.
1 PM and 5 PM performances
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland
Tickets online $7–$45
[email protected]
Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra, Frederic Palmer, Director
The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra performs its annual mid-winter concert. The program will feature a Sonatina by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, an anonymous medieval motet from the Montpellier Codex, a movement from Charles Koechlin’s Ballade Op. 50, a chanson by Clément Janequin and Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 1. The location of this concert is wheelchair accessible. The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra is an affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society.
2 PM
Grace Lutheran Church
3149 Waverley Street, Palo Alto
Free
For further information please see the orchestra’s web page at http://mpro-online.org/ or call Frederic Palmer at 650-591-3648.
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, Patrick Dupré Quigley, guest conductor
“Philharmonic Fire” GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire’s Patrick Dupré Quigley ignites a fresh flame with Philharmonia. Two Bach cantatas present two sides of the multifaceted master: the florid, Italianate Vivaldi enthusiast, and the stern, stately Lutheran of Saxony. Sandwiched with choral delights by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and Purcell, this sparkling holiday program will warm you to the core. Program includes Claudio Monteverdi, “Confitebor tibi Domine,” No. 2, from Selva Morale e Spirituale; J.S. Bach Cantata Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 61; Antonio Vivaldi Nisi Dominus; Henry Purcell The Frost Scene (Act III, Scene II), from King Arthur; and Bach Cantata No. 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. With soloists Margot Rood, soprano; Reginald Mobley, countertenor; Steven Soph, tenor; and Steven Eddy, baritone.
8 PM
First Congregational Church,
2345 Channing Way Berkeley
Tickets online $32–$120
415-392-4400
Sonoma Bach Choir, Robert Worth, Director
“Early Music Christmas: Let There Be Light.” Our seventh annual Early Music Christmas takes up the tale at the Visitation, as Mary shares her joy with her cousin Elizabeth in the countryside. As we proceed through the Nativity, Epiphany and Candlemas, we are guided by our narrator, soprano Jenni Samuelson, relating the story from Luke and Matthew as set by Heinrich Schütz (from Historia der Geburth Jesu Christi) and others. The narration is interwoven with canticles, crowd scenes, and responses by Michael Praetorius, J.S. Bach and the early-music aficionado Hugo Distler (1908—1942). Come join us for this joyous celebration of ‘the return of the invincible sun’!
3 PM BachGrounder lecture/demonstration 35 minutes before each concert
Schroeder Hall, Green Music Center
1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park
$25/$15
Tickets online
www.sonomabach.org or 877-914-2224
Viola da Gamba Society/Pacifica Chapter
Monthly viol consort playing with guest coach Roy Whelden. Players of all levels welcome. Newcomers please phone ahead.
9 AM–3 PM
Hillside Church
1422 Navellier Street, El Cerrito
RSVP. Please email or phone ahead.
[email protected]
Sunday, December 9
The 33rd Annual Christmas Revels
“Ancient Mysteries of Andalusian Spain” Our Revels story begins in 1600 in that part of Spain called Andalusia. Three individuals—a young Moorish woman, a Sephardic Jew, and a Castilian scullery maid—happen to meet, each armed with a mysterious clue that is guiding them on a quest. They are all hoping to find their way back through time to the era of La Convivencia, a time when, as they understand it, all three cultures—Muslim, Jewish, and Christian—lived in a spirit of tolerance and peace. Directed to pay attention to the celestial bodies, and swept up in the Revels celebration of the Solstice, they learn how each culture celebrates the Sun, the Moon, and the stars in song, dance, poetry and story. By looking to the heavens, they learn the secret of finding the Convivencia. They come to realize that despite the things that make each of us different and unique, in the end, we all live under the same sky.
1 PM and 5 PM performances
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland
Tickets online $10–$65
[email protected]
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, Patrick Dupré Quigley, guest conductor
“Philharmonic Fire” GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire’s Patrick Dupré Quigley ignites a fresh flame with Philharmonia. Two Bach cantatas present two sides of the multifaceted master: the florid, Italianate Vivaldi enthusiast, and the stern, stately Lutheran of Saxony. Sandwiched with choral delights by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and Purcell, this sparkling holiday program will warm you to the core. Program includes Claudio Monteverdi, “Confitebor tibi Domine,” No. 2, from Selva Morale e Spirituale; J.S. Bach Cantata Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 61; Antonio Vivaldi Nisi Dominus; Henry Purcell The Frost Scene (Act III, Scene II), from King Arthur; and Bach Cantata No. 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. With soloists Margot Rood, soprano; Reginald Mobley, countertenor; Steven Soph, tenor; and Steven Eddy, baritone.
4 PM
First Congregational Church,
2345 Channing Way Berkeley
Tickets online $32–$120
415-392-4400
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
