Wednesday, May 18
San Francisco Recorder Society
Monthly playing session with guest conductor Fred Palmer. New members and guests welcome.
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
Christ Church Lutheran
1090 Quintara St. (at 20th Ave.), San Francisco.
Non-members $10 fee applied to membership.
For more information contact Florence Kress: 415-731-9709, arssanfrancisco.org/
Friday, May 20
Musica Pacifica
“Brandenburgs and More, Part 2” Musica Pacifica, the Bay Area’s sizzling baroque ensemble will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a special program including Johann Sebastian Bach’s iconic Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047, with soloists Judith Linsenberg, recorder; Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin, Justin Bland, trumpet; and Brandon Labadie, oboe; the West Coast premiere of a rarely heard recorder concerto by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688–1758); Bach’s Concerto for Violin & Oboe, BWV 1060; his Concerto for Harpsichord in A Major, BWV 1055 (Katherine Heater, harpsichord); two concerti for multiple soloists by Georg Philipp Telemann; and a chaconne by George Frideric Handel. Other members of the ensemble include Andrew Macintosh and Holly Piccoli, violins; David Wilson, viola, Adaiha McAdam-Somer, cello; and Farley Pearce, violone.
8 PM
First Baptist Church
305 N California Ave, Palo Alto
$30/$25/$12
Tickets online or 510-459-5958
Information: [email protected]
Sonoma Bach
“Voices & Pipes: Hearts Aflame” For our final concert of the season, we present music inspired by Martin Luther’s great Pentecost hymn Komm heiliger Geist. From the earliest version published in 1524, to pieces by J.S. Bach, hymn settings are interspersed with cantatas, motets, and organ works on the power of Spirit to ignite us to word and deed. With David Parsons, organ, and the Sonoma Bach Choir, Robert Worth, Director.
8 PM BachGrounder lecture/demonstration 35 minutes before concert
Schroeder Hall, Green Music Center
1801 E Cotati Ave, Rohnert Park
$25/$15
Tickets online
Saturday, May 21
Ars Minerva, Céline Ricci, Artistic Director
The Amazons in the Fortunate Isles (modern world premiere) After last year’s success of La Cleopatra, Ars Minerva is bringing back to life another lost Venetian opera. Carlo Pallavicino’s The Amazons in the Fortunate Isles—lost in the archives of Venice’s Biblioteca Marciana since its premiere in 1679—bears the name of the women warriors whose legend has been recounted by everyone from Homer to Wonder Woman comic books. Exotic beauties equal of any man, and fearsome warriors who battled epic heroes, these were the Amazons . . . but those who anticipate yet another epic battle should brace for a hefty dose of the unexpected. Join us and rediscover a unique baroque Venetian tragicomedy full of sensuality, jealousy, romance, twists, military catastrophe, and characters with modern-day issues. The opera is semi-staged, sung in Italian with English supertitles. With singers Tonia d’Amelio, Molly Mahoney, Aurélie Veruni, Kindra Scharich, Ryan Matos, Cara Gabrielson, Spencer Dodd, and Coral Martin. Céline Ricci, director; orchestra led by Derek Tam. Read more . . .
7:30 PM
Marines Memorial Theater
609 Sutter Street, San Francisco
$55–$96 20% off orchestra seats with code QUEEN
Tickets online or 415-643-6739
[email protected]
Foothill Community Concert Series
“The Irregular Pearl” The Peralta Consort performs instrumental and vocal works by J.S. Bach, Handel, Byrd, Purcell, Caccini and Telemann, as well as some modern compositions to stir things up.
3 PM
Foothill Presbyterian Church
5301 McKee Road, San Jose
$10; children 12 and under are free.
Tickets available at the door or online
Musica Pacifica
“Brandenburgs and More, Part 2” Barefoot Chamber Concerts presents Musica Pacifica, the Bay Area’s sizzling baroque ensemble, celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special program featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s iconic Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047, with soloists Judith Linsenberg, recorder; Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin, Justin Bland, trumpet; and Brandon Labadie, oboe; the West Coast premiere of a rarely heard recorder concerto by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688–1758); Bach’s Concerto for Violin & Oboe, BWV 1060; his Concerto for Harpsichord in A Major, BWV 1055 (Katherine Heater, harpsichord); two concerti for multiple soloists by Georg Philipp Telemann; and a chaconne by George Frideric Handel. Other members of the ensemble include Andrew Macintosh and Holly Piccoli, violins; David Wilson, viola, Adaiha McAdam-Somer, cello; and Farley Pearce, violone. Reception with cake and champagne follows.
6:30 PM
Hillside Community Church
1422 Navellier, El Cerrito
$30 18 and under free
Tickets online (recommended) or at the door
Information: [email protected]
Varja Voices, Karen Clark, Director, with Michelle Levy, vielle
Le Lai de la Fonteinne (The Lay of the Fountain) by Guillaume de Machaut (1300–1377) and music of Hildegard von Bingen from Varja Voices’ new CD, O Eterne Deus: Music of Hildegard von Bingen. Le Lai de la Fonteinne is in essence a prayer and hymn of praise to the Virgin and a meditation on the nature of the Trinity, likened by the poet to a fountain. The fountain itself, the stream flowing from it and its source are three apparently separate things, which in reality are one: God the Father is the source, the fountain is the Son, and the stream is the Holy Ghost. The cleansing and thirst-quenching properties of water, its strength to remain itself even as ice or vapor, the fount of harmony and purity – all are invoked as images uniting in the vision of the Virgin as the true foundation of faith: “just like water the sweet fruit of life took on human flesh and human shape in your empty womb.” (Paul Hillier)
7 PM
Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)
2155 Center Street Berkeley
$12 general, $10 seniors, BAMPFA members, UC Berkeley, under 18 FREE
Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE), Cindy Beitmen, Director
“Out of the shadows” The Womens Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE) will present a concert of music composed by women from the medieval, Renaissance and baroque periods. From a Byzantine nun in the 9th century to women of nobility and nuns in Italian convents at the end of the 16th century, the music spans over 800 years. Composers include Kassia, Hildegard, Raphaella Aleotti, Lucretia Vizzana, Caterina Assandra, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Barbara Strozzi, and Isabella Leonarda. Along with baroque string players, the concert will feature the newly installed Opus 36 organ, which is modeled after the early North German/Dutch style baroque tracker organs with 2 manuals, 22 stops, and more than 800 pipes.
8 PM
St. Albert Priory Chapel
6172 Chabot Road, Oakland
$20 general/$15 seniors/$ under 18
Tickets online or at the door.Information: www.wavewomen.org, [email protected], or 510-730-2068
Sunday, May 22
Ars Minerva, Céline Ricci, Artistic Director
The Amazons in the Fortunate Isles (modern world premiere) After last year’s success of La Cleopatra, Ars Minerva is bringing back to life another lost Venetian opera. Carlo Pallavicino’s The Amazons in the Fortunate Isles—lost in the archives of Venice’s Biblioteca Marciana since its premiere in 1679—bears the name of the women warriors whose legend has been recounted by everyone from Homer to Wonder Woman comic books. Exotic beauties equal of any man, and fearsome warriors who battled epic heroes, these were the Amazons . . . but those who anticipate yet another epic battle should brace for a hefty dose of the unexpected. Join us and rediscover a unique baroque Venetian tragicomedy full of sensuality, jealousy, romance, twists, military catastrophe, and characters with modern-day issues. The opera is semi-staged, sung in Italian with English supertitles. With singers Tonia d’Amelio, Molly Mahoney, Aurélie Veruni, Kindra Scharich, Ryan Matos, Cara Gabrielson, Spencer Dodd, and Coral Martin. Céline Ricci, director; orchestra led by Derek Tam. Read more . . .
2 PM
Marines Memorial Theater
609 Sutter Street, San Francisco
$55–$96 20% off orchestra seats with code QUEEN
Tickets online or 415-643-6739
[email protected]
Sonoma Bach
“Voices & Pipes: Hearts Aflame” For our final concert of the season, we present music inspired by Martin Luther’s great Pentecost hymn Komm heiliger Geist. From the earliest version published in 1524, to pieces by J.S. Bach, hymn settings are interspersed with cantatas, motets, and organ works on the power of Spirit to ignite us to word and deed. With David Parsons, organ, and the Sonoma Bach Choir, Robert Worth, Director.
7 PM BachGrounder lecture/demonstration 35 minutes before concert
Schroeder Hall, Green Music Center
1801 E Cotati Ave, Rohnert Park
$25/$15
Tickets online
University of California Davis Music Department
UC Davis Baroque Ensemble, Michael Sand and Phebe Craig, Directors, and the Davis Senior High School Baroque Orchestra, Angelo Moreno, Director, perform a program of 17th- and 18th-c. music.
3 PM
Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
9399 Old Davis Rd., Davis
$10 to $20
866-754-2787 or [email protected]
Varja Voices, Karen Clark, Director, with Michelle Levy, vielle
Le Lai de la Fonteinne (The Lay of the Fountain) by Guillaume de Machaut (1300–1377) and music of Hildegard von Bingen from Varja Voices’ new CD, O Eterne Deus: Music of Hildegard von Bingen. Le Lai de la Fonteinne is in essence a prayer and hymn of praise to the Virgin and a meditation on the nature of the Trinity, likened by the poet to a fountain. The fountain itself, the stream flowing from it and its source are three apparently separate things, which in reality are one: God the Father is the source, the fountain is the Son, and the stream is the Holy Ghost. The cleansing and thirst-quenching properties of water, its strength to remain itself even as ice or vapor, the fount of harmony and purity – all are invoked as images uniting in the vision of the Virgin as the true foundation of faith: “just like water the sweet fruit of life took on human flesh and human shape in your empty womb.” (Paul Hillier)
5 PM
St. Mary the Virgin
2325 Union St., San Francisco
Candlelight concert, FREE
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
