Monday, May 8
American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
George Frideric Handel, La Resurrezione. Composed and first performed during his youthful sojourn in Rome, Handel’s 1708 work is a marvel of creative power and imagination. La Resurrezione, a truly operatic oratorio, scandalized the Vatican (opera was prohibited in Rome by Papal edict at the time) yet assured Handel’s place as the new master of Italian operatic style. Heaven and Hell—embodied in Lucifer and an Angel—battle for supremacy on earth through this dramatic telling of the emotions and convictions of Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleophas, and John the Evangelist. The score demands bravura performances from singers and instrumentalists alike. Jeffrey Thomas conducts an outstanding cast of leading Handelians in this early example of the composer’s brilliance. With soloists soprano Nola Richardson as Mary Magdalene, soprano Mary Wilson as The Angel, mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle as Mary Cleophas, tenor Kyle Stegall as John the Evangelist, and baritone Jesse Blumberg as Lucifer.
7 PM
Davis Community Church,
412 C St., Davis
$33–$85
Tickets online
Karen R. Clark and Elisabeth Reed
“Spring Into Motion” Contralto Karen R. Clark and cellist/gambist Elisabeth Reed present a special workshop, “Spring Into Motion: Celebrating the Life & Legacy of Moshe Feldenkrais (1904–1984).” This workshop offers an introduction the Feldenkrais Method® for musicians. In the workshop, Musician/Feldenkrais practitioners Clark and Reed present lessons for musicians: an introduction to Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration. Come explore how this process for learning can enhance your musical experiences. This workshop is presented in conjunction with the Feldenkrais Guild National Association (FGNA).
5:30–7:30 PM
The Works Studio
2566-C Telegraph Avenue (across from Buffalo Exchange), Berkeley.
Free to SFEMS & VdGSA members; $5 for everyone else.
Reservations not required. but feel free to RSVP: [email protected] or [email protected]
Tuesday, May 9
The Buxtehude Band, Loren Tayerle, Director
J. S. Bach, Cantata BWV 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden
Also performing works by Biagio Marini, Tomás Luis de Victoria and Dietrich Buxtehude
7:30PM
First Lutheran Church,
600 Homer Ave. Palo Alto, 94391
$10 at the door
[email protected]
https://www.dacorchestra.com/buxtehude-band
Friday, May 12
South Bay Recorder Society
Monthly meeting, guest conductor Fred Palmer. New members and guests welcome.
7:30–10 PM
First Congregational Church of San Jose
1980 Hamilton Ave (at Leigh), San Jose
408-358-0878 or [email protected]
Presidio Sessions Presents Vajra Voices with Shira Kammen and Theresa Wong
“Remembered Migrations: Medieval to Modern Song,” a concert of 12th-c. women composers, including Hildegard von Bingen and Marie de France, with related modern stories of our musical and birth mothers. The medieval art of sung poetry—by heart—closely joins improvisation and composition which we will explore in the world premiere of Theresa Wong’s composition for Vajra Voices, To Burst To Bloom, a collection of songs set to the poems of 12th Century Taoist Immortal Sun Bu’er.
7:30 PM
Presidio Officers’ Club
50 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco
Free Reservations online
Saturday, May 13
Gallimaufry, Shira Kammen, Artistic Director
“Livelihood,” a concert of early and traditional songs about work, featuring (among others) nuns complaining about rising early to ring the chapel bells, an old miner reflecting on the dangers of his work, a tailor who falls in love with a “factory girl,” and the hard life and sacrifices shared by sailors and soldiers. Gallimaufry was formed in early 2014 by well-known early music scholar and musician, Shira Kammen. The group performs music from the medieval and Renaissance eras, as well as traditional and contemporary settings of early texts and tunes. The group is unusual in the early music world for performing mostly secular rather than sacred music. The name “Gallimaufry” is a 16th-century French word meaning mix or medley (referring usually to a stew or soup), and reflects the variety of music the group performs. Led by Ms. Kammen as Artistic Director, who also arranges and composes some of the music the ensemble performs, Gallimaufry consists of 20 or so singers from throughout the Bay Area, with experience ranging from skilled amateur to semi-professional. Gallimaufry primarily performs a cappella, but each concert also includes some accompanied pieces and some early or traditional instrumental music performed by Ms. Kammen and by guest artists as well.
7:30 PM
St. Paul Lutheran Church
1658 Excelsior Avenue, Oakland
$20/$15/$10 available at the door
SFEMS Spring Schubertiade
1st Annual Spring Schubertiade Songs and Chamber Music for singers, strings, winds & fortepiano, directed by Kati Kyme and Bill Skeen. As a taste of the fun of the Classical Workshop (July 23-29), we are pleased to offer the first annual Schubertiade. String players, wind players, fortepianists and singers are invited to join us in an afternoon and evening of music-making. We will concentrate on the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Haydn, playing at A=430, and, like the Classical Workshop schedule, we will have two afternoon coaching and rehearsal sessions and an evening performance. Pre-formed groups and individual players are welcome! Enrollment fees will help establish scholarship funds for the Classical Workshop.
1–7 PM Evening performance at 7:30 PM
St. Clement’s Episcopal Church
2837 Claremont Blvd, Berkeley
Registration Fees SFEMS Members: $85.00; Non-Members: $100.00. Fees include snacks and dinner.
Register Here, or mail registration payment to: SFEMS, c/o Spring Schubertiade, P.O. Box 10151, Berkeley, CA 94709. Please register early (postmark by May 5)!
Questions? Please contact us at [email protected].
San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Katherine McKee, Music Director
“Wonder Women—A concert of music by women composers from the Medieval through the Baroque” Join San Francisco Renaissance Voices for this very special concert featuring works by early women composers for women’s voices including several west coast and modern-day premieres. Music includes that of the late Renaissance/early Baroque Italian “musical nuns,” Raffaella Aleotti, Caterina Assandra, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Isabella Leonarda, Maria Xaveria Peruchona, and Lucrezia Orsini Vizzana, as well as a motets by Maria Francesca Nascinbeni dAncona and Mexican poet/philosopher Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and chant by Hildegard von Bingen, Beatritz de Dia and Kassia. With guest artists Katherine Heater, harpsichord and Gretchen Claassen, cello/viola da gamba
7:30 PM
Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church
1329 Seventh Avenue, San Francisco
$30 general admission, $25 student/senior – at the door 1/2 hour before each concert or on-line at www.SFRVoices.org.
Valley of the Moon Music Festival
“The Multifaceted Brahms with contralto Emily Marvosh” Boston-based contralto Emily Marvosh will take the stage alongside ace violinist Jodi Levitz and Eric Zivian on fortepiano in Brahms’ Two Songs for alto, viola and piano. Marvosh has been a frequent soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society under the direction of Harry Christophers, earning raves for her “rich, clear contralto” (Washington Post), “dark, caramel voice…and fiery power” (Boston Classical Review). Also on the program is Brahms’ Horn Trio featuring Sadie Glass on the natural horn, Ian Swensen on violin and Zivian on fortepiano. The concert concludes with Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G Minor with violinist Bettina Mussumeli joining Levitz, cellist Tanya Tomkins and Zivian. Valley of the Moon Music Festival is the first and only organization in the US devoted exclusively to presenting the chamber music of the Classical and Romantic eras, performed on instruments built when the music was written.
3 PM
Schroeder Hall, Green Music Center
1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park
$30
Tickets online
Viola da Gamba Society/Pacifica Chapter
Monthly viol consort playing with guest coach Yukimi Kambe. 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, May 14
Chamber Music San Francisco presents Archetti
“Brandenburg Concertos” These virtuosic, ebullient works reflect one of the happiest and most productive periods in Bach’s life, when he was the music director in the small town of Coethen, and they remain enduringly popular. Our annual tradition of presenting these merry masterpieces continues, featuring the dazzling string ensemble Archetti. Program includes J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concertos No. 3 and 6, H.I.F. Biber, Battalia; Antonio Vivald, Concerto in F Major for Four Violins; and canzonas of Giovani Gabrieli.
3 PM
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
$30 to $48
Tickets online or 415-392-4400
California Jazz Conservatory presents Vajra Voices with Shira Kammen and Theresa Wong
“Remembered Migrations: Medieval to Modern Song,” a concert of 12th-c. women composers, including Hildegard von Bingen and Marie de France, with related modern stories of our musical and birth mothers. The medieval art of sung poetry—by heart—closely joins improvisation and composition which we will explore in the world premiere of Theresa Wong’s composition for Vajra Voices, To Burst To Bloom, a collection of songs set to the poems of 12th Century Taoist Immortal Sun Bu’er. A co-presentation of the San Francisco Early Music Society and the California Jazz Conservatory.
4:30 PM
California Jazz Conservatory
2087 Addison St., Berkeley
$20
Tickets online
San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Katherine McKee, Music Director
“Wonder Women—A concert of music by women composers from the Medieval through the Baroque” Join San Francisco Renaissance Voices for this very special concert featuring works by early women composers for women’s voices including several west coast and modern-day premieres. Music includes that of the late Renaissance/early Baroque Italian “musical nuns,” Raffaella Aleotti, Caterina Assandra, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Isabella Leonarda, Maria Xaveria Peruchona, and Lucrezia Orsini Vizzana, as well as a motets by Maria Francesca Nascinbeni dAncona and Mexican poet/philosopher Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and chant by Hildegard von Bingen, Beatritz de Dia and Kassia. With guest artists Katherine Heater, harpsichord and Gretchen Claassen, cello/viola da gamba
4 PM
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
3 Bayview Avenue, Belvedere
$30 general admission, $25 student/senior – at the door 1/2 hour before each concert or on-line at www.SFRVoices.org.
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
