Vitamin Em
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
String centered first class original music, blending inventive arrangements with diverse musical traditions
A collective of some of the top musicians in the Bay Area - including Grammy®-award-winners and nominees - Vitamin Em brings a wealth of experience, creativity and fearless improvisation to each performance. Members are steeped in an abundance of musical traditions, from jazz, blues and rock to Funk, fiddle and classical, and present a harmonious blend of first-class original music and inventive arrangements for each concert. All delivered with fun-loving spontaneity and infectious enthusiasm.
Artist Profiles
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Evan Price is steadily gaining recognition as one of the world's most confident voices in extra-classical string playing. A native of Detroit, MI, his musical background includes some earnest dues-paying in a variety of genres. From square dance bands to string quartets, from jamming with blues bands to busking in Greektown, Evan's youthful pursuits all informed his violin-playing and left him with a deep love of chamber music in all forms. As a young competitive fiddler he won his share of awards, having been named the U.S. Scottish Fiddling Champion, the Kentucky State Fiddle Champion, Canadian Junior Fiddle Champion, and Canadian Novelty Fiddling Champion. He also performed with some of the masters of fiddle lore—Stephane Grappelli, Johnny Frigo, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher, and Vassar Clements—as well as a diverse array of pop icons from Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to comedian, Steven Wright.
Evan's college career included stints at both The Cleveland Institute of Music and at Berklee College of Music, and has himself served as a member of the music faculty at Wellesley College, The California Jazz Conservatory, and The University of California, Berkeley.
Evan is a ten-year veteran of the world-renowned, paradigm-shifting jazz ensemble, the Turtle Island Quartet. During his tenure in Turtle Island, Evan gave over five hundred performances in concert venues from Latvia to Australia and had the opportunity to collaborate with many musical luminaries, such as Cuban clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, The Ying Quartet, pianists Dr. Billy Taylor and Kenny Barron, and classical guitarists, Sergio and Odair Assad. He recorded five CD's with Turtle Island, two of which—"Four + 4" and “A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane”—received GRAMMY® awards in 2006 and 2008 in the Classical Crossover category.
Since 1998, Evan has been proud to call himself a member of The Hot Club of San Francisco, perhaps the most venerable gypsy jazz band in the US. During his tenure, the group has thrilled audiences from Iceland to Mexico and across the United States, and has released seven CD's which feature Evan on violin.
An accomplished composer, Evan has contributed compositions and arrangements to the repertoires of HCSF, Turtle Island Quartet, Quartet San Francisco, Irish fiddler Liz Carroll, San Francisco Girls' Chorus, River Oaks String Quartet, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Chanticleer, and theInternational Space Orchestra, for which he also serves as musical director. He lives in Mill Valley, CA, with his wife and daughter.
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Dmitri Yevstifeev is a San Francisco based Violist, Violinist and freelance musician. Dmitri frequently performs chamber and orchestral music with a variety of Bay Area ensembles including the Wave Chamber Music Collective, Benicia Chamber Players, San José Chamber Orchestra, and as a substitute violist for the San Francisco Opera and Ballet, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Opera San Jose, among others. Dmitri was recently featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live and at the New Orleans Jazz Festival 2025 performing with the pop artist Laufey. Dmitri has also been involved in organizing events for the Northern California Viola Society, including running the International Viola Composition Competition 2024-2026 and organizing and performing in ViolaMania 6 this past November. Dmitri studied Viola Performance under Paul Coletti at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he also studied chamber music under members of the Tokyo Quartet and Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarneri Quartet. Dmitri frequently plays in a variety of genres including traditional American/Irish/Persian folk music, gypsy jazz, and pop. In addition to viola, Dmitri plays the violin(fiddle), guitar, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, and banjo. In his free time Dmitri enjoys exploring creativity as a hobby through woodworking (instrument and bow making), lapidary arts (stone and gem carving), and musical composition.
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Violist and composer Emily Onderdonk, who hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, began her college years as a composition major, but soon put composition aside to focus on her degrees in viola performance at Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music.
Since then she has enjoyed an eclectic career that includes performances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera and Ballet, Opéra National de Lyon, New Century Chamber Orchestra, Quartet San Francisco, (with whom she was nominated for 2 Grammy awards), Tower of Power, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, Leon Fleisher, Luciano Pavarotti, Smokey Robinson, Diana Krall and many others.
In 2016, she took up composing once again, recording and performing her music regularly with her band, Vitamin Em. Her pieces reflect eclectic musical influences: a Baroque snippet, an intricate funk rhythm, a taste of big band, 70’s soul and the dissonant harmonies of contemporary music can mix together in any one piece she writes, creating a distinctly unique composition, yet with familiar elements. Always at the heart of each are rhythm and groove.
In addition to leading Vitamin Em, Emily often records pop, movie, and video game soundtracks at Skywalker Ranch. She also arranges and composes for colleagues and chamber orchestras, most recently for the San José Chamber Orchestra who in 2025 performed The Many Colors of Her, a piece dedicated to SJCO founder and conductor Barbara Day Turner.
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Michael Graham studied at the Eastman School of Music and Yale University, where he was a founding member of that institution’s first secret chamber music society, Skull and Bows. He has toured and recorded with Van Morrison, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg , and John Densmore of the Doors, and has appeared and performed on ABC’s Regis and Kelley and NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He is currently a member of the Oakland Symphony, and appears frequently with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, the Midsummer Mozart Festival, and other ensembles throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Graham can be heard on New Century’s recently released albums “Live” and Together”, and on Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks Live from Hollywood Bowl.”
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Unpil Baek is a pianist, improviser, and composer whose musical voice flows freely across jazz, classical, global, sacred, and experimental traditions. Originally trained in classical piano, he discovered jazz during college, via Weather Report albums — a turning point that deepened his musical voice through improvisation.
While pursuing doctoral research in quantum computing at the University of California, Berkeley, he began playing in ensembles at the California Jazz Conservatory and UC Jazz, learning from mentors such as Glenn Richman and Marcos Silva. He also studied composition with professors Cindy Cox and Myra Melford to broaden his creative palette through experimental and collaborative work.
To Unpil, music is a way of connecting people across boundaries — a language that speaks through feeling, form, and presence. Whether performing, composing, or improvising, he treats music as an offering: honest, responsive, and shaped by both structure and spontaneity.
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Dash Goss-Post is an LA based drummer with a BA in Global Jazz Studies from UCLA where he studied with musicians such as Clayton Cameron, Arturo O’Farrill, and Hitomi Oba. He believes the power in playing drums and percussion comes from the ability to listen. It is important to Dash that he truly support whoever he’s playing with. This passion for listening has brought him collaborations with many singer/songwriters, performing and recording across LA and the SF Bay Area. He plays with many LA-based indie acts including Charlie Havenick, Flamango Bay, Katrina Wiessman, Dakota Dry and many more. In 2025 he toured with Charlie Havenick, opened for the New York based band Barrie, traveled to London to record an album with Flamango Bay, and started a duo jazz project with fellow UCLA jazz alum Henry Baskin. Dash is looking forward excited to keep playing and learning as his career continues!
Berkeley Choro with Alessandro Penezzi
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Original compositions by living Brazilian composers that cover styles ranging from maxixi, walz, chamamé, and baião.
The concert will feature original compositions and other works by living Brazilian composers in solo and ensemble settings, featuring choros composed by Alessandro Penezzi for members of the group, as well as works written for the local community. His music covers styles including maxixi, waltz, chamamé, baião, and includes elements of jazz improvisation. Berkeley Choro Ensemble has collaborated with Alessandro Penezzi for many years due to his annual residence at California Brazil Camp in Cazadero, celebrating his great artistry and repertoire.
Artist Profiles
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Born in Piracicaba (SP), Alessandro Penezzi is one of the great virtuosos of Brazilian guitar. His concerts have been seen in various countries including the USA, Russia, Japan, Gabon, Angola, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Kosovo, Macedonia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Morocco, and Portugal. He graduated in Popular Music from Unicamp with a specialization in Creative Processes from Faculdade Souza Lima, he has been teaching courses, workshops, and seminars at various music festivals in Brazil and abroad. A multi-instrumentalist – he plays 7-string guitar, tenor guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin and flute – and [is] a prolific composer.
He has received honors and nominations for his performances as an instrumentalist and composer, and has been highlighted in the Visa MPB Instrumental (2001), Tim de Música Brasileira (2006), Shell de Teatro and Prêmio da Música Brasileira (2006) awards.
In 2017, his CD Quebranto recorded with Yamandu Costa in a program of duos and original compositions, won the top award in the Brazilian Music Awards for instrumental music. He is the recipient of an Exceptional Artist Visa from the US, and recently completed a US tour with mandolinist Mike Marshall. He is a faculty member at California Brazil Camp in Cazadero.
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From a family of professional musicians, Berkeley resident, flutist Jane Lenoir, grew up in Tampa, Florida, and left home at 15 as a scholarship student to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and then to Oberlin Conservatory of Music. A performer comfortable in many diverse styles, Jane appears regularly as a soloist, chamber player, orchestral musician, baroque flutist, and jazz performer. A founder of Berkeley Choro, Jane is particularly interested in Latin flute styles, which celebrate the instrument’s ancient, rich history , virtuosity, and lyrical sound. Her 2017 CD, Jane Lenoir plays Penezzi, celebrated the São Paulo guitarist/composer’s compositions to critical acclaim.
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Multi-instrumentalist and composer, Berkeley resident, Harvey Wainapel, has forged a well-earned reputation as one of the foremost artists in Brazilian styles in the US today. Trained as a jazz saxophonist and celebrated for his numerous recordings in the jazz idiom, Harvey has spent many years touring and studying in Brazil with the leading musicians of the day, including Airto and Flora Purim, ..... His 2006 CD, Amigos Brasileiros, received rave reviews as a testament to the history of Brazilian styles of music. With over 40 Brazilian musicians represented on the CD, it was a musical odyssey and labor of love. In 2014, Amigos Brasileiros Volume 2 came out to rave reviews. Harvey has done extensive arrangements for the group over the years, and in 2021 the group premiered an entirely new repertoire on contemporary Brazilian choro compositions. He wrote extensive program notes for our online festival during covid, A Celebration of Women in Brazilian Music.
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Originally from Rio de Janeiro and based in the Bay Area, Oakland resident, guitarist/composer Ricardo Peixoto is among the top representatives of Brazilian guitar in the US, with a fluid melodic style and a keen compositional sense. His performances explore Brazil’s rich and diverse traditions, both in his original work as well as in arrangements of Brazilian classics. His approach is grounded both in the jazz and Brazilian music traditions, but always ventures well beyond their borders, combining rich melodies, sophisticated harmonies, and the unmistakable rhythms of Brazil.
Ricardo came to the US on a scholarship to the Berkeley School of Music in Boston, and later continued his studies in classical guitar at the SF Conservatory of Music.He has recorded, performed, and collaborated with, among others, Claudia Villela, Flora Purim and Airto, saxophonist Bud Shank, percussionist Dom Um Romão, Toots Thielemans, Dori Caymmi, Guinga, guitarist Carlos Oliveira, Harvey Wainapel, Marcos Silva and Terra Sul. He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil. He has taught an ongoing class in choro at CJC for several years now, educating a new audience to choro and Brazilian music.
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Oakland resident percussionist Brian Rice graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a B.M. in Percussion Performance and Ethnomusicology. A faculty member at UC Berkeley and UC Davis in latin percussion styles, Brian is a highly acclaimed performer, educator and recording artist adept at numerous musical styles ranging from classical and jazz, to Latin, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian, to contemporary and experimental music. Brian's study of the Brazilian pandeiro began in 1986 when the Sao Paulo State University percussion ensemble visited Oberlin and percussionist/composer Carlos Stasi, then a student at SPSU, gave Brian a quick pandeiro lesson after the concert. Since then Brian's obsession with the pandeiro has led him to study with Guello, Marcos Suzano, Airto, Claudio Bueno and Clarice Magalhaes, and his prowess on the instrument has led him to perform with numerous Brazilian artists including, Jovino Santos Neto, Paulo Sergio Santos, Danilo Brito, Dudu Maia and Jorge Alabe. It was studies with Marcos Suzano that inspired Brian to expand his use of the pandeiro outside the Brazilian music world and apply it to Balkan, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Cuban music with great effect.
If A Tree Falls
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Open mic origins to local stages with Folk-rooted storytelling, emotion & exploration.
Mark and Jennie met Bernie through a local open mic called "HOOT!" about five years ago and the rest is history. We have since played in all kinds of local venues, from front yards to bars to outdoor stages! We love playing together and sharing what we do with our community. Mark additionally owns a music shop in Berkeley called "Timbre Folk and Baroque" where he spends his days repairing and selling instruments and we rehearse in the evenings. Our music is a reflection of the ever-evolving landscape of modern life, rooted in emotion, exploration, and storytelling.
"The sound this trio makes isn’t heard, it’s felt — like a pang of love, or longing, or loss. And their alchemy not only carries you through such emotions, but leaves you in a place somewhere beyond them. This is sound that purifies."
Jxo
Artist Profiles
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Classically trained on guitar, Bernie found more in common with the singer/songwriters of the 60s & 70s. Inspired by the improvisation of the Grateful Dead, he taught himself electric bass and lead guitar. Moving to the Bay Area in the 90s, Bernie returned to his roots in acoustic guitar-driven Americana/folk/rock/pop, often covering other artists with fresh inventive arrangements. His latest tangent is learning dobro, inspired by its melodic expressiveness. Bernie considers his beloved dobro (“The Mighty Beard”) to be the fourth member of IATF.
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Mark started playing guitar in High School (wow so long ago!) to spite his older sister and monopolize her instrument. When he was growing up his family moved around Wisconsin and Minnesota and he later spent two years working in northern Wisconsin cranberry bogs to earn his master’s in Botany. He then moved to Oregon where he worked in commercial plant propagation and joined an Irish music band. He worked at UC Berkeley as their plant collector for 20 years before retiring to open Timbre Folk and Baroque in Berkeley where he builds, repairs and sells musical instruments.
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Mark’s daughter, Jennie has been singing with Mark since before she was old enough to understand what she was doing. Together, Mark and Jennie like to play and sing Swedish folk music. Mark taught Jennie how to play nyckelharpa (Swedish key fiddle) from the time she was in High School and now they play at local Swedish gatherings and festivals including Lucia Day and Midsommar. Like her father, Jennie is interested in science and plants as well as knitting and crafting. She is now a High School chemistry teacher at Holy Names High School in Rockridge. Her favorite lab demonstration is the exploding pumpkin.
Suzy Thompson Album Release “Suzy Sings Siebel”
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Suzy Thompson’s soulful folk homage to Paul Siebel: blues, bluegrass, Cajun & a lost gem.
Suzy Thompson brings her mastery of American roots music, including blues, bluegrass and Cajun, to create a heart-felt homage to 1970’s songwriter Paul Siebel, with soulful vocals and great guitar work. Last year's album by the same name reached #3 on the national Folk Radio chart. Siebel’s compositions are masterpieces of poetry, storytelling, and incisive character sketches, by turns tender, sarcastic, occasionally joyful but more often melancholy and regretful. Suzy Sings Siebel includes songs from Siebel’s studio albums, and one song that was lost for 50 years - recorded, never released, and forgotten.
“Thompson has interpreted each song with charm, creating a warm homage to this little-known artist and his beautifully crafted songs.” - Morgan Hogarth, Rock-N-Reel Magazine
“Suzy has put her own stamp on Siebel’s songs with her soulful lead vocals and great guitar work. “ - Bill Foster, Bluegrass Unlimited
Veretski Pass Klezmer Trio
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Experience the sounds of a 19th-century East European Jewish wedding through the ritual music that celebrates love & community.
Klezmer music was the music that accompanied all of the rituals of the east European Jewish wedding of the 19th and 20th centuries. From escorting guests to the celebration and festivities, to the unveiling of the bride, to introducing the mothers in law to each other, to the many dances done to celebrate the couple. Along with co-territorial dances melodies, and listening tunes, these 7 day affairs were filled with music. In this concert, Veretski Pass will lead the audience through the many musical stations of this life cycle event, which was important not only as a way to celebrate the union, but as a way to vitalize and expand the community.
Artist Profiles
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Cookie Segelstein, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in Viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony, as well as on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, The Youngers of Zion with Henry Sapoznik, has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, Frank London, Klezmer Fats and Swing with Pete Sokolow and the late Howie Leess, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and The Klezmer Conservatory Band. Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world, including at Yale University, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Marshall University in Huntington, West VA, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, University of Oregon in Eugene, Pacific University, SUNY-Cortland, and at Klezmerwochen in Weimar, Germany. She is a regular staff member at Living Traditions' KlezKamp, KlezKanada, KlezCalifornia, Klezmer Festival Fürth, Klezfest London, and has been a performing artist at Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Wash.
She was featured on the ABC documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” heard on HBO’s “Sex and the City”, appears in the Miramax film, “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert De Niro, and is heard on several recordings including Veretski Pass, Trafik and The Klezmer Shul, Budowitz Live, the Koch International label with Orchestra New England in The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives, Hazònes with Frank London, A Living Tradition with the late Moldovan clarinetist, German Goldenshteyn and Fleytmuzik with Adrianne Greenbaum.
She is also the publisher of "The Music of..." series of klezmer transcriptions. Active as a Holocaust educator and curriculum advisor, she has been a frequent lecturer at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. She is on the boards of both the North California Viola Society, and the American String Teacher Association, Bay Area chapter. Cookie is also an Apple Certified Support Professional, and owns and operates The Macmama. Cookie lives in Berkeley, with her husband, Josh Horowitz, a dog and her occasionally visiting adult children.
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Joshua Horowitz, 19th Century button accordion, Tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught Music Theory and served as Research Fellow and Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project for eight years. He was chosen as the co-curator and orchestrator by the San Francisco Symphony for its Jewish Installment of their “Currents” series
He is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, a founding member of Veretski Pass and has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ben Goldberg, Rubin and Horowitz, Brave Old World, Adrienne Cooper and Ruth Yaakov. His music was recently featured in the British film, “Some of my best friends are... Jewish / Muslim”, awarded the Sandford St. Martin Trust Religious Broadcasting Award and is also featured in the new film by Jes Benstock, "The Holocaust Tourist".
His recordings with Veretski Pass, Budowitz, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Rubin & Horowitz and Alicia Svigals, have achieved international recognition and he is the recipient of more than 40 awards for his work as both composer and performer.
He was one of the co-founders of the Austrian experimental composer collective, “Die Andere Saite” and received the Prize of Honor by the Austrian government for his orchestral composition, “Tenebrae.” Following his children’s Opera, “Der Wilde Man”, Joshua received The “Award for Outstanding Talent in Composition” from the City of Graz and was twice finalist in the National American ASCAP competition. While teaching at the Graz Academy of Music he was awarded both The David Herzog and Fritz Spielman Awards, and received ongoing support from Louise M. Davies for his dedication to music creativity and education.
In 2001, Joshua’s group, Budowitz was chosen by the Austrian government to represent the country in the International Celebration of World Culture’s held at the “House of the Cultures of The World” in Berlin.
Joshua taught Advanced Jazz Theory at Stanford University with the late saxophonist Stan Getz and is a regular teacher at KlezKamp, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia and the Klezmer Festival Fürth. His musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook with Aron Saltiel and The Ultimate Klezmer, and he has written numerous articles on the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife Cookie.
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Stuart Brotman, 3-String Bass, baraban, has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in the ethnic music field for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning, and has defined klezmer bass (“It’s a large instrument that plays really low and has an accent.”)
He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and has taught at KlezKamp, Buffalo on the Roof, the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia, and numerous European festivals and institutes, including Oxford University, Klezfest London, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Klezmer Festival Fürth, and the Krakow Jewish Festival.
Stu has been recording, touring, and teaching New Jewish Music with world class ensemble, Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House,” and in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto, with the music of Brave Old World.”
Long admired as a versatile soloist and sensitive accompanist in traditional and pop music circles, he has toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder’s celebrated recording, “Jazz,” which premiered at Carnegie Hall.
Stu appeared in the Los Angeles production of Joshua Sobol’s “Ghetto,” the San Francisco production of “Shlemiel the First,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, played cimbalom in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and contrabass balalaika in “Love Affair.”
He produced The Klezmorim's Grammy nominated album, "Metropolis," and has recorded with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Davka, The San Francisco Klezmer Experience, and Khevrisa. Stuart lives in Berkeley, California.
Trio 180
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Reflecting on remembrance and the passage of time, Trio 180 performs works by Beethoven, Fuzailina, Saariaho, and Tchaikovsky.
Trio 180 presents a program reflecting on remembrance and the passage of time. The Trio in B-flat major, Op. 11 by Ludwig van Beethoven sparkles with wit and playful brilliance. Saghat by Adeliia Fuzaillina offers a contemporary meditation on time, composed in honor of Kaija Saariaho. The program will culminate in Tchaikovsky’s beloved Piano Trio in A minor, dedicated to the memory of his friend and fellow musician Nikolai Rubinstein.
Ensemble Bio
Trio 180 is dedicated to its roles as performer, proponent of new music, and educator. In addition to giving concerts and master classes throughout the United States, the trio has been featured on concert series in Mexico and Canada. This talented ensemble includes celebrated concert violinist Ann Miller, renowned cellist Vicky Wang, and award-winning pianist Sonia Leong.
Trio 180 performs a wide range of music from the Classical era to the present and is an active advocate of new music. The trio was awarded a Barlow Grant in 2006 to commission eminent composer Chen Yi’s first piano trio, Tibetan Tunes (Theodore Presser). The trio also premiered Eric Wood's Elgin Movements (2022), Robert Coburn’s a depth of silence (2018); Robert Greenberg’s 180 Shift(2013); Reinaldo Moya’s Gothic Sea (2011, in honor of Trio 180’s tenth anniversary); Francois Rose's Gently, Wild Rose Petals (2008); Derek Jacoby's Trio No. 2 (2008); and Allan Crossman's Icarus (2005). The trio has also recorded works by Jorge Liderman (Suite del Sur; Sidewalk recorded on Albany Records), and Cindy Cox (Wave).
The trio mentors young musicians and chamber music groups at the University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music, where all three members are on faculty. In addition, Trio 180 frequently performs at elementary and high schools throughout California, presenting varied and interactive programs designed to challenge and engage young students.
The trio has been featured at Chamber Music America's National Conference in New York, as well as the Music Teachers' Association of California's Annual Convention. It has toured to Vancouver, Canada, and Ajijic, Mexico; presented numerous performances for Composers Inc., in San Francisco and Berkeley; and given concerts at Del Valle Fine Arts (Livermore); the Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento); the Mondavi Center (Davis); the Sundays Live series (Los Angeles County Museum); Sundays at 3 (Columbia, MD), and Old First Concerts (San Francisco). Recently, the trio was featured on Music for a Great Space's Women in Music Series in Greensboro, NC. The trio completed its first CD of works by Dvorak, Suk, and Schumann in 2015. During the pandemic, the trio gave several online performances: Gabriela Lena Frank's Four Folk Songs for Piano Trio, presenting the work live with the composer; and Rebecca Clarke's Piano Trio, with musicologist Dr. Sarah Waltz.
The trio celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2022, with commissioned works by Dorothy Chang, Cindy Cox, Andrew Conklin, Richard Einhorn, and Reinaldo Moya.
Dirty Cello
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Wild vocals + world-class cello; Blues, rock & Americana like you’ve never heard.
From Iceland to Italy, and all over the U.S., San Francisco-based band Dirty Cello brings the world a high energy and unique spin on blues, rock, and Americana. With wild vocals, and world class cello playing, the group is led by vivacious cross-over cellist, Rebecca Roudman. Dirty Cello is cello like you’ve never heard before. From down home blues and rock with a wailing cello to virtuosic stompin’ Americana, Dirty Cello is a band that gets your heart thumping and your toes tapping!
2nd Year Adler Fellows in Concert
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Rising stars in opera couple moving repertoire with power, passion, and prestige
Initially founded as the San Francisco Opera/Affiliate Artists program in 1977, the Adler Fellowship Program is one of the nation’s most prestigious performance-oriented residencies for advanced young singers and pianists. San Francisco Opera Center was created in 1982 by then General Director Terence McEwen to oversee the operation and administration of the education and training programs initiated by Kurt Herbert Adler in 1954. Under the guidance of San Francisco Opera Center Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson and General Manager Markus Beam, San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows are trained in musical technique and preparation, foreign language skills, acting technique and movement, as well as financial management, leadership development, mental and emotional resilience, physical health and wellness and other skills necessary for a musical career in the twenty-first century. Adler singers are often cast in mainstage roles and leading cover assignments, while Adler pianists work closely with the San Francisco Opera music staff to help prepare mainstage operas. Each year, Adler Fellows are sponsored by individual donors and institutional funders to help cover the cost of their fellowship, and sponsors affiliated with the Adler Program have the opportunity to attend exclusive training sessions, such as master classes and workshops. Alumni of the Adler Fellowship Program include sopranos Julie Adams, Amina Edris, Elza van den Heever, Patricia Racette, Nadine Sierra, Ruth Ann Swenson and Deborah Voigt; mezzo-sopranos Daniela Mack, Zanda Švēde and Dolora Zajick; countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen; tenors Brian Jagde, David Lomelí, Amitai Pati, Pene Pati and Stuart Skelton; baritones Alfredo Daza, Mark Delavan, Joo Won Kang and Lucas Meachem; bass-baritones Philip Skinner, Philippe Sly and John Relyea and bass Kenneth Kellogg.
Nash Baroque - “All That is Necessary”
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Experience traditional baroque music and dance from the plays of Molière and the ‘Court of Louis XIV this Mother's Day!
Music and Dance from the plays of Molière and the ’Court of Louis XIV
“Music and dancing, music and dancing, that is all that’s necessary.”
Bourgeois Gentilhomme- Molière
Featuring incidental music and dances from Moliere’s plays “La Mariage Forcé” (1664) and “La Malade Imaginaire “(1673) Nash Baroque performs with guest dancer from the New York Baroque dance company, Irenie Melin-Gompper’ and soprano, Caroline Armitage, music from the court pf Louis XIV by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Michele De La Barre, Elisabeth Jacquet de Guerre, Antoine Forqueray, and newly discovered works for flute by Marin Marais.
From La Bourgeois Gentilhomme- Molière:
Dancing Master: Music and dancing, music and dancing, that’s all that’s necessary.
Music Master: There’s nothing so useful in a state as music.
Dancing Master: There’s nothing so necessary to men as dancing.
Music Master: Without music, a state cannot subsist.
Dancing Master: Without the dance, a man can do nothing.
Music Master: All the disorders, all the wars one sees in the world happen only from not learning music.
Dancing Master: All the misfortunes of mankind, all the dreadful disasters that fill the history books, the blunders of politicians and the faults of omission of great commanders, all this comes from not knowing how to dance.
Artist Profiles
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Soprano Caroline Jou Armitage is known for her “absolutely beautiful” performances sung with “pitch-perfect clarity and affecting intensity” (San Francisco Classical Voice). As a member of Vajra Voices, an all-female medieval vocal ensemble, her solo voice appears in the opening credits on the soundtrack of the feature film Outerlands. She has been a featured soprano soloist with the California Bach Society, Chora Nova, UC Alumni Chorus, Harmonia Felice, Bay Choral Guild, Berkeley Baroque Strings, and LA Baroque. As a Baroque violinist, she performs with Jubilate Baroque Orchestra and Albany Consort. As a modern violinist, she plays for the Bay Area Country Dance Society. Caroline has also appeared as a Baroque dancer at the Amherst Early Music Festival in several operas, and most recently, in a showcase in Japan.
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JungHae Kim’s unique style blends a sparkling virtuoso technique with a gentle and lyrical sensibility that makes the harpsichord instantly accessible to the modern ear. New York Arts described her playing as “impressive” and characterized by “a supple flow and expressiveness.” La Folia raved, “I have never listened as closely or enjoyed d’Anglebert as much. Kim’s playing is gallant and regal.”
A versatile musician on historical keyboard instruments, Kim has appeared as a soloist with period-instrument ensembles as well as the San Francisco Symphony and New Century Chamber Orchestra. She has been featured on NPR and national Korean television (KBS). A sought-after pedagogue, Kim has taught and performed at festivals around the world, including the Bloomington Early Music Festival, Berkeley Early Music Festival, Madison Bach Musicians Workshop, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Assisi Music Festival (Italy), Midsommer Baroque Music Festival (Denmark), and Chuncheon International Early Music Festival (Korea).
In addition to teaching private lessons, lecturing, and giving masterclasses, Kim is a Professor of Music Theory and Musicianship at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Lecturer in Harpsichord at Stanford University.
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Vicki Melin Baroque and Renaissance Flutes, has performed in early music groups throughout the Bay Area and Southern California such as the American Bach Soloists, with the ABS Academy; Ars Minerva, Voices of Music, Musica Angelica, Bach Collegium San Diego, California Bach Society, Opera Neo Festival Orchestra, Jubilate Orchestra, and as artistic director of her ensemble, Nash Baroque. Ms Melin attended Boston University for her Masters of Music studying with Christopher Krueger and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Hague, The Netherlands, receiving the Advanced Diploma in Performance studying with Wilbert Hazelzet. She has performed with early music orchestras and chamber ensembles in the United States and is a frequent guest soloist with International Organ and Chamber Music Festivals in Poland. Ms. Melin lives in San Francisco and teaches baroque flute privately and at UC Berkeley.
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Irenie Melin-Gompper is a graduate of the Alvin Ailey Professional Division Program in NYC. Her formal training includes six years at the San Francisco Ballet School and Bolshoi Academy Intensive Programs. She currently lives in New City where she has assisted choreographers such as Christopher Huggins and Peiju Chien Pott and is a soloist with the New York Baroque Dance Company. She has performed Alvin Ailey works such as “Flight Time” and appeared in ‘Memoria’ during Alvin Ailey’s City Center Season. Last Spring
She made her dance debut in Boston Early Music’s Festival acclaimed production of ‘Octavia’ and is now a continuing member of the Festival Company. She works with Company XIV in Brooklyn as both lead and ensemble member, appearing in the 2026 season’s production of ‘Petite Rouge’.
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Farley Pearce is a San Francisco freelance musician who plays cello, viols, violone, and contrabass. He has played with the baroque orchestras of Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and is a member of the Voices of Music ensemble and the Sex Chordae Consort of Viols. He also has appeared with ABS, Archetti, Magnificat!, Musica Pacifica, Marin Baroque, and the Albany Consort, as well as symphony orchestras in the Bay Area. His frequent recitals have featured old and new music for period contrabass as well as late 18th century music for viol and fortepiano. He also performs often on the church bass, most recently on a Music Sources program with Sigiswald Kuijken.
FiveMind Reeds
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
A reed quintet? It’s the combination of oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, and bass clarinet!
Join Fivemind Reeds for an afternoon of music of this rare ensemble! From the jazz-inspired works of the 1930’s to the music of America’s emerging composers, watch us push the limits of each of our instruments, present new and innovative sonic experiences, and build off of the conventions of today’s classical music. Welcome to the Hivemind.
Ensemble Bio
Saxophonist Alexander Lee, clarinetists Darren Liou and Kristine Llanderal, bassoonist Matthew Rasmussen, and oboist Thacher Schreiber formed Los Angeles-based reed quintet Fivemind Reeds in the fall of 2021, while they were all students at the University of California, Los Angeles’s Herb Alpert School of Music. Since then, Fivemind has performed in concerts and recitals throughout their native Los Angeles as well as across the United States: In 2022 they were a featured ensemble at the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival at the Mannes School of Music in New York City, and beginning in 2023 Fivemind has served as one of several ensembles in residence for Interlochen Public Radio’s Sound Garden Project, where they have been planting music in unexpected places through innovative programming and performances all throughout Northern Michigan.
The quintet maintains a colorful and diverse repertoire, from old masterworks by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Clara Schumann to landmark contemporary works by composers such as David Biedenbender, Dai Fujikura, Stacy Garrop, Marc Mellits, Nico Muhly, Jeff Scott, and Zhou Long. Fivemind is also incredibly proud to have collaborated with composers such as Jean Ahn, Austin Ali, Madeline Barrett, Nichagarn Chiracharasporn, Thacher Schreiber, and Nadine Silverman. They have also worked with composers through their annual Call for Scores, which has to date received nearly 150 submissions, leading to performances and recordings of work by Theo Chandler, Jonah Cohen, Daniel Cueto, Justin Gruber, Wenbin Lyu, Trenton Rhodes, Shane Valle, Jamie Whitmarsh, and Roger Zare.
Fivemind’s interests lie in bridging the gap between classical and contemporary music, and promoting diversity and equity in the arts through community engagement, expansion of the reed quintet’s repertoire, and revitalization of the age-old traditions of chamber music. Recent engagements include the conclusion of their second concert series in Los Angeles, containing two projects funded by the Culver City Performing Arts Grant and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music respectively. Future engagements include returning to Michigan for a residency at Michigan State University, their 2026 Call for Scores, and other exciting new projects!
Fivemind Reeds is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Los Angeles, California.
Artist Profiles
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Thacher Schreiber maintains a diverse musical repertory, with positions in the California Young Artists Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Los Angeles, and Fivemind Reeds, of which he is a founding member and artistic director. He has performance degrees from UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music and the Mannes School of Music, where he studied with Dr. Jonathan Davis and professor Ryan Roberts, respectively. Thacher is also an avid composer, and is a member of UCLA’s composition studio.
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Darren Liou is the clarinetist with Fivemind Reeds and an educator in clarinet, piano, and drums. He has performed with both the Pacific Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in his free time, he creates music content for social media.
He earned a B.A. in Music Education from UCLA in 2021 and a Master’s in Clarinet Performance, also from UCLA, in 2023. While at UCLA, he had the privilege of studying with world-renowned clarinetists Joshua Ranz, Boris Allakhverdyan, and the late Gary Gray.
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Alexander Lee is the Adjunct Instructor of Saxophone at Albion College and Instructor of Saxophone at the Flint Institute of Music. As a soloist, he competed in the live rounds of the 8th International Adolphe Sax competition as well as performed as the concerto soloist for the UMKC Orchestra and the UCLA Philharmonia.
He is currently pursuing his DMA in saxophone performance at Michigan State University, with a MM and BM in saxophone performance from UMKC and UCLA respectively.
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Matthew Rasmussen is the principal bassoonist of the Santa Monica Symphony and bassoonist and Artistic Director with Fivemind Reeds. He has performed with orchestras such as the Bakersfield Symphony, American Youth Symphony, California Young Artists Symphony, and the Civic Orchestra of Los Angeles.
Matthew earned a masters degree in bassoon from UCLA, studying with John Steinmetz. He is the bassoon coach at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica and is on faculty at Moorpark College.
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Kristine Llanderal serves as Artistic Operations Coordinator for the Pasadena Symphony & POPS, and bass clarinetist/marketing director of Fivemind Reeds. She has performed with orchestras including Pacific Symphony, Opera SLO, Lompoc POPS, and the California Young Artists Symphony. Kristine holds degrees from UCLA (MM) and the University of Redlands (BM), and has taught with LA Harmony Project, Pasadena Symphony Youth Orchestras, and Glendale Youth Orchestra.
![[Canceled] No "Dots" - No Problem!](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e20b3f49b2b7f2b29df8252/1780683919115-P830SWIILUFIZR34FOW0/Eventbrite+Headers.png)
[Canceled] No "Dots" - No Problem!
[Canceled] No "Dots" - No Problem!
Due to low enrollment, this workshop is canceled. All ticketholders will be issued a full refund of their ticket purchase.
Sixth Station Piano Trio
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Join Sixth Station Trio in an enchanting afternoon of works by Maurice Ravel, Robert Schumann, and Joseph Haydn, culminating in a program of the ensemble’s favorites arranged for piano trio. Ravel’s Pavane, originally composed for piano solo and later orchestrated, is one of his most well-known works that the trio will be performing their own arrangement of. Haydn’s Piano Trio in G Major is a classic piano trio with a spritely first movement, thoughtful second movement, and lively third movement. Lastly, Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 88, or Fantasy Pieces, is a four-movement work depicting the various sides of Schubert’s personalities, Eusebius and Florestan.
Although the trio officially debuted in 2023 , the members of Sixth Station Trio have been playing chamber music together since their high school years at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, and through their time pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
They have since built a huge following for their performances of the scores from numerous Studio Ghibli films (master works by Hayao Miyazaki's studio: Spirited Away, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service), as well as music from Nintendo, which they perform at Grace Cathedral and Old First in San Francisco. We are thrilled to lure them to the East Bay for the afternoon!
With Anju Goto, violin; Federico Strand Ramirez, cello; and Katelyn Tan, piano
Artist Profiles
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Anju Goto is a violinist and violist based in the Bay Area. He completed his undergraduate degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2020 and has studied Viola at the USC Thornton School of Music in Viola Performance. Anju was a member of the San Francisco Youth Orchestra from 2015 to 2020, serving as the principal violist during the 2019-2020 season. Anju plays regularly with Ensemble Mik Nawooj, The Berkeley Playhouse, and has participated as an Emerging Artist at the Mendocino Music Festival. Besides classical music, he is also interested in a wide variety of genres, such as Baroque performance with period instruments, taking Technology and Applied Composition classes at SFCM, and joining the Pop Strings Ensemble at Thornton. His principal teachers include Dimitri Murrath, Yura Lee, Jay Liu, Wei He, and Cordula Merks.
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Federico Strand Ramirez is a Bay Area cellist and native San Franciscan. Federico is a cellist for the Berkeley Ballet Theater and has performed with ensembles such as the The Sacramento Philharmonic, the Mendocino Orchestra, and Ensemble Mik Nawooj. He has soloed with the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, performed chamber music with SF Ballet's Concertmaster Cordula Merks and piano soloist Lara Downes, and recorded for Lisa Bielawa's "Broadcast From Home", featured in The Library of Congress. When not performing, Federico teaches cello privately and through the San Francisco Symphony's Mentors in Music program. He began learning cello at the age of 11, and obtained B.M. and A.C. degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Mannes School of Music in NYC.
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Born and raised in San Francisco, Katelyn Tan began her musical studies at the age of 10. She completed her Bachelor's of Music at the University of the Pacific in 2017 and Masters of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2020. She currently works as a rehearsal pianist for the San Francisco Ballet Company and School, where she is also a faculty member. She is also a staff accompanist for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has appeared as a guest lecturer. In the past, Katelyn has been a rehearsal pianist for companies including San Francisco Opera, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Smuin Ballet, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and the American Conservatory Theater. When Katelyn is not performing, she enjoys studying music software, arranging music for the trio, composing lofi beats, and playing video games.
Prism Percussion
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Prism Percussion explores the expressive colors of percussive sounds utilizing non-standard instruments and seeks to champion works by BIPOC, Women, and Queer composers.
Based in San Francisco, this percussion duo was founded in 2018 by Divesh Karamchandani and Elizabeth Hall. Since their inaugural performance, Prism Percussion has continuously curated projects showcasing new works for percussion duo written by underrepresented composers. Their presence on stage is "both musically and visually stunning" affirms Jessica Balik of San Francisco Classical Voice.
This performance will include a World Premiere of a work by composer Haruka Fujii.
Artist Profiles
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Divesh Karamchandani is a San Francisco-based percussionist and Coordinator of Percussion at San Jose State University. He is the Principal Percussionist of One Found Sound, Prism Percussion's co-founder, and Orphic Percussion's newest member.
Karamchandani’s other notable engagements include the San Francisco Symphony, New Century Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Opera San Jose, and Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, among other ensembles.
Karamchandani advocates contemporary music and seeks to champion new works, especially by underrepresented composers. His firm belief in a more equitable and diverse artistic community has led to commissioning, premiering, and
recording new compositions through his solo ventures and partnership with Prism Percussion.
Karamchandani is honored to be acknowledged as a Marimba One Educational Artist and proudly endorses Marimba One instruments. He studied under the tutelage of Jack Van Geem, Jacob Nissly, James Lee Wyatt III, Chris Woodham, and Allen Brown.
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Based in San Francisco-based, this percussion duo was founded in 2018 by Divesh Karamchandani and Elizabeth Hall. Since their inaugural performance, Prism Percussion has continuously curated projects showcasing new works for percussion duo written by underrepresented composers. Their presence on stage is "both musically and visually stunning" affirms Jessica Balik of San Francisco Classical Voice.
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Mika Nakamura is a percussionist, educator, and arts administrator. She has collaborated with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, yMusic, Sō Percussion, eighth blackbird, New Century Chamber Orchestra, Mainly Mozart All-Star Festival Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. Ms. Nakamura is a graduate of UCLA and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
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Jimmy Chan, originally from Hong Kong, is a versatile solo, chamber, and orchestral percussionist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has performed with ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, California Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Marin Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic. A Marimba One Artist, Chan has appeared on prestigious stages worldwide, including Royal Albert Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall. He has been featured as a concerto soloist with the Billings Symphony and Colburn Orchestra, and has appeared as a guest artist at the Bellingham Festival of Music and Stanford University. In chamber music, he is percussionist with One Found Sound, a conductorless chamber orchestra in San Francisco. Chan is the percussion ensemble director and faculty at California State University, East Bay.
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Multi-percussionist Haruka Fujii has become one of the most prominent solo percussionists and marimbists of her generation. Since 2010 Ms. Fujii has performed as an artist of the Grammy Award winning Silkroad Ensemble, joining a group of international musicians founded by Yo-Yo Ma and now serves as the Associate Artistic Director alongside with the artistic director Rhiannon Giddens. She is a member of Utari Percussion Duo, a duet project with her sister Rika, which she has written several pieces for including Small Chat I & II.
Ms. Fujii has recently joined the percussion faculty of San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and has been a frequent guest instructor at several international percussion festivals. She is also a founder and creative director of a nonprofit organization Nippon Kobo.
(POSTPONED) Caroline Corrales, Soprano in Recital
Due to illness, this concert is being postponed to a later date; stay tuned for the new date!
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Woman, (re)Defined
Women are so often defined by their relationships to other people. She is not a woman, she is a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister. Our society casts women in these concrete, singular roles. But women are anything but singular, and within a woman’s complex being lies all the wonders and mysteries of the human experience. A Woman may be a wife, a mother, a daughter, or a sister. And that is not all.
Artist Profiles
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Praised for her "robust and luxuriant tone”, soprano Caroline Corrales is a star on the rise.
Caroline is a second-year Adler Fellow with The San Francisco Opera, where her engagements include Moira The Handmaid’s Tale, Mimi Bohème out of the Box, Mimi La Bohème (cover), and Erste Dame Die Zauberflöte (cover). This season, Caroline can also be seen as Mimi La Bohème with Opera Naples.
Caroline has trained as a Young Artist with the Merola Opera Program, as an Apprentice Singer with The Santa Fe Opera, and as a Young Artist with the Boston University Opera Institute. Recent stage credits include the roles of Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia, Ma Zegner Proving Up, Anne Trulove The Rake's Progress, and scenes as Rosalinde Die Fledermaus and Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, and the title character in Rusalka.
On the concert stage, Caroline has been featured as the soloist in Carmina Burana, The Messiah, Verdi Requiem (cover), Mozart Requiem, and is a frequent collaborator with The Boston Pops Symphony.
An avid competitor, Caroline has been awarded five times from The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. She has also won awards from the Pasadena Vocal Competition, St. Botolph Club Foundation, Orpheus Vocal Competition, and Concurso Internacional de Canto Tenor Viñas.
Caroline holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Webster University.
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Pianist Yang Lin has been on the music staff at San Francisco Opera since 2023. He has served in multiple roles, including prompter, assistant conductor, and pianist. His recent productions with the company include the world premiere of The Monkey King, Tristan und Isolde, Partenope, Madama Butterfly, Bohème Out of the Box, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, and Omar. He is also on the coaching faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
An active recitalist, he has performed with acclaimed singers including Nicole Car, Klaus Florian Vogt, Meigui Zhang and Jane Eaglen, earning praise from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for “unfailing accuracy and attention to color and detail that went far to compensate for lack of an orchestra in the big scenes.”
He is a graduate of the prestigious Merola Opera Program and the Adler Fellowship, an alumni of the New England Conservatory and University of Cincinnati. Born into a family steeped in the Western operatic tradition with two generations of musicians at Shanghai Opera, Lin was initially determined to avoid the family business and pursue engineering. However, a recording of Tosca moved him so much that he asked his father for a score to explore, thus beginning his passion for the art form.
Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini: Brazilian Songbook Celebration
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Describing the musical partnership of Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini as a duo is accurate, but their collaboration contains multitudes. She’s a trombonist, vocalist and songwriter from San Francisco. He’s a composer, guitarist, and singer from Brasilia. Together they’ve honed a singularly expansive creative communion encompassing their love of the Brazilian songbook, jazz, Impressionism and sophisticated pop songcraft.
Their original material features lyrics in Portuguese, French and English set to music drawing from a vast stylistic spectrum. With sumptuous two-part vocal harmonies hugging Brazilian-accented Portuguese accompanied by trombone and acoustic guitar, Cressman and Faquini’s richly orchestrated sound seems to emanate from a much larger ensemble.
Artist Profiles
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Ian Faquini writes exquisitely sophisticated Brazilian pop music in the omnivorous tradition known as MPB (música popular brasileira), which has often been deeply influenced by jazz. Born in Brasília and raised in Berkeley, Faquini is a protégé of Guinga, the revered Brazilian guitarist and songwriter whose tunes have been recorded by dozens of MPB stars. In 2014, he released his debut album with flautist Rebecca Kleinmann, Brasiliense, which features his original compositions reflecting his love of jazz and Impressionism and his growing mastery of Brazilian musical forms. He followed up with 2016’s Metal na Madeira, a collaboration with acclaimed vocalist Paula Santoro, who hails from Minas Gerais. Conjuring the physical and cultural landscape of Brazil’s northeast with maracatu, frevo, baião, xote, and toada rhythms, the project features an all-star cast of collaborators. Since then, Faquini has focused on his partnership with trombonist, vocalist, and lyricist Natalie Cressman, with whom he was a finalist for duo of the year in 2023’s Jazz Journalists Critics Poll. They’ve recorded three albums, 2019’s Setting Rays of Summer, 2022’s Auburn Whisper, and the soon-to-be released Guinga, a tribute that features the maestro on five tracks.
With a singular set of skills, highly personal compositional style, and lush harmonic palette, Faquini is one of the most respected guitar players in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s also a brilliant accompanist, which has made him an in-demand collaborator with vocalists around the U.S. and Brazil. Beyond his work with Guinga, he has performed with some of the most illustrious figures in jazz and Brazilian music, including Fleurine, Spok, Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, and many others. Faquini has performed throughout Europe, Japan, Brazil and the United States, including Montreux Jazz Festival, Enjoy Jazz Festival, Bimhuis (Amsterdam), Birdland (NYC), and The A Trane (Berlin).
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Possessing a voice as cool and crystalline as an Alpine stream, Natalie Cressman draws inspiration from a vast array of musical currents. Deeply versed in Latin jazz, post-bop, pop, and Brazilian music, she’s released three albums under her own name as well as three acclaimed duo albums with Brazilian-born guitarist Ian Faquini, her primary musical partner for the past decade. Focusing on their original songs, the duo’s recordings include 2019’s Setting Rays of Summer, 2022’s Auburn Whisper, and the soon-to-be-released Guinga, a tribute to the revered Brazilian composer and guitarist. Cressman’s trombone prowess has earned her widespread recognition. In both 2019 and 2023 Downbeat awarded her “Rising Star Trombone” honors in the magazine’s annual critics’ poll. She’s spent the last 14 years touring as a horn player and vocalist with Phish's Trey Anastasio, while also performing around NYC with jazz greats Wycliffe Gordon, Nicholas Payton, Anat Cohen, Dave Douglas, and Peter Apfelbaum.
Drawing on her love of groove, cool R&B and jazz, Cressman released the solo albums, Unfolding (2012) and Turn the Sea (2014), followed by Etchings in Amber (2016), a gorgeous duo album with guitarist Mike Bono that introduced Cressman as a formidable musical force without her horn. She released The Traces EP in 2017, which expanded her creative reach into post-production with meticulously crafted soundscaped tracks inspired by R&B and indie pop. Her passion for groove music hasn’t diluted her love of jazz. In 2016 SFJAZZ commissioned her to develop music for a concert celebrating the legacy of jazz trombonist/arranger Melba Liston. When she’s not performing her own music, Cressman can be found collaborating with some of the most illustrious figures in rock, funk, jazz and beyond such as Carlos Santana, Phish, Big Gigantic, Escort, Phil Lesh, Oteil Burbridge, The Motet, and Umphrey's McGee.
Dominic Favia, Natural Trumpet, with Arthur Omura, Organ
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Renowned Baroque trumpeter Dominic Favia, praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for his “unforgettable display of virtuosity,” performs regularly with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, and the Carmel Bach Festival.
Historical keyboard specialist Arthur Omura performs regularly on both organ and harpsichord; for this concert he will be playing St. Alban's delightful historic organ: a 1912 Hooks and Hastings instrument which was originally built for Sisters of the Presentation Convent in San Francisco.
For this much anticipated concert, they will perform a program including orchestral favorites by Purcell (arranged for Baroque trumpet and organ), Trumpet Voluntaries, a trumpet concerto, and various solo works.
Artist Profile
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Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for his “unforgettable display of virtuosity,” Dominic Favia performs on modern and historical trumpets. Dominic performs regularly with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, and the Carmel Bach Festival. As a modern musician, he is a member of the Marin Symphony, has appeared with various performing groups throughout the Bay Area, and has served as lecturer in trumpet performance at University of California, Davis.
Dominic is one of a small but growing number of trumpeters who specialize and perform extensively on the natural trumpet without the aid of vent holes as the instrument was originally.
Originally from Virginia, he holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. While in Cleveland, he also was actively involved in the Case/CIM Baroque Orchestra, performing on both trumpet and harpsichord. He has performed on NPR’s From the Top program, made a solo appearance with the United States Navy Band, and was a finalist for the inaugural Indianapolis International Baroque Competition.
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Arthur Omura is a specialist in historical keyboard instruments based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He studied with Charles Rus in San Francisco, and with Dr. Ladd Thomas and Dr. Lucinda Carver at the University of Southern California. He has performed at the Boston and Berkeley Early Music festivals and given numerous performances in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. He has worked with MicroFest, wildUp, iPalpiti, Les Surprises Baroques, Musica Angelica, the American Bach Soloists, and the Cantata Collective. Omura has collaborated on several recordings, most recently on the Cantata Collective's second recording of Bach Cantatas. His interest in instrument making led him to work with harpsichord builder Curtis Berak, whom he has assisted in restoring several instruments, and with organ builder Manuel Rosales. Omura is the director of music at Grace Episcopal Church in Martinez, CA.
3rd Annual Winter Solstice & Holiday Sing-Along
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Sing-along holiday fun: treats, soloists, door prizes!
Our first two Winter Solstice/Hanukkah/Christmas sing-alongs were such a hit, we're making it an annual event! Once again, it's a co-production with St. Alban's. What does that mean? Exemplary treats, and even more music!
Because 'tis the season to sing along with your favorite holiday tunes, listen to some fabulous soloists, eat some cookies and chocolate, and drink some nog! Can you sing "well"? Fabulous - Sing out, Louise! Do you often wind up lip-synching to Happy Birthday (perhaps because some unkind person told you when you were ten that you can't carry a tune in bucket)? Who cares - sing out, Louise - we're here to have a good time - and we'll have song leaders to help keep you/us in tune :)!
Small, squirmy children? Bring 'em! Serious musician children? Come on down! Friends and family with accessibility issues? Our hall is fully accessible, and an inclusive and welcoming space. Bring your whole family along!
Ooh - and did we mention door prizes? Yes indeedy - there will be door prizes - stay tuned for details on that!
Be prepared to sing con spirito - we will have a blast!
ANNOUNCING: Ugly Sweater Contest!
Come wearing an ugly holiday sweater to be automatically entered into the contest. We'll have an adult winner, and a kid winner, so the whole family can participate!
Capacity limited to 95 attendees.
In our lovely Parish Hall - with the 1924 Steinway!
Here are some of our favorite tunes: In the Bleak Midwinter.... Hanukkah Rock of Ages.... Joy to the World..... Deck the Hall.... Dreidl, dreidl, dreidl..... Silent Night.... O come, o come, Immanuel.... What are your favorites?
COVID Safety Protocols:
Masking is encouraged as an individual choice; this protects everyone from the spread of viruses. Masks will be readily available to those who want one.
Up-to-date immunizations (including flu, COVID, pneumonia and RSV) are strongly encouraged.
Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.
Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.
If you have tested positive for COVID, or feel at all unwell, we urge you in the strongest possible way to stay home.
Veretski Pass Klezmer Trio: Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish Melodies
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Join Veretski Pass for a concert based on Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish melodies. This will include pieces from their 2024 release, the Peacock and the Sunflower, as well as their 2015 release, Poyln: A Gilgul (Poland: A Transformation). They will also present some recently gathered rural, Polish and Ukrainian tunes as well as Jewish melodies from those regions. Along with their own compositions and arrangements, the Klezmer veterans in Veretski Pass play music in an original style, with driving dance rhythms, as well as beautifully meandering, slow melodies, sometimes improvised on the spot.
(Gorgeous photos above and below courtesy of Bill Johnston, Jr., taken during last year's Calliope presentation of Veretski Pass.)
Artist Profiles
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Cookie Segelstein, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in Viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony, as well as on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, The Youngers of Zion with Henry Sapoznik, has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, Frank London, Klezmer Fats and Swing with Pete Sokolow and the late Howie Leess, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and The Klezmer Conservatory Band. Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world, including at Yale University, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Marshall University in Huntington, West VA, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, University of Oregon in Eugene, Pacific University, SUNY-Cortland, and at Klezmerwochen in Weimar, Germany. She is a regular staff member at Living Traditions' KlezKamp, KlezKanada, KlezCalifornia, Klezmer Festival Fürth, Klezfest London, and has been a performing artist at Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Wash.
She was featured on the ABC documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” heard on HBO’s “Sex and the City”, appears in the Miramax film, “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert De Niro, and is heard on several recordings including Veretski Pass, Trafik and The Klezmer Shul, Budowitz Live, the Koch International label with Orchestra New England in The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives, Hazònes with Frank London, A Living Tradition with the late Moldovan clarinetist, German Goldenshteyn and Fleytmuzik with Adrianne Greenbaum.
She is also the publisher of "The Music of..." series of klezmer transcriptions. Active as a Holocaust educator and curriculum advisor, she has been a frequent lecturer at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. She is on the boards of both the North California Viola Society, and the American String Teacher Association, Bay Area chapter. Cookie is also an Apple Certified Support Professional, and owns and operates The Macmama. Cookie lives in Berkeley, with her husband, Josh Horowitz, a dog and her occasionally visiting adult children.
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Joshua Horowitz, 19th Century button accordion, Tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught Music Theory and served as Research Fellow and Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project for eight years. He was chosen as the co-curator and orchestrator by the San Francisco Symphony for its Jewish Installment of their “Currents” series
He is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, a founding member of Veretski Pass and has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ben Goldberg, Rubin and Horowitz, Brave Old World, Adrienne Cooper and Ruth Yaakov. His music was recently featured in the British film, “Some of my best friends are... Jewish / Muslim”, awarded the Sandford St. Martin Trust Religious Broadcasting Award and is also featured in the new film by Jes Benstock, "The Holocaust Tourist".
His recordings with Veretski Pass, Budowitz, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Rubin & Horowitz and Alicia Svigals, have achieved international recognition and he is the recipient of more than 40 awards for his work as both composer and performer.
He was one of the co-founders of the Austrian experimental composer collective, “Die Andere Saite” and received the Prize of Honor by the Austrian government for his orchestral composition, “Tenebrae.” Following his children’s Opera, “Der Wilde Man”, Joshua received The “Award for Outstanding Talent in Composition” from the City of Graz and was twice finalist in the National American ASCAP competition. While teaching at the Graz Academy of Music he was awarded both The David Herzog and Fritz Spielman Awards, and received ongoing support from Louise M. Davies for his dedication to music creativity and education.
In 2001, Joshua’s group, Budowitz was chosen by the Austrian government to represent the country in the International Celebration of World Culture’s held at the “House of the Cultures of The World” in Berlin.
Joshua taught Advanced Jazz Theory at Stanford University with the late saxophonist Stan Getz and is a regular teacher at KlezKamp, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia and the Klezmer Festival Fürth. His musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook with Aron Saltiel and The Ultimate Klezmer, and he has written numerous articles on the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife Cookie.
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Stuart Brotman, 3-String Bass, baraban, has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in the ethnic music field for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning, and has defined klezmer bass (“It’s a large instrument that plays really low and has an accent.”)
He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and has taught at KlezKamp, Buffalo on the Roof, the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia, and numerous European festivals and institutes, including Oxford University, Klezfest London, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Klezmer Festival Fürth, and the Krakow Jewish Festival.
Stu has been recording, touring, and teaching New Jewish Music with world class ensemble, Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House,” and in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto, with the music of Brave Old World.”
Long admired as a versatile soloist and sensitive accompanist in traditional and pop music circles, he has toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder’s celebrated recording, “Jazz,” which premiered at Carnegie Hall.
Stu appeared in the Los Angeles production of Joshua Sobol’s “Ghetto,” the San Francisco production of “Shlemiel the First,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, played cimbalom in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and contrabass balalaika in “Love Affair.”
He produced The Klezmorim's Grammy nominated album, "Metropolis," and has recorded with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Davka, The San Francisco Klezmer Experience, and Khevrisa. Stuart lives in Berkeley, California.
Duo Novae: featuring violinist Dr. Ambroise Aubrun and violist Kate Hamilton
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Duo Novae, featuring violinist Dr. Ambroise Aubrun and violist Kate Hamilton, focuses on showcasing lesser-known works created for their unique string combination.
The duo formed in 2019; Dr. Aubrun, Associate Professor of Violin at UNLV and Artistic Director of the Henry Bruman Summer Chamber Music Series at UCLA, and Kate Hamilton, Associate Professor of Viola and Co-Director of the International Chamber Music Festival in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, are committed educators who have led master classes worldwide. Their recordings on Hortus, Centaur, and Navona labels have garnered international acclaim. Their upcoming recital will present music from the Baroque era to contemporary pieces.
Artist Profiles
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Hailed as a “marvelous violinist” (France Musique) with “sensitive tone” (Pizzicato Magazine) and “tremendous ease, suppleness and beauty of sound” (Nice-Matin), violinist Ambroise Aubrun enjoys a career as a sought-after soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and pedagogue. He has performed extensively on four continents and has conducted Master Classes in North America (Québec, California, Oregon, New York, Wisconsin, Nevada, Utah, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico), France, Italy, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.
His albums for the Editions Hortus and Navona Records have embraced a wide range of repertoire from J.S. Bach to Tanguy (b.1968) and received praise of the highest caliber (5 stars Pizzicato Journal, “editor's choice” on France Musique, and a nomination for the 2021 International Classical Music Awards). His performances and albums have been broadcast on CBS, ABC, WFMT Chicago, France Musique, 3MBS Melbourne (Australia), Klara Radio (Belgium), KPFK Los Angeles, KNCJ Nevada, WTUL New-Orleans, and K-USC Los Angeles.
He has served as guest concertmaster of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, and is a regular guest of the Los Angeles Philharmonic violin sections.
Aubrun graduated at age 19 from the Paris National Superior Conservatory, and then studied at UCLA (D.M.A.) at the Colburn Conservatory of Music (Artist Diploma). He is the winner of the Charles Oulmont Prize of the Fondation de France and laureate of the Langart Foundation in Switzerland, the recipient of the UNLV Barrick Scholar Award for outstanding achievement in Creative Activities and the CSUN Faculty Achievement Award. Currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Aubrun previously taught at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and UC Santa Barbara. He is the artistic director of the Bruman Chamber Music Festival at UCLA.
Aubrun plays a Matteo Goffriller violin, on a generous loan from the Langart Foundation. More information at www.ambroiseaubrun.com.
His albums for the Editions Hortus and Navona Records have embraced a wide range of repertoire from J.S. Bach to Tanguy (b.1968) and received praise of the highest caliber (5 stars Pizzicato Journal, “editor's choice” on France Musique, and a nomination for the 2021 International Classical Music Awards). His performances and albums have been broadcast on CBS, ABC, WFMT Chicago, France Musique, 3MBS Melbourne (Australia), Klara Radio (Belgium), KPFK Los Angeles, KNCJ Nevada, WTUL New-Orleans, and K-USC Los Angeles.
He has served as guest concertmaster of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, and is a regular guest of the Los Angeles Philharmonic violin sections.
Aubrun graduated at age 19 from the Paris National Superior Conservatory, and then studied at UCLA (D.M.A.) at the Colburn Conservatory of Music (Artist Diploma). He is the winner of the Charles Oulmont Prize of the Fondation de France and laureate of the Langart Foundation in Switzerland, the recipient of the UNLV Barrick Scholar Award for outstanding achievement in Creative Activities and the CSUN Faculty Achievement Award. Currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Aubrun previously taught at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and UC Santa Barbara. He is the artistic director of the Bruman Chamber Music Festival at UCLA.
Aubrun plays a Matteo Goffriller violin, on a generous loan from the Langart Foundation. More information at www.ambroiseaubrun.com.
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Kate Hamilton, violist, is described by Minnesota Public Radio as “hot viola playing, she uses her bow to draw out a rich stew of colors...and has a sound like liquid gold”. Additionally, a 2025 review by LA Opus describes her “gorgeous sound”.
She enjoys an international career as Associate Professor of Viola at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and serves as Co-Director of the International Chamber Music Festival in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. Since 2019, she has been performing in the viola section of the Berlin Philharmonic (Germany) at the Berlin Philharmonie Concert Hall under Sir Simon Rattle, Herbert Blomsteadt, Paavo Jarvi, and the final performances of Bernard Haitink with the Berlin Philharmonic.
As a viola soloist, Kate has been featured with the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra (China) performing works of Max Bruch at the the Qintai Concert Hall, the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, Central Oregon Symphony, and the Chamber Orchestra of San Jose (Costa Rica).
Recent chamber music performances include viola quintets with members of the Berlin Philharmonic in Leipzig, “Duo Novae” tour of New Zealand and Australia, and the Musica Maestri Series at the Milan Conservatory (Italy). In August, 2025, Duo Novae will be featured as soloists with the Festival Orchestra at the International Chamber Music Festival in Joao Pessoa, Brazil.
Honoring Richard's Birthday: An Organ Benefit Concert
Free Admission - RSVP through Eventbrite (both In-Person & Streaming)
All proceeds raised during the concert will go toward the Dr. Richard Cushman Organ Scholarship Program.
In honor of Richard's first heavenly birthday, we're holding a free benefit concert featuring the students in the scholarship program. Our program, which pays tribute to his legacy, will begin with a pre-concert reception and birthday cake
The concert will feature a number of his former organ students, as well as current participants in the organ scholarship program founded in his honor, including Arthur Omura, Brett Wheeler, Armen Phelps, Nico Cardenas, and Eileen Chen.
Dr. Richard Cushman, who died in late December following a tragic accident, was a gifted organist and musician, a beloved teacher, mentor, and friend, as well as a noted scholar of literature.
Click here to learn about the Dr. Richard Cushman Organ Scholarship Program
Can’t make it in-person? We’re livestreaming! CLICK HERE to tune in, either live at 7:30pm on the 11/14, or on-demand anytime!
Michael Hernandez Saxophone Recital
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Described as one of the finest soprano saxophone artists of the present generation, Michael Hernandez presents a solo saxophone recital that reinterprets standard repertoire to the saxophone, as well as introduces new works, written specifically for Michael, that will leave you in awe.
“Hernandez’s rich and lush tone offers an unfettered palette of colors that constantly react to the emotional need of the music. His musical intelligence, his talent and his spirit of adventure make him a strong musical collaborator.”
-Nicole Paiement, Artistic Director/Conductor Opera Parallèle, San Francisco
Program:
Sonata No. 2 in C minor TWV 41:c3, Georg Philipp Telemann
Drei Romanzen Op. 94, Robert Schumann
River * (2010), Ola Gjeilo
The Journey* (2012), Karalyn Schubring
And the pleasure blooms to die….*(2022), Juan Sebastián Cardona Ospina
Discrete Structures* (World Premiere), Marc Mellits
Episodes*(2007), Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
*denotes work written for Michael Hernandez
Michael Hernandez, soprano saxophone; Philip Jung, piano accompanist
Join us for a free post-concert talk on Dismantling Elitism and Classism in Art Music, in partnership with the United Against Hate Campaign!
Music has been called the universal language, yet the classical music industry is often defined by elitism, racism, and classism. From prestigious pedigrees to exclusionary repertoires that center the "Old, Dead, White Guy," the system creates barriers for too many talented musicians.
Calliope is committed to dismantling these barriers and promoting pathways to success for those excluded by the traditional system. Join us for a conversation with soloist Michael Hernandez and fellow Calliope Community Members as we discuss their experiences with prejudice and brainstorm ways to build a more accessible future for all.
Artist Profiles
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Concert Saxophonist Michael Hernandez has been described as one of the leading soprano saxophone artists of his generation. His performances have captivated audiences in concert halls across Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, France, Holland, Austria, Italy, the UK as well as North and South America. Michael has been invited to hold residencies at several music festivals throughout the U.S. including Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Music in the Mountains, Hot Springs Music Festival, National Music Festival, Ethos New Music Festival, The Festival of New American Music, the Taneycomo Festival Orchestra, Festival South and the Oklahoma State Contemporary Music Festival. Recently Hernandez has appeared as guest soloist with the Brooklyn Symphony Phoenix Symphony Guild, Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, Redwood Symphony, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Santa Cruz Symphony, The Hot Springs Festival Orchestra, The National Music Festival Orchestra, Echo Chamber Orchestra, The Monterey Symphony, San Jose Wind Symphony, and Colombia’s Banda Municipal de Manizales, among others. He has been featured on WPRB’s Classical Discoveries - Viva 21st Century, WCNY Classic FM’s Fresh Ink, and WNED Buffalo Toronto Public Media’s Classical Stage, and has been broadcasted multiple times nationwide on NPR’s Performance Today. Additionally, Michael has been featured on albums from Mark's Records and Naxos Record labels. Recent highlights include guest performances at BachFest in Leipzig (Germany), Balaton Saxophone Festival (Hungary), the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, Szczecin International Saxophone Festival (Poland), Utrecht Bartholomeus Gasthuis (Holland), the Cité de la Musique de Strasbourg (France), Hanns Eisner Musikhochshule (Germany), Ducal Castle (Poland), The SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco War Memorial, Roulette Intermedium (Brooklyn), Manhattan School of Music, SpectrumNYC, SoundWired Chicago, Roche Family Visiting Artist Series (PA), Fairmont Chamber Music Society (WV), Berkeley Chamber Performances (CA), El Dorado Chamber Concerts (CA), Community Concerts at Second of Baltimore (MD), The Artist Series (FL), Jacksonville’s Friday Musicale (FL), Downto wn Chamber Series (AZ), Music in the Mansion (CA) and countless others. As the founding soprano chair of the acclaimed MANA Quartet, Michael made history in 2009 when MANA became the first saxophone quartet to win the Alice Coleman Grand Prize at the 63rd Annual Coleman Chamber Music Competition. He also earned First Prize in the National MTNA Chamber Music Competition in 2007 and the Beverly Hills National Audition in 2017. Michael is the Co-Founder and owner of MANA Mouthpieces Inc., and frequently lectures on Music Entrepreneurship at colleges and festivals across the U.S. and Germany. An endorsing artist for MANA Mouthpieces, D'Addario Woodwinds, Key Leaves, RooPads, and Lefreque Sound Solutions, he performs on historical saxophones crafted to the specifications of the instrument’s inventor, Adolphe Sax. Currently, Michael serves as the Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Music Entrepreneurship at San Jose State University.
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Philip Jung holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Master of Music degree, “Magna Cum Laude”, from Tel Aviv University. He studied with distinguished pedagogues including Prof. Arie Vardi, Prof. Matti Raekallio, and John McCarthy, and has earned numerous honors, among them a four-year consecutive scholarship from the Chopin Foundation and first prize at the TAU Interschool Competition.
He has performed internationally as both a soloist and chamber musician, appearing across the United States, Europe, and Israel in venues ranging from intimate assemblies to major concert halls. His artistry combines technical mastery with profound musical insight, shaped by years of performance and a dedication to the highest standards of interpretation.
In addition to his performing career, Philip serves as Director of Keytone Academy, where he mentors the next generation of musicians through individualized, rigorous training.
Jaeger & Reid: Judi Jaeger and Bob Reid, Singer/Songwriters
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Jaeger & Reid, a duo from Oakland, CA, combines Judi’s Canadian background, striking vocals and intelligent songs with Bob’s California upbringing and his own engaging original tunes. They are songwriters and song collectors and will share both originals and beloved songs by others. Their artful blending of guitars, ukulele and rich harmonies delivers an intimate event of deeply meaningful music. Be prepared to be moved!
Artist Profiles
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Judi grew up near Montreal, Canada, where her world was filled with music; her mother and brother sang and played guitar and she listened to Leonard Cohen, Peter, Paul & Mary, Pete Seeger and many others. She began her career as a performing songwriter as an expression of her loss after the death of her mother and has written songs for her local domestic violence prevention organization.
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Bob is a fourth generation Californian, and like Judi, Bob also grew up surrounded by music. Bob's Mom performed in coffeehouses in the 1960's, while his father was a gospel concert promoter. His mom, Betty Reid Soskin, is best known now as having been the nation’s oldest National Park Service Ranger. Bob has been a California Arts Council Artist-in-the-Schools, performed in concert at the United Nations in New York, at festivals and in schools across the United States.
Bob's original songs have been sung by Pete Seeger, Bill Harley, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer and many others. Bob was chosen by the Seeger family to perform at memorial concerts for both Pete and Toshi Seeger in New York. Bob has a keen eye for musicality, empowerment, appreciation of nature and social causes in his writing.
Erica & Friends: Songs of the British Isles and Ireland
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Calliope presented Berkeley-based folk group Erica & Friends in 2023, and they rocked the sold-out house - we are so happy to welcome them back to our beautiful Sanctuary!
The band brings audiences music from the UK and Ireland - beautiful traditional ballads intermingled with foot stomping jigs, reels and polkas, upbeat pub songs and modern British pop songs. They mingle the old with the new; seasoned players on exquisite folk instruments, powerful lead vocals and great harmonies. They are comfortable performing in a variety of venues—from intimate house concerts, pubs and wine bars, to festivals and outdoor winery settings—they love to tell universally human stories through music. They are a regular fixture at The Cheese Board in Berkeley and Riggers Loft Winery in Richmond and the Irish Music Festival in Fairfax.
Artist Profiles
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Erica Hockett grew up in Chipping Norton, in the English Cotswolds. She has been singing her whole life and has been involved in many bands and genres of music. Growing up singing in the local pubs, Erica came to love folk music from the UK and Ireland, especially the tales of woe and the history embedded in the old ballads. She also loves to bring UK songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s into the mix, reimagined in the folk style.
Dominic is one of a small but growing number of trumpeters who specialize and perform extensively on the natural trumpet without the aid of vent holes as the instrument was originally.
Originally from Virginia, he holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. While in Cleveland, he also was actively involved in the Case/CIM Baroque Orchestra, performing on both trumpet and harpsichord. He has performed on NPR’s From the Top program, made a solo appearance with the United States Navy Band, and was a finalist for the inaugural Indianapolis International Baroque Competition.
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Chris Hammond's first musical love is Bluegrass and Appalachian music. He plays several acoustic guitars, including a beloved model made in the 1930s. Chris also shares his talents with people from senior centers around The Bay, encouraging participation and group singing and percussion for people with dementia. He loves to sing those high lonesome harmonies.
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Anne is an accomplished musician and singer. She is the Associate Musical Director of the California Revels. An alumna of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, Anne loves accompanying singers and fiddling for dancing (Irish, contra, and English Country). Her CD with Thomas Lindemuth, Letters from Abroad, features original compositions inspired by a year in Poland in 2011.
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Many years back, Jason threw himself into learning Irish session tunes on the bouzouki, and went on to play in The Elderberries until they disbanded in 2016. He's now a regular player at Bay Area sessions, a regular supporting musician for the Starry Plough's weekly ceili dance, and was happy to join Erica & Friends in 2018. He is also a member of the great Irish music group, Pigs In The Rigging.
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Charlie has been playing accordion and piano for contra and English country dancers for the past 25 years, as well as for folk-based concert ensembles. In addition to Erica & Friends, he currently plays with French trio Bistro Moustache and Pogues tribute band The Bogues.
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Family lore claims Tom sang before he talked. He draws inspiration from various traditional sources from Celtic to Dixieland, playing a gamut of wind instruments from pennywhistle to tuba. Tom performed with California Revels, and currently plays for the Bay Area English dance community. Tom enjoys composition, arranging, and music production.
The Destiny Muhammad Trio
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Destiny Muhammad, the self-dubbed "harpist from the hood", a curator, composer, bandleader and yes - harpist - is an Oakland-based musician with a unique vision: jazz inspired by Alice Coltrane, with deep Celtic roots.
With Destiny Muhammad, harp; Leon Joyce, Junior on drums and percussion; and Ron Belcher, upright bass.
Here's what critics have to say about The Destiny Muhammad Trio:
"Whether interpreting jazz standards or her original tunes, Muhammad turns every piece into a soulful adventure." - Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
"While certainly inspired by Alice Coltrane, Muhammad brings her own unique touch to the strings, as well as a contemporary melodic style that is exacting, whether she is working solo or accompanied" - Denise Sullivan | DownBeat Magazine
"Destiny Muhammad is a masterful, exploratory musician." SFJAZZ www.sfjazz.org
Artist Profile
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Destiny Muhammad is a Recording/Performing Artist, Band Leader, Composer & Producer. Her genre , "Celtic to Coltrane" is cool and eclectic with a feel of Jazz & Storytelling to round out the sonic experience. Destiny collaborations, curations and commissioning include: Grace Cathedral Christmas Concert Series; Stanford Jazz Festival featured Artist; Santa Cruz Symphony Recital Series; San Jose Jazz Fest Jazz Aid Commissioned Artist; Guest/Collaborator with Composer Marcus Shelby for Zaccho Dance ‘The Peoples Palace’ and featured on KQED Podcast & Sunday Music Drop; SFJAZZ Teaching Artist; Tribute to Native American Jazz Artist Jim Pepper and Guest Artist for Living Jazz Tribute to Dr Martin Luther King.
Caroline is a second-year Adler Fellow with The San Francisco Opera, where her
engagements include Moira The Handmaid’s Tale, Mimi Bohème out of the Box, Mimi La
Bohème (cover), and Erste Dame Die Zauberflöte (cover). This season, Caroline can also be
seen as Mimi La Bohème with Opera Naples.
Caroline has trained as a Young Artist with the Merola Opera Program, as an Apprentice
Singer with The Santa Fe Opera, and as a Young Artist with the Boston University Opera
Institute. Recent stage credits include the roles of Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia, Ma
Zegner Proving Up, Anne Trulove The Rake's Progress, and scenes as Rosalinde Die
Fledermaus and Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, and the title character in Rusalka.
On the concert stage, Caroline has been featured as the soloist in Carmina Burana, The
Messiah, Verdi Requiem (cover), Mozart Requiem, and is a frequent collaborator with The
Boston Pops Symphony.
An avid competitor, Caroline has been awarded five times from The Metropolitan Opera
Laffont Competition. She has also won awards from the Pasadena Vocal Competition, St.
Botolph Club Foundation, Orpheus Vocal Competition, and Concurso Internacional de
Canto Tenor Viñas.
Caroline holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Music
degree from Webster University.
Duo Semaphore: Rachael Hutchings & Hukum Singh Khalsa, pianists
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
DUO SEMAPHORE pianists Rachael Hutchings and Hukum Singh Khalsa bring the four-hand repertoire to life with joy and playfulness. Grounded in classical training, the Denver-based duo reinvents the tradition of the piano duet afresh.
The duo embraces the scope of literature from J.S. Bach to living composers, often programming works by women and other underrepresented composers and collaborating with community artists. This program includes a variety of works from the Romantic and contemporary periods, featuring original art by video producer Erin Preston. Duo Semaphore believes there is great power and intimacy in people experiencing music, drama, comedy, and creativity together.
Artist Profiles
Colorado pianist and composer Rachael Hutchings’s recent performances feature both standard classical repertoire and her own compositions. Rachael's compositional style is at once expressive, approachable, and innovative. Her settings of poetry by Rilke for voice and piano have been featured on CPR’s “Colorado Spotlight,” performed with her husband, tenor Daniel Hutchings. Before arriving in Colorado in 2010, she was an active performer and music teacher in San Francisco. Rachael served as an instructor at the San Francisco Community Music Center and adjunct professor of piano at the University of San Francisco.
She appears as a guest artist, visiting lecturer, and collaborative pianist. Rachael and her duet partner Hukum Singh Khalsa are DUO SEMAPHORE, performing throughout the Denver area and beyond. She has served as an adjudicator and administrator for various student music programs and competitions, and she teaches piano and composition privately. Composition students from her private studio have gone on to top college composition programs. Rachael is on the faculty at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, where she teaches piano repertoire.
She began studying piano in her hometown of Iowa City, Iowa and earned her B.M.A. in piano performance at the University of Michigan School of Music. She completed a Master of Music degree in composition and piano performance at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music where she studied with Alice Rybak. In addition to music, Rachael is passionate about volunteering as a house manager at Sacred Heart House of Denver and as a math tutor at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.
Pianist Hukum Singh Khalsa, a Colorado native, received his formal education at the University of Colorado Boulder where he studied languages, early music, electronic music and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. The majority of his musical education was forged as a working musician and in the rehearsal space of conductors: choral and orchestral (David Zinman, Duain Wolfe, Marin Alsop, Adam Flatt), instrumental and voice teachers, choreographers, and theatre directors.
Teachers Mr. Khalsa has studied with include Larry Graham, Miyoko Lotto, Robert Spillman, and Rami Bar-Niv. He has been privileged to work privately with former University of Denver Lamont School of Music faculty member, Alice Rybak.
Mr. Khalsa has held positions as accompanist for Central City Opera, accompanist for the Colorado Symphony Chorus, accompanist for the Colorado Children’s Chorale, and staff accompanist at Metropolitan State University. He has performed all over the United States and Italy. He has also served as an opera coach and collaborative pianist for the students and faculty at Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, taught voice and piano at Arapahoe Community College, and has run a private piano teaching studio for over twenty years. Hukum often collaborates with the Chamber Music Society of Greater Denver.
Mr. Khalsa is a passionate educator, a teacher and practitioner of Kundalini Yoga/meditation and Sat Nam Rasayan (a healing modality).
Jazz, She Wrote: Laura Klein Trio with Mary Fettig
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
All-star jazz quartet performs jazz treasures by female composers.
This all-star quartet of Bay Area jazz women originally came together to celebrate Marian McPartland's 100th birthday, and since then has appeared at Piedmont Piano, the California Jazz Conservatory, Livermore Jazz Society, and the Sacramento Jazz Coop. The group will perform a wide range of captivating music by of a host of brilliant composers, including Melba Liston, Emily Remler, Anat Cohen, Blossom Dearie, Renee Rosnes, Alice Coltrane, Laura Nyro, and more. Not to be missed!
With Laura Klein, piano; Mary Fettig, sax/flute; Ruth Davies, bass and Kelly Fasman, drums
Artist Profiles
Laura Klein, pianist/bandleader: Laura, a pianist, composer, recording artist and bandleader, has previously performed at Calliope with FivePlay Jazz Quintet and TonaLaura Jazz Duo, and is delighted to be returning with this very special quartet. Every one of the composers showcased in this concert has been an influence on Laura, both as a player and a composer. Laura has performed and recorded her own compositions with FivePlay Jazz Quintet, Triceratops, and her own duos and trios. She had a show of her compositions broadcast on KCSM's "In the Moment", and has appeared with her trio at SF Jazz. Laura has a busy free-lance career performing with numerous Bay Area luminaries, from vocalists and horn players to big bands. She also has a teaching practice as a Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique. lauraklein.net
Mary Fettig, saxophone and flute: Mary, a Bay Area native, broke barriers at a young age when she was the first woman to join the Stan Kenton orchestra. Ever since, she has had a stellar career as a performer, teacher, and clinician. Within a year of their meeting in 1978, Marian McPartland invited Mary to perform at the world’s first Women’s Jazz Festival in Kansas City. After that, Marian and Mary did many concerts together, including festivals at Concord, Detroit, Chicago and Buffalo. They recorded on Marian’s At the Festival (with Jake Hanna and Brian Torff), and Mary’s In Good Company (with Peter Sprague, Ray Brown and Jeff Hamilton.) Mary has toured with Flora Purim and Airto, Tito Puente, Toninho Horta, and Joe Henderson, and has played with many jazz greats including Carla Bley, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, and others. She has appeared at numerous jazz festivals, including Concord, San Francisco, Monterey, Playboy, Hollywood Bowl, Mt. Hood, Chicago, Detroit, Mobile, Buffalo, Montreux, and North Sea. Mary has played on many movie soundtracks and in Broadway pit orchestras. She continues to perform and teach widely, and is on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. maryfettig.com
Ruth Davies, bass: Ruth, an outstanding bassist on the SF Bay Area scene, has performed and/or recorded with many jazz and blues greats including Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Clark Terry, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Jay McShann, Van Morrison, Ernie Watts, Maria Muldaur, Junior Mance, Barbara Morrison, Etta Jones, Terry Gibbs, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jackie Ryan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Toots Thielemans, and Little Jimmy Scott. She toured the world for ten years with the late Charles Brown, and continues to spend considerable time abroad, touring with Denise Jannah, Dmitri Matheny, European pianist/composer Amina Figarova, and Elvin Bishop. Ruth is deeply involved in music education and has taught in public schools, at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and as part of San Francisco Symphony’s "Adventures in Music". In all, she's presented music programs to over one thousand school groups. ruthdavies.com
Kelly Fasman, drums: Kelly is dynamic drummer whose propulsive style adds excitement to any musical performance. She has performed with Kenny Loggins, The Moody Blues, Joan Baez, and Joan Rivers. She was the house drummer for The American Musical Theatre of San Jose, and worked with Teatro Zinzanni, Broadway By the Bay, and Theatreworks. Kelly is a highly in-demand drummer on the Bay Area scene, and a music educator.
Teslim: New Compositions Inspired by Turkish and Balkan Music, + gems from those traditions
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Teslim is a quartet comprised of the composers/instrumentalists Gari Hegedus, Kaila Flexer, Elana Brutman, and Joshua Mellinger, who perform traditional Turkish, Greek and Balkan music as well as new compositions inspired by these traditions.
This afternoon concert will feature original compositions by the members of the ensemble and by their favorite composers. In addition to this repertoire, Teslim will also perform some traditional pieces from Turkey and nearby countries.
In Turkish, the word teslim means both “commit” and “surrender.” In Turkish music, teslim means “theme” or main melody—a composition journeys away from and returns home to its teslim, which becomes like a beloved and familiar character. Committing and surrendering are two sides of the same coin. If we are all commitment--technical practice, diligent study--we may not allow the spirit of the music to animate those sounds; if we are all surrender, our skills are not honed and we are unable to express that spirit in a worthy vessel.
Artist Profiles
Kaila Flexer, violin, tarhui
Kaila Flexer is a violinist, composer, music educator, teacher, producer, mother and plant lover. She has recorded CD’s with her groups Third Ear, Next Village as well as two CD’s with the ensemble Teslim. Between 1989 and 2013, Flexer founded and produced Jewish music events Klezmer Mania! and Pomegranates & Figs: A Feast of Jewish Music as well as many smaller concerts. Over the years, she has performed with various groups including Club Foot Orchestra and Kitka as well as with artists including Shira Kammen, Ross Daly, Kelly Thoma, Hamed Nikpay and Hollis Taylor. Kaila teaches and composes in her Oakland studio.
Gari Hegedus, oud, saz, mandocello, tarhu
Gari Hegedus plays violin and viola as well as a variety of lutes from Greece and Turkey including laouto, oud and saz. In addition to playing in Teslim, he also performs with world music group Stellamara as well as Bay Area groups such as Janam and The Helladelics. He has studied with oud master Naseer Shamma and has studied, recorded and performed with Ross Daly and Kelly Thoma. He has toured with the Mevlevi Dervish (Sufi) Order of America and continues to participate in Turkish ceremonial and devotional gatherings around the country. In addition to being a composer and performer, Gari is a talented luthier, repairing stringed instruments of every variety; coaxing sound from sazes, violins, rebabs, restoring lutes and lyras, making bows and finding ingenious ways to allow the true voice of an instrument to come forth. (www.garihegedus.com)
Elana Brutman, Cretan lyra with sympathetic strings
Elana has dedicated the last decade of her life to the intensive study of the lyra with sympathetic strings, an instrument which is based on the Cretan lyra and incorporates elements of Byzantine lyra and Indian sarangi.
Joshua Mellinger, frame drum, darabuka, tonbak
Josh graduated in Percussion Performance BFA at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, California. He performs with many groups in the San Francisco Bay Area, teaches percussion, and studies tabla with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael.
Circadian String Quartet
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
The Circadian String Quartet presents: Home, a concert that delves into what home means to us through music by Antonín Dvořák, Philip Glass, the Magnetic Zeros, and David Ryther. Dvořák wrote his “American” String Quartet pining for home from a Czech enclave in Spillville, Iowa. In his String Quartet no. 5, Philip Glass takes us on an epic journey that comes “back home.” Excerpts from David Ryther’s Opera, “Euridice’s Defiance” explore a story of migration, and our own rendition of the Magnetic Zero’s song Home confirms the old adage that “home” is where the heart is.
About the Circadian String Quartet:
Bay Area based Circadian String Quartet was founded in 2013 to perform classical and contemporary repertoire of folkloric or cultural significance.
Since then CSQ has become known for bold original programming ideas that break boundaries or reach across cultures, that is why CSQ loves working with composers. CSQ is proud to have given world and U.S. premieres of exciting new pieces of chamber music written by Sahba Aminikia, Ben Carson, Toronto-based Noam Lemish, and British composer Ian Venables. They first performed Sahba Aminikia’s One Day Tehranlive on air on KPFA’s radio show “Music of the World” with Joanna Manqueros in 2015. Then in 2016 they commissioned Aminikia to write a new piece for string quartet and Narrator. The result, a glowing kaleidoscopic mixture of text by Allen Ginsburg and Hafez called The Weight of the World was premiered in 2017 at the Piedmont Arts center.
CSQ has also become known for its original transcriptions and compositions. In 2017 and 2019 their original transcriptions of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and the Firebird premiered to enthusiastic crowds and critical acclaim. In 2016 CSQ collaborated with narrator and historian Nikolaus Hohmann to tell stories from World War Two. For this project CSQ created short original pieces of music and text called “Chiaroscuros”which helped give their programs a narrative arc. Now there is a growing body of these short works which are now a regular part of all CSQ concerts.
CSQ has been quartet in residence at the Music by the Mountain Festival in Mt. Shasta, featured in the April in Santa Cruz new music festival, and the members also serve as resident teaching artistists for the Villa Sinfonia’s Zephyr Point Chamber music workshop in South Lake Tahoe.
Some of CSQ’s recent projects include their collaboration with world class santour player Hamid Taghavi, and the upcoming premiere of “Eurydice’s Defiance” David Ryther’s new Opera written especially for Kitka Soprano, Lily Storm and CSQ. These projects highlight the breadth of CSQ’s repertoire as they continue to expand the string quartet’s possibilities.
Artist Profiles
Monika Gruber, Violin: Praised by critics for her "irresistibly melting tone, which she can also imbue with gripping fire", Monika Gruber is a versatile violinist, appearing in concerts throughout the United States and Europe. As violinist of the Eusebius Duo she was invited to perform in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, following the duo's success as first prize winners of the CMFONE International Chamber Music Competition. Throughout her years of study she was the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, notably the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, which enabled her to continue her studies in the US.
Monika received her training at 'Hochschule für Musik' in Weimar, Germany, 'Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique´ in Lyon, France, and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Ian Swensen. She is equally active as chamber and orchestra musician, performing lots of modern music in addition to the classical and romantic repertoire, as well as some branching out into baroque music. She has worked in public master classes with musicians such as Norbert Brainin (Amadeusquartett), Samuel Rhodes (Juilliard Quartet), Menahem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio), and Petra Müllejans (Freiburger Barockorchester).
Always eager to share her passion for music in many ways, Monika was a teaching assistant in Weimar while receiving her Teaching Degree, and she continued to teach, instill and foster the love of music in people of all ages ever since. Upon completion of her Masters Degree in San Francisco she was offered a position as violin instructor at SFCM's Pre-College Division, where she is now also coaching chamber music. Her students are doing well in competitions, and they got accepted into the SF Youth Orchestra as well as into colleges, such as Rice University Shepherd School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, and UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
David Ryther, violin: David has brought his interpretive powers as a soloist to such festivals as the Darmstadt Summer Festival of New Music, the Banff Center, and the Green Umbrella Series at the Bing theater in Los Angeles. He has been featured playing new music with adventurous ensembles sfSoundGroup, Earplay, San Francisco Contemporary Players, the Berkeley New Music Ensemble, Sonor, and Octagon. An active violinist, he can be found playing in many of the orchestras and ensembles in the Bay Area including the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. David graduated with highest honors in music from UC Santa Cruz and recently received his doctorate in contemporary violin performance from UC San Diego. A dedicated teacher and conductor, David is the conductor of Villa Sinfonia in San Francisco, teaches violin at the Crowden School, and has served as coach and interim conductor with the Berkeley Youth Orchestra. As a composer, David has had world premieres played by the Villa Sinfonia, an orchestra piece called "Friend" commissioned by the Croi Glan dance troupe in Cork Ireland, and has worked in residency with Kate Weare company in New York and Dandelion Dance Theater in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Omid Assadi, viola: a native of Iran, Omid Assadi holds a B.M. and M.M. from San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jodie Levitz and Bettina Mussumeli. Mr. Assadi is an active ensemble player and soloist; he has concertized with many of the Bay Area’s orchestras and has appeared numerous times as soloist with Golden Gate Philharmonic, City College of San Francisco String Orchestra, Kensington Symphony Orchestra, and Villa Sinfonia. Omid’s love for chamber music has led him to study chamber music with the members of the Kronos String Quartet as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty members. In addition, he has collaborated with Jennifer Culp, Jodi Levitz, Jorja Fleezanis, and with the Shams Ensemble.holds a B.M. and M.M. from San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jodie Levitz and Bettina Mussumeli. Mr. Assadi is an active ensemble player and soloist; he has concertized with many of the Bay Area’s orchestras and has appeared numerous times as soloist with Golden Gate Philharmonic, City College of San Francisco String Orchestra, Kensington Symphony Orchestra, and Villa Sinfonia. Omid’s love for chamber music has led him to study chamber music with the members of the Kronos String Quartet as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty members. In addition, he has collaborated with Jennifer Culp, Jodi Levitz, Jorja Fleezanis, and with the Shams Ensemble.
David Wishnia, cello: An active chamber musician, David Wishnia routinely concertizes with both the Circadian String Quartet and the Villa Piano Trio, and has taught at the Zephyr Point Chamber Music Camp and Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. David has also appeared as a soloist with the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra and Villa Sinfonia. He is currently a member of the Marin Symphony, and has performed in numerous Bay Area ensembles, including the Berkeley Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Sacramento Symphony, Russian Chamber Orchestra, and Marin Oratorio, among others. David received his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Aldo Parisot. He also studied with Jerome Carrington and Maurice Gendron, and received coaching from Paul Tortelier, Janos Starker, and Pierre Pasquier.
Alex Taite: Deep River - The Flow of Negro Spirituals Through Time
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Join Alex Taite – singer, composer, pianist, and Bay Area native – in a lecture/recital exploring the depths and beauty of the Negro Spiritual. He presents his own arrangements of some of his favorite spirituals, jazz standards, and other exclusively American selections, and interweaves a vivid historical narrative of American culture.
This presentation explores how American music owes much of its existence to the trauma of those first enslaved people who were just trying to pass the time in the fields or lend some comfort in a dark room. An art form blending the rhythmic and emotional core from Africa with the religious and harmonic structure of the European colonizers. Born from burdens. Tempered by tragedy.
From the muck of kidnapping, oppression, indoctrination, and torture sprang forth this bloom of rich, uplifting, hopeful music. Music that evolved as time trampled generations of humans. This lecture recital will deepen your connection to history, and to your fellow humans. Concludes with a Q & A with the artist.
Calliope is grateful to the Albany Community Foundation for a grant in support of this important event.
Winter Solstice & Holiday Sing-Along
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Sing-along holiday fun: treats, soloists, door prizes!
Last year's Winter Solstice/Hanukkah/Christmas singalong was such a hit, we just have to do it again! And this year, it's a co-production with St. Alban's. What does that mean? Even better treats! Even more music!
Because 'tis the season to sing along with your favorite holiday tunes, listen to some fabulous soloists, eat some cookies and chocolate, and drink some nog! Can you sing "well"? Fabulous - Sing out, Louise! Do you often wind up lip-synching to Happy Birthday (perhaps because some unkind person told you when you were ten that you can't carry a tune in bucket)? Who cares - sing out, Louise - we're here to have a good time - and we'll have song leaders to help keep you/us in tune :)!
Small, squirmy children? Bring 'em! Serious musician children? Come on down! Friends and family with accessibility issues? Our hall is fully accessible, and an inclusive and welcoming space. Bring your whole family along!
Ooh - and did we mention door prizes? Yes indeedy - there will be door prizes - tickets to Berkeley Symphony, tickets to Calliope, a private oboe lesson, an hour of Mac computer support with MacMama, CDs of fantastic local musicians - and more.....!!!!Be prepared to sing con spirito - we will have a blast!
Capacity limited to 80 attendees.
In our lovely Parish Hall - with the 1924 Steinway!
With pianist Leon Chou (Albany High, Cal, BCCO) as accompanist, song leaders Larry DiCostanzo, Kris Whitten, Amy Kessler and Christine Staples. Performances by Jesse Distiller, Judah Lampkin, Amy Kessler and more!
Here are some of our favorite tunes: In the Bleak Midwinter.... Hanukkah Rock of Ages.... Joy to the World..... Deck the Hall.... Dreidl, dreidl, dreidl..... Silent Night.... O come, o come, Immanuel.... What are your favorites?
COVID Safety Protocols:
Masking is encouraged as an individual choice; this protects everyone from the spread of viruses. Masks will be readily available to those who want one.
Up-to-date immunizations (including flu, COVID, pneumonia and RSV) are strongly encouraged.
Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.
Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.
If you have tested positive for COVID, or feel at all unwell, we urge you in the strongest possible way to stay home.
Veretski Pass Klezmer Trio: 22 Years of Favorites!
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Veretski Pass is a trio of Jewish Music veterans who have been at the forefront of the klezmer revival for over 25 years. Their output spans the ultra-traditional to the Avant Garde. Taking their name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian basin to settle what later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Veretski Pass offers a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world. The trio plays Old Country Music with origins in the Ottoman Empire, once fabled as the borderlands of the East and the West. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions. Their CDs have repeatedly been on the 10-best recording lists of journalists since 2002.
Many, many thanks to Alan Kaplan, our sponsor for this presentation of Veretski Pass! If you're inspired by Alan's generosity and would also like sponsor a concert, drop us a line :)
Artist Profiles:
Cookie Segelstein, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in Viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony, as well as on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, The Youngers of Zion with Henry Sapoznik, has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, Frank London, Klezmer Fats and Swing with Pete Sokolow and the late Howie Leess, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and The Klezmer Conservatory Band. Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world, including at Yale University, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Marshall University in Huntington, West VA, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, University of Oregon in Eugene, Pacific University, SUNY-Cortland, and at Klezmerwochen in Weimar, Germany. She is a regular staff member at Living Traditions' KlezKamp, KlezKanada, KlezCalifornia, Klezmer Festival Fürth, Klezfest London, and has been a performing artist at Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Wash.
She was featured on the ABC documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” heard on HBO’s “Sex and the City”, appears in the Miramax film, “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert De Niro, and is heard on several recordings including Veretski Pass, Trafik and The Klezmer Shul, Budowitz Live, the Koch International label with Orchestra New England in The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives, Hazònes with Frank London, A Living Tradition with the late Moldovan clarinetist, German Goldenshteyn and Fleytmuzik with Adrianne Greenbaum.
She is also the publisher of "The Music of..." series of klezmer transcriptions. Active as a Holocaust educator and curriculum advisor, she has been a frequent lecturer at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. She is on the boards of both the North California Viola Society, and the American String Teacher Association, Bay Area chapter. Cookie is also an Apple Certified Support Professional, and owns and operates The Macmama. Cookie lives in Berkeley, with her husband, Josh Horowitz, a dog and her occasionally visiting adult children.
Joshua Horowitz, 19th Century button accordion, Tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught Music Theory and served as Research Fellow and Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project for eight years. He was chosen as the co-curator and orchestrator by the San Francisco Symphony for its Jewish Installment of their “Currents” series
He is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, a founding member of Veretski Pass and has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ben Goldberg, Rubin and Horowitz, Brave Old World, Adrienne Cooper and Ruth Yaakov. His music was recently featured in the British film, “Some of my best friends are... Jewish / Muslim”, awarded the Sandford St. Martin Trust Religious Broadcasting Award and is also featured in the new film by Jes Benstock, "The Holocaust Tourist".
His recordings with Veretski Pass, Budowitz, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Rubin & Horowitz and Alicia Svigals, have achieved international recognition and he is the recipient of more than 40 awards for his work as both composer and performer.
He was one of the co-founders of the Austrian experimental composer collective, “Die Andere Saite” and received the Prize of Honor by the Austrian government for his orchestral composition, “Tenebrae.” Following his children’s Opera, “Der Wilde Man”, Joshua received The “Award for Outstanding Talent in Composition” from the City of Graz and was twice finalist in the National American ASCAP competition. While teaching at the Graz Academy of Music he was awarded both The David Herzog and Fritz Spielman Awards, and received ongoing support from Louise M. Davies for his dedication to music creativity and education.
In 2001, Joshua’s group, Budowitz was chosen by the Austrian government to represent the country in the International Celebration of World Culture’s held at the “House of the Cultures of The World” in Berlin.
Joshua taught Advanced Jazz Theory at Stanford University with the late saxophonist Stan Getz and is a regular teacher at KlezKamp, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia and the Klezmer Festival Fürth. His musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook with Aron Saltiel and The Ultimate Klezmer, and he has written numerous articles on the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife Cookie.
Stuart Brotman, 3-String Bass, baraban, has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in the ethnic music field for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning, and has defined klezmer bass (“It’s a large instrument that plays really low and has an accent.”)
He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and has taught at KlezKamp, Buffalo on the Roof, the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia, and numerous European festivals and institutes, including Oxford University, Klezfest London, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Klezmer Festival Fürth, and the Krakow Jewish Festival.
Stu has been recording, touring, and teaching New Jewish Music with world class ensemble, Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House,” and in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto, with the music of Brave Old World.”
Long admired as a versatile soloist and sensitive accompanist in traditional and pop music circles, he has toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder’s celebrated recording, “Jazz,” which premiered at Carnegie Hall.
Stu appeared in the Los Angeles production of Joshua Sobol’s “Ghetto,” the San Francisco production of “Shlemiel the First,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, played cimbalom in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and contrabass balalaika in “Love Affair.”
He produced The Klezmorim's Grammy nominated album, "Metropolis," and has recorded with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Davka, The San Francisco Klezmer Experience, and Khevrisa. Stuart lives in Berkeley, California.
Nash Baroque: French Baroque Treasures with Soprano Bethany Hill
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
For this much-anticipated event, the renowned ensemble Nash Baroque, with soprano Bethany Hill, bring to life tales of love, despair and triumph from 18th century France, with flute, violin, viola da gamba, theorbo and harpsichord, in a program entitled “Les Amours des Dieux”.
The cantatas of Michel Pignolet de Montéclair and Louis Nicolas Clérambault unfold as miniature dramas featuring mythological Greek gods and humans with all their passions, weaknesses and heartbreak. “Every myth is a drama in human form”, as Gaston Bachelard put it, and these intimate vocal works, together with richly evocative instrumental dance suites of Couperin, Phillidor and LeClair explore timeless themes of love, loss and metamorphosis that echo through the ages.
Artist Profiles
Bethany Hill is a versatile and critically acclaimed Australian soprano, now based in the United States. A specialist in 17th and 18th century music, she is also regularly involved in the development of new compositions. Comfortable on the stage and as a recitalist, Bethany has performed with State Opera of South Australia, Scottish Opera, Gertrude Opera, Juilliard 415, The Song Company, Adelaide Baroque, The Firm New Music, and the award-winning Adelaide Chamber Singers.
Operatic roles include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Lucy (The Telephone), Pitti-Sing (The Mikado), and Belinda (Dido & Aeneas). Most recently she performed Frau in Schönberg’s Erwartung.
In 2018 Bethany made her principal debut with State Opera of South Australia as Dido in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and also sang the role of Mercedes for Carmen in the Square in 2019.
Bethany has enjoyed performing in the Bay Area as a chamber musician and soloist. She is one half of the folk duo, Turas, who toured to Alaska for the first time in 2023.
Vicki Melin Baroque and Renaissance Flutes, has performed in early music groups throughout the U.S. and the Bay area such as the American Bach Soloists, with the ABS Academy in the San Francisco Bach Festival, Voices of Music, Musica Angelica (L.A.), Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, California Bach Society, Jubilate Orchestra, MUSA, and her ensemble, Nash Baroque. Ms Melin attended Boston University for her Masters of Music, studying with Christopher Krueger and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Hague, The Netherlands, where she received an Advanced Diploma in Performance, studying with Wilbert Hazelzet. She has performed with early music orchestras and chamber ensembles in the United States, The Netherlands, Italy, and is a frequent guest soloist with International Organ and Chamber Music Festivals in Poland. Ms. Melin lives in San Francisco and teaches baroque flute privately and at UC Berkeley. https://www.nashbaroque.org/founders
Originally from Paris, France, Pauline Kempf is now based in San Francisco where she studied baroque violin with Elizabeth Blumenstock at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In June 2022 Pauline was selected to participate in EMA’s Emerging Artist Showcase and performed an all 17th century program during the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition. She was recently invited by the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and the Oregon Bach Festival to perform the “Spring” season by Vivaldi as a soloist. She is a co-founder of Ensemble Affect and frequently performs with several other period instrumental ensembles such as Third Coast Baroque, Haymarket Opera Company, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and Lumedia Musicworks. Pauline hold musical degrees from the Music Universities of Geneva and Vienna and received her Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University.
Award winning historical plucked string specialist, Matthew Xie focuses on the repertoire of the theorbo,lute, baroque guitar and 19th century guitar. He has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Taiwan. Matthew has recently graduated magna cum laude with a Masters in Historical performance Lute/Theorbo degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, The Hague under the mentorship of Joachim Held and Mike Fentross. Matthew also holds graduate and bachelor degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and UC Irvine. Matthew is currently active in San Francisco Bay Area as a continuo player, chamber musician, soloist, instructor and clinician. https://www.sirplucksalot.com/
Farley Pearce is a performer on both the various sizes of viola da gamba and the baroque cello. As a cellist he has performed widely in the Southeastern region of the US, most notably with the Spoleto Festival, with whom he has also played in Italy. For five years he was a member of the Charleston Pro Musica, and he has performed as a recitalist in Brazil and Uruguay. Since moving to San Francisco Farley has been an active free-lance performer with many of California’s orchestras and chamber ensembles. In the Bay Area he has performed on viola da gamba, violone, and baroque cello with Magnificat, the Jubilate Baroque Orchestra, the Sex Chordæ Consort of Viols, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Airs and Graces, and many other period instrument groups.
Katherine Heater, early keyboards, plays locally with early music groups such as Voices of Music, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Musica Pacifica. She has performed throughout the United States, including with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho and at the the Bloomington Early Music Festival, and the Tropical Baroque Festival of Miami. She received an Arts Bachelor from the University of California, Berkeley in music and a Masters of Music in historical performance from Oberlin Conservatory. At the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam Ms. Heater studied harpsichord with Bob van Asperen and fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland. Also an active teacher, Ms. Heater teaches harpsichord at UC Berkeley, the Crowden Center, as well as privately.
Thompsonia: Cajun, blues and old-time Americana - family style!
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Thompsonia: Cajun, blues and old-time Americana, family style!
Thompsonia combines Suzy & Eric Thompson’s deep devotion to old-time, Cajun, acoustic blues and bluegrass with daughter Allegra’s fresh perspective, creating feel-good music that ricochets between the rowdy and the sentimental, with an abundance of groove and a bit of a quirky edge. The band features the genetically-matched vocals of Suzy and Allegra (Geoff Muldaur has dubbed this “The Everly Sisters sound”) along with stellar lead playing from Eric on mandolin and guitar, Suzy’s red-hot fiddling and Allegra’s rock-steady upright bass.
About the members of Thompsonia: Eric and Suzy Thompson have performed and recorded in collaborations with David Grisman, David Nelson (New Riders), Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin, Geoff Muldaur, Jim Kweskin, Michael Doucet, Del Rey, Dave Alvin and Joel Savoy, to name just a few, and their bands have included Any Old Time, Black Mountain Boys, California Cajun Orchestra, Blue Flame String Band and many others. Allegra Thompson plays bass in the Cajun band the Midnite Ramblers and with Eric & Suzy in the Aux Cajunals. She is the host of the Pig in a Pen radio show on KPFA-FM, having been handpicked by Ray Edlund who started the show nearly 50 years ago. Pig in a Pen airs every other Sunday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Allegra is also a co-host of the "Bluegrass Signal" radio show, airing on KALW-FM, Saturdays from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Photo Credit: Irene Young
Erika Oba Jazz Trio
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
PLEASE NOTE THE 2 P.M. START TIME FOR THIS CONCERT While we usually present concerts at 4 p.m., the artists have a long-awaited, covid-postponed second commitment later in the day, and we do our best to put Artists in the center of our work!
Long time collaborators Erika Oba (piano) and Chris Bastian (bass) are joined by Jeremy Steinkoler (drums), performing original compositions and arranged works that cover a dynamic range of emotions and styles.
Drawing on influences ranging from Thelonious Monk to Okinawan folk music, the band deftly navigates from be-bop to classically influenced, through-composed pieces, captivating audiences with music coming from deep listening and a remarkably intuitive sense of comping and phrasing to support one another. The group’s last performance moved Back Room owner Sam Rudin to describe it as “One of the finest afternoons of music we’ve EVER had here."
Erika and her band recently released a new album - and they are excited to share the new works with you! Click here to sample the new recordings - and to buy a copy!
Artist Profiles
Chris Bastian is a multi-genre bass player who has lived and worked as a musician in New York, Santiago de Chile, and Quito, Ecuador.
Jeremy Steinkoler has been playing drums professionally for over 30 years and performs regularly with a wide array of musical projects, including his award-winning saxes-and-drums trio Mo’Fone.
Erika Oba is a composer, pianist/flutist, and educator. She is active in the Bay Area performing arts scene, and can regularly be seen performing in jazz and new music venues, as well as collaborating with dance and theater artists.
Alessandro Penezzi, guitar, and Berkeley Choro Ensemble
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Calliope is thrilled to host the return peformance of Alessandro Penezzi, considered one of the great Brazilian guitarists of his generation, as he joins his colleagues in the exemplary local Brazilian choro performing ensemble Berkeley Choro for a rousing celebration of beautiful music!
With Alessandro Penezzi, guitar; Jane Lenoir, flute; Harvey Wainapel, clarinet; Ricardo Peixoto, guitar and Brian Rice, pandeiro.
About Alessandro Penezzi: Considered one of the great Brazilian guitarists of his generation, composer, arranger and guitarist Alessandro Penezzi was born in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil in February, 1974. He began his musical studies at seven years old. A multiinstrumentalist, Alessandro plays 7-string guitar, tenor guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin and flute. His teachers were Carlos Coimbra, Jair T. de Paula, Sérgio Belluco, and João Dias Carrasqueira. Alessandro has recorded over 20 CD's of music, and has performed with many of the great Brazilians musicians, including Yamandú Costa, Carlos Poyares, Toninho Ferragutti, Oswaldinho do Acordeon, Laércio de Freitas, Caíto Marcondes, Arismar do Espírito Santo, Maurício Carrilho, Pedro Amorim, Joel Nascimento, Conjunto Epoque de Ouro, Rogério Caetano, Caio Marcio, Alexandre Ribeiro and Nailor Proveta. He has taught at California Brazil Camp since 2010, and is building a following in the US as one of the great virtuosos and composers in the Brazilian Popular Music genre in the world today. He resides in São Paulo, and tours regularly to Europe and Africa.
About Berkeley Choro Ensemble: http://www.berkeleychoroensemble.com
“The Berkeley Choro Ensemble is one of the few groups playing outside Brazil that has the deepest understanding of what it means to play a ‘chorinho.’ Proof of this is all over their disc, with ten astounding pieces.”
–World Music Report, April, 2018
Choro, the first uniquely Brazilian popular music and the root of samba and bossa nova, has its origins in the late 1800s. The genre, a captivating blend of European salon and chamber music with Afro-Brazilian rhythmic energy and a touch of jazz, is still being renewed and updated, and is spreading internationally at a very healthy pace. The Berkeley Choro Ensemble, formed in 2010, has dedicated itself to the performance of modern choro compositions and collaborations with renowned Brazilian performers and composers. The new CD is a reflection of what is happening today in the world of choro. The Ensemble has been actively promoting the advancement of this great genre via performances, workshops, and the annual Berkeley Festival of Choro.
Artist Profiles:
From a family of professional musicians, Berkeley resident, flutist Jane Lenoir, grew up in Tampa, Florida, and left home at 15 as a scholarship student to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and then to Oberlin Conservatory of Music. A performer comfortable in many diverse styles, Jane appears regularly as a soloist, chamber player, orchestral musician, baroque flutist, and jazz performer. A founder of Berkeley Choro Ensemble and Berkeley Festival of Choro, Jane is particularly interested in Latin flute styles, which celebrate the instrument’s ancient, rich history , virtuosity, and lyrical sound. Her 2017 CD, Jane Lenoir plays Penezzi, celebrated the São Paulo guitarist/composer’s compositions to critical acclaim. As an educator, she is flute coach at Young People’s Symphony and teaches privately in Berkeley. She is a Powell Flutes Artist and presents workshops and classes on Brazilian choro frequently to local flute clubs, schools, and professional organizations.
Multi-instrumentalist and composer, Berkeley resident, Harvey Wainapel, has forged a well-earned reputation as one of the foremost artists in Brazilian styles in the US today. Trained as a jazz saxophonist and celebrated for his numerous recordings in the jazz idiom, Harvey has spent many years touring and studying in Brazil with the leading musicians of the day, including Airto and Flora Purim, ..... His 2006 CD, Amigos Brasileiros, received rave reviews as a testament to the history of Brazilian styles of music. With over 40 Brazilian musicians represented on the CD, it was a musical odyssey and labor of love. In 2014, Amigos Brasileiros Volume 2 came out to rave reviews. Harvey has done extensive arrangements for the group over the years, and in 2021 the group premiered an entirely new repertoire on contemporary Brazilian choro compositions. He wrote extensive program notes for our online festival during covid, A Celebration of Women in Brazilian Music.
Originally from Rio de Janeiro and based in the Bay Area, Oakland resident, guitarist/composer Ricardo Peixoto is among the top representatives of Brazilian guitar in the US, with a fluid melodic style and a keen compositional sense. His performances explore Brazil’s rich and diverse traditions, both in his original work as well as in arrangements of Brazilian classics. His approach is grounded both in the jazz and Brazilian music traditions, but always ventures well beyond their borders, combining rich melodies, sophisticated harmonies, and the unmistakable rhythms of Brazil.
Ricardo came to the US on a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and later continued his studies in classical guitar at the SF Conservatory of Music.He has recorded, performed, and collaborated with, among others, Claudia Villela, Flora Purim and Airto, saxophonist Bud Shank, percussionist Dom Um Romão, Toots Thielemans, Dori Caymmi, Guinga, guitarist Carlos Oliveira, Harvey Wainapel, Marcos Silva and Terra Sul. He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil. He has taught an ongoing class in choro at CJC for several years now, educating a new audience to choro and Brazilian music.
Oakland resident percussionist Brian Rice graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a B.M. in Percussion Performance and Ethnomusicology. A faculty member at UC Berkeley and UC Davis in latin percussion styles, Brian is a highly acclaimed performer, educator and recording artist adept at numerous musical styles ranging from classical and jazz, to Latin, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian, to contemporary and experimental music. Brian's study of the Brazilian pandeiro began in 1986 when the Sao Paulo State University percussion ensemble visited Oberlin and percussionist/composer Carlos Stasi, then a student at SPSU, gave Brian a quick pandeiro lesson after the concert. Since then Brian's obsession with the pandeiro has led him to study with Guello, Marcos Suzano, Airto, Claudio Bueno and Clarice Magalhaes, and his prowess on the instrument has led him to perform with numerous Brazilian artists including, Jovino Santos Neto, Paulo Sergio Santos, Danilo Brito, Dudu Maia and Jorge Alabe. It was studies with Marcos Suzano that inspired Brian to expand his use of the pandeiro outside the Brazilian music world and apply it to Balkan, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Cuban music with great effect.
Christopher Oglesby, Tenor, in Recital
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Rising operatic tenor Christopher Oglesby explores the concept of “home” through time, place, heritage, and circumstance with the music of Ralph Vaughn Williams, Beethoven, Italian art songs, traditional Ukrainian pieces, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, and a selection of Appalachian folksongs. Truly, a feast for the soul! To access a copy of the written program, including texts and translations, please click this link.
For this program, he will be joined by noted pianist collaborator Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad; both Christopher and Keseniia are recent graduates of the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship program.
For the 2024 season, Christopher will be performing in numerous productions of San Francisco Opera, including in Puccini’s “La bohème”, Händel’s “Partenope”, Tamino in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, Bridegroom in Saariaho’s “Innocence”, Chief Magistrate in Verdi’s “Un ballo in maschera ” and Luke in Ruders’ & Bentley’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Isaac Pastor-Chermak: Bach's Six Suites for Solo Cello
$35 Senior/Student, $45 general admission, $20 live-stream only/on-demand, $30 youth 5-12/Limited Income
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak returns to Calliope for a very special performance of the complete Bach Cello Suites, celebrating the 10th anniversary of his first performance of the Six Suites at St. Alban's in July 2014. A biennial tradition in the community that is sure to sell out!
Artist Profile:
Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak enjoys a diverse and varied career in symphony and opera orchestras, chamber music, and solo and recording engagements, as well as engaging deeply with his community as a conductor, educator, and nonprofit board member. He is Principal Cellist of Vallejo Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and Eisenstadt (Austria) Classical Music Festival; Assistant Principal Cellist of Opera San Jose and Fresno Philharmonic; and a member of Berkeley Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Monterey Symphony, and Reno Philharmonic. In 2023, he was guest principal cellist of the Britt Festival Orchestra. His CD catalog includes The Shadow Dancer with Auriga String Quartet, Backlash Bach with Red Cedar Chamber Music, and Preludes and Prologues with pianist Alison Lee. A limited edition vinyl LP, The Year 1948, is due out in May 2024, featuring cello sonatas by Prokofiev and Elliott Carter, recorded on Mr. Carter’s piano.
Pastor-Chermak is Adjunct Professor of Music History at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where his course offerings include Beethoven’s String Quartets; the Second Viennese School; Haydn; and Leonard Bernstein. At home, he teaches an award-winning private cello studio. A ‘recovering conductor’, he is Founder and Music Director Emeritus of Solano Youth Chamber Orchestra. Isaac and his wife, pianist Alison Lee, live in a 104-year-old house in the Berkeley Hills with their cat, Waffle. Isaacpastorchermak.com
Matanda: Alternative World Music
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
When Matanda, the extraordinary young percussionist and artist, performed for Calliope as part of the Remee Ashley Quartet in the summer of 2022 we knew we had to invite him back!
For this intriguing program, Matanda has created a theatrical tone poem expounding on world folk-music sonics.
Matanda will be joined by string musicians for this piece; the Oakland-raised multi-instrumentalist Cheflee on bass and electronics, along with Morgan Harrison on piano.
Saracens is the fictitious story of a boy caught in the middle of a holy war. Matanda, along with three other eclectic musicians, will present this tale as a tone poem, blending sounds of American folk, Afro-Peruvian percussion, orchestral bowing, and vocalization. The performance will present as an immersive experience akin to that of a speakeasy or work-song, with touches of movement borrowed from the theatrical stage.
Artist Profiles
Matanda - percussion/vocals: Oakland born, Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Matanda (formerly known as Matanda Keyes) is a jazz-trained percussionist whose work develops around sculpture. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, he is now blending folk, world music, and alt/indie rock sounds. Matanda's newborn multi-disciplinary project, Parsody, aims to explore the relationship between music and physical objects.
Recently, he designed jewelry for Madonna's worldwide "Celebration Tour", and he has been asked to supply pieces for Zayn Malik (formerly of One Direction).
Matanda breathes through sound, and his brand of such is personally coined, “Alternative World Music." You can learn more about this eclectic artist on his website.
Cheflee - bass/electronics: Cheflee is a multi instrumentalist from Oakland California that draws on inspiration from artists such as Egbert Gismonti, George Clinton, Radiohead and OutKast. He loves.
Morgan Harrison - piano: Morgan Harrison is a Pianist, Saxophonist, Singer, Composer, Arranger, and Bandleader from Sacramento, CA.
Currently studying in San Francisco, at the Conservatory of Music, Morgan is seeking to find new ways to blend old and new musics and put his spin on things, creating something that is unseen as of yet.
He takes inspiration from bands like The Chick Corea Elektric Band, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, and others such as Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Daft Punk, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Jaco Pastorius, and many more.
Jesse Distiller and Judah Lampkin in Recital
Presenting emerging young local talent is one of the great delights of running a community-based, community-led performing arts nonprofit! In addition to presenting young talent just as they launch their professional careers, we also keep our eyes open for gifted young people at the pre-professional stage.
Calliope leaders first encountered the young El Cerrito-based pianist Jesse Distiller when, at fourteen, he took part in a chamber music celebration organized by pianist Alison Lee as part of the East Bay Music Foundation’s programming. Now 16 years old and applying to conservatories for post-high school, Jesse is already demonstrating a riveting expressiveness in his playing. In addition to beautiful solo work, he is also a nuanced accompanist, and regularly delights the St. Alban’s congregation during worship services.
Judah Lampkin is similarly a marvel; until recently self-taught as a cellist, classical singer, composer, and arranger, he has begun formal training in singing and in cello. He currently studies voice with Susan Nance in her San Francisco studio. With a rich bass voice and extensive range, his vocal work can cause chills.
For this joint recital, a co-production with St. Alban's, Jesse and Judah will perform works by Warlock, Vaughan Williams, Haydn, Debussy, and Schumann, along with a world premiere of a piece commissioned from Judah by Calliope.
A co-presentation with St. Alban’s
Admission to this event is free of charge! However, capacity is limited to 80 in person guests; you must make a reservation to be assured of a seat! Please be sure to register for in-person attendance on Eventbrite. (As always, your donations in support of the presentation are very welcome!)
If you'd like to join us by live-stream, simply click this link to enjoy the concert from the comfort of your own home! Available live or "on-demand" - the recording will stay up after the concert for your continued enjoyment!
Artist Profiles
Judah Lampkin is a composer, cellist, vocalist, and vagabond of international notoriety. He hails from the American south, where he became acquainted with the proud traditions of navel-gazing and moonlighting. He subsequently attended Harvard University, where his areas of study expanded to include music, philosophy, astrophysics, religion, linguistics, and a variety of other subjects. Through his musical compositions, Judah seeks to explore dreamscapes, those subtle intimations that hover at the edge of conscious awareness. These dreamscapes are the gateways through which the individual must pass in order to acquire a wider awareness of all that is. He was the recipient of Harvard's 2023 George Arthur Knight Prize for compositional excellence, and was a semifinalist in the 2022 Petrichor International Music Competition.
Jesse Distiller is a 16 year old pianist in his junior year of high school. As a middle schooler attending the Crowden School, Jesse fell in love with classical music, and his favourite composers include Beethoven, Brahms, and Debussy. Some of his favourite pieces include: Shostakovich’s piano quintet and second piano trio, Debussy's "L'isle Joyeuse", Beethoven's sixth and seventh symphonies, and many of Brahms' works. He also finds Stephen Sondheim's work to be incredibly profound. He is deeply interested in composition as well as piano performance, and has composed several pieces as part of the John Adams Young Composers Program, as well as composing the entire score for his school play. In addition to performing solo, he loves playing chamber music. He attends the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Program, where he studies with Sharon Mann.
Beneath a Tree: Baroque to Folk Duo
$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Gorgeous harmonies and classical instruments chart the path from Baroque to traditional music
Beneath A Tree - Baroque To Folk (BAT) is a multi genre ensemble led by the core duo of Gail Hernández Rosa (violin, viola, vocals), and Daniel Turkos (contrabass, cittern/Irish bouzouki, vocals). BAT's roots were planted in 2017 in Philadelphia and the surrounding rural pubs of Chester County, PA. These rowdy performances included standard folk, celtic, bluegrass and jazz repertoire melded with music from the Baroque.
For this concert, they will perform a selection of Latin American baroque music, Vivaldi, Mozart, Celtic fiddle music, and more. PLUS: their own arrangement of the Grateful Dead tune Uncle John’s Band - a Baroque take on the original tune - as well as Bach Minuets and Gigue from the first Bach cello suite - with newly composed music to complement Bach’s original composition.
Founded on the mutual love of historical performance, collaborations with like-minded intrepid musicians explore the interrelationships found between composed and traditional folk music from the Baroque period and its continued relevance, creating a curious and exciting fusion that appeals to varied audiences. It is through a natural progression of musical curiosity BAT finds the kinship between genres and their roots in the Baroque.
In 2018 Beneath A Tree turned a new leaf and relocated to Northern CA. This period of growth has included performances, collaborations, and productions at the California Jazz Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory of Music & Herbst Theatre as part the American Bach Soloists Festival, San Francisco Early Music Society, Chamber Music Society of SF, Mercury Soul, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Music Performance Trust Fund, Listen and Heal, Salon Era, Kennett Brewing Company, ASMALLWORLD, Fifth Street Farms and numerous house concerts throughout CA. BAT remains grounded by performing music meditations for various wellness facilities along the west coast.
Hernández Rosa recorded My Cup of Tea, in collaboration with Beneath A Tree, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in 2020 with Paul Holmes Morton joining on theorbo, baroque guitar and vocals. BAT has since been featured in Early Music America’s 2021 Emerging Artist Showcase, Boston Early Music Fringe festival and the American Bach Soloists Festival.
With: Gail Hernández Rosa - Baroque Violin, Viola & vocals, Daniel Turkos - Contrabass, Octave Mandolin & Vocals