$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

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

For this much-anticipated event, the renowned ensemble Nash Baroque, with soprano Victoria Fraser, bring to life tales of love, despair and triumph from 18th century France, with flute, violin, viola da gamba and theorbo.

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

Victoria Fraser is an Alaska-born soprano and composer. Fluent in multiple languages, Victoria holds dual Irish & United States citizenship. She has performed to acclaim throughout the world including: California Bach Society under Paul Flight; San Francisco new music ensemble, Volti with Robert Geary; the Vocalensemble Frankfurt Dom, in Frankfurt, Germany; the Berwick Chamber Chorus at the Oregon Bach Festival as chorus member and step-out soloist; grammy-nominated True Concord under Eric Holtan in Tucson, Arizona; Audivi, directed by Noah Horn in Detroit, Michigan; Il Coro del Duomo in Florence, Italy as a soloist and in the chorus; and the Bachkantaten-Akademie choir in Thuringia, Germany. She has sung under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki, Helmut Rilling, Matthew Halls, John Nelson, JoAnn Falletta, Craig Hella Johnson, Jeffrey Thomas and Kathy Romey. Victoria is a featured soloist on 10 time Grammy-winning Jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval’s Christmas album, Emerson Eads’ Mass for the Oppressed album, and on David Child’s release of newly composed works.

Victoria holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Smith College where she graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa and with high honors. She went on to complete a Master of Music in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and a Masters in Sacred Music at the University of Notre Dame where she studied under Kiera Duffy and Stephen Lancaster. She completed the MA in Ritual Chant and Song program at the University of Limerick, Ireland where she also studied Irish song with Roisin Ni Galloglaigh, Mary McLaughlin, and Eamonn Costello. https://www.victoriafrasersoprano.com/about

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.

$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.

$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!

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!

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!

We'll have a fabulous accompanist, and wonderful soloists TBA.

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.

$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.

$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 Antonin Dvorak, Philip Glass, the Magnetic Zeros, and David Ryther. Dvorak 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.

Leslie Bonnett, alto: Lisa's rich and varied musical journeys have traversed such realms as classical vocal studies at UC Santa Cruz where she earned a B.A. in music, opera workshops, opera choruses, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, classical violin, and Scandinavian fiddle.  Ultimately, she has found her home singing and playing traditional folk music of the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the Americas and beyond. She has performed with Bay Area groups such as Balkalicious Fire Drive, Sayat Nvaq Ensemble, Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble and True Life Trio. During her many years with Kitka, she toured the United States and Eastern Europe, worked and studied intensively with master folk artists, and engaged in a wide array of projects, including new music works, vocal theater productions and numerous recordings. Leslie is currently channeling her creative energies towards her work with True Life Trio and the upcoming Dahmkash project.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Teslim is a quartet of composers/instrumentalists who perform traditional Turkish, Greek and Balkan music as well as new compositions inspired by these traditions.

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 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 several years 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. She has spent the last five summers traveling to Greece to study at Labyrinth, Ross Daly’s center for modal music instruction and practice, where she has studied with Kelly Thoma and many other master musicians from Greece, Turkey, and Iran.

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.

$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.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Is there anything more fun than singing? No, right? And SHOW TUNES - oh, boy! We've been dreaming about this for a few years - right through lock-down and masking mandates, and at last, the time is here!

Have you been told you have a beautiful voice? Wonderful - sing out, Louise! Have you been shamed into lip-synching Happy Birthday? Sing out anyway, Louise! We'll have song leaders and many accomplished singers to help you find your pitch.

For this, our first-ever show tunes sing-along, we will have a wide selection of favorites from different eras, a fabulous accompanist, song leaders, sheet music, soloists, and of course tasty SNACKS! AND - we'll be inviting audience members to sing solos. Have a favorite song you'd like us to sing together? Please let us know in advance - we'll consider adding it to the roster. Have a song you're longing to sing solo? Let us know - we'll enter you in a lottery to be a featured singer.

Oh, boy - will this ever be fun!

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.

$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).