May
San Francisco Girls Chorus Level III – Terry Alvord, Director
Saturday May 4, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Praised by Gramophone Magazine as a “remarkable tapestry of teenage voices,” the five-time GRAMMY Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) is recognized as one of the world’s leading youth vocal ensembles. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC presents subscription performances throughout the Bay Area and regularly performs both nationally and internationally as a cultural ambassador for San Francisco. SFGC is a frequent collaborator with leading arts organizations such as Kronos Quartet, San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera, as well as numerous world-renowned guest artists.
In addition to its Premier Ensemble, the San Francisco Chorus School is renowned as a regional center for choral music education and performance for girls and young women ages 4-18. Through its innovative Online Learning Program, SFGC has utilized technology to keep its hundreds of choristers engaged and advancing in their musical activities and performing live together from their own homes.
Level III of the San Francisco Girls Chorus School is an ensemble of singers generally between the ages of 10-13. Throughout each season, they learn and perform a varied repertoire of classical, contemporary, and multilingual folk songs from multiple musical eras. In recent years, Level III has performed with other local organizations such as the SF Opera and Opera Parallèle, as well as in the community at schools across San Francisco and the East Bay.
The Soloist Intensive program is a select cohort of soloists that are part of SFGC’s GRAMMY Award Winning Premier Ensemble. Singers strengthen their performance experience, vocal technique, stage presence, diction and language skills through an individualized program of private voice lessons; projects that build organization, communication, and professionalism; masterclasses; auditions; and performances, often in collaboration with world class professional singers. Many Soloists go on to pursue vocal performance in universities and conservatories, and all receive college prep and advising as a part of the program.
Terry Alvord, Level III Director
Terry Alvord, a mezzo soprano and conductor, has conducted the San Francisco Symphony Chorus in rehearsals of Brahms’ Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, and has conducted the San Francisco Conservatory’s chamber vocal ensemble, assisting Maestro Ragnar Bohlin. She has also been one of four assistant conductors for the San Francisco Symphony’s Community of Music Makers “Sing Out Davies” program since its inception in 2011.
For the 2015-2016 season, Ms. Alvord was the interim artistic director for Resound Ensemble, a 50 member mixed voice choir based in San Francisco. Last summer, Ms. Alvord was a featured conductor in a program of sacred music in Sarteano, Italy. She is currently music director at Trinity United Methodist Church in Berkeley.
In addition to conducting, Ms. Alvord is an active soloist and choral singer. She has appeared as soloist in James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross with the Berkeley Symphony and with many other groups in performances of Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Bach’s Magnificat. Ms. Alvord has sung with many Bay Area opera companies in roles such as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Siebel in Faust, and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel. She has been a professional member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus since 2000, and has also sung with San Francisco Opera Chorus and Philharmonia Baroque Chorale.
San Francisco Youth Chorus Holiday Concert
Online Ticketing: Tickets are donation based with a suggested amount of $15-35.00 dollars per family. They can be bought in advance via PayPal at: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/GATESFYC or you can pay via cash, QR Code, or check, at the door.
Program: To be announced
SFYC, founded in 2015 by Artistic Director Katherine Gerber, advances the musicianship of children ages 4 and up, in grades PreK-9, in San Francisco, California. Sponsored by Great Adventures Through Education, the after-school chorus of nearly 150 youngsters, across several ensembles, rehearses weekly, August-May, and performs several times throughout the season across California.
Brazzissimo!
Saturday May 11, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
BRAZZISSIMO is a ten-piece brass chamber music ensemble. You may well ask, “What exactly is a brass chamber ensemble?” Well, it’s a fascinating combination of four trumpets (including piccolo trumpet, various pitched trumpets and flugelhorn), four trombones (including euphonium), French horn and a tuba which comprise this captivating and exciting music ensemble.
We perform a variety of music especially arranged or composed for this brass ensemble medium, all of which include arrangements of classical, jazz, Latin and contemporary works.
Our musicians, past and present, represent some of the finest brass players in the San Francisco Bay Area region. In addition to our ensemble’s responsibilities, individually we perform in orchestras, bands, smaller chamber groups, and often freelance. Our continuing goal is to present the most enjoyable and memorable concert experiences possible.
June
Kenneth Renshaw and Keisuke Nakagoshi in concert
Saturday June 1, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Born and raised in San Francisco, violinist Kenneth Renshaw came to international attention in 2012 after winning First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Beijing. He has since performed extensively throughout many countries, both as soloist with orchestras including the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Lithuanian National Orchestra, the Jenaer Philharmonie and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, and recitals at notable venues such as the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Germany, and the Menuhin Festival Gstaad.
Pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi studied with Emanuel Ax, Gilbert Kalish, Menahem Pressler, and Paul Hersh and has performed on concert stages across the US, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl. In 2009, Mr. Nakagoshi and Swiss pianist Eva-Maria Zimmermann formed the piano duo ZOFO, and their first CD was nominated for Grammy award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble.
Spruce Ritual with Lucian Kano Balmer
Saturday June 22, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Experience Spruce Ritual, a musical exploration of two great traditions: eastern Hindustani music and western classical music. Through sublime melodies, intricate compositions, and ecstatic poetry, they take the listener on a heartfelt musical journey.
Led by composer, violinist, and vocalist Lucian Kano Balmer, Spruce Ritual released their debut album to great acclaim in February of 2023. “Spruce Ritual: The Way The Evening Speaks is a wonderfully original, musically masterful and evocative album. Lucian Kano Balmer has united skillful playing with soulful longing, and the results speak volumes.” – Rebecca Cullen, stereostickman.com
Accompanying Lucian will be:
- Charith Premawardhana (viola; founder of the cutting edge Classical Revolution)
- Nazan Aktas (cello; composer and student of Alam Khan at the Ali Akbar College of Music)
- Will Marsh (sitar, guitar; devoted student of the sitar who recently released his first world music album, The Integration)
- Josh Mellinger (tabla; pupil of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri and percussionist who plays across multiple genres)
July
Nato performs solo violin works by Bartók, Bacewicz, Prokofiev and Ysaÿe
Saturday July 20, 2024 at 4 p.m.
Violinist Nato is a concert artist who describes himself as having ‘an unquenchable thirst for new music.’ He has performed for distinguished audiences, including former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and has received standing ovations from audiences around the world.
At age three, Nato began his musical journey, at five, made his solo orchestral debut, and at nine, was awarded a career scholarship and loaned a Nicolò Amati violin.
He went on to win prizes at the International Menuhin Competition for young violinists, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Standard Life Competition (1990, 1992, 1994), the International Beethoven Competition and the International J. S. Bach Competition. As well, he was a laureate of the 2012 Canada Council of the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition where he was awarded the loan of a fine instrument.
As a recording artist, Nato is undertaking the challenging repertoire for the violin alone. In 2018, he released his first album. Nato has been featured on CBC television in Canada and on CBS Sunday Morning with Eugenia Zukerman. Nato can be found on the web at http://nato.cc.
Christopher Richardson, piano
Saturday July 27, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Program: To be announced
Christopher Richardson has received top prizes in numerous national and international piano competitions, including First Prize at the 2021 LA International Liszt Competition Budapest Division as well as First Prize and Best Chopin Prize at the 2016 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Competition. He most recently has won Second Prize at the 2022 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition Concerto Division and Third Prize at the 2022 Young Artist MTNA Competition. Throughout his career, he has performed in several notable venues across the United States, including the Liszt Museum in Budapest, the Coachella Valley Repertory, the 2000-seat Music Tent in Aspen, Carnegie Hall, Finney Chapel, McCallum Theater, and Benaroya Hall. He has also performed with numerous orchestras, including the Minnesota Orchestra twice. Additionally, he has appeared on NPR’s “From the Top,” TV program PIE on KCTS 9, and King FM 98.1. In 2015, he presented at the TEDYouth@Redmond Conference in Washington, and in 2019 he released his debut album, titled Wizard of Oz.
An active music educator, Christopher has served as faculty at the Golden Key Piano School in Berkeley since 2019. His students have received top marks at Royal Conservatory of Music examinations. They describe him as a very patient and encouraging teacher with great attention to technique and musicality.
Christopher graduated with honors at the University of California Berkeley, earning Bachelor’s degrees in Molecular/Cell Biology, Economics, and Music. During this time, he also served as the blog writer of the Steinway Society of the Bay Area, where he gave his thoughts on various aspects of classical music and performance. Christopher earned his Masters in Music at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music under renowned pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane. His previous major teachers include Mack McCray, Duane Hulbert, and Frederick Weldy.
Past Concerts
January
Friction Quartet with soprano, Amy Foote
Friday January 19, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Program
String Quartet:
- Jay Lyon, Concertos
- Greg A Steinke, Dance of Life
- Adrienne Albert, Mood Swings
- Andrew B. Robinson, String Quartet No. 3 The Diversion
String Quartet and Amy Foote, soprano:
- John G. Bilotta, Hippocampus monologue
- Allen Shearer, At Waters edge
- Alden Jenks, Death Marriage
- Davide Verotta, Flora
- Molly Axtmann, Le bestie
Friction Quartet, lauded for performances described as “terribly beautiful” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “stunningly passionate” (Calgary Herald), and “exquisitely skilled” (ZealNYC), is dedicated to modernizing the chamber music experience and expanding the string quartet repertoire. The quartet achieves its mission by commissioning cutting-edge composers, curating imaginative concert programs, collaborating with diverse artists, and engaging in interactive educational outreach.
Friction made their debut at Carnegie Hall in 2016 as participants in the Kronos Quartet Fifty for the Future Workshop. They returned in March of 2018 to perform George Crumb’s Black Angels as part of “The 60’s” festival and their performance was described as, “one of the truest and most moving things I’ve ever heard or seen.” (Zeal NYC)
Since forming in 2011, Friction has commissioned 47 works for string quartet and given world premiere performances of more than 100 works. They developed the Friction Commissioning Initiative in 2017 as a way to work together with their audience to fund specific commissions. The money raised to date has helped Friction commission a total of 12 new works, including six by young composers between the ages 16 and 21. They were awarded a 2019 Intermusic SF Musical Grant to develop a participatory educational program with composer Danny Clay that is designed to be accessible and sensory-friendly. Friction’s past grants include a grant from Chamber Music America that was used to commission a piano quintet from Andy Akiho, which debuted in November 2016, as well as project grants from Intermusic SF and Zellerbach Family Foundation supporting special projects involving the performance of commissioned works.
Since graduating with her Master of Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Soprano Amy Foote has sung an expansive repertoire, ranging from leading roles on the operatic stage to world premiers of contemporary chamber music. On the operatic stage, Miss Foote has sung leading roles with Berkeley “West Edge” Opera, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, and Lamplighter’s Music Theater, with whom she recently performed Cunegonde from Bernstein’s Candide in Spring 2015. Her operatic voice has been deemed “most impressive…[with] accuracy, musicality, and diction…” by the San Francisco Classical Voice.
With contemporary chamber group Nonsemble 6, Amy commissions new monodramas and performs a memorized and staged version of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire which has been performed coast to coast from Stanford University in California to The Kennendy Center in Washington, D.C. Amy has worked with over 25 composers nationally and has performed with many new music groups including the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. She has released experimental rock albums with bay area bands Makeunder and Night Genes.
Watch Friction Quartet Video Watch Amy Foote Video
February
Alon Nechushtan Quartet
Friday February 2, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Alon Nechushtan is already known to savvy listeners for his deft piano playing and his work in klezmer (he leads the band Talat, which released a record on Tzadik’s Radical Jewish Culture Series) and his various jazz ensembles, with releases on Ayler Records and Between the Lines as well as the unexpected moodiness of his superstar 12-tet Dark Forces, with a release on Creative Sources.
Born in Tel Aviv with familial roots in Russia, Hungary, Transylvania and Uzbekistan, he employs the pluralism of jazz to bring together a wealth of musical heritage. Alon Nechushtan’s music adventures has brought him to various far corners of the globe such as the Yokohama ‘Rejoicing Sounds’ Festival in Japan with his contemporary orchestral compositions, The Manila Cultural Center of the Arts, with his Clarinet Concerto for the Philippines Philharmonic Orchestra, The Sao-Paolo Brazil Jewish Music Festival with his groove based Quintet Talat, Toronto and Montreal with his words beyond Jazz Trio and Tel Aviv New Music Biannale with his Compositions for Large Ensemble.
Resident of New York City, Alon has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Central Park Summer Stage, The Blue Note Jazz Club and the Kennedy Center with his projects as a band leader of various groups or as an in demand sideman. in October 2015 the kennedy Center has commissioned from Alon Nechushtan a new piece for Billy Strayhorn Centennial Celebration, following by a Far East tour in China and Philippines, along with Jazz Festivals in Belo Horizonte-Brazil, Israel. In 2017 the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C has commissioned from Alon Nechushtan a new program of Thelonious Monk’s less known compositions
March
‘Melodías de Buenos Aires‘ with Grammy Nominated Tango singer Mariana Quinteros
Saturday March 2, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Program: Direct from Miami, Grammy Nominated Tango Singer Mariana Quinteros and pianist Anibal Berraute will be coming to San Francisco for a unique concert “Melodías de Buenos Aires”. Mariana, ‘The Golden Voice of Tango,’ will interpret the worldwide known classics of the genre from Carlos Gardel to Piazzolla, plus tangos by San Francisco composer and lyricist Debora Simcovich. You will be moved by the intimacy and warmth of these artists, along with a special guest, local bandoneonist Alex Zeyliger. Come join us for this unforgettable concert.
- Mariana Quinteros – Vocals
- Anibal Berraute – Piano
- Alex Zeyliger – Bandoneon
Born in Buenos Aires Argentina, Mariana Quinteros, started studying vocal technique at a very young age. She chose tango as the way of expressing herself with her first album “Carmin” in 2012. In the United States Ms. Quinteros develops an important activity, as a Tango Singer, through different venues in Florida, New York, California and other States participating also in Mexico and Puerto Rico Tango Festivals. Ms. Quinteros performed the title role of “Maria” in the Astor Piazzolla’s Opera “Maria de Buenos Aires” with the “Pan American Symphony Orchestra” in D.C.) She toured California and New York with the “Orquesta Victoria” from Argentina presenting new tangos from the composer Debora Simcovich, performing at “Herbst Theater” in San Francisco among other important venues. Ms. Quinteros was the lead singer in the show “Amor de Tango” in “Teatro Municipal de Asunción” in Paraguay and in the New World Center in Miami. Currently, she continues promoting her album “Tango de Nuevos Ayres”, released in conjunction with the Embassy of Argentina in Washington, D.C. In 2022, Ms. Quintero’s recorded album “Tango de Nuevos Ayres” was nominated for a Grammy as the “Best Tango Album”. She continues her work on a new album recorded with the one of the most renowned musicians of the genre, and produced and arranged by Anibal Berraute.
Classical pianist, Anibal Berraute, who has performed various styles of popular music as a soloist, arranger, musical director and producer. Since joining the Mariano Mores orchestra in 1985, Mr. Berraute performed around the world performing in many tango shows. He has been musical director, and/or pianist of singers like Raúl Lavié, Jairo, José Angel Trelles, Libertad Lamarque, María Graña, Estela Raval y los Cinco Latinos, Néstor Fabián, Eladia Blazquez, Chico Novarro, Ranko Fujisawa, Guillermo Fernández and others. As arranger and producer has recently recorded several albums with argentine singers: the last work of the legendary Fontán Luna called “Fuego Tango”; “Sabor a Tango” with Hugo Jordán and the Philharmonic Orchestra of México; the new of Mariel Dupetit “Tangos” and the latest production of Fernando Soler “Intimamente”, recorded in Buenos Aires. Mr. Berraute toured with maestro Alberto Nuñez Palacio performing “Concertango” (Tango Concert for Piano and Symphonic Orchestra).
April
Ensemble Continuo
Saturday April 27, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Ensemble Continuo is a classical chamber choir based in Mountain View, California. The choir was founded in January 2023, but several of its members have sung together in previous projects since 2016. Performances in 2023 have brought the choir to the Summer of Sacred Music Series at Stanford Memorial Church and the International Performing Arts of America Festival at California Theater in San Jose.
The members of Ensemble Continuo share a passion for exploring the choral repertoire, including famous choir masterworks by Bach, Händel, Mozart, and Brahms, but also enjoy venturing into contemporary classical choral music by composers such as Frank Ticheli, Gerald Finzi, or Ēriks Ešenvalds. First and foremost, Ensemble Continuo loves making music together and performing it for
others.
Online the choir can be found at www.ensemble-continuo.com, on Instagram (@ensemblecontinuo), YouTube (@ensemblecontinuo468), and Facebook (Ensemble-Continuo-Mountain-View).
Sunset Music and Arts 
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