Pre-College Violinists Shine at Menhuin Competition
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Stephen Waarts
Photo: Jim Box
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The Pre-College Division made an outstanding showing at the Menuhin International Violin Competition last week in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1983 by Yehudi Menuhin, himself an early Conservatory alumnus, the biannual event is the world's leading competition for young violinists. Pre-College alumnus Stephen Waarts won the senior division. Now a student at the Curtis Institute of Music, Stephen studied with Pre-College faculty violinist Li Lin '92. Alumnus Stephen Kim, a former student of faculty violinist Bettina Mussumeli also currently attending Curtis, placed fourth in the senior division. Pre-College student Alex Zhou took fourth place in the junior division. At twelve years old, Alex was the youngest competitor in the junior finals. He is a student of Pre-College faculty violinist Zhao Wei '05. Alumna Alina Ming Kobialka, a former student of Lin and of faculty violinist Wei He '98, also competed in the senior division.
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Body and Soul Meet in Hoefer Prize Premiere
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The BluePrint New Music Series concludes its season Sunday, March 16 with the premiere of a work by alumnus Ryan Brown '05, winner the Conservatory's most prestigious honor in composition, the Hoefer Prize. Artistic Director Nicole Paiement conducts the The Exact Location of the Soul by Brown in a New Music Ensemble concert that also features works by Lou Harrison, Terry Riley and former faculty member John Adams. Brown, a rock guitarist who often constructs chamber music around chords, riffs and beats, breaks new ground with his Hoefer commission - a meditative piece that invokes a space where intensely physical and spiritual realms meet. Read more.
Sunday, March 16, 8 PM*................ Concert Hall, $20/$15
More information Purchase tickets
*Tête à tête with Ryan Brown at 7:20 p.m.
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Fischer Visits a Vintage Year
Norman Fischer rose to fame as cellist with the Concord String Quartet, an ensemble called "supervirtuosic" by The New York Times and praised internationally for its performances of chamber masterpieces and new works. Fischer is joined by faculty members Ian Swensen, violin, and Paul Hersh, viola, and a select group of students for a concert on Thursday, March 6 titled "1945" featuring Britten's String Quartet No. 2 in C Major, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa Lobos, and the septet version of Metamorphosen by Strauss. Thursday, March 6, 8 PM............ Concert Hall, $20/$15 More information Purchase tickets
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An Opera Pseudo-Seria
As they do in most baroque operas, the lovers in Handel's Serse trace a geometry much more complicated than a triangle. But this opera seria stood out in its day by mixing humor with heartache and wedding both to some of Handel's most beloved melodies. The Baroque Ensemble, led by co-directors Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, performs one of opera's original romantic comedies in a concert setting. Faculty member Bruce Lamott gives a pre-concert talk before Sunday's matinee. Saturday, March 8, 7 PM and Sunday, March 9, 2 PM..................... Concert Hall, Free - RR* Pre-concert lecture on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. More information
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The Family Crest Rides High  The orchestral rock group The Family Crest is making waves with its new release Beneath the Brine. The group claims Laura Bergmann '09, flute, George Samaan '13, trombone, Charles Akert '08, cello, and Owen Sutter '09, violin, among its core seven members, while a host of Conservatory alums belongs to the Crest's "extended family," a constellation of instrumentalists and singers who lend the group's arrangements a symphonic sweep. After getting prominent play on National Public Radio, the group heads to Austin, Texas, this month to play the South by Southwest Festival before heading off on a family tour of the Intermountain West and West Coast.
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Hampton Explores a Legacy Faculty member Bonnie Hampton, regarded as an exceptional performer and expert teacher, herself learned the cello from great teachers, among them, legendary artist Pablo Casals. In a special Faculty Artist Series presentation titled "The 20th Century Cello Legacy," Hampton discusses her own musical lineage and reviews films of Casals and Mstislav Rostropovich in an exploration of the teaching and impact of the instrument's great masters.
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In Memoriam
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 Longtime faculty member Joan Gallegos died on February 22 at her home in Kensington, California. During almost three decades at the Conservatory, Gallegos played many roles, most notably in developing the musicianship program and directing the New Music Ensemble. Known as a staunch advocate for women and a pioneer in the field of new music, Gallegos was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Conservatory upon her retirement in 1997. "Joan was a fierce advocate for ear-training and musicianship as a central part of our curriculum and for the performance of contemporary music," says faculty member and former Composition Department Chair Elinor Armer. "She devoted her life at the Conservatory to both of these with complete dedication." A recent interview with Gallegos can be heard on the Conservatory's Oral History Project webpage.
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Upcoming Concerts
Thursday, March 6, 10:30 AM FREE Master Class | Wieland Kuijken, viola da gamba
Thursday, March 6, 3 PM FREE Master Class | Jack Van Geem, percussion Thursday, March 6, 8 PM $20/$15....... Chamber Music Masters | Norman Fischer, cello
Saturday, March 8, 7 PM FREE, RR*..... Baroque Ensemble Handel Serse (concert performance)
Sunday, March 9, 11 AM FREE Low Brass Studio Recital
Sunday, March 9, 2 PM FREE, RR*..... Baroque Ensemble Handel Serse (concert performance) Lecture with Bruce Lamott at 1:15 PM Monday, March 10, 7:30 PM FREE Violin Concerto Competition Finals
Monday, March 10, 8 PM FREE Piano Department Recital
Tuesday, March 11, 7:30 PM FREE San Francisco-Shanghai International Chamber Music Festival | Master Class with the Han Quartet (limited seating)
Tuesday, March 11, 8 PM FREE Violin Studio Recital | Students of Ian Swensen
Thursday, March 13, 11 AM FREE San Francisco-Shanghai International Chamber Music Festival | Composers' Workshop
Thursday, March 13, 8 PM $20/$15...... San Francisco-Shanghai International Chamber Music Festival
Friday, March 14, 3 PM FREE BluePrint | Composers Talk Shop with Ryan Brown '05
Friday, March 14, 8 PM $20/$15.......... San Francisco-Shanghai International Chamber Music Festival
Sunday, March 16, 2 PM $20/$15........ Faculty Artist Series Lecture Bonnie Hampton, cello "The 20th Century Cello Legacy"
Sunday, March 16, 8 PM $20/$15....... BluePrint | Nicole Paiement, artistic director The Exact Location of the Soul *Tête à tête with Ryan Brown '05 at 7:20 PM
Monday, March 17, 7:30 PM FREE Piano Concerto Competition Finals Monday, March 17, 8 PM FREE Clarinet Studio Recital Tuesday, March 18, 8 PM FREE Cello Department Recital
Wednesday, March 19, 7:30 PM FREE Opera Program The Crazy Day, Part II: the Evening Mozart Le nozze di Figaro, Acts III & IV
Thursday, March 20, 7:30 PM FREE Opera Program The Crazy Day, Part II: the Evening Mozart Le nozze di Figaro, Acts III & IV
Thursday, March 20, 8 PM FREE Guitar Department Recital
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View our performance calendar for complete information including concert changes and updates. RR* = Reservations required.
Call the Box Office for tickets and reservations at 415.503.6275. Conservatory SupportersTo reserve tickets, please contact June Hom at 415.503.6201 or jhom@sfcm.edu. To become a Conservatory supporter visit our website.
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Test your Mandarin with this preview of the SF-Shanghai International Music Festival (courtesy of media sponsor KTSF-TV)
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Trustee Emerita Kris Getz began her association with with the Conservatory in the 1950s. Through the years, she has made countless thoughtful contributions both big and small, launching the school's first bookstore, creating a garden courtyard at the Ortega Street campus in memory of her late husband, and co-founding the coterie of supporters that has grown into Friends of the Conservatory. Kris recently sat down with Conservatory Archivist Tessa Updike to record an interview for the Oral History Project.
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Violinist Sarah Bleile, first year undergrad from Calgary, Alberta under the tutelage of Ian Swensen, tied for second place in the Nova Vista Young Artists' Competition held in San Jose on February 23. This year's competition featured 18 participants, including two others from SFCM, one of whom received an honorable mention: cellist Nicholas Denton, a student of Jennifer Culp. Bleile will receive a cash prize for her performance.
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Black Box Baroque
The romantic intrigues and filigreed melodies of baroque opera are an ideal fit for intimate stages. Black Box Baroque, a company formed by Conservatory alums, is bringing Handel's Orlando to San Francisco's 50-seat Boxcar Theater in a fully-staged production with chamber orchestra. It's debut performance on March 15 features Sara Hagenbuch '11, faculty member Michael Mohammed '00 and Kindra Scharich '03.
More information
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Alums at Old First
Old First Concerts in San Francisco features four alumni groups this month. ZOFO duet, the alliance of Keisuke Nakagoshi '06, Eva-Maria Zimmermann and one piano, performs a program of world and West Coast premieres on Friday, March 7 at 8 PM. Three more alumni ensembles join forces Friday, March 14 at 8 PM as the bass clarinet duo Sqwonk celebrates the release of its third album Sqwonk +. Sqwonkers Jonathan Russell '03 and faculty member Jeff Anderle '06 welcome the alumni chamber group Nonsemble 6 for a performance of Russell's Bass Clarinet Double Concerto, among other works, and the Real Vocal String Quartet makes it real with Slacker Ridge by quartet member Alisa Rose '07.
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NCCO Casts Off With Chanticleer
San Francisco's New Century Chamber Orchestra embarks on an adventure with the coun- try's premiere orchestra of voices Chanticleer in the program Atlantic Crossing. Concerts begin March 21 at the Conservatory. The groups perform separately pieces by Fritz Kreisler, Miklós Rózsa, Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith, Kurt Weill and others, before jumping on the same ship for songs by Weill, Gershwin and Ellington and Strayhorn.
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