Wielding pens instead of instruments, four SFCM students will be among 17 students from five schools to compete for a $10,000 prize during the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, held from from November 5 to 10 at SFCM. They'll draw on the expertise of writers from noted publications, including The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, who will discuss their craft in public panel discussions and pre-concert lectures. Armchair critics will also have a chance to take part by submitting reviews in competition for the $1,000 Everyone's a Critic Audience Review Prize. The Institute kicks off with a keynote address by Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic of The New York Times, on Wednesday, November 5 at 5 p.m. Events include performances presented by the San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances. The San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman, Rubin Institute critic-in-residence, previews the symposium, makes a case for good music criticsm - and calls out some bad examples - in this article from sfgate.com. Find details about events and instructions for submitting audience reviews at the Rubin Institute website.
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Faculty Recitals Feature Cook and Lemoine
 Voice department chair Catherine Cook, a mezzo-soprano frequently heard at the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera, takes the stage at SFCM this month to perform Schumann's Frauenliebe und leben and Jake Heggie's The Deepest Desire with Keisuke Nakagoshi '06, piano and Elisabeth Lowry '11, flute. The concert is free, but reservations are required. Also in November, flutist Carmen Lemoine '05 performs premieres by Robert Pierzak and Steven Rice, as well as works by Kaija Saariaho, John Orfe and others, backed by ensembles including piano, guitar, electronics and sextet. Carmen Lemoine, flute Friday, November 14, 8 PM Recital Hall, Free More informationCatherine Cook, mezzo-soprano Monday, November 17, 8 PM................  Concert Hall, Free RR* More information
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Game On! Rescheduled for Nov. 25
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 Video game industry insiders, composers and performers discuss creating music for new audiences at Game On!, a free event exploring careers in video game and film music (previously scheduled on November 1 and 2). A collaboration between SFCM, American Composers Forum and Game Audio Network Guild, Game On! features a "demo derby" critique of participants' recordings and a performance of string quartets by game and film composers Austin Wintory, Lennie Moore, Dren McDonald and composition department chair David Conte. Guests also include Jonathan Mayer, senior music manager at Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC, and Mike Morasky, director and programmer at Valve software and entertainment company. Composers may submit demos for consideration by midnight, November 16, to rbrown@sfcm.edu. Tuesday, November 25, 6:30 PM Recital Hall, Free More information |
 Two Premieres from BluePrint
The BluePrint New Music Series presents two premieres and a collaboration with noted choreographer KT Nelson in its second concert of the season. Artistic director Nicole Paiement conducts Natural Systems, a BluePrint commission and world premiere by composer John Glover based on the writings of eighteenth-century botanist and pioneer Carl Linnaeus. Nelson and dancers Vanessa Thiessen and Dudley Flores add movement and percussion to a West Coast premiere performance of Terrestre by acclaimed composer Kaija Saariaho. The work, inspired by an aboriginal tale about a dancing bird, also features SFCM concerto composition winner Bethanne Walker '15 on solo flute. Another fairy tale, Rapunzel, is recounted in excerpts from two operas, one by Lou Harrison and the other by former SFCM faculty composer Conrad Susa. Saturday, November 15, 8 PM*................ Concert Hall, $20/15 More information Purchase tickets *Audience members are invited to join John Glover for casual conversation and a glass of wine at BluePrint's pre-concert Tȇte à tȇte event, held at 7:20 p.m. on the Conservatory's Deleage level. Glover will also discuss his work at Creative Conversation Fridays, a free event held on November 14 at 5 p.m.
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Baroque Suites and Sonatas
The Conservatory Baroque Ensemble, co-directed by Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, kicks up its heels with a joyous program featuring Vivaldi's Concerto in G Major, "alla rustica", Telemann's Ouverture-Suite in C Major, "Lustige", Lully's Passacaille from Armide and J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, with Bethanne Walker '15 on traverso. In another celebratory concert, guest artist and baroque  cellist Jennifer Morsches joins Jamason on harpsichord to mark the tricentennial of C.P.E. Bach with a performance of his sonatas in C major and D major.
Baroque Ensemble Sunday, November 16, 7:30 PM............. Concert Hall, Free More informationCPE Bach Anniversary Celebration Sunday, November 23, 2 PM Recital Hall, Free RR* More information
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A Trio of Vocal Treats
 Three composers who took musical theater to sublime heights are honored in three separate concerts this month. The Historical Performance Program offers opera lovers the chance to hear a recital of rarities penned by a tween-to-teenage Mozart, including arias from works such as Bastien und Bastienne, Mitridate, Ascanio in Alba and Lucio Silla, accompanied by fortepiano. The Conservatory Opera surveys works of Benjamin Britten, performing scenes from The Rape of Lucretia, Billy Budd, A Midsummer Night's Dream and other operas, conducted by Curt Pajer and accompanied by Darryl Cooper. And keeping a foot in mid-twentieth-century Britain, SFCM's Musical Theatre Workshop presents Oh Coward!, a revue sparkling with the musical charm and wit of Noel Coward, directed and choreographed by Michael Mohammed with music director Lauren Mayer. Opera Program | Scenes of Benjamin Britten Thursday, November 6 and Saturday, November 8, 7:30 PM Concert Hall, Free More informationHistorical Performance Series | Young Mozart Monday, November 10, 8 PM Recital Hall, Free More informationMusical Theatre Workshop | Oh Coward!Friday & Saturday, November 14 & 15, 8 PM Osher Salon, Free More information
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Upcoming Concerts
The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Keynote Address: Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times5 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Piano Department Recital 6 Thursday, 2 PM FREE The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Public Panel: Introduction to Criticism 6 Thursday, 7:30 PM FREE Opera Program | Benjamin Britten Scenes 6 Thursday, 7 PM The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Pre-Concert Lecture: Alex Ross of The New Yorker at San Francisco Symphony 7 Friday, 7:15 PM The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Pre-Concert Lecture: Heidi Waleson of The Wall Street Journal at Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra 7 Friday, 8 PM FREE Viola Department Recital 8 Saturday, 2 PM FREE The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Public Panel: Everyone's a Critic 8 Saturday, 7:30 PM FREE Opera Program | Benjamin Britten Scenes 8 Saturday, 6:35 PM The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Pre-Concert Lecture: Anne Midgette of The Washington Post at San Francisco Opera 9 Sunday, 11 AM FREE at UC Berkeley The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Public Panel: Criticism and Creativity 9 Sunday, 2 PM The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Pre-Concert Lecture: John Rockwell, writer and arts critic, at Cal Performances 9 Sunday, 2 PM FREE RR* Oral History Project | Elinor Armer, composition 9 Sunday, 5 PM FREE Horn Department Recital 10 Monday, 10 AM FREE The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Closing Remarks and Awards Ceremony 10 Monday, 7:30 PM FREE Master Class | Richard Fleischman, viola 10 Monday, 8 PM FREE Baroque Ensemble | Young Mozart 10 Monday, 8 PM FREE Composition Department Recital 11 Tuesday, 7:30 PM FREE Master Class | Michael Norsworthy, clarinet 11 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE Voice Department Recital 12 Wednesday, 7 PM FREE New Music Ensemble Concerto Competition 12 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Accompanying Department Recital 13 Thursday, 8 PM FREE Clarinet Department Recital 13 Thursday, 8 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 14 Friday, 5 PM FREE Creative Conversations John Glover, composition 14 Friday, 8 PM FREE Faculty Artist Series Carmen Lemoine '05, flute 14 Friday, 8 PM FREE Musical Theatre Workshop | Oh Coward! 15 Saturday, 8 PM $20/15.................... BluePrint | Nicole Paiement, director "Natural Systems" 15 Saturday, 8 PM FREE Musical Theatre Workshop | Oh Coward!16 Sunday, 2 PM FREE Percussion Department Recital 16 Sunday, 7:30 PM FREE.................... Baroque Ensemble Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, co-directors 17 Monday, 8 PM FREE Accompanying Department Recital 17 Monday, 8 PM FREE RR*.................... Faculty Artist Recital Catherine Cook, mezzo-soprano 18 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE Cello Ensemble Recital 18 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE Guitar/Voice Department Recital 19 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Violin Studio Recital | Students of Wei He String and Piano Chamber Music 20 Thursday, 8 PM New Music Ensemble | Nicole Paiement, director 23 Sunday, 2 PM FREE RR* Faculty Artist Recital Corey Jamason, harpsichord with Jennifer Morsches, baroque cello 23 Sunday, 2 PM FREE Opera Scenes 23 Sunday, 7:30 PM FREE Master Class | Timothy Ehlen, piano 24 Monday, 10 AM FREE Master Class | Pamela Frank, violin 24 Monday, 8 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 25 Tuesday, 6:30 PM FREE Game On: An Insider's Guide to Video Game Scoring 25 Tuesday, 7:30 PM FREE Opera Scenes
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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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 | | SFCM introduces a new program in Technology and Applied Composition: Scoring for Film, Games and New Media. |
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Elinor Armer, faculty composer and founding chair of SFCM's composition department, tells tales in and out of school during a special event presented by the Oral History Project. As Armer marks her 75th birthday, we celebrate her 45 years of history at SFCM. A slide show from the Conservatory archives curated by archivist Tessa Updike will complement Armer's talk, along with performances by fellow faculty members Corey Jamason, harpsichord, and Emily Laurance, harp, and alumnus Matt Cannon '02, marimba. A reception follows.
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Friends of the Conservatory who contribute $100 or more are invited to a Baroque Ensemble rehearsal and student presentation of historical instruments on Wednesday, November 5 at 1 p.m. Don't miss this chance to hear the distinct difference when students play short passages first on modern and then on Baroque instruments and explain the technical differences between them. Then enjoy the ensemble rehearsal. To reserve your seats, please email dvsa@sfcm.edu.
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Solís Joins Principal Cast at San Francisco Opera
Baritone Efraín Solís '13 has been tapped to sing the principal role of Dandini, valet to the prince Don Ramiro, in San Francisco Opera's production of La Cenerentola, opening on November 9. Solis, a first-year Adler Fellow, had been covering the role and was asked to sing performances when Italian baritone Fabio Capitanucci withdrew from the production for health reasons.
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SFCM Welcomes New Trustees
The Conservatory Board of Trustees welcomes two new members this fall. A devotee of opera and music education, Ann Girard recently served as president of the San Francisco Opera Guild and remains on the Guild's Executive Board. In her 25-year legal career, Girard has served as general counsel of QuickLogic Corporation, president of the American Corporate Counsel Association and a member of the Judicial Council of California's Task Force on Business Courts. One of the original architects of Apple's iTunes store, Payam Mirrashidi has profoundly influenced how the world purchases recorded music and other media. As Apple's director of engineering, Mirrashidi leads the engineering teams for the iTunes Store, App Store and iBooks Store. His background includes working as a mixing and sound engineer at UC Berkeley, where he also studied physics. Mirrashidi is a parent of two Pre-College students, Sophia and Paloma.
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Project TenFourteenSaturday, November 16 Presented by CalPerformances and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the TenFourteen series features ten new works addressing the human condition. The first concert includes the world premiere of two works by George Crumb, pieces by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz and Elena Ruehr, plus Récitations 9 and 10 by Georges Aperghis, featuring guest soprano Tony Arnold. The SFCMP ensemble is led by Steven Schick.
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Café menu with beer and wine available from