SFCM Offers New Student Housing in Fall 2015  The Conservatory is offering a new housing opportunity for students returning and enrolling next fall: state-of-the-art apartments in a new high-rise residence called The Panoramic. Located in San Francisco's dynamic Mid-Market neighborhood, just three blocks from campus, The Panoramic provides rooms with full kitchens and expansive views as well as spaces for study, socializing and practice. Read more.
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Leading Industry Artists Join New Composition Program for Games, Film and Media  Major names in the film and game music industry will headline SFCM's new Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) program. Figures such as Leslie Ann Jones, Austin Wintory (pictured), Jeff Beal and Laura Karpman will serve as visiting industry faculty and guest artists. Now accepting applicants for its inaugural class in fall 2015, TAC offers a unique curriculum integrating compositional craft with music technology, film and game scoring, and sound design. Austin Wintory, composer of Journey, the first video game soundtrack ever to earn a Grammy nomination, admits to being particularly excited at the prospect of teaching at SFCM. "It's clear that students in this program are going to get an extremely well-rounded look at virtually every relevant aspect of today's industry. It's a classic case in which I feel simultaneously honored to contribute and deeply envious of the students. Is it too late for me to enroll myself?" Read more.
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Pepe Romero and the
Harris Guitar Collection
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A showcase of rare and historic guitars featuring renowned guitarist Pepe Romero and Los Romeros guitar quartet returns to SFCM in December. Guitarrada VIII explores vintage instruments from the Harris Guitar Collection in demonstrations by the Romeros, SFCM faculty and students, and in discussions with luthier Pepe Romero Jr. and L. John Harris, founder and president of the Harris Guitar Foundation. Co-produced by the Harris Guitar Foundation in cooperation with SF Performances and the Omni Foundation, Guitarrada is a one-of-a-kind celebration of America's favorite instrument. Read more.
Sunday, December 7, 7:30 PM Concert Hall, Free
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New Center Offers Study Support
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 Students who want help brushing up their Shakespeare - or sight reading, understanding of Schoenberg, or mastery of enigmatic scales - have a new place to go. The Student Academic Enrichment Center hosts group and individual tutoring sessions in all subjects in a dedicated classroom arranged with comfy couches and tapestries (think more lounge than library). "It's really going to make a difference," says Jonas Wright, SFCM's assistant dean for academic affairs and registrar. Teachers, students and tutors can make referrals, appointments and track progress through a web portal. By centralizing the process virtually and physically, the center makes tutoring more effective. It will offer support in academics as well as performance practice, aiming to boost student achievement in both areas. Wright helped launch the center this semester with associate dean of student life Jason Smith and German language faculty member Erin DeBakcsy, who is also coordinating center activities.
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December Concert Highlights December is a month made for music, and the halls of the Conservatory will resound with a rich variety: Dubbed "chamber music's Jon Stewart" by The New York Times for his engaging style and creative daring, St. Lawrence String Quartet co-founder Geoff Nuttall returns for a free, public master class on December 2 and a performance of Haydn and C.P.E. Bach on December 4. SFCM's Opera Program does a double-take on the American dream with a double bill of Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti and The Money Tree by SFCM faculty composer David Garner '79, a lighthearted and lyrical tale about an improbable turnaround in the fortunes of a struggling couple. Violist Jodi Levitz, chair of strings and co-chair of chamber music at SFCM, presents a Faculty Artist Recital of twentieth-century and contemporary classics joined by pianist and SFCM alumnus Keisuke Nakagoshi '06. The Conservatory Orchestra under the baton of Scott Sandmeier closes the semester on an exuberant note with Mozart, Elgar and Elgar's orchestration of a lush fantasia and fugue by C.P.E. Bach. And Ragnar Bohlin, chorus director of SFCM and the San Francisco Symphony, leads the Conservatory Chorus and Chamber Choir in Rachmaninoff's glorious All-Night Vigil and other classics to send SFCM audience off in high spirits for the winter break.
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Rubin Institute Awards Writers
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 At a ceremony concluding the 2014 Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, Zoe Madonna, a student from Oberlin College, was awarded the $10,000 Rubin Prize in Music Criticism. Madonna was selected from among 17 student fellows who spent the first week of November working with distinguished journalists, attending concerts and writing reviews. Karen Baumer, a San Francisco-based technical writer, won the $1,000 Everyone's a Critic Audience Review Prize for her review of a performance by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. In a new addition to the Institute, the web journal San Francisco Classical Voice announced it will offer six-month paid internships to eight Rubin fellows. Read comments made by Rubin Institute critics Anne Midgette of the Washington Post, Tim Page of the University of Southern California, Heidi Waleson of The Wall Street Journal, and keynote speaker Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times, and find more coverage in our newsroom.
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Alumni Royally Reviewed in Cenerentola  Recent SFCM alumni have garnered rave reviews in separate productions of Rossini's La Cenerentola. Singing the role of Dandini at San Francisco Opera, baritone Efraín Solís '13 was called "the biggest star of the evening" by Opera Today, which also declared, "this young singer exuded the charm, pent-up fun and exuberant singing that will make him a Rossini star." Solís, a first-year Adler Fellow, had been covering the role and was asked to step in when the leading cast baritone withdrew for health reasons.  Meanwhile, singing the opera's title role at Wexford Festival Opera, mezzo-soprano Kate Allen '12 was lauded by the same publication for "a strikingly rich mezzo register, the ability to climb to the stratosphere, and astonishing flexibility and accuracy in the virtuosic coloratura: a diva in the making." Allen also received the festival's annual emerging artist award. Solís and Allen are both students of César Ulloa.
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In Memoriam: Paul Binkley  Paul Binkley '79, an alumnus of SFCM's guitar department and long-time teacher in the Pre-College Division, died November 11, several months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Pre-College guitar faculty member Scott Cmiel '80 says Binkley will be missed by students, colleagues and friends throughout the Bay Area. "Paul was a wonderful colleague and a very special person. His Grammy-nominated work with the Modern Mandolin Quartet, and his many performances with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, and many other groups in music ranging from baroque opera to modern chamber music gave him a background that made him one of the most insightful teachers I've known. His self-deprecating humor, quiet intellectual brilliance, and rock solid ethical stance made it an honor to know him and a joy to spend time with him."
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Upcoming Concerts
DECEMBER
2 Tuesday, 7:30 PM FREE
Master Class | Geoff Nuttall, violin
2 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE Brass Chamber Music 3 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Woodwind Chamber Music 4 Thursday, 8 PM $20/$15..........  Chamber Music Presents | Geoff Nuttall, violin
4 Thursday, 8 PM FREE
Guitar Department Recital
5 Friday, 7:30 PM FREE, RR*..........  Opera Program Leonard Bernstein Trouble in Tahiti and David Garner '79 The Money Tree5 Friday, 8 PM FREE Accompanying Department Recital 6 Saturday, 8 PM FREE New Music Ensemble | Nicole Paiement, conductor Student Compositions 7 Sunday, 2 PM FREE, RR*.......... Opera Program Leonard Bernstein Trouble in Tahiti and David Garner '79 The Money Tree7 Sunday, 5 PM FREE Double Bass Recital | Students of Scott Pingel 7 Sunday, 7:30 PM FREE Guitarrada VIII - Tools and Artifacts with Pepe Romero and Los Romeros guitar quartet featuring the Harris Guitar Collection 8 Monday, 8 PM FREE, RR* Faculty Artist Recital | Jodi Levitz, viola 8 Monday, 8 PM FREE Woodwind Chamber Music 9 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE Violin Recital | Students of Bettina Mussumeli 9 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE Percussion Department Recital 10 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Brass Ensemble Recital 10 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 11 Thursday, 4 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 11 Thursday, 8 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 12 Friday, 1 PM FREE Accompanying Department Recital 12 Friday, 8 PM FREE Cello Department Recital 13 Saturday, 8 PM $20/$15.......... Orchestra | Scott Sandmeier, conductor Cara Gabrielson '16, soprano and Yanghe Yu '15, violin 14 Sunday, 2 PM FREE Conservatory Chorus and Chamber Choir Ragnar Bohlin, director 14 Sunday, 2 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 15 Monday, 8 PM FREE Tikkun A Concerto for Violin and Mandolin in memory of Daniel Pearl
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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 guitar students perform "Prelude No. 1" by Villa Lobos
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With a history of performances stretching back almost a century, SFCM has amassed an equally lengthy history of concert reviews. Clippings from the Conservatory archives tell of concerts punctuated by everything from generous applause to competing train whistles.
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In an exclusive for ALL current donors, Scott Foglesong performs a piano recital on Saturday, January 24 at 8 p.m. Foglesong, chair of music theory and musicianship at SFCM, will explore The Franco-Russian Connection. At the turn of the twentieth century the lines of communication between French and Russian composers were open and active. This concert features four composers of the era who demonstrate shared influences that transcended geographical and cultural boundaries. To make a donation visit our website. Current donors may reserve seats by emailing dvsa@sfcm.edu.
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SFCM Marks #Giving Tuesday
#Giving Tuesday was designed for people who care about their community. While people give throughout the year, #Giving Tuesday provides a reason to pause during a busy season to reflect on the value of our participation. On December 2, we hope you'll join SFCM in the third annual observance of this global celebration of giving. You can take part by making a gift to the Conservatory that will support the education of young musicians.
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Friction Quartet
December 5
The SFCM alumni ensemble Friction Quartet performs world premieres of works by Brendon Randall-Myers and Adam Cuthbert and West Coast premieres by Bruce Hobson and Belinda Reynolds at San Francisco's Center for New Music. Also on the program is Missy Mazzoli's Harp and Altar for string quartet and electronics, originally written for Kronos Quartet.
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The Family Crest
December 6
The Family Crest has had a banner year. The crowd-sourced orchestral rock band built around a core of Conservatory talent attracted national attention for their album Beneath the Brine, played SXSW and toured nationally. The Family brings 2014 to a close by headlining a show at The Independent in San Francisco on Saturday, December 6.
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Tikkun A Concerto in Memory of Daniel Pearl
December 15 at SFCM
Tikkun Olam means "repairing the world" in Hebrew. It is the theme of a concerto for violin and mandolin by Ariel Blumenthal, written in memory of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was executed in Pakistan in 2002. Florin Parvulescu conducts the world premiere of Tikkun on Monday, December 15 at 8 p.m. in a free performance at SFCM with Ittai Shapira, violin, Avi Avital, mandolin, members of the San Francisco Symphony and Conservatory students.
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Opera ParallèleDead Man Walking:
Art and Social JusticeJanuary 21 Sister Helen Prejean discusses the transformation of her famous memoir into film, stage play, and opera at a preview of Opera Parallèle's February production of Dead Man Walking. The event at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco includes a panel discussion with leaders from initiatives against the death penalty and selections performed by SFCM trustee advisor Frederica von Stade, voice department chair Catherine Cook, composer Jake Heggie, and others. The evening features a special performance of Ravel's Kaddish by renowned cantor Roslyn Barak. The event is free but tickets are required.
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Café menu with beer and wine available from