Spring Opera Promises Enchantment... and a Debut
 Donizetti's beloved comedy L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love) casts its spell at the Conservatory in a new production placed in bucolic, 1950's small-town America. Jose Maria Condemi, recently named SFCM's Director of Opera, makes his Conservatory debut directing this tale of a country boy trying to win the heart of a well-heeled lady with the help of a quack doctor. Conservatory Orchestra music director Scott Sandmeier conducts the opera's heady mix of gorgeous bel canto melodies and hilarious "patter" songs. The Concert Hall itself will be transformed with a passerelle, a catwalk that brings the singers close to the audience, setting the stage for an intoxicating evening of opera. Thursday, April 2, 7:30 PM and Saturday, April 4, 7:30 PM....................  Concert Hall, $20/$15
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LA Phil's Tom Hooten Joins Trumpet Faculty  SFCM is welcoming another distinguished member to its all-star brass faculty. Tom Hooten, principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will begin teaching at the Conservatory in fall 2015. Hooten joins a faculty of brass instructors who fill the ranks of the San Francisco Symphony and perform with the San Francisco Ballet and Opera orchestras, many in principal positions. Read more.
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 Question: What would prompt a baroque orchestra to perform a brand new piece of music? Answer: Leonardo's Riddle. In one of the Conservatory's most intriguing collaborations this season, the Baroque Ensemble presents its first-ever world premiere, Leonardo's Riddle by faculty composer Elinor Armer. A double tribute to a Renaissance polymath and an honored contemporary composer and teacher, the work reveals two artists continually seeking answers to new questions. The April 19 performance punctuates a year-long celebration of Armer's 75th birthday. Read more.
Sunday, April 19, 2 PM................. 
Concert Hall, Free
More information
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Conservatory Gala Honors Alumni
At its annual spring gala on March 23, SFCM paid tribute to three alumni who have won international acclaim. Metropolitan Opera soprano Elza van den Heever '04 joined lauded collaborative pianist Warren Jones '77 for a selection of dazzling opera arias. Trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos '06 returned to SFCM to play with his quintet, the renowned Canadian Brass. Performances by students from SFCM's Pre-College and Collegiate Divisions rounded out an incredible evening of music. Read more.
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 In the midst of a semester filled with violin practice, study and competitions, Angela SooYeon Yoon '16 is devoting untold hours to another cause that's close to her heart. The first-year master's student is producing a full-scale concert featuring a chamber orchestra of Conservatory students, a guest soloist and works by Brahms, Mozart and Sibelius, all for the benefit of U.S. military veterans. Simply titled "Gratitude," the concert takes place Sunday, April 26 at 5 p.m. at the Academy of Art University Morgan Auditorium in San Francisco. Proceeds will support NCIRE-The Veterans Health Research Institute which focuses on the effects of traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress and related issues facing combat veterans.
Read more.
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Adams wins George London Competition  Soprano Julie Adams '13 was named a winner at the George London Foundation Awards Competition in New York. One of six top prize winners, Adams received the $10,000 Kirsten Flagstad Award given to a potential Wagnerian singer. The first-year Adler fellow continues her studies with César Ulloa.
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TAC Faculty Score at
GANG Awards  Two composers slated to teach video game and film scoring at SFCM were honored at the annual Game Audio Network Guild awards held recently at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The Banner Saga soundtrack by Austin Wintory tied for Best Audio for an Indie Game. (Hear SFCM students perform the piece in this issue's featured video.) The String Arcade, a recording of video game music arranged for string quartet by Dren McDonald, won the award for Best Game Music Cover/Remix. Wintory and McDonald join SFCM's program in Technology and Applied Composition in 2015-16 as visiting industry faculty.
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April Concert Highlights Telegraph Quartet, the alumni-founded ensemble that won the 2014 Fischoff Competition, amplifies their already cohesive sound by playing a custom-matched set of instruments built by Vermont luthier Douglas Cox in a concert of contemporary works on Thursday, April 9 at 8 p.m. Telegraph explores the sonorities of the Cox instruments in a free and public demonstration on Tuesday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m.Harpsichordist Corey Jamason and cellist Elisabeth Reed welcome violinist and alumna Cynthia Freivogel '00 for a recital of works by Bach and Rameau performed on period instruments on Friday, April 10 at 8 p.m. Admission is free but box office reservations are required. The Conservatory Musical Theatre performs Closer Than Ever, a riveting song cycle by Maltby and Shire about the quotidian struggles that accompany modern-day love, on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. Admission is free. Ragnar Bohlin conducts the Conservatory Chorus and Chamber Choir in a wide-ranging program of works by Schütz, Weelkes, Pärt, Swingle, Whitacre, SFCM's David Conte and others on Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m. Admission is free. Acclaimed concert pianist and recording artist Sergei Babayan performs a special guest artist recital at SFCM on Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m. and holds a master class with Conservatory piano students on Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. Both events are free. The following evening, Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m., Marcin Dylla, hailed by the Washington Post as "among the most gifted guitarists on the planet," works with SFCM classical guitar students in a free and open master class.
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Upcoming Concerts
APRIL
2 Thursday, 7:30 PM & 4 Saturday, 7:30 PM $20/$15............ Opera | Donizetti L'elisir d'amore
Jose Maria Condemi, director
Scott Sandmeier, conductor
6 Monday, 8 PM FREE
Guitar Department Recital
6 Monday, 8 PM FREE
Voice Department Recital
7 Tuesday, 7:30 PM FREE
Demonstration | Telegraph Quartet
7 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE
New Music Ensemble | Student Compositions
8 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE
Piano Department Recital
9 Thursday, 8 PM $20/$15........ Chamber Music Presents | Telegraph Quartet
10 Friday, 8 PM FREE, RR*
Joint Faculty Recital | Elisabeth Reed, cello Corey Jamason, harpsichord Cynthia Freivogel '00, baroque violin 11 Saturday, 5 PM FREE Trumpet Department Recital 11 Saturday, 8 PM FREE Musical Theatre | Maltby & Shire Closer Than Ever12 Sunday, 2 PM FREE Musical Theatre | Maltby & Shire Closer Than Ever13 Monday, 8 PM FREE Brass Chamber Music 13 Monday, 8 PM FREE Cello Department Recital 13 Monday, 8 PM FREE Faculty Artist Recital | Scott Pingel, double bass 14 Tuesday, 8 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 15 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Accompanying Department Recital 15 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Trombone Department Recital 15 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Studio Recital | Violin students of Wei He 16 Thursday, 2 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 16 Thursday, 8 PM FREE New Music Ensemble | Vocal Works 16 Thursday, 8 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 18 Saturday, 8 PM FREE...................... Chorus and Chamber Choir Ragnar Bohlin, conductor 19 Sunday, 2 PM FREE........................ Baroque Ensemble | Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, co-directors Elinor Armer Leonardo's Riddle (world premiere) 20 Monday, 8 PM FREE Accompanying Department Recital 20 Monday, 8 PM FREE Studio Recital | Violin students of Bettina Mussumeli 22 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Guitar Department Recital 22 Wednesday, 8 PM FREE Horn Department Recital 23 Thursday, 4 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 23 Thursday, 8 PM FREE String and Piano Chamber Music 24 Friday, 8 PM FREE Accompanying Department Recital 24 Friday, 8 PM FREE Guest Artist Recital | Sergei Babayan, piano 25 Saturday, 7:30 PM FREE Master Class | Sergei Babayan, piano 25 Saturday, 7:30 PM FREE Opera Scenes 25 Saturday, 8 PM FREE Composition Department Recital 26 Sunday, 2 PM FREE Opera Scenes 26 Sunday, 7 PM FREE Master Class | Marcin Dylla, guitar 27 Monday, 8 PM FREE Baroque Ensemble 17th and 18th Century Chamber Music 27 Monday, 8 PM FREE Woodwind Chamber Music
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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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 Featured Video
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The Amaranth String Quartet performs The Banner Saga by TAC visiting industry faculty member Austin Wintory. The piece tied for the title of Best Audio for an Indie Game at the recent GANG Awards
(see article below).
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SFCM was recently reunited with a piece of its history when a ceremonial baton was discovered in a Connecticut church. It bears the inscription: Winthrop Sargeant from Adillian Music Club, May 29, 1923. Conservatory archivist Tessa Updike picks up the beat on our history blog Notes from the Past.
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Conservatory donors receive discounted tickets to premier Conservatory performances including the spring opera production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore on April 2 and 4! Call the Box Office at 415.503.6275 or click here to find out how to become a Conservatory supporter.
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 Cameron is Critics' ChoiceBaritone Daniel Cameron '15 won the 2014 San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Award for principal actor in a musical for his performance as Emile de Becque in South Pacific at Foothill Music Theatre. The production was directed by SFCM faculty member Milissa Carey. Cameron appears as Sergeant Belcore in SFCM's upcoming production of L'elisir d'amore on April 2 and 4. He studies with Barbara Honn. (Photo: Spencer Brown)
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Conte Receives "Presidential" Premiere"The President's Own" United States Marine Band recently premiered the wind ensemble version of A Copland Portrait by SFCM composition department chair David Conte. Conte attended the March 22 performance in Washington D.C. The work was commissioned by the Dayton Philharmonic in 2000 in celebration of the centennial of Copland's birth.
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Alumni Team Up for Triple ConcertoMarch 27 Aleron Trio joins the chamber orchestra One Found Sound and pianist Ian Scarfe '10 for a joint performance of Beethoven's "Triple" Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major at Old First Concerts. Notable for its all-star lineup of Conservatory alumni, the performance also stands out as a rarely-undertaken chamber performance of the work, played without a conductor.
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Black Box BaroqueMarch 27 & 28 Following a sold-out company debut last March, Black Box Baroque presents its second opera production, Handel's Ariodante. Led by an all-star cast of SFCM alumni including Danielle Reutter-Harrah '11, Kelly Rubinsohn '12, Ellen Presley '14 and company founder Sara Hagenbuch '11, Black Box brings this story of love (and jealousy, treachery and revenge) to San Francisco's intimate EXIT Theater. Performances also feature the noted Bay Area early music ensemble The Albany Consort.
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Switchboard Music FestivalApril 4 Now in its eighth year, the Switchboard Music Festival once again showcases SFCM musicians in its day-long marathon of electrifying and boundary-breaking music. This year's acts include the alumni ensemble Friction Quartet and Random House, a new band formed by Switchboard co-founder Ryan Brown '05. The SFCM Clarinet Ensemble led by Switchboard co-founder Jeff Anderle '06 and featuring co-director Annie Phillips '10 performs ELEVEN, a work for eleven clarinets, by Switchboard's third co-founder Jonathan Russell '03.
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Opera Parallèle PresentsHeart of DarknessMay 1-3 Based on Joseph Conrad's classic novel, Heart of Darkness is a powerful opera that portrays the greedy world of ivory smugglers in Central Africa as narrated by the central character, Marlow. Tarik O'Regan's score is concise and colorful, and imbued with a magical and haunting beauty. Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel's design, in high-impact Opera Parallèle style, is full of production innovations that bring this opera to stirring life. More information.
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Café menu with beer and wine available from