It's been a whirlwind few months for the SFCM family of companies—consisting of record label Pentatone and artist-management companies Opus 3 Artists and Askonas Holt—and it's just the beginning. Before a new school year brings a whole host of new collaborations, we're taking a look back at recent this last year's projects that brought together students, artists, and experts from across the entire musical spectrum.

Meta4's Impactful TAC and Pre-College Collaborations

Meta4 with Technology and Applied Composition students.

Opus 3's Finnish string quartet Meta4's stay at SFCM in November 2022 was a hit with two of the Conservatory's departments: Not only the Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) program, but the school's Pre-College division. TAC student Caroline Feitosa's composition Business as Usual, performed with the group, was inspired by a graph she stumbled upon while researching climate change. "It showed what would happen if we embraced the Green New Deal: It would lower carbon emissions, but if things stayed 'business as usual,' they go up. And I thought, that's such a silly way to word it, so I called my piece Business as Usual."

Meta4 also gave a masterclass for the Pre-College division, leaving the Conservatory with both performance- and educational-focused memories of their visit.

Students Play Side-by-Side with Canadian Brass

Canadian Brass

Canadian Brass, represented by Opus 3 Artists and arguably the most famous brass ensemble in the world, swept through SFCM in February for an educational residency that culminated in a side-by-side performance with students. It was a homecoming of sorts for the ensemble's trombonist, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, who graduated from SFCM in 2006. "I have so many great memories from SFCM and I learned so much from my teachers, especially my trombone professor Mark Lawrence and the professor of Western Civilization Dr. Nikolaus Hohmann," Liarmakopoulos said. The performance was extra-memorable for student Michail Thompson, who subbed in on trumpet when one of the Brass' trumpeters missed the performance due to illness.

Students Perform with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields

During a three-day residency in March of 2023, the world-renowned Academy held a number of student masterclasses with leader Tomo Keller, along with sessions and rehearsals, which culminated in a side-by-side performance at the Bowes Center, the first-ever side-by-side put on by the Academy. Cellist Constantine Janello, a graduate student working with Jennifer Culp, said of the experience, “With that ensemble, the legacy of music making is so ingrained in each of the performers you feel that they really perform for the love of the music. As someone who is lucky enough to join that for a performance it makes you rise to that level of commitment."

Patricia Racette Stages The Consul at SFCM

'The Consul.'

Opus 3 artist Racette (SFCM Hons. DMus ‘17) brought onstage experience as The Consul's lead, Magda, to her time at SFCM directing the two performances of the opera featuring an SFCM student cast. The Pulitzer-winning opera merited the most expansive production to date staged at SFCM, with projection mapping screens utilized to depict composer and lyricist Gian Carlo Menotti's dystopian world. “The students rose to the challenge as a whole and also rose to their individual challenges,” Racette said of the experience. “I love San Francisco, and I love SFCM. Getting to experience both of them simultaneously is a blast."

Aaron Diehl Plays Marylou Williams' Zodiac Suite with the SFCM Orchestra

Aaron Diehl and the SFCM Orchestra.

Opus 3 artist Diehl, hailed as equally adept with classical and jazz forms, was the perfect fit to stage composer and pianist Williams' ambitious Zodiac Suite, a piece inspired by the Chinese calendar. The arrangement he used for his April performance, Diehl explained, dated back to a 1945 performance by Williams at Town Hall in New York, which he approached SFCM Music Director Edwin Outwater about staging in 2021. The April evening also featured a thunderous recitation of Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra and Tchaichovksy's Romeo and Juliet overture, a fitting send-off for graduating conducting student David Baker.

National Brass Ensemble's DEIFIED Released via Pentatone

The National Brass Ensemble, featuring principal players from seven major U.S. cities, reconvened at SFCM in 2022 for a performance at the San Francisco Symphony, a weeklong educational residency called the National Brass Academy, and a recording session at the legendary Skywalker Sound studio in Nicasio, CA, where the NBE was conducted by Eun Sun Kim, Music Director of San Francisco Opera. The recordings from that date were released in May by Pentatone, marking the debut of both NBE and Kim on the historic label. The album also features the NBE's performance of SFCM faculty and Emerging Black Composer Project winner Jonathan Bingham's composition DEIFIED, and a new arrangement of Wagner's Ring cycle by SFCM faculty and SFS Principal Trombonist Tim Higgins. SFCM faculty playing on the album include Higgins, brass department Chair Adam Luftman (trumpet), Jeffrey Andersaon (tuba), Jessica Valeri (horn), and Jacob Nissly (percussion).

Benjamin Beilman Takes the Stage at Chamber Music Tuesdays

Benjamin Beilman

Internationally acclaimed violinist Benjamin Beilman, also represented by Opus 3, came to SFCM in May to perform as part of the Conservatory's Chamber Music Tuesdays series, where he debuted the West Coast premiere of Sanguineum, a work for solo violin from composer and environmentalist Gabriella Smith that was co-commissioned by SFCM. For the evening's other performances, Beilman was accompanied by SFCM students in readings of Dvořák's Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65 and Felix Mendelssohn's String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87.

Tamara Mumford Gives Voice Masterclass

Opus 3 Mezzo-soprano Mumford helped the SFCM Orchestra open its '22-'23 season with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, in an appropriately maximalist staging that also featured members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the SFCM Conservatory Chorus. At her masterclass to voice students, according to graduate student Laura Fernandez, “Every suggestion was followed by a kind word from her, which shows a lot about her as an artist and as a person.”

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