SFCM Announces Fall 2024 Schedule of Live Performances
News StoryProminent guest conductors, first-of-their-kind concerts, exciting repertoire, collaborations with Opus 3 and Askonas Holt artists, and hundreds of student performances make up this vibrant season, where 90 percent of concerts are free and open to the public!
As we welcome a new school year, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is announcing its fall 2024 concert series, which includes two full SFCM Orchestra performances, collaborations with distinguished visiting artists, and inventive masterclasses, as well as faculty and student concerts, comprising a season of hundreds of free live performances.
For the first time, SFCM's largest concert space will utilize the Conservatory's evolving digital opera hall: These ongoing renovations feature dramatic technical upgrades and a full digital proscenium creating a multimedia experience that takes concerts to new heights. SFCM Opera and Musical Theatre's production of Così fan tutte, an effervescent and humorous tale of putting young love to the test, will highlight these new features. Other concerts in the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall will also showcase these inventive and immersive lighting displays.
Joyce DiDonato performs with SFCM students in the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall.
Many of this season's concerts showcase projects developed and performed in close collaboration with several prominent artists represented on the rosters of Askonas Holt and Opus 3 Artists, the management companies acquired in recent years by SFCM.
Known globally as "an orchestra of voices" for its diverse repertoire and virtuosity, Opus 3 Artist and GRAMMY-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer will mark its first official artistic collaboration with the Conservatory Chorus with Director Eric Choate at the helm.
SFCM's popular "Chamber Music Tuesday" concert series returns this fall with a diverse roster of guest artists, including Opus 3 Artists Shai Wosner and acclaimed tenor Nicholas Phan, as well as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation, the Parker Quartet. Each event is presented in collaboration with SFCM alumni, faculty, and students.
Called "one of the brightest stars in classical music" SFCM welcomes Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell to lead the SFCM Orchestra in November as it takes on an ambitious repertoire that includes Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev as well as Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi.
This fall season will also feature wide-ranging and informative masterclasses with acclaimed musical artists such as Avi Avital, Warren Deck, Zoran Dukic, Pacho Flores, Paul Lewis, and Anthony McGill.
SFCM's lauded professional musicians will also once again feature its Faculty Artist Series concerts including performances by Margeret Halbig, Susanne Mentzer, Cordula Merks, Richard Savino, and Jonathan Vinocour. Musicians will also put on a concert featuring the compositional works of faculty Stefan Cwik.
SFCM presents over 500 performances a year, including small ensemble concerts and solo recitals by students, faculty, and guest artists. Music fans are invited to attend these concerts and others, which are held at the Ute and William K. Bowes, Jr. Center for Performing Arts at 200 Van Ness Avenue and in the acoustically-exacting halls at the Ann Getty Center for Education at 50 Oak Street. Both are located steps from City Hall and near the bustling Hayes Valley commercial corridor, home to the Davies Symphony Hall, War Memorial Opera House, and the SFJAZZ Center.
In addition to the Uccello Lounge found inside the Bowes Center, home to elevated drinking and dining options, select SFCM concerts will offer food and drink concessions.
Calendar listings are below. Some events require ticketing. Patrons can reserve tickets online using SFCM's website. More than 90 percent of these events are free and open to the public!
Please see SFCM's performance calendar for a complete concert schedule and to register for attendance, certain concerts may not be livestreamed. Details and programs are subject to change.
SFCM RJAM faculty Warren Wolf.
Roots, Jazz and American Music Side-by-Side
Thursday, September 26th, 7:30 PM
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
SFCM is proud to partner with SFJAZZ in performances featuring students from the Roots, Jazz and American Music (RJAM) program performing alongside RJAM faculty. The stellar faculty cast includes the SFJAZZ Collective's Warren Wolf, David Sanchez, Edward Simon, and Matt Brewer, along with luminaries like new SFCM trumpet faculty Marcus Printup (Jazz at the Lincoln Center), Matt Wilson, Helen Sung, and many others.
About Roots Jazz and American Music at SFCM
Alissa Goretsky.
SFCM Orchestra with Edwin Outwater
Saturday, September 28th, 7:30 PM
Alissa Goretsky, soprano
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Program:
Richard Strauss: Don Juan
Richard Strauss: Vier Lieder, Op. 27
John Coltrane (arr. Carlos Simon): "Alabama"
Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka
Featuring celebrated works by Stravinsky and Strauss, this concert also features the world premiere and SFCM commission of a new arrangement of John Coltrane's "Alabama," by Carlos Simon and featuring Jason Hainsworth, Executive Director of SFCM's Roots, Jazz, and American Music department, on tenor saxophone.This concert also features SFCM concerto competition winner and Houston Grand Opera Studio Artist Alissa Goretsky.
Baroque Ensemble
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
The conductorless and period-instrument chamber orchestra performs music of the 18th century, featuring SFCM violin students Alexandra Stanton and Ava Gehlen-Williams as soloists in Bach's famous Concerto for Two Violins. Directed and coached by Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, the ensemble continues to perform brilliant and virtuosic music for baroque orchestra, with students from both the Orchestra and Historical Performance programs.
About Historical Performance at SFCM
Shai Wosner (Credit: Marco Borggreve)
Chamber Music Tuesday with Shai Wosner
Tuesday, October 15th, 7:30 PM
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
Eleanor Alberga: No-Man's-Land Lullaby
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 6 in E-flat Major
Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor
SFCM welcomes Opus 3 Artist Shai Wosner, internationally recognized for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight, to SFCM for its first Chamber Music Tuesday of the season. Wosner was the featured artist at SFCM's inaugural Chamber Music Tuesday, and will be working with Pre-College and SFCM students during his residency.
SFCM Wind Ensemble Director Brad Hogarth.
Wind Ensemble
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Austin Talbot, trombone
Program:
Francis Johnson (arr. Brad Hogarth): Suite
Henri Tomasi (arr. Donald Patterson): Trombone Concerto
Ursula Kwong-Brown: Cover the Walls (SFCM Commission & Premiere)
David Maslanka: Symphony No. 4
Under the direction of Brad Hogarth, SFCM's wind ensemble presents music by Francis Johnson, Henri Tomasi and the world premiere of a new arrangement by Ursula Kwong-Brown. Brown's Cover the Walls, commissioned by SFCM, is a themed piece "inspired by Chinese poems that were carved into the walls of the detention center of Angel Island." Trombone player Austin Talbot performs in this concert, featured in Tomasi's Trombone Concerto, as the winner of SFCM's concerto competition.
Students from the Technology and Applied Composition Department perform.
TACula: A TAC-O-WEEN SpecTACular
Thursday, October 31st, 7:30 PM
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Be afraid, be very, very afraid for the first annual TAC-O-WEEN SpecTACular! Come and experience the electrifying music of our esteemed TAC faculty and participate in a spooky costume contest. Come for the horror, stay for the music and prizes!
About Technology and Applied Composition
Nicole Paiement conducts the SFCM New Music Ensemble.
New Music Ensemble
Saturday, November 9th, 7:30 PM
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Program:
Elinor Armer: selections from "A Book of Songs"
David Garner: Viñetas Flamencas
Darioush Mackani: It Disappears
Aleksandra Vrebalov: Cosmic Love III
Darius Milhaud: Symphonie de chambre Nos. 1, 2, 3
Nicole Paiement and the New Music Ensemble present a program celebrating the career of Elinor Armer, celebrating her over 50 years as a member of SFCM's Composition Department. A noted Bay Area composer, Armer's music spans a variety of ensembles settings and genres; the Conservatory is proud to honor her legacy.
Chanticleer (Credit: Stephen K. Mack).
Conservatory Chorus with Chanticleer
Sunday, November 10th, 4:00 PM
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Chanticleer
SFCM welcomes Opus 3 Artist and GRAMMY-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer for its first official artistic collaboration with SFCM's Conservatory Chorus, under the direction of Eric Choate. Chanticleer's repertoire is rooted in the Renaissance, and has continued to expand to include a wide range of classical, gospel, jazz, popular music, and a deep commitment to the commissioning of new compositions and arrangements.
Nicholas Phan.
Chamber Music Tuesday with Nicholas Phan
Tuesday, November 12th, 7:30 PM
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
Shahab Paranj: Diār (World Premiere and Hoefer Prize Winner)
Rebecca Clarke: selected songs
Gabriel Fauré: La Bonne Chanson
Described as "one of the world's most remarkable singers," SFCM welcomes Opus 3 Artist American tenor Nicholas Phan for its annual Chamber Music Tuesday concert series. Nicholas co-founded the Collaborative Artist Institute of Chicago to promote art song and chamber music. Works performed alongside faculty and students include the world premiere of a string quartet by SFCM Hoefer Prize Winner Shahab Paranj, along with other pieces that will feature chamber music with voice.
Kalena Bovell.
SFCM Orchestra with Guest Conductor Kalena Bovell
Saturday, November 16th, 7:30 PM
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Kalena Bovell, guest conductor
Program:
Alex Malinas: Hear Her Sing (World Premiere)
Sergei Prokofiev: Selections from Romeo and Juliet
Ottorino Respighi: Fountains of Rome
Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome
One of the brightest stars in classical music, SFCM welcomes Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell to work with the SFCM Orchestra in an exciting concert featuring the premiere of a work by SFCM Highsmith Award winner Alex Malinas, selections from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet (that the Bolshoi Ballet initially pronounced as "impossible to dance to,") and two of Ottorino Respighi's symphonic poems paying tribute to The Eternal City.
SFCM students perform in an opera production.
Opera and Musical Theatre presents Così fan tutte
Thursday, November 21nd, 7:30 PM and Friday, November 22rd, 7:30 PM
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Heather Mathews, director
Curt Pajer, conductor
Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
With some of the most sublime music Mozart ever wrote, Così fan tutte is an effervescent and humorous tale of putting young love to the test. The story begins with an experimental philosopher who wants to overturn the perfect, formulaic worlds of two young couples, resulting in disguises, deception, and delightful comedy. Featuring a double SFCM cast and performed with the SFCM Orchestra.
About Opera and Musical Theatre
The Parker Quartet.
Chamber Music Tuesday with Parker Quartet
Tuesday, December 10th 7:30 PM
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
Alexander von Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 1 in A Major
Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht
Internationally recognized for their inspiring performances and luminous sounds, the GRAMMY Award-winning Parker Quartet has distinguished itself as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation. Winners of multiple international competitions, the Parker Quartet is also a recipient of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, and is the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University. Members of the Quartet will also work with SFCM students in various masterclasses during their residency.