San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Women and composers of color take spotlight
There’s no denying that the world of classical music still leans too heavily on the works of white men, most of them dead. But look around the Bay Area and you can see that things are gradually getting better.
The early months of 2024 offer plenty of lively musical experiences, both traditional and not. What struck me in assembling this list, though, was how much of what’s coming up is music by women and composers of color. That’s a heartening development.
Here, listed in chronological order, is a small sampling of what 2024 promises to bring.
Pivot Festival
San Francisco Performances’ annual celebration of new and off-the-beaten-path programming unfolds this year with three concerts featuring the versatile pianist, singer and composer Gabriel Kahane. He’ll be joined by the New York-based Attacca Quartet and the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth.
7:30 p.m. Jan. 24-26. $45-$65. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-392-2545. www.sfperformances.org
Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the San Francisco Symphony
More than two years after his cancer diagnosis, Michael Tilson Thomas continues to make music with his customary passion and insight. He recently withdrew from two weeks of concerts, but remains on the schedule for Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, in what the orchestra says will be his last appearance on its subscription program.
7:30 p.m. Jan. 25-27. $25-$169. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org
Wild Up
The innovative Los Angeles
new-music ensemble, led by conductor Christopher Rountree, offers a tribute to great American experimentalist composer Julius Eastman. In two Bay Area visits a month apart, the group plans to perform Eastman’s clangorous opus “Femenine.”
7:30 p.m. Feb. 9-10. $15-$68. Bing Concert Hall, Stanford. 650-7242464. live.stanford.edu. 8 p.m. March 9. $38. Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley. 510-642-9988. www.calperformances.org
‘Here I Stand’
Composer Carlos Simon and librettist Dan Harder unveil a new work based on the life and career of Paul Robeson, commissioned by the Oakland Symphony.
Guest conductor Kedrick Armstrong is scheduled to lead the world premiere, with bass Morris Robinson as the vocal soloist.
8 p.m. Feb. 16. $25-$90. Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. 510-444-0801. www.oaklandsymphony.org
‘Corpus Evita’
West Bay Opera, a fine Palo Alto company, generally sticks to the standard works of the repertoire. But this season brings a creation of recent vintage, a 2000 opera about Argentine dictator Juan Perón and his third wife, Isabel Perón — Evita’s successor. The score is by Argentine composer Carlos Franzetti, with a libretto by company director José Luis Moscovich.
7 p.m. Feb. 16; 2 p.m. Feb. 18, 24-25. $40-$112. Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. 650-424-9999. www.wbopera.org
Calder Quartet
This program promises a lively combination of chamber music and dance, as the Los Angeles string quartet is joined by members of San Francisco’s Urban Jazz Company. The company’s brilliant founder, dancer and choreographer Antoine Hunter, provides movement for music by John Cage, Jessie Montgomery, Julius Eastman and more.
2:30 p.m. Feb. 25. $15-$64. Bing Concert Hall, Stanford. 650-7242464. live.stanford.edu. 7:30 p.m. March 16. $50-$70. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-3922545. www.sfperformances.org
Lawrence Brownlee
The acclaimed American tenor has largely been known to local audiences through his operatic appearances, but he’s also a gifted and communicative recitalist. Together with pianist Kevin Miller, he plans to offer a diverse program featuring songs by Jasmine Barnes, Carlos Simon, Shawn Okpebholo and more — including Gioachino Rossini, whose leap-day birthday falls on the occasion of Brownlee’s recital.
7:30 p.m. Feb. 29. $55-$75. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-392-2545. www.sfperformances.org
‘Prometheus, The Poem of Fire’
Few composers ever thought as grandiosely outside the box as Alexander Scriabin, whose symphonic poem calls for an orchestra, a piano soloist and an array of fragrances. San Francisco
Symphony Music Director EsaPekka Salonen leads the orchestra in an equally ambitious account of this work, with contributions by pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and perfumer Mathilde Laurent.
7:30 p.m. March 1-2; 2 p.m. March 3. $25-$169. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org
Kronos Quartet
It’s astonishing and yet plainly obvious. The Kronos Quartet is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking half a century of innovation and musical adventure on all fronts. For its Berkeley appearance, the group plans to premiere commissioned pieces by American composer Michael Gordon and Indonesian composer Peni Candra Rini.
8 p.m. March 2. $56-$82. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. 510-6429988. www.calperformances.org
Nathalie Joachim
The inventive flutist, vocalist and composer is slated to present the West Coast premiere of her evening-long work “Ki moun ou ye” (“Who are you?”). The chamber piece, performed in English and Haitian Kreyòl, combines instrumental music, vocals and field recordings to explore the composer’s Caribbean heritage.
7:30 p.m. March 7. $48. Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley. 510-642-9988. www.calperformances.org
‘Birds & Balls’
Two operas on the theme of competition pair up for an intriguing double bill from the San Francisco company Opera Parallèle.
“Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera,” by composer David T. Little and Royce Vavrek, is about the Flemish sport of competitive bird-calling, while “Balls,” by composer Laura Karpman and librettist Gail Collins, is a multi
Classical continues on G19