Chamber group kicks off season
Appearances by violinist Sarah Chang, pianists Arnaldo Cohen and Nelson Freire, cellist Mischa Maisky and the Szymanowski Quartet are among the highlights of Chamber Music San Francisco’s new season, with performances running Feb. 13 to May 16 in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek. Argentine pianist Nelson Goerner, Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman, the Cerovsek Trio and the Baroque string ensemble Archetti are also on the season lineup, announced by founder and director Daniel Levenstein.
Levenstein, who founded Chamber Music San Francisco in 2004 to present solo recitals and chamber groups, has been steadily expanding the series over the past decade. The first season was presented in 2007 in San Francisco’s Palace of the Legion of Honor. In 2007, Levenstein expanded the series to Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts. Performances on the Peninsula were added in 2009.
Today, the series occupies a unique niche on the Bay Area music scene: It’s the only organization presenting top-quality chamber performances in three cities.
This season, performances are scheduled in San Francisco’s newly renovated, 900-seat Herbst Theatre, the 330-seat Schultz Theatre in Palo Alto’s Oshman Family Jewish Community Center and the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
The Szymanowski Quartet launches the series Feb. 13 in Walnut Creek, with repeats Feb. 14 in San Francisco and Feb. 15 in Palo Alto. The program includes music by Beethoven, Szamotuly and the quartet’s namesake; Dutch clarinetist Ivar Berix joins the foursome in performance of Weber’s Clarinet Quintet.
Additional programs are as follows:
Arnaldo Cohen, playing Brahms, Liszt and Bach-Busoni: Feb. 28, San Francisco.
Sarah Chang, playing Bartok, Brahms, Franck and Ravel: March 12 in San Francisco, March 13 in Walnut Creek, March 14 in Palo Alto.
Cerovsek Trio, program TBA: March 26 in Walnut Creek, March 27 in San Francisco, March 28 in Palo Alto.
Calefax reed quintet, music of Schumann, Strauss, Scriabin, Gershwin and Aldag: April 16 in Walnut Creek, April 18 in Palo Alto.
Nelson Goerner, playing Chopin, Handel and Schumann: April 17 in San Francisco.
Liza Ferschtman, performing Bach, Brahms, Prokofiev and Strauss: April 24 in San Francisco.
Archetti, with music from Bach, Corelli and Handel: May 8 in San Francisco.
Cellist Mischa Maisky, playing Bach, Beethoven, Britten, Bruch and Piazzolla: May 9 in San Francisco.
Nelson Freire, performing works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich: May 12 in San Francisco, May 14 in Walnut Creek, May 16 in Palo Alto.
Venue and ticket details: Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco; Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek; Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. Tickets: $36-$66; 415-3924400 for San Francisco and Palo Alto; 925-943-7469 for Walnut Creek; www. chambermusicsf.org.
SUPERB STRUMMING: Guitar lovers can hear works by Bach, Albeniz, Giuliani, Jobim and others when Grammy-winning classical guitarist Jason Vieaux appears in concert at the Bankhead Theater in
Livermore at 8 p.m. Feb. 13; $22.50-$42; 925-373-6800; http://tickets. liver more performing arts.
BLACKBIRD FLIES: Eighth Blackbird turns 20 this year, and the Chicago-based new music ensemble, which has generated hundreds of commissions by living composers over the past two decades, is marking the occasion with a Bay Area appearance. In “Hand Eye,” the six-member group plays new works by leading lights such as Timo Andres, Ted Hearne and Andrew Norman. The program, a collaboration with the New York composers’ collective Sleeping Giant, comes to Cal Performances at 7 p.m. Feb. 14, Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley campus, $18-$36; 510-642-9988; www. calperformances.org.
SCHWABACHER RECITALS RETURN: San Francisco Opera has announced the lineup for the 2016 Schwabacher Debut Recitals. This year, the series has a new home in the Opera’s new Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater. The programs begin Feb. 28 with “Ports of Call,” featuring New York Festival of Song’s Steven Blier, with soprano Amina Edris, baritone Edward Nelson and bass-baritone Brad Walker. Subsequent programs feature bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch, with pianist John Churchwell (March 6); baritone Efrain Solis, with pianist Robert Mollicone (March 20); and baritone Kihun Yoon, with pianist Mark Morash (April 24). All programs begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Taube Theater, Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness, San Francisco. Single tickets are $30, and four-concert subscriptions are $100. 415-864-3330, www.sfopera.com.