fun stuff I may or may not get to: July 2017

July is usually a fairly slow month for performances but of course there are always a few interesting things going on. In addition, some of the plays and exhibits mentioned last month are still around.

Theatrical
San Francisco Playhouse presents La Cage aux Folles, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Harvey Fierstein, from 12 July to 16 September.

Operatic
The young artists at San Francisco Opera's Merola program will be performing an intriguing triple-bill of one-act rarities: Pergolesi's La serva padrona, Holst's Sävitri, and Walton's The Bear; you can experience all three at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on 20 or 22 (matinee) July. You can also hear the Merolini playing scenes from Cavalleria rusticana, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Thaïs, Der Freischütz, and Lucrezia Borgia on 6 July at the Conservatory. Though tickets are available on-line, they do not have a choose-your-own seat option so if you're like me and refuse to buy a seat you don't get to choose, you can call the very helpful folks at the Opera box office at 415/864-3330.

Opera Theater Unlimited presents a new opera, Hunter, with music by Joseph Colombo and a libretto by Caitlin Mullan, on 14 - 15 and 21 - 22 July at the Exit Theater in San Francisco.

Modern / Contemporary Music
Pianist Sarah Cahill will perform works by Luciano Chessa, Ricky Crews, Lou Harrison, Kyle Hovatter, and Ann Southam at Old First Concerts on 7 July.

The Friction Quartet will perform the US premiere of Piers Hellawell's The Still Dancers along with other works at Old First Concerts on 21 July.

Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, and James McAlister will perform a live version of their new album Planetarium on 21 July at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

The SF Jazz Center presents a John Luther Adams festival from 26 - 30 July; the composer himself will be in residence, with the JACK Quartet performing several works, including a world premiere, over several evenings. Most performances are at the Jazz Center but there will be a performance of Inuksuit at Sutro Baths and a sound installation at Grace Cathedral. You can check out the full schedule here.

Ali Paris plays flamenco on his Qanun, a Middle Eastern 76-string zither that dates back to the fourteenth century, at Old First Concerts on 28 July.

Chamber Music
Old First Concerts presents Le Due Muse in a program of Rachmaninoff, Myaskovsky, and Shostakovich on 23 July.