I was going to put some undoubtedly illuminating remarks here on current events as they are affecting the performing arts & the cultural sphere in general – specifically, on Christian Tetzlaff's cancellation of his American tour, & the way other artists are trying to figure out how to handle our current criminal regime, as well as on the unexpected but ultimately not surprising hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center (I did not have that on my "here come the fascists!" bingo card) – but those things can wait (because, unfortunately, they're not going away anytime soon). Go outside (if the weather where you are permits) & go look at some flowering trees (& if they're not flowering where you are, maybe just read Housman on the loveliest of trees), & after that, maybe go listen to music you don't usually listen to, or performed by a group you don't usually go to hear.
I'll also give the annual reminder that the 23rd of April is the date traditionally celebrated as Shakespeare's birthday. This is, inexplicably, not an international holiday, so find some individual way to celebrate.
Theatrical
From 21 March to 6 April, the Oakland Theater Project presents DougWright's I Am My Own Wife, directed by Michael Socrates Moran, based on the life of "Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a trans woman who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime".
As part of its Champagne Staged Reading Series, on 31 March & 1 April, Shotgun Players presents How to Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla, directed by Gracie Brakeman, about seven college students at a "DIY self-defense workshop".
From 1 to 20 April at the Strand Theater, ACT presents Izzard Hamlet, in which Eddie Izzard performs her one-person version of Shakespeare's tragedy.
From 2 to 20 April, Magic Theater presents the world premiere of the boiling by Sunhui Chang, directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang, about the search for the "nihilistic carrier of a feverish virus called 'the boiling'”.
On 4 April at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Defining Courage, Story Boldly's immersive account of the segregated battalions of Nisei soldiers during WWII, who fought for the country that had put their families in internment camps (afterwards there will be a panel discussion of the political & artistic legacy of these soldiers).
From 4 April to 11 May, New Conservatory Theater Center presents Simple Mexican Pleasures by Eric Reyes Loo, directed by Evren Odcikin, about a young man trying to get over a breakup & getting into a whole lot more.
From 5 April to 10 May, The Marsh Berkeley presents Tina D’Elia’s Overlooked Latinas, written & performed by D’Elia & directed by Mary Guzmán, "the new queer telenovela farce of our century!"
From 5 April to 11 May, Berkeley Rep presents the Tectonic Theater Project's Here There Are Blueberries, by Moisés Kaufman & Amanda Gronich & directed by Kaufman, based on an actual incident in which a photo album from Nazi Germany was sent to the US Holocaust Museum & the resulting investigation of its origins.
From 8 to 13 April, Berkeley Rep presents Who’s With Me?, written & performed by W Kamau Bell.
From 11 April to 3 May at the Potrero Stage, Golden Thread Productions gives us the world premiere of AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf) by Sona Tatoyan in collaboration with Jared Mezzocchi, directed by Mezzocchi & featuring Tatoyan, "a tribe of Karagöz Puppets", & oud player Ara Dinkjian
On 13 April in Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley's Javanese Gamelan ensemble "does a rare United States performance of Ramayana’s Hanuman in Action. Accompanied by puppets in shadowplay" & directed by Midiyanto.
On 14 April at the American Bookbinders Museum, Word for Word, as part of their Off the Page staged reading series, in which the public is invited to hear a piece the company is considering for an upcoming production, will present Assimilation by E L Doctorow, directed by Rotimi Agbabiaka.
ACT presents The Acting Company at the Toni Rembe Theater, performing in repertory August Wilson's Two Trains Running (directed by Lili-Anne Brown, 15 April - 4 May) & Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (adapted by Christina Anderson & directed by Devin Brain, 22 April - 3 May).
From 17 April to 11 May, Theater Rhinoceros presents the west coast premiere of Nina Ki's Gumiho, directed by Crystal Liu, about a young woman who's broken up with her long-time girlfriend & what she discovers through her subsequent hookups.
On 22 April at The Marsh Berkeley, Steve Budd performs a one-person show, Oy, What They Said About Love, directed by Mark Kenward & Kenny Yun; Budd's script explores why & how some couples get together, & others don't.
The Great American Sh*t [sic] Show, written & performed by Brian Copeland & directed by David Ford, plays at The Marsh San Francisco on 24 April, as Copeland explores "how to deal with a family member who’s all in for the Donald when you’re not, when America was last 'great,' #MeToo and more. If you love Trump you’ll hate this show!"
From 24 April to 3 May at Z Below, Crowded Fire Theater presents The Last of the Love Letters, a "meditation on loneliness" by Ngozi Anyanwu, directed by Nailah Unole dida-Nese'ah Harper-Malveaux,
On 26 April, Magic Theater presents a reading of Lauren Gunderson's Muse of Fire, directed by Evren Odcikin, about Shakespeare's life once he retires from the stage & moves back to Stratford; Gunderson plays Anne & Casey Murphy William.
From 26 April to 11 May, The Marsh San Francisco presents Lynne Kaufman’s Shameless Hussy, directed by David Keith, about "Anais Nin, the famous diarist, and the many men in her life. Her two great passions were making love and writing about it".
Berkeley's Aurora Theater presents Lynn Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy, directed by Elizabeth Carter, from 26 April to 25 May.
Operatic
The Historical Performance Department of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents Handel's Orlando on 12 & 13 April, staged by director Elisabeth Reed & director / diction coach Marcie Stapp & conducted by Corey Jamason.
On 13 April at the Legion of Honor's Gunn Theater, Pocket Opera presents a double-bill of Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne (Lynne Morrow, Music Director, & Chase Kupperberg, Stage Director) & A Pocket Magic Flute (Alex Taite, Music Director, & Margo Hall, Live action Director (apparently the production uses animation & has singers & actors doubling in the roles).
Opera San José presents Héctor Armienta’s Zorro, directed by David Radamés Toro & conducted by Jorge Parodi, from 19 April to 4 May.
On 27 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, with The English Concert led by Harry Bicket, featuring Christophe Dumaux (countertenor, Giulio Cesare), Louise Alder (soprano, Cleopatra), Paula Murrihy (mezzo-soprano, Sesto), Beth Taylor (contralto, Cornelia), John Holiday (countertenor, Tolomeo), Morgan Pearse (baritone, Achilla), Meili Li (countertenor, Nireno), & Thomas Chenhall (baritone, Curio).
On 27 April at the Maybeck First Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley, Berkeley Chamber Opera presents Europa & The Bull: A tale of Europa and Zeus, inspired by the paintings of Mary Holmes, with music by Peter Josheff to a libretto by Josheff & Eliza O’Malley, who is also the production's soprano; she is joined by tenor Jonathan Smucker & conductor Matilda Hofman, who leads the ensemble: Dan Flanagan on violin, Josheff on clarinet, Victoria Ehrlich on cello, & Richard Worn on bass.
Choral
On 4 April at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Oakland, Jeff Howe leads Pacific Edge Voices in Music of the Elements: The Bonds We Share, an exploration of the world around us through music by California composers Sanford Dole, Randall Thompson, Stephen Paulus, & others.
Martín Benvenuto, Artistic Director of 21V, a chorus of soprano & alto voices of all genders, leads the group in Promise and Peril, a program featuring a world premiere by Eric Tuan as well as works by Karen Siegel, Juan Stafforini, Diana Syrse, & Víctor Daniel Lozada; there will also be a "multi-generational panel discussion among technology experts on how progress can bridge divides yet also deepen inequities", & you can hear it all on 4 April at Old First in San Francisco or 5 April at the Berkeley Hillside Club.
On 27 April, Eric Choate will lead the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Chorus & their Chamber Orchestra in the Fauré Requiem along with works by Saint-Saëns & Lili Boulanger.
Vocalists
On 5 April, Cal Performances presents Patti LuPone, accompanied by pianist Joseph Thalken, in what is described as "an intimate cabaret-style evening of songs", though since the venue is cavernous, audio-enhanced Zellerbach Hall, the intimacy will have to be created by the skilled LuPone & a willing audience; the Broadway diva will sing songs & tell stories determined by titles randomly chosen on stage from a hat
The final Schwabacher Recital for this season will take place 10 April at the Taube Atrium Theater; soprano Leah Crocetto & pianist Carrie-Ann Matheson will perform songs by Clara Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, & as-yet unspecified others.
Taste of Talent & JIVE (Jewish Innovative Voices & Experiences) present Dayenu, a concert for Passover mixing traditional Yiddish & Sephardic songs with jazz, cabaret, operetta, & musical theater (as well as food & wine), led by producer / pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg with Simon Barrad (cantorial soloist of Sherith Israel), countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, & violinist Elizabeth Castro Greenberg, & you can hear it 9 - 10 April at the Century Club of California in San Francisco & 17 April at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco.
Orchestral
On 4 - 5 April at Hertz Hall, David Milnes leads the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra in Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis, Lutoslawski's Symphony #3, & Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra.
On 5 April at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Conservatory's Chamber Orchestra will perform John Adams’ Chamber Symphony & the Haydn 39, conducted by Chih-Yao Chang & Donald Lee, followed by Beethoven's Egmont Overture & his Piano Concerto #1, with soloist Awadagin Pratt conducting from the keyboard.
On 5 April at Heron Arts in San Francisco, One Found Sound presents Sonic Blooms, featuring the world premiere of Ty Bloomfield's Flux/Drive (the winner of One Found Sound’s 2024 Emerging Composer Award), Sami Seif's Shubho Lhaw Qolo (the runner up), as well as the Adagietto from the Mahler 5, & the Mozart 40.
Daniel Hope & the New Century Chamber Orchestra present A Prayer for Peace, a program consisting of Adolphus Hailstork's Sonata da Chiesa for String Orchestra, the west coast premiere of Jungyoon Wie's A Prayer for Peace, concerto grosso for string orchestra (an NCCO co-commission), & Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen for 23 Solo Strings; & you can hear it 4 April at First Congregational in Berkeley, 5 April at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco, & 6 April at Saint Stephen's Episcopal in Belvedere.
On 10 - 12 April, Marin Alsop leads the San Francisco Symphony in Music of the Americas, a program consisting of Gabriela Ortiz's Antrópolis, Gabriela Montero's Piano Concerto #1, Latin (with the composer herself as soloist), Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man & Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, & Barber's Symphony #1.
On 13 April at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Urs Leonhardt Steiner leads the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in the Shostakovich 5, along with Russian choral works by Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, & Tchaikovsky.
On 25 - 26 April at Hertz Hall, Wei Cheng leads the UC Berkeley University Chorus in Haydn's Creation.
Jory Fankuchen leads the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra in Mendelssohn's The Hebrides (“Fingal’s Cave”), a world premiere SFCO Commission, as yet untitled, by Nathaniel Heyder, & Bartók's Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (with soloist Pearl de la Motte), & you can hear it all on 25 April at the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco, 26 April at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, & 27 April at First Congregational in Berkeley; the concerts are free but RSVPs are appreciated.
Jessica Bejarano leads the San Francisco Philharmonic in Barber's Violin Concerto (with soloist Ani Bukujian) & the Dvořák 9, “From the New World”, at Herbst Theater on 26 April.
This is sure to be a Major Event, & to sell out: on 26 April, the San Francisco Symphony puts on an 80th Birthday Concert for former Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas; MTT, who has recently announced he is curtailing his public appearances due to a recurrence of his brain cancer (see his statement here), is currently scheduled to conduct Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra & Respighi’s Roman Festivals; there will also be performances by Frederica von Stade, Sasha Cooke,
Jessica Vosk, & Ben Jones, as well as the SF Symphony Chorus (led by Jenny Wong), in "vocal works by MTT and other composers whose music he is closely associated with"; expect surprises & lots of love.
Chamber Music
On 6 April at the Presidio Theater, San Francisco Performances presents violinists Owen Dalby & Geneva Lewis, violist Masumi Per Rostad, & cellist Hannah Collins performing Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 12, & Zemlinsky's String Quartet #1 in A Major, Opus 4.
On 6 April, as part of its Chamber Music Sundaes series, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents Blair Francis Paponiu (flute), Katie Kadarauch (viola), & Katherine Siochi (harp) performing Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Arnold Bax's Elegiac Trio, Lensky’s Aria from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (presumably transcribed), Astor Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango, & Miguel del Aguila's Submerged.
On 7 April, as part of Freight & Salvage's Classical at the Freight series, The Monday Night Chamber Music Society (Liana Berubé & Evan Price, violin; Stephanie Ng & Ben Simon, viola; Michael Graham, cello) will perform Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major, Opus 29 & a quintet by Bohuslav Martinů.
On 8 April, for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Chamber Music Tuesday, the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin & Joseph Maile, violin; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw) will perform, along with students from the Conservatory's Chamber Music program, Dvořák's Cypresses, Josef Suk's Piano Quintet in G Minor, Opus 8, & George Rochberg's String Quartet # 3.
On 13 April in Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents Owls, a "new string quartet collective" featuring one violin (Alexi Kenney), one viola (Ayane Kozasa), & two cellos (Gabriel Cabezas & Paul Wiancko), performing Children’s Song No. 12 by Chick Corea, Vox Petra & When the Night by Paul Wiancko, Rəqs by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Les Barricades Mystérieuses by Couperin, Ricercar by Trollstilt, & Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace by Terry Riley.
On 13 April at the Piedmont Center for the Arts, René Mandel will lead a chamber ensemble of Berkeley Symphony players in A Viennese Sojourn, a program consisting of Ernst von Dohnányi's Serenade in C major, Opus 10, Maria Theresia von Paradis's Sicilienne for Cello and String Quartet, & Schubert's String Quintet in C major, D 956; Mandel leads the same program on 14 April at Freight & Salvage.
On 16 April at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Isidore String Quartet (Adrian Steele & Phoenix Avalon, violins; Devin Moore, viola; Joshua McClendon, cello) performing Mozart's String Quartet #19 in C Major, K 465, “Dissonance”; the String Quartet #3, “Unrequited”, by Billy Childs; & Beethoven's String Quartet #12 in E-Flat Major, Opus 127.
On 26 April at the Chan National Queer Arts Center in San Francisco, violinist Blake Pouliot & pianist Henry Kramer perform Music of Political Revolution, a program exploring "the galvanizing power of music on political action", including Ambush on All Sides by Bao Zhi Yang, the Sonata for violin and piano by Janáček, the spark she left behind by Derrick Skye, Damon for solo violin and electronics by Pirayeh Pourafar, & Prokofiev's Violin Sonata #1 in F minor, Opus 80.
On 26 April, students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music will present a Jewish Heritage Concert (repertory has not yet been announced).
On 27 April at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents violinist Alexandra Soumm & pianist Amandine Savary in a program that will include violin sonatas by Grieg & Toccatas by Bach.
On 27 April at Davies Hall, a chamber group of San Francisco Symphony musicians will perform the Passione Amorosa for Four Double Basses by Giovanni Bottesini, Café Music by Paul Schoenfield, Nonet by Martinů, & the String Quartet #1 by Prokofiev.
Instrumental
On 1 April at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performing Grieg's Piano Sonata in E minor, Opus 7, Geirr Tveitt's Piano Sonata, Opus 129, Sonata Etere, & Chopin's 24 Preludes, Opus 28.
On 1 April at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents pianist Joyce Yang, performing Beethoven's Sonata #18 in E-Flat Major, Opus 31, #3, “The Hunt”; selected Preludes from Rachmaninoff's Opus 32 (#1 in C Major, #4 in D Major, #5 in G Major, #10 in B Minor, #12 in G-Sharp Minor, & #13 in D-Flat Major); & Schumann's Kreisleriana.
On 3 April at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents violinist Randall Goosby with pianist Zhu Wang performing the Violin Sonata #3 in G Minor, Opus 1a by Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges; Fauré's Sonata #1 in A, Opus 13; Chausson's Poème, Opus 25; & Schubert's Rondeau brillant in B Minor, D 895.
On 6 April at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents pianist Yefim Bronfman performing Mozart's Sonata in F Major, Schumann's Arabeske, Opus 18, Debussy's Images, Set II, & Tchaikovsky's Grand Sonata in G Major, Opus 37.
On 6 April at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter with pianist Lambert Orkis, performing Mozart's Violin Sonata #18 in G major, K301, Schubert's Fantasy in C major for Violin and Piano, D934, Aftab Darvishi's Likoo, Clara Schumann's Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Opus 22, & Respighi's Violin Sonata in B minor.
On 9 April at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents pianist Martin James Bartlett in solo recital, performing Couperin's Les Barricades Mystérieuses, Rameau's Suite in A minor, RCT 5, Schumann's Kinderszenen & his "Widmung" as arranged by Liszt, Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess & his La Valse, & the Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde as arranged by Liszt.
On 12 April, Old First Concerts will present the 16th Annual Tribute to sarod Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, in a marathon concert that includes the Maestro's sons.
On 20 April in Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents pianist Evgeny Kissin in solo recital, performing Bach's Partita #2 in C minor, BWV 826, Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, #1, his Nocturne in A-flat major, Opus 32, #2, & his Scherzo #4 in E major, Opus 54, as well as Shostakovich's Piano Sonata # 2 in B minor, Opus 61, his Prelude and Fugue #15 in D-flat major, & his Prelude and Fugue #24 in D minor.
On 28 April, violist Jonathan Vinocour gives a Faculty Artist recital in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center (on Van Ness); the repertory has not yet been announced.
Early / Baroque Music
Jeffrey Thomas leads the American Bach Soloists in Bach's Paradise, a program made of three Bach cantatas – Christ lag in Todesbanden, Cantata 4; Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, Cantata 106; & Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, Cantata 182 – and the Brandenburg Concerto #6 in B-flat Major; the cantata soloists will be Elijah McCormack (soprano), Kyle Tingzon (countertenor), Steven Soph (tenor), & David McFerrin (baritone); performances will be 4 April at Saint Stephen's in Belvedere, 5 April at Saint Mark's Episcopal in Berkeley, 6 April at Saint Mark's in San Francisco, & 7 April at Davis Community Church in Davis.
On 12 April at Hertz Hall, the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus (led by Wei Cheng), & the University Baroque Ensemble (led by David Miller) perform Bach’s Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191 & other works for Baroque orchestra and chorus.
Avi Stein leads Philharmonia Baroque in Tout de Suite, a program including Rebel's Les caractères de la danse (arranged by Pisendel), Bach's Orchestral Suite #3 in D major, Handel's Concerto Grosso in D minor, Opus 6, #10, & a Suite du théâtre from Rameau, including music from Naïs, Dardanus, Les Boréades, & Les indes galantes, & you can hear it all on 10 April at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, 11 April at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, & 12 April at First Congregational in Berkeley.
On 27 April at Saint Mary Magdalen's in Berkeley, the Cantata Collective continues its (free) performances of Bach's cantatas; featured this time are Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 & Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott, BWV 139, with vocal soloists Michele Kennedy (soprano), Clifton Massey (alto), Brian Thorsett (tenor), & Sumner Thompson (bass).
Modern / Contemporary Music
On 4 April at Cha Chi Ming Hall in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center, Ensemble for These Times, in collaboration with the Conservatory's Technology & Applied Composition Department, presents Women in Transit, a "multimedia program exploring women's migration and identity", featuring four world premieres: Cavities, a piano trio by Niloufar Nourbakhsh with an accompanying film by Pegah Pasalar; Orchesography, composed & danced by Han Lash; Okean by Tamara McLeod; & the winning piece from the E4TT/TAC student competition, as well as pieces by Leilehua Lanzilotti & Emma O’Halloran; the concert is preceded by a talk with composers Han Lash, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, & Tamara McLeod, as well as filmmaker Pegah Pasalar.
On 4 April in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center, Nicole Paiement leads the Conservatory's New Music Ensemble in works by Gabriela Lena Frank, "culminating her residency as the Andrew W. Imbrie Visting Chair in Composition at SFCM", as well as "works by Composition students, selected by the faculty to write works for the ensemble to premiere in this program. "
On 5 April at Littlefield Concert Hall at Oakland's Mills College, as part of its new PastForward series, Other Minds will present From Antheil to Zappa, a solo performance by pianist Geoffrey Burleson featuring "forgotten mid-century masterpieces by American composers", including the Piano Sonata #12, “Mirror Sonata,” by Vincent Persichetti, “Mirrorrorrim” by Gerald Strang, Music for Piano by Irving Fine, Piano Sonata #3 by Norman Dello Joio, Barber’s Four Excursions, the Antheil's Second Sonata, “The Airplane”, & pieces by Frank Zappa, Mary Kouyoumdjian, & Herbie Nichols
On 11 - 12 April, Andy Akiho, whose concert-length percussion piece Seven Pillars was a striking recent event at SF Performances's latest PIVOT Festival, will take charge of SoundBox for the San Francisco Symphony.
On 12 April at the Taube Atrium Theater, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players celebrate the Northern Lights & new Nordic music with Kaija Saariaho's Lichtbogen, the American premieres of Jesper Nordin's Surfaces scintillantes & Magnus Lindberg's Jubilees, & the world premiere of an SFCMP commission, Mika Pelo's Working from a Postcard; the concert is preceded by an "Under the Hood" talk between SFCMP Artistic Director Eric Dudley & composer Pelo.
The Kronos Quartet's annual Kronos Festival will be held as usual at the SF Jazz Center on 25 - 27 April; on 25 April, the Quartet, \with special guests Soo Yeon Lyuh & Vân-Ánh Võ, will perform Terry Riley's Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace (Good Medicine is the overarching title of this year's festival), the world premiere of Hildur Guðnadóttir's Folk Faer Andlit, Peni Candra Rini's Segara Gunung (arranged by Jacob Garchik & Andy McGraw), the traditional piece A Shout (arranged by Garchik), the world premiere of Soo Yeon Lyuh's Sumbisori (featuring the composer), the world premiere of Aleksandra Vrebalov's Cardinal Directions (featuring Vân-Ánh Võ), & Gabriella Smith's Keep Going; on 26 April, the Quartet, with special guests Ariel Aberg-Riger & Benedicte Maurseth, will perform Sun Ra's Outer Spaceways, Inc. (arranged by Garchik), Viet Cuong's Next Week’s Trees, Inti Figgis-Vizueta's clay songs, Nina Simone's For All We Know (arranged by Garchik), the traditional piece Ya Taali’een ‘ala el-Jabal (inspired by Rim Banna) (arranged by Garchik), Ariel Aberg-Riger & Hamza El Din's Swimming with Rachel Carson — Escalay (featuring Ariel Aberg-Riger) & Benedicte Maurseth & Kristine Tjøgersen's ELJA; on 27 April, the Quartet, with special guests Laura Ortman, Tsering Wangmo Satho, & the San Francisco Girls Chorus (conducted by Valérie Sainte-Agathe), will perform Nicole Lizee's Death to Komische, the premiere of a new version of Laura Ortman's Scended Sparks (featuring the composer), Mary Kouyoumdjian's Bombs of Beirut, Zachary James Watkins's Peace be Till (featuring the recorded voice of Dr Clarence B Jones), the world premiere of Soo Yeon Lyuh's Sumbisori (featuring the composer), & the world premiere of a new work by Tsering Wangmo Satho (arranged by Greg Saunier), featuring the composer with the SF Girls Chorus); there are also labs & an installation in Golden Gate Park, & you can get all the details here.
On 27 April, Old First Concerts presents the Wooden Fish Ensemble (Thomas Schultz, piano; Sue-mi Shin & Rick Shinozaki, violin; Sarah Lee, viola; & Thalia Moore, cello) in Piano and Strings – 100 Years!, a program featuring Ruth Crawford's String Quartet, Busoni's 3 Album Leaves for piano solo, Gottschalk's The Banjo, re-imagined for solo piano by Schultz, & four works by Hyo-shin Na: Autumn Study (for solo piano), Song of the Beggars (for string quartet), Living On Fire (for string quartet) & Joy of Beginning (for string quartet and piano) (the latter two pieces are world premieres).
Jazz
Mambo mavens Orquesta Akokán play the Presidio Theater on 2 April.
On 18 April, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents the Mads Tolling Trio (Tolling on violin, Bruce Forman on guitar, Dan Feiszli on bass) in a concert based on his new release, Masters of Jazz Violin, a "heartfelt tribute to the jazz violinists who shaped his musical journey" featuring works written by or associated with Stéphane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty, Svend Asmussen, Stuff Smith, & more.
Dance
Megan Lowe Dances presents Just a Shadow, a series of duets contemplating life & lost ones, at the ODC Theater on 4 - 6 April.
San Francisco Ballet has three programs this month: first, playing from 5 to 19 April, an evening devoted to works by contemporary Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen featuring Grosse Fuge (to music by Beethoven), Variations for Two Couples (to music by Britten, Rautavaara, Stefan Kovacs Tickmayer, & Piazzolla), Solo (to music by Bach), & 5 Tangos (to music by Piazzolla); next, from 8 to 18 April, is Broken Love, a program made up of Broken Wings (choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to music by Peter Salem, with the song La Llorona performed by Geo Meneses & Los Macorinos) & Marguerite and Armand (choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton to music by Liszt); then, from 26 April to 4 May, a reprise of Frankenstein (choreography by Liam Scarlett to music by Lowell Liebermann).
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater makes its annual & much-anticipated return to Cal Performances & Zellerbach Hall from 8 to 13 April with the following programs: Program A, on 8 & 11 April, consists of Ronald K Brown's Grace (music by Duke Ellington, Peven Everett, & Fela Anikulapo Kuti), Jamar Roberts's Al-Andalus Blues (music by Roberta Flack & Miles Davis), & Ailey's Revelations (with traditional spirituals); Program B, on 9 April, consists of Matthew Rushing's Sacred Songs (music by Du’Bois A’Keen), Lar Lubovitch's Many Angels (music by Mahler), & Ronald K Brown's Grace (music by Duke Ellington, Peven Everett, & Fela Anikulapo Kuti); Program C, on 10, 12, & 13 April, consists of Hope Boykin's Finding Free (music by Matthew Whitaker), Elisa Monte's Treading (music by Steve Reich), Hans van Manen's Solo (music by Bach), & Ailey's Revelations (with traditional spirituals); Program D, on 12 April, consists of Matthew Rushing's Sacred Songs (music by Du’Bois A’Keen), Lar Lubovitch's Many Angels (music by Mahler), & Ailey's Revelations (with traditional spirituals).
ODC / Dance presents Dance Downtown at the Yerba Buena Center from 10 to 13 April, featuring Inkwell (choreographed by Kimi Okada), Unintended Consequences (A Meditation) (choreographed by Brenda Way), & Areas of Relief (choreographed by Sidra Bell).
On 25 - 26 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Grupo Corpo, a Brazilian troupe combining classical ballet with folk & popular dance, in 21 (music by Marco Antônio Guimarães & Uakti) & Gira (music by Metá Metá), both with choreography by Rodrigo Pederneiras.
Smuin Ballet's Dance Series 2, featuring a world premiere by Amy Seiwert, Wild Sweet Love by Trey McIntyre, The Eternal Idol by Michael Smuin, & Sinfonietta by Rex Wheeler, plays at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco from 25 April to 4 May, with subsequent stands in Walnut Creek, Mountain View, & Carmel.
Art Means Painting
Two discussions of interest at BAM/PFA: on 9 April, The Afterlives of Art: Caring for the Ephemeral includes artist Estefania Puerta, conservator Michelle Barger, & scholar Jules Pelta Feldman with BAM/PFA Chief Curator Margot Norton in "a multifaceted in-gallery discussion of the issues and opportunities presented by art made under conditions of impermanence, as highlighted in the museum’s current collection exhibition, To Exalt the Ephemeral: The (Im)permanent Collection. The discussion will consider experimentation, performance, and momentary events, as well as works made using unconventional materials, including those that dissolve and decay"; & on 17 April, Artists' Conversation: Disobedient Bodies, in conjunction with Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection, features artists Suzanne Jackson & Firelei Báez, both of whom have works in the exhibit, in conversation with writer Hilton Als, discussing "approaches to artmaking that defy conventional modes of representation, through innovations in portraiture and lively methods of abstraction".
You can celebrate 100 Years of Surrealism by visiting the exhibition at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, or exploring the books & films they recommend.
UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library is hosting a display of some of Amy Tan's Backyard Birds through 27 June.
Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War, an exhibit of the Taiwanese artist's "fragmented and surreal" video work, opens at the Asian Art Museum on 3 April & runs through 7 July.
SFMOMA opens two interesting career surveys this month: Ruth Asawa: Retrospective, looking at the work of the Bay Area sculptor, opens on 5 April & runs through 2 September; Kunié Sugiura: Photopainting, the first American survey of the photography + artist, opens on 26 April & runs through 14 September (& while you're on the 3rd floor for that show, be sure to check out Around Group f.64: Legacies and Counterhistories in Bay Area Photography).
Isaac Julien: I Dream a World, featuring ten video installations by the artist, including his celebrated Looking for Langston, opens at the de Young on 12 April & runs through 13 July.
Cinematic
Here's what's at BAM/PFA this month: Media and Migration on Screen, in conjunction with the UC Berkeley Center for Race & Gender's symposium Media and Migration in a Digital Age, runs from 16 to 18 April; & the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival runs from 17 to 27 April, with BAM/PFA as one of its venues; the Festival's full schedule has not yet been released, but check here for updates.
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