April is National Poetry Month, so here is my favorite experience with poetry & algorithms: I was trying to recall a line by Ezra Pound, & I couldn't remember if it was "pull down thy vanity" or "tear down thy vanity" (it's "pull down)". So I went to the google machine & typed in one version. Almost immediately, I was swamped with an astonishing number of ads for bathroom renovations This flummoxed me until I noticed that a few of them were trying to sell me a new "vanity set", a term I had not heard in decades. That was not the vanity I was seeking to pull down! That's an algorithm for you: you're looking for poetry & are given plumbing.
The other thing floating around has been Timothée Chalamet's remark that no one cares about opera & ballet (I've heard differing versions, one that "no one cares" & one that "no one gives a fuck": same difference, but one tries to be accurate). My initial thought was that this was an obvious "don't feed the trolls" moment, but I've seen his remark referenced quite a bit lately, though I'd thought that one of the many things people don't care / don't give a fuck about would be the opinions of a wanna-be hipster sprat like Chalamet. (And in the interests of the accuracy I just praised: my initial thought was actually, "Oh, Little Timmy, you're not hot enough to be that stupid".) Most responses make the obvious point that both art forms have passionate fans, but I've also seen a few that make the point that occurred to me, which is that people also don't really care / give a fuck about Chalamet's chosen art form, the movies.
People in general, besides being busy, are often interested in entertainment, but not always much interested in art, especially art that is obscure or difficult or in some other way not mainstream (meaning, not corporate-sponsored). Just my experience, & I don't mean this in a negative or dismissive way; you can lead a full, meaningful life without ever hearing a single aria or reading a page of Shakespeare. But please don't tell me that because of that, those things don't, or shouldn't, mean anything to me.
So let's all go out there in this month replete with poetry & ignore the algorithms & find something weird, offbeat, difficult, peculiar, & all our own.
(Also: the 23rd of April is the day traditionally celebrated as Shakespeare's birthday. For those who observe: you know what to do!)
Theatrical
ACT presents ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| by Eisa Davis, directed by Pam MacKinnon, about four teenage girls at a Berkeley music program for girls, at the Strand Theater from 12 March to 19 April.
The Oakland Theater Project presents Sondheim's Assassins, directed by Weston Scott, from 21 March to 5 April.
The New Conservatory Theater Center presents How to Make an American Son by Christopher Oscar Peña, directed by Ben Villegas Randle, exploring tensions between a teenage boy & his Honduran-born father, & that's 3 April to 10 May.
Golden Thread Productions offers a co-production with Crowded Fire Theater, in partnership with Art2Action: A Festival of Palestinian Art, from 9 to 19 April at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco; click here for details.
Amadeus Never Gives Me the Blues, written & performed by Amy Bouchard, accompanied by Daniel Lockert, developed with & directed by David Ford, explores the dilemmas of an aspiring opera singer, using music from operas, Broadway, & the American Songbook, & that plays at The Marsh San Francisco from 11 April to 23 May.
On 17 - 18 April at the Chan National Queer Arts Center, you can see the Songs & Stories of Stephen Schwartz, featuring composer Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, & much else) in person, performing & speaking, along with guest artists (including the SF Gay Men's Chorus).
Popular Broadway musical Hadestown plays at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco from 21 to 26 April.
Several layers of "presents" here: ACT presents The Royal Shakespeare Company & Neal Street Productions presenting Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti & directed by Erica Whyman, at the Toni Rembe Theater from 22 April to 24 May.
Theater of Yugen presents its spring season of classical Japanese Kyōgen (performed in English); you can see Futari Daimyo (Two Lords) & Busu (Sweet Poison), directed by Lluís Valls, at Noh Space in San Francisco on 23 - 26 April.
Into Night Productions presents Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, directed by Jeffrey Hoffman, at the Phoenix Theater in San Francisco from 24 April to 10 May.
Shades and Shadows, a world premiere retelling of the Orpheus & Eurydice story, written by William Brasse & directed by CC Miller, plays at the Magic Theater in San Francisco from 30 April to 3 May.
Talking
On 14 April at the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco, City Arts & Lectures presents poet Ada Limón in conversation with Alexis Madrigal.
Operatic
San Francisco Opera brings back its very popular Bohème Out of the Box, a series of "free, live performances of an abridged version" of Puccini's beloved opera, directed by Jose Maria Condemi with piano accompaniment; performances will be in San Francisco, Emeryville, Oakland, Woodside, & Concord; it's free but reservations are strongly recommended; check here for details on specific dates & times for the various locations.
Pocket Opera presents Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream in a world-premiere orchestral reduction, with music direction by David Drummond & stage direction by Nicolas A Garcia, on 17 April at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 19 April at the Hillside Club in Berkeley, & 26 April at the Gunn Theater in The Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
Carnival of Psychos, a "One-act opera with silhouettes, circus and a live band of carnies" by Samson Y Hiss, plays on 18 April at the Great Star Theater in San Francisco.
On 18 & 19 April in Hume Concert Hall, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Historical Performance department presents Handel's Alcina, with Corey Jamason as director & conductor, Elisabeth Reed as director, & Marcie Stapp as director & diction coach
Opera San José presents La Traviata, featuring Mikayla Sager as Violetta & WooYoung Yoon as Alfredo, conducted by Johannes Löhner & staged by Tara Branham, & that's 19 April to 3 May.
Choral
On 12 April at the Community Music Center in San Francisco, 21V (Martín Benvenuto, Artistic Director), & the New Voices Bay Area Transgender, Intersex & Genderqueer Chorus (Reuben Zellman & Jessalynn Levine, New Voices Bay Area co-directors) join together for Voices Taking Space, a concert featuring a world premiere by Robin Estrada. as well as pieces by Ted Hearne, Mari Esabel Valverde, & others, ending with the traditional Appalachian hymn, Will the Circle Be Unbroken; this concert marks the launch of 21V's Transgender Youth Choir Project & is free, though reservations are recommended.
On 18 April at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Oakland, Pacific Edge Voices led by Nicolas Dosman will perform Dreams of a Better World, a program centering on Rosephanye Powell’s The Cry of Jeremiah, as well as settings of Langston Hughes's I Dream a World & other works.
On 24 April at First Congregational in Berkeley, Cal Performances presents the Tallis Scholars in Mysteries and Miracles, an Easter-time program featuring Victoria's Missa O magnum mysterium, Gabrieli's O magnum mysterium, de Wert's Egressus Jesus & his Ascendente Jesu, Thomas Tallis's Videte miraculum, Gallus's Mirabile mysterium, Guerrero's Maria Magdalena, & Arvo Pärt's Tribute to Caesar & his Virgencita.
On 24 - 25 April at Saint Ignatius, Robert Geary leads the San Francisco Choral Society in Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil (Vespers) & the world premiere of Signs of Grace by Oleksandr Shchetynsky.
Vocalists
On 1 April in the Taube Atrium Theater, San Francisco Opera/Merola present the first of this season's Schwabacher Recitals, this time featuring soprano Mary Hoskins, baritone Olivier Zerouali, & pianist Ji Youn Lee.
On 9 April in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents soprano Miah Persson with pianist Magnus Svensson, performing an evening of Nordic Songs, including works by Stenhammar, Grieg, Sibelius, Gösta Nystroem, Emil Sjögren, & Ture Rangström.
Orchestral
On 3 & 4 April in Hertz Hall, Wei Cheng leads the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, the University Chorus, & the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra in Verdi’s Requiem, along with other choral & orchestral arrangements.
On 4 April in Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Edwin Outwater leads the SFCM Orchestra in the world premiere of Pierre Fontaine's Suite Occitane (the Highsmith Award Winner), Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin, & the Sibelius Violin Concerto (with soloist Jeehin Kim).
On 11 April at Heron Arts in San Francisco, One Found Sound performs Fate Now Conquers by Carlos Simon, the Haydn 59, the "Fire", Aidan de Guzman's When Cherry Blossoms Burned (2025 Emerging Composer Award Winner), & the Beethoven 4.
On 17- 19 April, Simone Young will lead the San Francisco Symphony in Ella Macens's The Space Between Stars, the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto #1 (with soloist Gautier Capuçon), & selections from Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung as arranged by Young.
On 19 April in Herbst Theater, the San Francisco Civic Music Association will be led by John Kendall Bailey in Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight, & the Shostakovich 11, "The Year 1905"; the concert is free but RSVPs are appreciated.
Philharmnia Baroque will be led by violinist Shunske Sato in Kinks & Quirks, a program reminding us of how strange "classical" music can be, featuring CPE Bach's Symphony #3 in F major, Mozart's Incidental Music from Thamos, King of Egypt, Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin and Strings in D minor (with soloist Sato), & the Beethoven 1, & you can hear it all on 23 April at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, 24 April at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, & 25 April at First Congregational in Berkeley.
New Century Chamber Orchestra, led by violinist Daniel Hope & joined by special guest guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas, presents Radiance in Rhythm, a program featuring the world premiere of a new work by Henry Dorn (commissioned by NCCO as part of the Emerging Black Composers Project), Piazzolla's Fuga y misterio, Michael Daugherty's Bay of Pigs, the Primera Suite Argentina by Alberto Williams, & Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez; & you can hear them 23 April at the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University, 24 April at First Presbyterian in Berkeley, & 25 April & the Presidio Theater in San Francisco.
On 26 April at Davies Hall, Yuja Wang will be piano soloist & director, along with Matthew Truscott, Concertmaster & Leader, of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, & they will perform the Prokofiev 1, the "Classical", Alexander Tsfasman's Suite for Piano and Orchestra (Jazz Suite), & Prokofiev's Piano Concerto #2 (presented by the San Francisco Symphony).
Chamber Music
On 3 April in Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Conservatory & the Naumburg Foundation present the Terra String Quartet (Harriet Langley & Amelia Dietrich, violins; Chih-Ta Chen, viola; Audrey Chen, cello), the winners of the 2025 Chamber Music Competition, who will perform Juri Seo's String Quartet #2, "Overgrown Paths", Borodin's String Quartet #2 in D Major, Schubert's String Quartet #13 in A Minor, "Rosamunde", & the first movement of Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat Major, Opus 20 (for which they will be joined by Mark Chen & Cuna Kim, violins; Klara Kotarsky, viola), & Calvin Kung (cello).
On 7 April in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents its annual gift concert for subscribers & donors (tickets go on sale to the general public on 19 March), this time featuring mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz, pianist Terrence Wilson, & the Catalyst Quartet (Karla Donehew Perez & Abi Fayette, violins; Paul Laraia, viola; Karlos Rodriguez, cello) performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Fantasiestücke for String Quartet, Opus 5, Libby Larsen's Sorrow Song and Jubilee, Dvořák's Goin’ Home (from the Largo of his 9th Symphony, “From the New World", as arranged by Noah Luna), & Elgar's Sea Pictures, Opus 37 (arranged by Donald Fraser).
The San Francisco Symphony has two competing chamber music recitals, both on the same day, both matinees: on 12 April at Davies Hall, they will present a chamber group of their musicians performing Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood, Jean Françaix's Octet, selections from the traditional tune Last Leaf as arranged by the Danish String Quartet, & the Brahms Piano Quartet #3 in C minor, Opus 60, & also on 12 April Alexander Barantschik (violin), Peter Wyrick (cello), & Anton Nel (piano) will be at the Gunn Theater in the Legion of Honor, performing Haydn's Piano Trio in A major, Cécile Chaminade's Thème Varié in A major, Opus 89, Carl Czerny's Variations on a Theme by Rode, “La Ricordanza,” Opus 33, & Schubert's Piano Trio #1 in B-flat Major.
On 12 April at the Piedmont Center for the Arts, the Berkeley Symphony offers The Music of Muses, a chamber program curated by Juan Pablo Contreras showcasing music inspired by a muse of one sort or another, featuring Reena Esmail's Darshan, Beethoven's Für Elise, Jennifer Higdon's Blue Hills of Mist, the Finale of Smetana's Piano Trio in G minor, Opus 15, Anton Webern's Langsamer Satz, & Contreras's Musas Mexicanas.
On 12 April in Herbst Theater, Chamber Music SF presents the Quatuor Danel (Marc Danel & Gilles Millet, violins; Vlad Bogdanas, viola; Yovan Markovitch, cello) performing Mendelssohn's String Quartet #2 in A minor, Opus 13, Ravel's Quartet in F Major, & Tchaikovsky's String Quartet #1 in D Major, Opus 11.
On 14 April at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents the Mesa-Yakushev Duo (Tommy Mesa, cello, & Ilya Yakushev, piano) performing Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, Kevin Day's Cello Sonata #1, Massenet's Meditation from Thaïs, & Ernesto Lecuona's Malagueña (arranged by Mesa & Yakushev).
On 14 April in the Barbro Osher Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Conservatory presents its monthly Chamber Music Tuesday, this time featuring cellist Clive Greensmith (formerly a member of the Tokyo String Quartet), who will join with Conservatory faculty & students to perform Debussy's Cello Sonata, the Sibelius String Quartet in D Minor, Opus 56, "Voces intimae", & the Brahms String Quintet #1, Opus 88.
On 14 April in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Danish String Quartet (Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen & Frederik Øland, violins; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello) playing Stravinsky's Suite Italienne (as arranged by the Quartet), Schnittke's String Quartet #2, & arrangements by the Quartet of traditional Nordic music.
On 16 April in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Ébène Quartet (Pierre Colombet & Gabriel Le Magadure, violins; Hélène Clément, viola; Yuya Okamoto, cello), who will play the Beethoven String Quartet Opus 18, #2, the Debussy String Quartet Opus 10, & the Brahms String Quartet Opus 51, #2.
The Friction Quartet (Otis Harriel & Kevin Rogers, violins; Mitso Floor, viola; Doug Machiz, cello) will perform Inspirations, a program chosen by Harriel featuring Juhi Bansal's Cathedrals of Light, Loren Loiacono's Besides, Isaac Schankler's Unveiling, & Janáček's String Quartet #1, “The Kreutzer Sonata”, & that's 17 April at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco & 19 April at the Berkeley Piano Club.
On 19 April at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, Noe Music presents A Change Is Gonna Come, a program featuring Palaver Strings & tenor Nicholas Phan in an exploration of American protest songs, including traditional anthems & contemporary works including Nico Muhly’s Stranger, Akenya Seymour’s Fear the Lamb, & the premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s Protest Songs.
On 25 April at Saint John's Presbyterian in Berkeley, Four Seasons Arts presents the ATOS Trio (Annette von Hehn, violin; Thomas Hoppe, piano; Stefan Heinemeyer, cello) performing Dvorak's Trio #4 in e-minor, Opus 90, the “Dumky” & Tchaikovsky's Trio in A-minor, Opus 50.
On 26 April in Herbst Theater, Chamber Music SF presents the Carion Wind Quintet performing Ligeti's Six Bagatelles, Haydn's Divertimento in B-flat Major, Medaglia Belle's Epoque in South America, Cavadlo's Klezmer Dances, Bartók's Romanian Dances, & "Additional pieces to be announced".
On 26 April at Old First Concerts, the Wooden Fish Ensemble (Thalia Moore, cello; Richard Worn, double bass; Thomas Schultz, piano) will perform an excerpt from Schubert's Piano Sonata in C major, D 840 & his Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano, D 821, Louis Moreau Gottshalk's The Banjo (arranged by Schultz), the world premieres of Kafka’s Hands & Pushing Open the Garden Gate by Hyo-shin Na, & her Walking, Walking.
On 26 April, as part of its Chamber Music Sundaes series, the Hillside Club of Berkeley presents the Navarro Trio (Tammie Dyer, violin; Jill Rachuy Brindel, cello; Marilyn Thompson, piano) performing Beethoven's Piano Trio in E-Flat Major Opus 70 #2, Joaquín Turina's Trio in D Major #1, Opus 35, & Schumann's Trio in D minor #1 Opus 63.
On 28 April at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents the Bridge Players (Amy Zanrosso, piano; Randall Weiss, violin; Dmitri Yevstifeev, viola; Victoria Ehrlich, cello) performing Mozart's Piano Quartet in G Minor, K478,& the Saint-Saëns Piano Quartet, Opus 41.
Instrumental
On 3 April in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents clarinetist Anthony McGill with pianist Gloria Chien, performing Debussy's Première Rhapsodie, André Messager's Solo du Concours, the Saint-Saëns Sonata in E-flat major for Clarinet and Piano, Opus 167, the Schumann Fantasiestücke, Opus 73, & the Brahms Clarinet Sonata in E-flat major, Opus 120, #2.
On 7 April at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents pianist Neil Rutman, performing Sibelius's Impromptu in B Minor, Opus 5, #5, Mendelssohn's Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, Opus 14, Liszt's Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude, & Moises Moliero's Joropo.
On 10 April in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents pianist Richard Goode performing Beethoven's Diabelli Variations & Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-Flat Major, D960.
On 12 April at Old First, Lieder Alive! presents Concert Confidential with pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, "a unique and ever-changing solo show . . . Featuring solo piano masterworks, anecdotes, comedy, and musical insight".
On 15 April at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents violinist Nathan Amaral, with pianist Sophiko Simsive, in a recital featuring Mozart's Violin Sonata in B-flat major, Francisco Mignone's Valsa de esquina #2, & César Franck's Violin Sonata in A major.
On 18 April in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents flutist Claire Chase as part of her Density 2036 project, a "24-year project to create a new body of flute repertory leading up to the 100th anniversary of composer Edgard Varese’s seminal 1936 flute solo, Density 21.5"; this concert will include Solo from Elwha! by Annea Lockwood (as arranged by Chase), Sunbird by Susie Ibarra (as arranged by Chase), a solo suite from Pan by Marcos Balter, An Empty Garlic by Du Yun, & Pulsing Lifters by Terry Riley (with special guest pianist Sarah Cahill) & the solo suite from his The Holy Liftoff.
On 19 April at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents a recital with violinist Joshua Bell, along with pianist Shai Wosner; they will perform Schubert's Violin Sonata in A major, Grieg's Violin Sonata #3 in C minor, Opus 45, Prokofiev's Violin Sonata #2 in D major, Opus 94b, & Ravel's Violin Sonata #2.
On 19 April at the Presidio Theater, Chamber Music SF presents violinist Nathan Meltzer with pianist Wynona Wang performing Poulenc's Improvisation on Brahms’s “Wiegenlied”, Opus 141, Fauré's Violin Sonata #2 in E minor, Opus 108, Sky Macklay's FastLowHighSlow, & Schubert's Fantasy for Violin and Piano in C Major.
On 23 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents pianist Alexandre Kantorow performing Liszt's Variations on Bach's “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen”, Medtner's Piano Sonata in F minor, Chopin's Prelude in C-sharp minor, Alkan's La Chanson de la folle au bord de mer, Scriabin's Vers la flamme, & Beethoven's Piano Sonata #32 in C minor, Opus 111.
On 29 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents pianist Víkingur Ólafsson in Opus 109, a program exploring influences on & the influence of Beethoven's Piano Sonata #30 in E major, Opus 109; other works on the program include Bach's Prelude in E major from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, Beethoven's Piano Sonata #27 in E minor, Opus 90, Bach's Partita #6 in E minor, & Schubert's Piano Sonata in E minor.
Early / Baroque Music
On 3 April, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents Victor Romasevich in a program of solo Bach on violin & viola, featuring the Sonata #1 in G minor, BWV 1001, for violin solo; the Cello Suite #3 in C Major, BWV 1009 (arranged for viola solo), the Sonata #2 in A minor, BWV 1003. for violin solo; & the Cello Suite #4 in E♭ Major, BWV 1010 (arranged for viola solo).
On 3 April as part of its Candlelight Concert Series, the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in San Francisco will present Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres for Good Friday, featuring sopranos Ellen Leslie & Jennifer Paulino.
On 9 - 11 April at Davies Hall, Bernard Labadie leads the San Francisco Symphony in an all-Bach program, featuring his Easter Oratorio, the Sinfonia to Wir danken dir, Gott, BWV 29, & his
Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, with vocal soloists Joélle Harvey (soprano), Hugh Cutting (countertenor), Andrew Haji (tenor), & Joshua Hopkins (baritone) as well as the Symphony Chorus, led by Jenny Wong.
The San Francisco Early Music Society presents The Qadim Ensemble, featuring "musicians versed in deeply-rooted musical traditions throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean basin", in Wandering Dove – An Offering of Hebrew and Arabic Song, which offers "liturgical and secular songs both in Hebrew and Arabic, in which the dove is the unifying motif", & you can hear them 16 April at First Presbyterian in Palo Alto, 18 April at First Congregational in Berkeley, & 19 April at Saint Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal in San Francisco.
Soprano Molly Netter joins the Voices of Music ensemble for The Secret Garden, a program featuring "[m]edieval, renaissance, baroque music and the world premiere of a new work" centered on the theme of the secret garden, & you can hear it all on 17 April at First Congregational in Palo Alto, 18 April at Old First in San Francisco, & 19 April at First Congregational in Berkeley.
On 18 April in Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley's University Baroque Ensemble, led by David H Miller, in collaboration with musicians from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, will give a semi-staged performance of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; the show will be preceded by a panel discussion led by Miller on the original myth & its different versions.
On 21 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI, joined by La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Tembembe Ensamble Continuo, & "special guest performers from Canada, Guinea, Guadeloupe, Mali, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela who place their rich musical traditions in dialogue with Spanish and European forms" in Un Mar de Músicas (A Sea of Music), a program that continues the themes of Savall's Routes of Slavery program "honoring the more than 25 million people enslaved by Western nations over close to four centuries" & the resulting cross-cultural musical results.
On 26 April, the Cantata Collective continues its traversal of Bach's cantatas at Saint Mary Magdalen's in Berkeley with performances of Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20 & Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, with vocal soloists Jennifer Paulino (soprano), Sara Couden (alto), David Kurtenbach Rivera (tenor), & John Buffett (bass).
See also Handel's Alcina at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, listed above under Operatic.
Modern / Contemporary Music
On 5 April in Wu Performance Hall in Morrison Hall, the UC Berkeley Music Department presents Tacet(i) performing new music by Tianyu Zou, Pablo Teutli, Claire Hu, Jenny Xiong, Wai Hin Ko, & Josiah Adrineda.
On 11 April in the Taube Atrium Theater, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players presents American Reflections: Steps Toward Ascent, a program featuring Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Music for Small Orchestra, Seare Ahmad Farhat’s Muzzahaimat (a title which comes from a word meaning “the state of being disturbed”), Vivian Fung’s Ominous, & Steve Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder.
On 10 - 11 April, composer Gabriella Smith will be curator for the San Francisco Symphony's Sound Box concerts.
On 12 April in the Taube Atrium Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Attacca Quartet (Amy Schroeder & Domenic Salerni, violins; Nathan Schram, viola; Andrew Yee, cello) with Caroline Shaw on violin & vocals, performing music by Shaw: Blueprint, Cant voi l’aube, Three Essays, And So, The Evergreen, & Other Song.
On 16 April at the Goldman Theater in the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Other Minds presents The Nature of Music 20: Eleven Paths to Animal Music, featuring the title work by musician & philosopher David Rothenberg.
On 17 April in Cha Chi Ming Hall in the Bowes Center of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ensemble for These Times & the Conservatory present Women Crossing/Liminality, a program featuring four world premieres: "a new song cycle for soprano, cello, and piano by Juhi Bansal, a new work for bass flute and percussion by Vivian Fung, a new work for violin, cello, percussion, tape, voice, and electronics by Pamela Z, and the winning piece from the E4TT/TAC student competition", as well as pieces by Leilehua Lanzilotti & Sofia Jen Ouyang.
On 18 April at Saint John's Presbyterian in Berkeley, Earplay presents music by Peter Josheff (who is also the clarinetist for this group, among others).
On 24 - 25 April at the Community Music Center of San Francisco, you can hear The Retraction, a dramatic song cycle for soprano, three-voice choir, & mixed ensemble with music & text by Davide Verotta, focusing on the case of Isobel Gowdie, a 17th century Scottish peasant who confessed (most likely under torture) to being a witch; the performance features Amy Foote (soprano), Emilio Peña (tenor), Tim Selva (tenor), Sidney Chen (bass), Michael Long (violin), Jessie Nucho (flute), Vicky Ehrlich (cello), Keisuke Nakagoshi (piano).
Jazz & World Traditions
On 4 April at Herbst Theater, the SF Jazz Center presents the Ravi Shankar Ensemble (Shubhendra Rao, sitar & ensemble leader; Aayush Mohan, sarod; Ravichandra Kulur, flute; Padma Shankar, violin & vocals, Anubrata Chatterjee, tabla; B C Manjunath, Mridamgam); this is the first in a "new annual concert series presented in honor of our friend and tabla master Zakir Hussain".
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band plays the Presidio Theater from 9 to 12 April, with special guest Karl Denson on the first two days & special guest Ivan Neville on the last two.
On 10 - 12 April at the SF Jazz Center, the African Rhythms Alumni Ensemble (TK Blue, alto saxophone, flute, kalimba; Ku-umba Frank Lacy, trombone; Sharp Radway, piano; Alex Blake, bass; Chief Baba Neil Clarke, percussion) perform a centennial tribute to Randy Weston.
On 15 April at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, you can experience Coltrane 100, a centennial celebration of the seminal saxophonist, featuring saxophonists Joe Lovano & Melissa Aldana, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, bassist Linda May Han Oh, & drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts.
On 25 - 26 April at the SF Jazz Center, Allan Harris (on vocals & guitar), joined by Bruce Forman (guitar), Sylvia Cuenca (drums), & Marcus Shelby (bass), celebrates The Poetry of Jazz, with "works spanning centuries and genres, from William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Dylan Thomas to the poignant voices of Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou."
On 30 April at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Hume Concert Hall, the Conservatory presents pianist Billy Childs in a Big Band performance with faculty & students from the RJAM (Roots, Jazz and American Music) department; the concert will feature the world premiere of a new work by Jordyn Davis, a winner of the Emerging Black Composers Project, as well as Labyrinth & Do You Know My Name? by Childs, & other works to be announced.
Dance
From 7 to 12 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances hosts the annual visit of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, who bring four separate programs, including both old favorites & new works; check here for details.
The San Francisco Ballet has two programs this month: Program 5, running from 10 to 16 April, is La Sylphide, with choreography by August Bournonville to music by Herman Severin Løvenskiold in a production designed by Helgi Tomasson; & Program 6, running from 24 April to 3 May, is a revival of Mere Mortals, with choreography by Aszure Barton to music by Floating Points.
On 11 - 19 April at the Yerba Buena Center, Alonzo King LINES Ballet presents a world premiere collaboration between Alonzo King & esperanza spalding, who will perform live at all performances; the program also includes a revival of King's Ode to Alice Coltrane.
ODC/Dance & Volti revive their popular Path of Miracles, inspired by the Camino de Santiago, with choreography by KT Nelson & Volti singing Jody Tablot's score, on 15 - 17 April at the Saint Joseph's Arts Society in San Francisco.
Smuin Ballet presents Future Forward, a program featuring world premieres by Amy Seiwert & Andi Schermoly, along with Sextette by Kate Skarpetowska & Hearts Suite, an excerpt from Hearts (Le Ballet des coeurs) by Michael Smuin, & that's 17 - 265 April at the Cowell Theater at Forst Mason in San Francisco, 1 - 2 May at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, & 14 - 17 May at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
On 17 - 19 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents The Joffrey Ballet in the west coast premiere of a loose adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, choreographed by Alexander Ekman to a new score by Mikael Karlsson, with featured vocalist Anna von Hausswolff.
Mostly Museums
Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries, featuring a Japanese artist known for "immense, intricate webs of thread", opens at the Asian Art Museum on 3 April & runs through 20 July.
On 12 April, the Berkeley Historical Society & Museum opens On the Waterfront: The Other Side of Berkeley, a look at the surprisingly dramatic history of an often-overlooked part of the city.
On 18 April, SFMOMA will unveil Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10, "a fully reconceived presentation of the renowned Doris and Donald Fisher Collection, featuring nearly 250 works by 35 artists"; part of the revamp will be Ways of Seeing: Fourteen Artists, including "Dan Flavin, Philip Guston, Roy Lichtenstein, Agnes Martin, Joan Mitchell, Elizabeth Murray, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra and Cy Twombly. Through audio, video and written panels that incorporate the artists’ own words, visitors are invited to understand the artists as both innovative creators and as people, in their full complexity", & Memory and Matter: Personal and Collective Histories, highlighting Anselm Kiefer & William Kentridge,
Cinematic
On 4 April, as part of its Disney Restoration series, the Orinda Theater will be showing Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
On 9 April at the Castro Theater, you can see a 40th anniversary showing of Return to Oz, which the website describes as "an underrated cult classic" & I could not agree more; with director Walter Murch will be there in person & the film is followed by a Q&A with Murch, led by Jesse Hawthorne Ficks.
BAM/PFA launches a couple of series this month: Sentimental Education: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha at the Pacific Film Archive runs from 2 to 19 April & features works by Cha as well as some films that influenced her; the series is in conjunction with the exhibit Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings, which closes on 19 April; Lucrecia Martel: Un destino común runs 4 to 19 April in conjunction with the director's residency at UC Berkeley.
From 13 to 19 April, the Balboa Theater in San Francisco will celebrate its centennial with a series of special screenings "spotlighting the work of the famed costume designer Aggie Rodgers"; check here for details.
The San Francisco International Film Festival runs from 24 April through 4 May; check here for schedule announcements.
This month's Classic Movie Matinee at the Orinda Theater will be The Magnificent Ambersons from Orson Welles, one of the famous or notorious examples of Hollywood's butchery of a director's work, & that's on 28 April.
No comments:
Post a Comment