Recital

A small but appreciative June 2 audience heard in Santa Rosa's Resurrection Parish a delightful buffet of baroque vocal and instrumental works performed by the five-year old Vinaccesi Ensemble of Berkeley. Nanette McGuinness soprano; Kindra Scharich, mezzo soprano; Jonathan Smucker, tenor; and ba...

Opera

When "Carmen" debuted at the Opera Comique in 1875, it was poorly received. Its composer, Georges Bizet, died a few months later, thinking he had written another failure. Now widely considered the most popular opera in the world, "Carmen" was excellently performed and given an enthusiastic reception...

Symphony

"My name is David, and I'm going to be your conductor for this evening." With that corny but amusing opening line, guest conductor David Robertson introduced himself and the San Francisco Symphony to a less than full house at the Green Music Center on May 23. It was hard to understand why the place ...

Symphony

The Ukiah Symphony closed its 2012-13 season May 19th with a bold matinee presentation at the Mendocino College Theater. Featured were the Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat minor, Opus 23, and the third and fourth Movements of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Opus 125. Pianist Lawrence Holmfjo...

Symphony

The Santa Rosa Symphony capped off its first year in the resplendent Green Music Center with an impassioned performance of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, widely regarded as his masterpiece in the genre. Every section of the orchestra, from the lowest bass to the most stratospheric piccolo, played to...

Symphony

For its final set of the 2012-13 season on May 4 and 5, the American Philharmonic of Sonoma County offered a program titled "Prayer and Redemption." The first half consisted of the prayers, the second of the joy of redemption. Guest conductor Cyrus Ginwala spoke about the pieces beforehand and then ...

Symphony

Since the conclusion of his decade-long tenure with the Santa Rosa Symphony in 2006, conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane has traveled widely, but he has often circled back to Sonoma County as a piano soloist. On Saturday evening, April 27, he upped the ante by not only bringing his prodigious keyboard...

Recital

There were stories of fiery gypsies, dances, kisses, deep angst, unrequited love, mermaids, and headstrong young maidens. Irish-born mezzo soprano Tara Erraught told her Weill Hall audience April 21 in her lilting Irish brogue, “People ask why I pick the programs the way I do. Well, being from Irel...

Recital

Elina Garanca’s April 9 Weill Hall recital was a connoisseur’s program, eschewing the more popular song literature and concentrating on mostly subtle and evocative works of Schumann, Berg and Richard Strauss. With pianist Kevin Murphy, the Latvian mezzo soprano, famous from the opera stage as a sum...

Recital

Born in Siberia in 1971, violinist Vadim Repin is as Russian as they come, but he played nary a note of Russian music in his April 7 recital at the Green Music Center's Weill Hall. The closest he got was the last movement of the Janacek violin sonata, which celebrates the triumphal entry of Russian...

6/2/2013 - RARE BAROQUE GEMS IN CREATIVE ARTS SERIES CONCERT - Joanna Bramel Young
Creative Arts Series / Vinaccesi Ensemble: Kirk Eichelberger, Susie Fong, Sarge Gerbode, Nanette McGuiness, Hallie Pridham, Jonathan Smucker and Kindra Scharich
A small but appreciative June 2 audience heard in Santa Rosa's Resurrection Parish a delightful buffet of baroque vocal and instrumental works performed by the five-year old Vinaccesi Ensemble of Berkeley. Nanette McGuinness soprano; Kindra Scharich, mezzo soprano; Jonathan Smucker, tenor; and ba...

6/1/2013 - POWERFUL OPENING NIGHT FOR CINNABAR'S CARMEN - Vaida Falconbridge
Cinnabar Theater / Cast and production personnel listed in May 31 Calendar.
When "Carmen" debuted at the Opera Comique in 1875, it was poorly received. Its composer, Georges Bizet, died a few months later, thinking he had written another failure. Now widely considered the most popular opera in the world, "Carmen" was excellently performed and given an enthusiastic reception...

5/23/2013 - FIVE FINGERS WITH THE STRENGTH OF TEN - Steve Osborn
San Francisco Symphony / David Robertson, conductor. Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
"My name is David, and I'm going to be your conductor for this evening." With that corny but amusing opening line, guest conductor David Robertson introduced himself and the San Francisco Symphony to a less than full house at the Green Music Center on May 23. It was hard to understand why the place ...

5/19/2013 - UKIAH SYMPHONY CLOSES SEASON WITH TWO BIG WORKS - Ed Reinhart
Ukiah Symphony / Les Pfutzenreuter, conductor. Lawrence Holmefjord-Sarabi, piano. Mendocino College Masterworks Chorale. Vocal soloists TBA
The Ukiah Symphony closed its 2012-13 season May 19th with a bold matinee presentation at the Mendocino College Theater. Featured were the Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat minor, Opus 23, and the third and fourth Movements of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Opus 125. Pianist Lawrence Holmfjo...

5/11/2013 - A PERFECT 10 FOR THE TENTH - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor; Olga Kern, piano
The Santa Rosa Symphony capped off its first year in the resplendent Green Music Center with an impassioned performance of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, widely regarded as his masterpiece in the genre. Every section of the orchestra, from the lowest bass to the most stratospheric piccolo, played to...

5/4/2013 - PRAYERS AND REDEMPTION FROM THE APSC - Nicki Bell
American Philharmonic Sonoma County / Cyrus Ginwala, conductor. Tom Hyde, trumpet
For its final set of the 2012-13 season on May 4 and 5, the American Philharmonic of Sonoma County offered a program titled "Prayer and Redemption." The first half consisted of the prayers, the second of the joy of redemption. Guest conductor Cyrus Ginwala spoke about the pieces beforehand and then ...

4/27/2013 - FULL CIRCLE FOR KAHANE - Steve Osborn
Mastercard Performance Series / Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Jeffrey Kahane, conductor and piano
Since the conclusion of his decade-long tenure with the Santa Rosa Symphony in 2006, conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane has traveled widely, but he has often circled back to Sonoma County as a piano soloist. On Saturday evening, April 27, he upped the ante by not only bringing his prodigious keyboard...

4/21/2013 - MESMERIZING IRISH MEZZO TELLS STORIES IN WEILL SONG RECITAL - Vaida Falconbridge
Green Music Center / Tara Erraught, mezzo soprano. Marelo Amaral, piano.
There were stories of fiery gypsies, dances, kisses, deep angst, unrequited love, mermaids, and headstrong young maidens. Irish-born mezzo soprano Tara Erraught told her Weill Hall audience April 21 in her lilting Irish brogue, “People ask why I pick the programs the way I do. Well, being from Irel...

4/9/2013 - SONG CYCLES FOR CONNOISSEURS - Terry McNeill
Green Music Center / Elina Garanša, mezzo soprano. Kevin Murphy, piano
Elina Garanca’s April 9 Weill Hall recital was a connoisseur’s program, eschewing the more popular song literature and concentrating on mostly subtle and evocative works of Schumann, Berg and Richard Strauss. With pianist Kevin Murphy, the Latvian mezzo soprano, famous from the opera stage as a sum...

4/7/2013 - VADIM REPIN: STARLIGHT, SHINING BRIGHT - Steve Osborn
MasterCard Performance Series / Vadim Repin, violin. Andrei Korobeinikov, piano
Born in Siberia in 1971, violinist Vadim Repin is as Russian as they come, but he played nary a note of Russian music in his April 7 recital at the Green Music Center's Weill Hall. The closest he got was the last movement of the Janacek violin sonata, which celebrates the triumphal entry of Russian...

4/7/2013 - TCHAIKOVSKY CONCERTO HIGHLIGHTS FT. BRAGG SYMPHONY CONCERT - Ed Reinheart
Symphony of the Redwoods / Allan Pollack, conductor. Elena Casanova, piano
The Symphony of the Redwoods opened its spring concert April 6 in Ft. Bragg’s Cotton Auditorium with a memorable performance of Tchaikovsky’s B-Flat Minor Concerto. Conductor Allan Pollack and the Symphony presented an ambitious program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov's "Dance of the Buffoons" from t...

3/31/2013 - THE FAMILIAR, THE RARE AND THE NEW - Terry McNeill
Green Music Center / Trio Navarro and Friends. Roy Malan, violin; Jill Rachuy Brindel,cello, William Klingelhoffer, horn; Natalie Parker, clarinet; Marilyn Thompson, piano
Sonoma State's resident Trio Navarro has a well-earned reputation for eclectic programming, and in their Easter Sunday concert in Weill Hall, they chose the familiar, the rare and the new. The new was SSU faculty composer Brian Wilson's "And Ezra the Scribe Stood Upon a Pulpit," a trio for horn, vi...

3/29/2013 - MASTERFUL GOOD FRIDAY CONCERT - Terry McNeill
Cantiamo Sonoma / St. Cecilia Choir, Cantiamo Sonoma and the Incarnation Chamber Orchestra. Carol Menke, conductor. Clarie Frydenlund, soprano, Marilyn Thompson, organ.
Good Friday concerts are always spiritual but often can be monotonous and overly long. Cantiamo and the St. Cecelia Choir’s exceptional program March 29 in Santa Rosa’s packed Church of the Incarnation was anything but mundane, and perhaps too short. Conductor Carol Menke fashioned a balanced eve...

3/16/2013 - SWEPT AWAY - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor; Zuill Bailey, cello
The title of the Santa Rosa Symphony's March 16 concert was "Sweeping Emotions," but no brooms were in evidence, nor did the Symphony play "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the canonic broom piece, thanks to Disney’s iconic film "Fantasia." Instead of brooms, they offered cellist Zuill Bailey, whose mop ...

3/14/2013 - TICHMAN IN COMMAND AT OAKMONT RECITAL - Terry McNeill
Oakmont Concert Series / Nina Tichman, piano
Attending a Nina Tichman recital is a warmly familiar experience, as the Cologne-based pianist plays nearly everything in the standard literature with a professional command and artistic probity. There is sentiment in her playing but not sentimentality, attention to detail that is never fussy, and i...

3/7/2013 - THE MAJESTIC INEVITABLE - Steve Osborn
San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor. Yuja Wang, piano
The Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 is famous for beginning with a piano solo rather than the usual orchestral introduction. To use a literary term, it begins "in media res"--in the middle of things. My experience of the San Francisco Symphony concert at the Green Music Center on March 7 likewise be...

3/2/2013 - LUTOSLAWSKI PARTITA THRILLING IN MUTTER'S WEILL RECITAL - Terry McNeill
MasterCard Performance Series / Anne-Sophie Mutter,violin; Lambert Orkis, piano
Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter charmed a Weill Hall audience March 2 in a recital that eschewed popular works and elicited rapt attention from the 1,300 listeners present. Forgoing the staples of the Brahms and Beethoven sonatas, or the Franck and Prokofiev, the German artist played provocative and ex...

3/1/2013 - GIANTS OF THE BAROQUE SHINE IN ABS BELVEDERE CONCERT - Joanna Bramel Young
The American Bach Soloists (ABS) presented March 1 an intriguing and uncommon set of works by the three most celebrated composers of the Baroque period -- Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi. Anticipating another taste of the best, ABS fans filled every seat in acoustically faithful St. Stephen’s church in B...

2/24/2013 - LATE WINTER TURNS TO SPRING IN CREATIVE ARTS SERIES CONCERT - Michael J. Mello
Doris Williams, soprano & lute / Beth Zucchino
A concert of Renaissance and Celtic songs for voice, lute and recorder was presented by soprano and lutenist Doris Williams with the assistance of recorder virtuoso Claudia Liliana Gantivar and mandolinist Mike Bell. The Feb. 24 event in Santa Rosa’s Resurrection Parish Church was part of the Creat...

2/23/2013 - RUSSIAN ROMANTIC WORKS HIGHLIGHT APSC CONCERT - Terry McNeill
American Philharmonic Sonoma County /
Luxurious orchestration has always been a hallmark of Russian symphonic music, as was evident in the works of Liadov, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich performed by the American Philharmonic Sonoma County (APSC) at the Santa Rosa High School Performing Arts Hall on Feb. 23. Guest conductor Mark Wardlaw ...

2/15/2013 - SOLID GOLD FROM THE PARKER STRING QUARTET - Steve Osborn
Parker Quartet / Daniel Chong and David McCarroll, violin; Jessica Bodner, viola; Kee-Hyun Kim, cello
Santa Rosa has been blessed with three superlative chamber music concerts during the past month, beginning with the Calder String Quartet in late January, followed by the Alexander String Quartet with violist Toby Appel in early February, and culminating with the Parker String Quartet one day after ...

2/13/2013 - FAST AND FURIOUS AT THE RAVEN THEATER - Terry McNeill
Pianist Lawrence Holmefjord-Sarabi returned to a hometown Healdsburg Raven Theater audience Feb. 13 in a piano recital heavy on finger busting virtuoso works but short on pianistic subtlety. Charging into Beethoven’s C Major Sonata, Op.53 (Waldstein), Mr. Holmefjord-Sarabi disclosed that his intere...

2/9/2013 - PLAYING HEARTS: IT'S ZAJAC IN SPADES - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor; Roy Zajac, clarinet
At symphony concerts, soloists need to be both sonically and visually distinctive. For the latter requirement, what better way to sail above a sea of black-jacketed players than to don a jaunty white blazer with black lapels and a black bowtie? That was the approach soloist Roy Zajac took in a memor...

2/7/2013 - SARDONIC AND LUSH RUSSIAN CELLO MUSIC IN BAVERSTAM'S UKIAH RECITAL - Joel Cohen
Ukiah Community Concert Association / Sebastian Bäverstam, cello; Pei-Shan Lee, piano
Cellist Sebastian Bäverstam and pianist Pei-Shan Lee enthralled their Ukiah audience Feb. 7 with an all Russian program, presented as the third concert of the Ukiah Community Concerts Association's 2012-13 season. The recital began with Prokofiev's C Minor Sonata, Op. 119, a tour de force for both...

2/7/2013 - OPERATIC TWIN BILL OPENS AT SONOMA STATE - Terry McNeill
Sonoma State University Musicians and Dancers / Sonoma State University Orchestra, conducted by Lynne Morrow. Danielle Cain, stage director. Soloists: Sara Sims, Canela Fulbright McCoubrey, Talia Trozzo (Vaughan Williams) and Katie Foster and Kathleen Barnes (Haydn)
Two one-act operas--Haydn's "The Deserted Island" and Vaughan Williams' "Riders to the Sea"--currently being mounted by Sonoma State University's music, theater and dance departments, reflect the University's usual innovative staging and production. On the Feb. 7 opening night Person Theater's 400 ...

2/3/2013 - FROM THE MAGISTERIAL TO THE MACABRE - Terry McNeill
Trio Navarro / Marilyn Thompson, piano; Jill Rachuy Brindel, cello; Roy Malan, violin.
Two more disparate chamber works could not be imagined in Weill Hall Feb. 3 when the Trio Navarro presented the Shostakovich Trio in E Minor and Dvorak’s “Dumky,” also in E minor. Both masterpieces have riveting audience interest but are worlds apart in structure and harmonic language. Dvorak’s tri...

1/31/2013 - LALO AND ELGAR WORKS HEARD IN SFS CONCERT IN WEILL - Kenn Gartner
San Francisco Symphony / Charles Dutoit, conductor. James Ehenes, violin
Brilliant! That is the only word to convey the musicality, sound, and the panache the San Francisco Symphony achieved Jan. 31 in Weill Hall with of guest conductor Charles Dutoit. The sound extant during this balanced program was spectacular, and I have rarely heard such substantial fortes, ones w...

1/27/2013 - MESSIAEN PIANO PRELUDES HIGHLIGHT SMITH RECITAL IN SANTA ROSA - Beth Zucchino
Creative Arts Series / Beth Zucchino
Marin Pianist Jean Alexis Smith played a stunning recital Jan. 27 in the first 2013 concert for the Creative Arts Series. In remarks to the Resurrection Parish audience, the pianist explained that although her program has a range of styles from Baroque to Contemporary, all the composers involved wr...

1/26/2013 - FULL MOON, FULL HOUSE - Steve Osborn
Green Music Center / Yo Yo Ma
Under a full moon on Saturday, Jan. 26, before playing what he confidently predicted would be the first encore of the evening, cellist Yo Yo Ma paused to tell the overflow crowd at Weill Hall that they had “an unbelievable music room.” His choice of words is apt, because the magnificent space at the...

1/26/2013 - AMARYLLIS TRIO IN FULL FLOWER - Terry McNeill
River Choir / Amaryllis Trio. Lisa Doyle, violin; Wendy Reynolds, cello; Sonia Tubridy, piano.
The West County’s Amaryllis Trio began their winter concert season Jan. 26 in a charming Sebastopol home. Led by the ubiquitous pianist Sonia Tubridy, the Amaryllis programmed the entire first half with Schumann’s late third Piano Trio, Op. 110. A passionate and wild work, the trio demands an aggres...

1/25/2013 - BACH'S ST JOHN HEARD IN PASSIONATE ABS MARIN CONCERT - Joanna Bramel Young
The American Bach Soloists (ABS), led by music director Jeffrey Thomas, staged the St. John Passion Jan. 25 for a full house in Belvedere’s St. Stephen’s Church. The formidable Soloists are in their 25th season. Along with the St. Matthew Passion and the B Minor Mass, the St. John is one of the mo...

1/22/2013 - ARMSTRONG'S BRUCH CONCERTO TRIUMPHS IN MARIN SYMPHONY CONCERT - John Metz
Marin Symphony /
A concert entitled “Romantic Passions” promises a big orchestra, epic works, sweeping melodies, emotional excess, and the spirit of heroism. The Marin Symphony delivered on this promise January 22 in a Marin Center Auditorium winter season gala. Two works of Russian Romanticism framed the program...

1/13/2013 - JAN. 13 OCCIDENTAL AND GUERNEVILLE PROGRAMS OPEN RIVER CONCERT SEASON - Terry McNeill
Redwood Arts Council / Santa Rosa Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas Xenelis, conductor. Norma Brown, piano; Jeff Chan, clarinet; Valerie Marshall, cello; Daniel Celidore, oboe; Paul Hadley, horn; Miranda Kincaid, bassoon; Christopher Fritzsche, countertenor
Russian River’s winter concert season began Jan. 13 with two events at nearly the same location and time, both programs packed with abundant vocal qualities. Sonia Tubridy’s River Choir performed their annual Winterfest concert in the Guerneville Community Church before 30 ardent listeners. The 12...

1/13/2013 - JONNY COMES DANCING HOME IN MILL VALLEY RECITAL - John Boyajy
Mill Valley Chamber Music Society / Jon Nakamatsu, piano
If you love Schumann's piano music, you would have been delighted with Jon Nakamatsu’s Jan. 13 recital in Marin's Mt. Tamalpais Methodist Church, produced by the Mill Valley Chamber Music Society. For, although Schubert and Beethoven also were on the program, this recital was all about Schumann. S...

1/11/2013 - MAGNIFICAT MAGNIFIQUE IN MENKE JULANDER AGO RECITAL AT INCARNATION - Janis Dunson Wilson
American Guild of Organists / Carol Menke, soprano; Harold Julander, organ
Music of the Magnificat is the perfect concert theme for the closing of the liturgical year and the opening of the new, and the Redwood Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presented a wonderful program Jan. 11 in the Church of the Incarnation. This was the fifth program of the fourth season o...

1/5/2013 - NATIVE VIRTUOSITY - Terry McNeill
Sonoma Classical Music Society / Nigel Armstrong, violin. Elizabeth Dorman, piano
Violinist Nigel Armstrong is becoming a virtuoso staple for North Bay concerts, having played locally over the past three years in private homes, with symphonic groups and in several formal recitals. January 5 found him giving a benefit recital for the Sonoma Classical Music Society in his Sonoma ho...