This intimate, one-hour recital and discussion series in partnership with San Francisco Performances offers the community a unique opportunity to enjoy performances and Q&A with internationally-acclaimed artists. All events are free and open to the community. Mark your calendars!
Friday, October 2, 2015 from 6:00-7:00pm
A Free Concert with Conversation with Guitarist Julian Lage
Julian Lage | Photo by Jimmy Katz
Julian Lage is an American guitarist, composer and arranger living in New York City. Often categorized as a jazz musician, his music is rooted in both traditional and acoustic forms. Julian was the subject of an Academy Award nominated documentary Jules at Eight, which depicts him as an eight-year-old guitar prodigy performing regularly and also living his life as a “regular” kid. In his short career, he has collaborated with Jim Hall, Mark O’Connor, Nels Cline, Chris Eldridge, Scott Colley and Antonio Sanchez, among others. In addition to his own quintet he has recorded with Gary Burton, David Grisman, Eric Harland, Anthony Wilson, Martin Taylor, Joshua Bell and Yoko Ono. Julian’s album Sounding Point was nominated for a Best Contemporary Jazz album Grammy in 2010. His most recent duo album Free Flying with Fred Hersch received a coveted five-star review in DownBeat magazine.
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FREE
Friday, November 6, 2015 from 6:00-7:00pm
A Free Concert with Conversation with Pianist Shai Wosner
Shai Wosner | Photo by Marco Borggreve
Pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire, from Beethoven and Mozart to Schoenberg and Ligeti, as well as music by his contemporaries, communicate his imaginative programming and intellectual curiosity. Mr. Wosner has appeared with major orchestras worldwide including the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony in the US, and the Barcelona Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Hamburg Symphony, LSO St. Luke’s and Staatskapelle Berlin in Europe, among others. He has worked with conductors Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, Zubin Mehta and Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Wosner is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award—a prize he used to commission Michael Hersch’s concerto Along the Ravines,which he then performed with the Seattle Symphony and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie-Saarbrücken.
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FREE
Friday, March 25, 2016 from 6:00-7:00pm
A Free Concert with Conversation with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, pianist Jake Heggie, and young singers from Young Musicians Choral Orchestra
Frederica von Stade and Jake Heggie
Friends of San Francisco Performances Flicka and Jake bring the glitter of the opera stage to CMC’s Concert Hall, helping a new generation of children fall in love with singing. They are joined by talented young Bay Area singers they have mentored from the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra. Recognized as one of the most beloved musical figures of our time, Frederica von Stade has enriched the world of classical music for three decades with her appearances in opera, concert, and recital. She has made over sixty recordings with every major label, and has garnered six Grammy nominations, amongst many other distinctions. Guggenheim Fellow Jake Heggie is the composer of the operas Moby-Dick, Dead Man Walking, Three Decembers, To Hell and Back, The End of the Affair, Out of Darkness, and the choral opera, The Radio Hour. He has also composed more than 250 songs, as well as chamber, choral and orchestral works. Dead Man Walking (McNally) has received more than 40 international productions and has been recorded twice (Atlantic Records and Virgin Classics).
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FREE
Friday, April 1, 2016 from 6:00-7:00pm
A Free Concert with Conversation with violinist Jennifer Koh and pianist Shai Wosner
Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner
Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. She is dedicated to performing the violin repertoire of all eras from traditional to contemporary, believing that the past and present form a continuum. Ms. Koh has been heard with leading orchestras around the world and is on the string faculty of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Ms. Koh is also the Artistic Director of MusicBridge, a non-profit organization she founded in 2013 to foster and promote collaborations between artists of diverse disciplines and styles. Pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire, from Beethoven and Mozart to Schoenberg and Ligeti, as well as music by his contemporaries, communicate his imaginative programming and intellectual curiosity. Mr. Wosner has appeared with major orchestras worldwide and has worked with conductors Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, Zubin Mehta and Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Wosner is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.
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FREE
Friday, April 15, 2016 from 6:00-7:00pm
A Free Concert with Quartetto di Cremona
Quartetto di Cremona | Photo by Christina Daysog
The Quartetto di Cremona is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting and dynamic chamber music ensembles of their generation. The quartet has performed around the world at concert halls and international music festival such as the Konzerthaus in Berlin, Beethovenhaus and the Beethovenfest in Bonn, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Kammermusik Gemeinde in Hannover, the Torino-Milan (Mi-To) Festival, the Turku Festival in Finland, and the Perth Festival in Australia. They have also toured China and South Korea. Their concerts are broadcast by radio and television stations worldwide, performing repertory ranging from early Haydn to contemporary music. They collaborate regularly with artists such as Angela Hewitt, Ivo Pogorelich, Andrea Lucchesini, Lilya Zilberstein, Cédric Tiberghien, Pieter Wispelwey, and Bruno Giuranna; and have worked with composers such as Fabio Vacchi, Helmuth Lachenmann and Silvia Colasanti. The Quartetto di Cremona received a Borletti—Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2005 and have won top prizes at numerous international chamber music competitions.
More info
FREE
The post Announcing the 2015-2016 Concert with Conversation Series appeared first on Community Music Center.
