SFCM Announces Spring 2023 Schedule of Live Performances
With prominent guest conductors, collaborations with Opus 3 Artists, an operatic adaptation of a famous novel, innovative collaborations and performances, SFCM’s spring 2023 semester promises a thrilling season.
As we welcome a new season, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is pleased to announce its spring 2023 concert series, which includes a combination of in-person and live-streamed events.
As part of SFCM’s ongoing partnership with leading artist management company Opus 3 Artists, the Conservatory will welcome the beloved brass quintet Canadian Brass for a residency in February, including a side-by-side performance with students and a masterclass. One of the world’s finest chamber orchestras, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, will also come to SFCM for a concert in March.
Based on the famous novel by Louisa May Alcott, the SFCM Opera and Musical Theatre program will bring Little Women: the Musical to the stage in February. The program will also debut The Consul, the first full-length opera by Gian Carlo Menotti—widely considered his best—with Opus 3 Artist Patricia Racette as director of the opera and California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera as conductor.
SFCM is pleased to welcome back world-renowned and critically acclaimed pianist Yuja Wang in late February as an Artist-in-Residence. Yuja will work with collegiate and Pre-College students in lessons, coachings, readings, and masterclasses.
The ever-popular “Chamber Music Tuesday” series will continue this spring. Among its highlights will be world-renowned guest artists including Wonhee Bae, Opus 3 Artist Benjamin Beilman, and quartet-in-residence the Telegraph Quartet, all in collaboration with SFCM alumni, faculty, and students.
This season, the SFCM Orchestra and Edwin Outwater perform a world premiere by Emerging Black Composers Project winner Sumi Tonooka. The SFCM Orchestra will also welcome Opus 3 Artist pianist Aaron Diehl and new faculty member, harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, as soloists.
In an ongoing partnership with SFJAZZ, the SFCM Roots, Jazz, and American Music (RJAM) students and members of the SFJAZZ Collective will play in a special side-by-side concert February 5.
Music fans are invited to attend these concerts and others inside the Ute and William K. Bowes, Jr. Center for Performing Arts or the Bowes Center—inaugurated in fall 2021—where 90% of concerts are free and open to the public! This season in addition to Uccello Lounge, select SFCM concerts will offer food and drink concessions to the public.
Calendar listings are below. Some events require ticketing and continuing this season, patrons can reserve tickets online using SFCM’s website. Please see SFCM’s performance calendar for a complete concert schedule and to register for attendance. Details and programs are subject to change.
Sunday, February 5th, 7:30 PM
RJAM & SFJAZZ Side-By-Side: Rising Stars
Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ, 201 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA
SFCM is proud to partner with SFJAZZ for this concert. The stellar faculty cast includes the SFJAZZ Collective's Warren Wolf, David Sanchez, Edward Simon, and Matt Brewer, along with luminaries Joshua Redman, SFCM alumnus Julian Lage, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Matt Wilson and many others.
Tuesday, February 7th, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Tuesday featuring Wonhee Bae and faculty Julio Elizalde, Dimitri Murrath and Matthew Worth
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No.6
Franz Schubert: 'Sei mir gegrüsst,’ Op. 20 No. 1, D. 741
Franz Schubert: Fantasy in C Major for violin and piano, D. 934
Bedřich Smetana: Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15
International prize winner and first violinist of the Esmé Quartet, Wonhee Bae joins SFCM faculty and students in performances of chamber music works by Beethoven, Schubert and Smetana, including Schubert’s masterwork for violin, the Fantasie in C Major. Voice faculty Matthew Worth also joins the series in a performance of Schubert lieder.
Saturday, February 11th, 7:30 PM
SFCM Orchestra Concert with Edwin Outwater
Taylor See, soprano
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Program:
Sumi Tonooka: Only the Midnight Sky and the Silent Stars (World Premiere)
Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24
Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116
In their first concert of the spring season, Edwin Outwater conducts the SFCM Orchestra as they perform the world premiere of Emerging Black Composers Project winner Sumi Tonooka. Concerto Competition winner Taylor See will also be featured as soloist in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. This concert concludes with Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra.
About the Emerging Black Composers Project
Sunday, February 12th, 2:00 PM
Historical Performance Concerto Winners' Concert
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
John Garth: Concerto for Violoncello in D Major, Op. 1, No. 1 No. 1
Kyle Stachnik, baroque cello
J. S. Bach: Concerto for Harpsichord in D Minor, BWV 1052
Yunyi Ji, harpsichord
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: Concerto for Violoncello in D Major, Op. 26, No. 6
Octavio Mujica, baroque cello
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor, RV 523
Annemarie Schubert and Eliana Estrada, baroque violins
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Violoncello in D Minor, RV 407
Hasan Abualhaj, baroque cello
Co-Directed by Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, the SFCM Baroque Ensemble presents the winners of the 2022-2023 Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition in a concert of dazzling, virtuosic baroque concerti.
Wednesday, February 15th, 7:30 PM
New Music Ensemble Concert With Nicole Paiement
Conductor Nicole Paiement will take the stage Nov. 15th for a very special New Music Ensemble Concert that is full of surprises.
Sol Joseph Recital Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Program:
Nicolas Lell Benavides: Cool Grey City: Gardens
Sarah Wald: Adagio
Yangfan Xu: Shangui
Jason Hainsworth: Rages, Wages
Internationally known conductor Nicole Paiement leads the New Music Ensemble in an eclectic program of works by living composers, featuring pieces by SFCM alumni, as well as a work by SFCM RJAM Executive Director Jason Hainsworth.
Thursday, February 16th 7:30 PM and Friday, February 17th, 7:30 PM
SFCM Opera and Musical Theatre presents Little Women the Musical
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Michael Mohammed, stage director
Michael Horsley, conductor
Little Women the Musical
Music by Jason Howland, Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein
This Broadway sensation is based on Louisa May Alcott's famous novel tale of growing up in New England after the American Civil War. Full production of the musical with an SFCM cast.
About SFCM Opera and Musical Theater
Thursday, February 23rd, 7:30 PM
Canadian Brass Side-by-Side Concert
Opus 3 Artist the Canadian Brass including SFCM grad Achilles Liarmakopoulos (far right).
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Program:
J.S. Bach, arr. Rickard: Brilliant Brass Overtures
Orlando Gibbons, arr. Frackenpohl: In nomine à 5
Wassily Kalinnikov, arr. Dokshitser: Nocturne from Symphony No. 1
Samuel Scheidt: Echo
Caleb Hudson: White Rose Elegy
Astor Piazzolla, arr. Verhelst: Suite from Maria de Buenos Aires
With an international reputation as one of the most popular brass ensembles today, SFCM welcomes Opus 3 Artist Canadian Brass for a residency, culminating in this side-by-side performance with SFCM brass students. The residency will also feature the acclaimed ensemble working with students in masterclasses and professional development seminars during their week-long visit.
Tuesday, March 7th, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Tuesday featuring faculty Eric Chin, Dimitri Murrath and Jeremiah Shaw
Dimitri Murrath
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 454
Beethoven Piano Trio, Op. 97 ‘Archduke’
SFCM students and faculty perform a special concert featuring the works of several famous composers.
Wednesday, March 8th 7:30 PM
TAC: The Future is Female Concert
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
In honor of International Women’s Day SFCM presents a concert of music by women organized by and featuring the women and gender non-conforming people of SFCM. Hosted by the Technology and Applied Composition program, or TAC, students and faculty throughout the SFCM community participate in composing, performing and celebrating this event.
About Technology and Applied Composition
Side-by-Side Concert with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Avi Avital
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Opus 3 Artist The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields is one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras, renowned for its fresh, brilliant interpretations of great orchestral music. SFCM chamber music majors and string students will perform side-by-side with The Academy in an intimate concert setting. As part of its residency with SFCM, The Academy will also engage SFCM students in masterclasses and seminars.
*This special event will be ticketed and will have limited seating.
About Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Saturday, March 11th 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 12th, 2:00 pm
SFCM Opera and Musical Theatre presents The Consul
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Patricia Racette, stage director
Donato Cabrera, conductor
Giancarlo Menotti: The Consul
Opus 3 Artist Patrica Racette will direct with Donato Cabrera conducting this famous production set around an enigmatic consulate in Eastern Europe. Gian Carlo Menotti’s first full-length opera builds a gloomy world in which a family’s desperate attempt to flee totalitarian rule is met with an indifferent bureaucracy. Full production with SFCM cast to be announced.
About SFCM Opera and Musical Theater
Saturday, April 1st, 7:30 PM
SFCM Orchestra Concert with Edwin Outwater
Emmanuel Ceysson's career has taken him across the world playing harp with some of the most prestigious organizations in the music world.
Emmanuel Ceysson, harp
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Program:
Alberto Ginastera: Variaciones concertantes, Op.23
Henriette Renié: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra in C minor
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
This concert features new SFCM faculty member and Principal Harpist of the LA Philharmonic Emmanuel Ceysson as soloist in Henriette Renié’s Harp Concerto, as well as student soloists in Ginastera’s Variaciones concertantes.
About Emmanuel Ceysson
Tuesday, April 4th, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Tuesday featuring the Telegraph Quartet
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet No. 40 in F Major, Op. 50 No. 5 “The Dream”
Gabriela Lena Frank: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
Felix Mendelssohn: Octet for strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20
Featuring SFCM’s ensemble-in-residence, the Telegraph Quartet presents both classics in the chamber music repertoire, as well as works by living composers. Following pieces for string quartet by Haydn and Gabriela Lena Frank, the Telegraph members invite four students to join them for a performance of one of the most celebrated chamber music works, the Mendelssohn Octet. The students in this performance were selected through a competition paneled by the Telegraph members.
About SFCM String and Piano Chamber Music
Saturday, April 8th 7:00 PM and Sunday, April 9th, 2:00 PM
SFCM Historical Performance Presents Flavio, Re de' Longobardi
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Conductor: Corey Jamason
Baroque Ensemble direction: Corey Jamason, Elisabeth Reed, Marcie Stapp
George Frideric Handel: Flavio, Re de' Longobardi
SFCM Historical Performance presents one of Handel's lesser known operatic masterpieces: Flavio. This charming opera juxtaposes tragedy and comedy in a way quite unique in Handel's operas. The performances will feature voice and instrumental students of the baroque ensemble.
About the Historical Performance Program
Friday, April 28th, 7:30 PM
SFCM Orchestra Concert with Edwin Outwater
Aaron Diehl, piano
David Baker, student conductor
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Program:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Overture
Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Mary Lou Williams: Zodiac Suite
The SFCM Orchestra closes out its season with three monumental works. Student conductor David Baker leads the orchestra in Tchaikovsky's über-romantic masterpiece inspired by the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet. Edwin Outwater takes over the podium for a performance of the work Strauss deemed in his autobiography, “greatest present that has ever been made to humankind so far.” The concert then concludes with Outwater joining forces with Opus 3 Artist and pianist Aaron Diehl and his trio, for a performance of Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite, a series of dedications to fellow musicians born under each astrological sign.
About Edwin Outwater
About Aaron Diehl
Tuesday, May 2nd, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Tuesday Featuring Benjamin Beilman and faculty Pei-Ling Lin
Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 200 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Ute and William K. Bowes Jr. Center for Performing Arts
Program:
Gabriella Smith: Sanguineum for solo violin (West Coast premiere)
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87
Antonín Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65
Opus 3 Artist and internationally acclaimed violinist Benjamin Beilman performs the West Coast premiere of Sanguineum, a work for solo violin composed by composer and environmentalist Gabriella Smith, and co-commissioned by SFCM. Beilman also performs with SFCM students and faculty in works by Mendelssohn and Dvořák.
Thursday, May 4th 7:30 pm and Friday, May 5th, 7:30 PM
SFCM Opera and Musical Theatre presents L'enfant et les sortilèges
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA
Ann Getty Center for Education
Heather Mathews, stage director
Curt Pajer, conductor
Maurice Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges
Full production with an SFCM cast, this performance features the fantastical story of a naughty child who is punished for their bad behavior when the items in their room come to life to take their revenge.