Noe Valley Chamber Music hit the jackpot for the celebration of its 20th anniversary on May 19 in San Francisco's St. Mark's Lutheran Church: the event will feature Frederica von Stade, soprano Lisa Delan, tenor William Burden, baritone Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek, pianist/composer Jake Heggie, violinist Dawn Harms, and cellist Emil Miland.
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg's New Century Chamber Orchestra has consistently adventurous programming, but the upcoming series may be the first (at least until I am corrected) of an all-symphonic lineup. Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and Haydn’s Farewell Symphony will bracket the commissioned world premiere of Lera Auerbach's String Symphony No.
April 20-21, Saturday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and weekends through May 5 at Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley: Bay Area Children’s Theater presents Knuffle Bunny, A Cautionary Musical. This is a musical version of Mo Willem’s now-classic story.
Palo Alto High School, which opened in 1898, is right across the street from Stanford University; in fact, right across the street from Stanford in every sense. “Paly” is known for its intensely competitive academic schedule and is regularly rated among the top 30 public high schools in the state.
Ivan Ilic, a pianist born in Belgrade, later a resident of Palo Alto, schooled at Berkeley and the S.F. Conservatory of Music, has gone on to graduate studies in Paris, and a career in Europe. He writes to Music News:
Strains of classical music echoed on Sunday — not inside an august concert hall — but in a bleak Chicago jail where the mostly teenage boys await trial on charges ranging from dope dealing to murder.
Scott Sandmeier has been named Music Director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra, to begin with next season's first concert on September 28. He will also lead the orchestra in performances on Feb. 15 and May 3 next year.
