Michael Zwiebach

Michael Zwiebach is the senior editor/content manager for SFCV. He assigns all articles and content, manages the writing staff, and does editing. A member of SFCV from the beginning, Michael holds a Ph.D. in music history from the University of California, Berkeley.

Articles By This Author

Michael Zwiebach - July 12, 2011

You might not think about attending the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, unless you’re a film buff. But all musicians know what makes silent film sound. If you’re intrigued by this merging of old and new, the Castro Theater is the place to be from July 14 to 17.

Michael Zwiebach - July 12, 2011

Experimental music in a wide variety of styles marks the Outsound Music Summit, now hitting its 10th year.

Michael Zwiebach - July 5, 2011

Most summer concerts are the equivalent of beach reading – the musical versions of vampire romances and spy thrillers. But for those who prefer to heft Gravity's Rainbow to the seaside, there is also a musical equivalent. Christopher Kula, the chief of Pacific Collegium is definitely one of the heavy lifting crowd and his programs never lack for ambition.

Michael Zwiebach - July 5, 2011

If you're wondering about the increasing coverage of jazz in the virtual pages of SFCV – more on this later – it's because jazz is classical music (not just America's classical music). Think about it: long-form instrumental pieces with lots of harmonic and rhythmic complexity (some of that derived from those European dead white males); small, niche market of enthusiasts; a repertoire of bedrock, classic pieces, which musicians reinterpret over and over again; casual listeners may find it “difficult”. What am I describing, traditional classical or traditional jazz?

Michael Zwiebach - July 5, 2011

If you like the breath of fresh air provided by Pamela and Amy X Neuburg, then you'll want to check in to the Room at the Royce Gallery to hear Los Angeles' Robin Cox Ensemble.

Michael Zwiebach - June 28, 2011

When a composer has a great dance tune with no place to go, it's time to write a serenade. Serenades are on the populist end of classical music, which is why the San Francisco Symphony is devoting one of their summer pops concerts to them. Eine, kleine Nachtmusik is a case in point: We don't know why Mozart composed it, but since tunes dropped from his brain like water droplets off a wet collie, he didn't really need a reason, did he?

Michael Zwiebach - June 28, 2011

Ever wanted to hear the sounds of Alaskan wildlife presented in the context of live, contemporary music? Of course you have.

Michael Zwiebach - June 21, 2011

Beethoven's Missa Solemnis ends the regular season at the S.F. Symphony, the late-period score that Beethoven managed to create a kind of oratorio-symphony with, a piece that promises to deepen the orchestra's connection to Beethoven.

Michael Zwiebach - June 21, 2011

To the rest of America, S.F. is the home of gay rights. But the S.F. Bay Area is also a music capital, so it makes sense that the Annual Pride Celebration should make a place for a number of the city's pioneering GLBTQ music ensembles.

Michael Zwiebach - June 14, 2011

Over at the Jewish Museum, a new exhibit on Gertrude Stein is in full swing. On Thursday the Museum hosts the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony and their special guest, New York TImes music critic Anthony Tommasini in a program about the collaborations between Stein and composer Virgil Thomson.