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

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Orchestra of Fun

Michael Zwiebach - April 7, 2009
Benjamin Simon

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra concerts are always lively affairs.

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Carmen

Michael Zwiebach - April 7, 2009
Carmen

Few classical works are as recession-proof as Opera San José's next production, Georges Bizet's Carmen.

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Rossetti Piano Quartet

Michael Zwiebach - April 7, 2009
Rossetti Piano Quartet

Put three-quarters of a string quartet (violin, viola, cello) together with a piano and you have a grouping that has inspired some of the g

Alfonso Alberti:The Music of Niccolò Castiglioni

Michael Zwiebach - March 24, 2009
A rare opportunity to hear one of the 20th century’s underplayed composers. Though Niccolò Castiglioni (1932-1996) isn’t often mentioned in histories of 20th-century music, his music seems more contemporary than many composers who are.

Magnificat: Scarlatti Serenata

Michael Zwiebach - March 24, 2009
In the old days, when classical music was reserved for upper-crust audiences, a lot of music got one or two performances and then was put away in a library and forgotten. That’s why a group like Magnificat, Warren Stewart’s 17th-century music band, is so much fun to see. Often their performance of a piece is the only chance you’ll get to experience it live.
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Old Friends, Getting It Right Again

Michael Zwiebach - March 17, 2009
You often hear chamber music described as a conversation, but really it’s like a meeting of friends. Back in the old days, chamber music was one way to pass the time with friends, and also to indulge a love of music (since there were no radios or stereos to turn on).

Think about that as you listen to the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio in their concert for Chamber Music San Francisco.

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Passion for Bach

Michael Zwiebach - January 20, 2009
The American Bach Soloists, a charter member of the Bay Area’s thriving early music community, turns 20 this season.
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Welcoming the Dawn

Michael Zwiebach - January 13, 2009
It's rare that an interesting new opera simply appears, without the fanfare of commissions and publicity surrounding the premiere. Yet composer Allen Shearer's second opera, The Dawn Makers, is poised to do just that, when it debuts at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre on Feb. 4, conducted by J. Karla Lemon, directed by Brian Staufenbiel, and produced by Composers, Inc.

In Memoriam: Jorge Liderman(1957 - 2008)

Michael Zwiebach - December 24, 2008

The Bay Area music community and the world lost an important voice and a respected, beloved teacher on Sunday, when composer Jorge Liderman died in an apparent suicide after being hit by a BART train at the El Cerrito Plaza station. He had recently taken a leave of absence from the music department at UC Berkeley in order to treat his depression.

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The Man Who Built Bridges

Michael Zwiebach - September 16, 2008
If you're a dead white male composer, you probably envy Leonard Bernstein. It used to be that full-career retrospectives were reserved for major anniversaries, but New York City's cultural institutions stage one every 10 years in Bernstein's honor. In 1998, the Lincoln Center Festival produced one.