2015-16 Season

JOIN US for our 2015-16 season - Tickets and Subscriptions available now! (Tickets)

Add all four productions at the same price level and receive a 20% subscription discount, plus waiver of all fees!

September 5, 2015

Shostakovitch - Festive Overture Op. 96

Ravel - Piano Concerto in D Major (for left hand)

Keith Porter-Snell, piano

Franck - Symphony in D minor

November 7, 2015 w/Guest Conductor Michael Morgan

Joseph Stillwell - Music for a Forgotten City

Dvorak - Cello Concerto

Joseph Johnson, cello

Kalinnikov  - Symphony No. 1

March 5, 2016

Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet

Jennifer Higdon - Dooryard Bloom (based on poem by Walt Whitman)

Hadleigh Adams, baritone

Dvorak - Symphony No. 7

June 4, 2016

Rossini - La Gazza Ladra Overture

Michael Daugherty - Hell's Angels

Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 6

These events are sponsored in part by a grant from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund

The Panama-Pacific Centennial Concert with BARS

Saturday, June 20, 2015, 8:00 pm concert Palace of Fine Arts 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94123

Featuring Bay Area Rainbow Symphony along with the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and other guests

Tickets and more info: annualprideconcert.org

June 6, 2015 8pm

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St at Van Ness, SF 94102 (Map)(Tickets)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman

Dawn Harms, Music Director & Conductor

Kaprálová - Partita for Piano and Strings

Clara Wieck Schumann - Piano Concerto

Sara Davis Buechner, piano

Smyth - Serenade

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

About Sara Davis Buechner, piano

Sara Davis Buechner is one of the leading concert pianists of our time. She has been praised worldwide as a musician of “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (New York Times). Japan’s InTune magazine says: “When it comes to clarity, flawless tempo selection, phrasing and precise control of timbre, Buechner has no superior.”   In her twenties, Ms. Buechner won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and was a Bronze Medalist of the 1986 Tschaikowsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.   With an active repertoire of more than 100 piano concertos ranging from A (Albeníz) to Z (Zimbalist) -- one of the largest of any concert pianist today -- she has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s prominent orchestras. Audiences throughout North America have applauded Ms. Buechner’s recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and the Hollywood Bowl; and she enjoys wide success throughout Asia where she tours annually.   Sara Davis Buechner’s numerous CD and DVD recordings have received prominent critical appraisal. She can be seen and heard on numerous live video and audio recordings on her website and YouTube Channel; and she has created many essays in written, spoken and film format on her blog “Sara Says.”   She is a Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and an Honorary Visiting Professor of Music at the University of Shanghai. Sara Davis Buechner is a Yamaha artist.

June 6, 3:00 pm Recital - FREE EVENT

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St at Van Ness, SF 94102 (Map)(Tickets) This event was subsidized partially by generous anonymous donor which now allows us to charge no further admission. Please still use Ticket link but there will be no charge for seats.

Crossing the Concourse: Sara Davis Buechner in Music and Words

Sara Davis Buechner, piano

Crossing the Concourse: Sara Davis Buechner in Music and Words. Sara will illustrate her life story and transgender journey with short piano pieces, including one of her own compositions. She will talk about being the T in LGBTQ and share with dignity and humor what she has learned along the way about gender, gender roles, and discuss how preconceptions have both limited and enhanced her own life. Followed by a Q&A session.

Sara Davis Buechner is one of the leading concert pianists of our time. She has been praised worldwide as a musician of “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (New York Times). Japan’s InTune magazine says: “When it comes to clarity, flawless tempo selection, phrasing and precise control of timbre, Buechner has no superior.” In her twenties, Ms. Buechner won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and was a Bronze Medalist of the 1986 Tschaikowsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.

Kickstarter Link

Thanks to all our contributors for making our Kickstarter campaign a success! Incentive updates will be sent at the end of August. Click here to take you to our Kickstarter campaign at http://kck.st/1AgXGd2

Horn & Trumpet auditions at end of March

ORCHESTRAL MUSICIANS INTERESTED IN THE BAY AREA RAINBOW SYMPHONY  Strong French horn and trumpet players are particularly needed at this time and we invite players interested in trying out for those sections to fill in our New Player Form and we will contact you about possible date and times for auditions, which will be held at the end of March or beginning of April.   Our musicians and audiences recognize the high artistic quality and social atmosphere of the ensemble at our sold-out concerts. You’re sure to enjoy our weekly rehearsals at SF State University on Wednesday evenings from 7:30PM to 10PM. We welcome LGBTQ and straight musicians (approximately 20-25% of our members and 40% of our audience identify as straight). We have musicians from all over the Bay Area and provide carpools. Advanced and intermediate players are welcome. Or next regular rehearsal will be Wed January 21st. Please RSVP in advance and fill in our New Player Form.   Email recruitment at bars-sf dot org for questions or more information.

March 14, 2015, 8 pm

Everett Middle School, 450 Church St between 16 & 17th St, SF 94114 (Map)(Tickets)

 

Dawn Harms, Music Director & Conductor

Marko Bajzer - Codex

Weber - Clarinet Concerto No. 1

Brahms - Symphony No. 3

 

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

About Natalie Parker, Clarinet A native of South Carolina, Natalie Parker is currently the principal clarinet of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Ms Parker joined the Ballet Orchestra in January of 2012 and received her masters in music from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music the following May. Ms Parker has recently attended such music festivals as Brevard Music Center, the Madeline Island Chamber Music Camp and the Texas Music Festival. While in school, she actively participated in the Houston Da Camera Young Artist's Program and JUMP!, the community music outreach program at Rice University. In 2010, Ms Parker won second prize in the International Clarinet Association's Young Artist Competition and performed in recital at the Association's annual ClarinetFest. Since arriving in San Francisco, Ms Parker has played frequently with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and enjoys performing chamber music throughout the Bay area. She currently is on faculty at San Francisco State University.  

About Marko Bajzer, composer His music being praised as “a beauty,” and “enhancing the program,” (Music in Cincinnati) Marko Bajzer (b. 1989) is an emerging Croatian-American composer and performer hailing from Minnesota. Bajzer’s music often uncovers the beauty in simplicity and lies somewhere in the crossroads of post-minimalism and neoromanticism.   Bajzer has written for a variety of media, including wind ensemble, orchestra, chamber music, voice, and electronics. His works have been performed by such ensembles as the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble, the CCM Brass Choir, the CCM Chamber Players, San Francisco Choral Artists, Yerba Buena Brass Quintet, Splinter Reeds Quintet, the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra, the Blue Lake Festival Band, and numerous pick-up chamber groups. Bajzer’s current projects include a commission for a piece for trumpet/flugelhorn and percussion, and a piece for orchestra and narrator entitled “I Read it on Reddit: a Gen-Y Symphony,” which draws inspiration from the popular, social news/entertainment website, reddit.com. His piece, “Zrikavac” was a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Competition, and “Wind Sextet,” was selected as a winner for the CCM SCI Recording Project. His primary teachers include Joel Hoffman, Dan Becker, Douglas Knehans, Ellen Harrison, Michael Fiday, and David Schneider.   Bajzer is also an active performer. His passion stems from sharing with the audience obscure works that are high in quality. He was the principal bassoonist of the Austin (MN) Symphony Orchestra and the Mayo Clinic Chamber Symphony Orchestra, the second bassoonist of the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra, and has performed in a variety of ensembles at the University of Cincinnati as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. An active soloist, Bajzer was featured by the Rochester Chamber Music Society and the Mayo Clinic Chamber Symphony Orchestra. His primary teachers include William Winstead, John Miller, Martin James, and Jennifer Welch. Bajzer also performs on numerous other instruments, most notably the contrabassoon, with which he has performed extensively; the horn; with which he was the fourth hornist of the Blue Lake Festival Band; and the alto flute, with which he was the alto flutist of the Rochester Flute Choir.   Bajzer earned his bachelors degree (B.M.) from University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, where he majored in composition, bassoon performance, and music education. He is currently pursuing a masters degree (M.M.) in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He presently resides in San Francisco with his plant, Alaric III.

Next Rehearsal is Wed., Jan. 21st - next auditions at end of March

ORCHESTRAL MUSICIANS INTERESTED IN THE BAY AREA RAINBOW SYMPHONY  BARS invites orchestral musicians to inquire about joining the symphony.  Our next rehearsal is Wed., January 21st but new, interested players should sign up on our New Player Form before coming.   French horn and trumpet players are particularly needed at this time and we invite players interested in trying out for those sections to fill in our New Player Form and we will contact you about possible date and times for auditions, which will be held at the end of March or beginning of April.   Our musicians and audiences recognize the high artistic quality and social atmosphere of the ensemble at our sold-out concerts. You’re sure to enjoy our weekly rehearsals at SF State University on Wednesday evenings from 7:30PM to 10PM. We welcome LGBTQ and straight musicians (approximately 20-25% of our members and 40% of our audience identify as straight). We have musicians from all over the Bay Area and provide carpools. Advanced and intermediate players are welcome.  Or next regular rehearsal will be Wed January 21st.  Please RSVP in advance and fill in our New Player Form.   Email recruitment at bars-sf dot org for questions or more information.

November 22, 2014, 8 p.m.

Calvary Presbyterian Church, 2515 Fillmore St at Jackson, SF 94115 (Map)(Tickets)

Michael Morgan, Guest Conductor

 Conrad Susa - The Blue Hour

 Mahler - Kindertotenlieder

               Zachary Gordin, baritone

 Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 2

     

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

These events are sponsored in part by a grant from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund

About Michael Morgan, guest conductor

Michael Morgan was born in Washington, DC, where he attended public schools and began conducting at the age of 12. While a student at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, he spent a summer at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, studying with Gunther Schuller and Seiji Ozawa. It was during this summer that he first worked with Leonard Bernstein.

His operatic debut was in 1982 at the Vienna State Opera conducting Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. In 1986, Sir Georg Solti chose him to become the Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for five years under both Solti and Daniel Barenboim. Also in 1986 he was invited by Leonard Bernstein to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic. As a guest conductor he has appeared with most of America’s major orchestras as well as with the New York City Opera, St. Louis Opera Theater and Washington National Opera.

In addition to his duties with Oakland East Bay Symphony, Maestro Morgan serves as Artistic Director of Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, Music Director of Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Music Director of Bear Valley Music Festival, and teaches the graduate conducting course at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As Stage Director he has led productions of Bernstein’s Mass at the Oakland East Bay Symphony and stagings of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Gounod’s Faust at Festival Opera. As a chamber musician (piano) he has appeared on the Chamber Music Alive series in Sacramento as well as making the occasional appearance in the Bay Area.

He was honored by the San Francisco Chapter of The Recording Academy with the 2005 Governor’s Award for Community Service. On the opposite coast, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) chose Morgan as one of its five 2005 Concert Music Award recipients. ASCAP further honored Oakland East Bay Symphony in 2006 with its Award for Adventurous Programming. The San Francisco Foundation has honored him with one of its Community Leadership Awards, and he received an Honorary Doctorate from Holy Names University.

Maestro Morgan makes many appearances in the nation’s schools each year, particularly in the East Bay, and is highly regarded as a champion of arts education and minority access to the arts. He serves on the Boards of Oaktown Jazz Workshops and Purple Silk Music Education Foundation.

About Zachary Gordin, baritone

Baritone Zachary Gordin is renowned for bringing masterful singing and strong physicality to a wide variety of roles: from baroque heroes, to contemporary works written specifically for him. For his debut at the Olympic Music Festival, the Seattle Times hailed him as “a singer already capable of some arresting musical insights. The occasional big effects were commanding and intense without ever descending into coarseness, and the delicacy and tonal allure he brought to the cycle’s preponderance of quiet songs were deeply impressive.” Recent operatic performances include Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte as a guest artist with the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Visalia Opera Company, Escamillo in Carmen with Diablo Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Lyric Opera, Ben in The Telephone with Blue Sage Center for the Arts, Silvio in Pagliacci and Monterone in Rigoletto with Sacramento Opera, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas and El Cantaor in La vida breve with West Bay Opera, Germont in La Traviata with West Bay Opera and Center Stage Opera, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with North Bay Opera and Center Stage Opera, and many others.

Equally at home as a soloist on the concert stage, Gordin has performed Brahms’ Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Oakland Symphony Chorus, Duruflé’s Requiem with the Valley Concert Chorale, Mendelssohn’s Magnificat with the Dominican Winifred Baker Chorale, Schubert’s Mass in E-flat and Psalm 92 with the San Francisco Choral Society, Bach’s Cantata #82 “Ich habe genug” and Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Duruflé’s Requiem, and Schubert’s Mass in G with San Francisco City Chorus, Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and Women Sing, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Center Stage Opera Orchestra. Upcoming performances include: a concert of new works for The Artist Sessions at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, “Opera Under the Stars” concert for Opera Arts Palm Springs, and another performance of Carmina Burana with the YOSA Philharmonic in San Antonio.

Gordin has been in high demand as a guest artist with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, where has sung Handel’s Messiah, Fauré’s Requiem, Verdi’s Otello, Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, “A Night at the Opera”, as well as Orff’s Carmina Burana. As Carmina Burana has become a signature piece, over the past few seasons he has reprised this demanding role in performances with Pacific Shores Philharmonic, Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Clara Chorale, the Choral Project, and the UC Berkeley Choruses. Recent premieres of works written for him have included “Constant Fever” by Sheli Nan, The Myth of Kurva by Loretta Notareschi, and “A Nation Announcing Itself” by Clint Borzoni for the Sacramento Pride Gala “Courage to Stand”.

Gordin’s talent has been recognized as a winner of prestigious vocal competitions, including: the Pacific Musical Society Competition, East Bay Opera League Vocal Competition, Bellini International Voice Competition, and the Ibla Grand Prize Baroque Music Competition. He was the recipient of the Irene Patti Swartz Encouragement Award for the Florida Grand Opera National Voice Competition, and Grantee of the Vocal Arts Foundation in San Francisco.  He was also World Finalist for the Academia at Teatro alla Scala, Regional Finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the youngest candidate selected for the ORFEO 2000 World Competition of International Finalists hosted by Hannover Staatsoper.

Saturday Nov 1, 2014 at 6 p.m. Rainbow Chamber Players

St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, 3281 16th St, San Francisco @ Dolores (Map)  

Rainbow Chamber Players: Only Air

Robert Muczynski: Wind Quintet

Miguel del Aguila: Salon Buenos Aires (excerpt)

David Del Tredici: Acrostic Song (Chamber version)

Dennis Tobenski: Only Air (Chamber version, West Coast Premiere)

Johann Strauss II/ arr. Arnold Schoenberg: Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz)

Cost: Free, voluntary donations accepted for the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony.

Reception will follow the performance.

Part of the LGBTQ Performers and Composers Series

Rainbow Chamber Players is made up of member of Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (BARS). BARS is dedicated to increasing visibility and challenging stereotypes of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and (LGBT) composers and instrumentalists, connecting with audiences from all communities.

Public Transportation: Muni J Church, 16^th St; BART 16th St. Mission

Doors open at 5:30 pm

Only Air is a 20-minute work for voice and chamber ensemble with a text by poet Kathryn Levy that memorializes the LGBT teenagers who have taken their own lives due to anti-gay bullying. Originally composed for voice and orchestra and commissioned by the Illinois State University Symphony Orchestra, this chamber version was commissioned and premiered by The Secret Opera, a New York-based opera company dedicated to presenting provocative and socially relevant operatic and vocal works. The piece is in the form of an extended song with five instrumental interludes, which are meditations on five young men who committed suicide: Justin Aaberg, Seth Walsh, Asher Brown, Zach Harrington, and Tyler Clementi.

Dennis Tobenski is a composer of acoustic new music whose work has been described by Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times as “distinctive and engaging”. His focus as a vocalist is primarily on the works of the 21st and late 20th centuries, and he will be recording his first album of art songs by five living American composers in November 2014 with pianist Marc Peloquin. Dennis also writes The Composer’s Guide to Doing Business, a blog series that takes a look at the practical and financial aspects of the concert music business from a composer’s point of view. Dennis lives in New York City with his fiancee Darien Scott Shulman and their cats Midget, Pistachio, and Bond. dennistobenski.com

Performers include: Cyrus Ginwala, pianist and conductor, is on the faculty at San Francisco State University. cyrusginwala.com Neil Sharp, tenor, violin, studied medicine at Cambridge and Edinburgh and worked as a doctor in the UK before leaving medicine to pursue a career in music as a singer, violinist and musical director. For 15 years he sang in operas and concerts throughout the UK and in Europe including at the Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals. 10 years ago changed careers again and moved to the Bay Area to study and now collaborate with Anat Baniel, the pioneer in the field of NeuroMovement. Movement with attention, and other practical tools capitailizing on the capacity of the brain to change, are used to achieve breakthrough outcomes with children with special needs, adults with pain and high performing athletes and musicians. Dennis Tobenski, composer, tenor, Kyle Baldwin, percussion, conductor, David Latulippe, flute, Gene Nakajima, clarinet, Thomas Alexander, violin, Russ Bartoli, cello, Donny Lobree, viola, Fred Fox oboe, Tom Hill, bassoon, Jamie Hops, trumpet, Steve Willis, bass, George Gelles, french horn The concert welcomes members of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (AGLP) and the American Psychiatric Association who are attending the Institute of Psychiatric Services, mental health professionals, and family and friends.

September 14, 2014, 4 pm

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St at Van Ness, SF 94102 (Map)(Tickets)

Dawn Harms, Music Director & Conductor

Gabrieli - Canzon Septimi Toni No. 2

Armer - Call of the West

Mahler - Symphony No. 4

Christine Brandes, soprano

 

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

About Christine Brandes, soprano Noted for her radiant, crystalline voice and superb musicianship, soprano Christine Brandes brings her committed artistry to repertoire ranging from the 17th century to newly composed works and enjoys an active career in North America and abroad, performing at many of the world’s most distinguished festivals and concert series in programs spanning from recitals and chamber music to oratorio and opera.
Highlights of Christine Brandes’ 2013-14 season include Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carlo Rizzi, a program of Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 Jeremiah and Haydn’s Mass No. 10 in C major Paukenmesse with the Santa Rosa Symphony led by Bruno Ferrandis, and performances at the 92nd Street Y in New York City with the Brentano String Quartet.
Last season Ms. Brandes gave a series of important premieres including an Eric Moe commission entitled Of Color Braided All Desire with the Brentano String Quartet as part of the South Mountain Concert Series, and Jennifer Higdon’s In the Shadow of Sirius, based on poetry of former American Poet Laureate, W.S. Merwin with the Cypress String Quartet at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.
During recent seasons, Ms. Brandes appeared at Washington National Opera as Despina in Così fan tutte conducted by Philippe Auguin and as Catherine in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge and made returns to Portland Opera in Così fan tutte, to Central City Opera as Maria Corona in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Saint of Bleecker Street, and to Seattle Opera as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Gary Thor Wedow in a new production directed by Chris Alexander. She also bowed with Arizona Opera as the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, conducted by Joel Revzen, and with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare and as The Governess in The Turn of the Screw.
Recent symphonic appearances have included concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the batons of both Pierre Boulez and Esa-Pekka Salonen, performances of John Adams’s El Niño with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Michael Christie and the Phoenix Symphony, St. John Passion with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with Sir Simon Rattle and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mozart’s Requiem with the Cleveland Orchestra and John Nelson, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl conducted by Grant Gershon, Handel’s L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il moderato with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Kennedy Center, conducted by Jane Glover, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Beethoven’s Egmont with Wolfgang Sawallisch and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Sir Simon Rattle, both with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Mozart opera arias and Strauss orchestral songs with the National Symphony Orchestra and Heinz Fricke, Bach Cantatas with the New World Symphony Orchestra, a recording and European tour of Jomelli's Ezio with world renowned baroque orchestra Il Complesso Barocco under the baton of Alan Curtis, Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Tafelmusik, and the Minnesota Orchestra, Carmina Burana with the Houston Symphony, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Jane Glover and the Music of the Baroque, Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War with Bernard Labadie and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony, and Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Andreas Delfs and the Milwaukee Symphony, the Canton Symphony, and paired with Berg’s Lulu Suite with the Santa Rosa Symphony. She also has bowed at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and at the Ravinia Festival with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra as well as with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Freiburger Barockorchester, and the Handel & Haydn Society, Pacific Symphony and Arion Baroque Orchestra in Montreal, as well as a residency with the Oregon Bach Festival with performances of several Bach Cantatas and a semi-staged version of Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc under the batons of Helmuth Rilling and Marin Alsop respectively, among others.
Christine Brandes has recorded for EMI, BMG/Conifer Classics, Dorian, Harmonia Mundi USA, Virgin Classics, and Koch International.
About Elinor Armer, composer Elinor Armer was born, raised, and educated in California. She studied composition at Mills College (BA) with Darius Milhaud and at San Francisco State University (MA) with Roger Nixon. For the last 45 years she has taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, founding its Composition Department, which she chaired from 1984-95.
She has received numerous awards, commissions, fellowships, and performances throughout the U.S.A. and abroad. She was a founding member of Composers, Inc., has sat on the advisory board of Old First Concerts and the Djerassi Foundation, and on award panels for the National Endowment and several state arts councils. Armer’s works are performed throughout the United States and abroad, most recently at MoMA in New York City and at the Shanghai Chamber Music Festival. She celebrates her 75th birthday this year with a Diamond Jubilee of performances of her works throughout the 2014-15 concert season.
An extensive interview of Armer may be found on the San Francisco Conservatory’s Oral History Project and information regarding her work in the Elinor Armer archive at U.C. Berkeley’s Jean Hargrove Library of Music.

2014-15 Season

JOIN US for our 2014-2015 season - Tickets on sale now (Tickets)
Add all four productions at the same price level and receive a 20% subscription discount, plus waiver of all fees!
Dawn Harms has lined up a fantastic group of soloists for next season including Sara Davis Buechner, an internationally renowned transgender pianist. She has performed with America’s most prominent orchestras: the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Saint Louis and San Francisco, and won the Gold Medal at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition as well as the Bronze Medal in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition.
BARS is also thrilled to have the San Francisco Symphony’s principal clarinetist Carey Bell, as well as San Francisco Opera star Christine Brandes, the first “out” soprano in Opera News. Our guest conductor will be Michael Morgan, Music Director of the Oakland East Bay Symphony!
September 14, 4 p.m. Sunday matinee SF Conservatory of Music Dawn Harms, conductor Christine Brandes, soprano Gabrieli - Canzon Septimi Toni No. 2 Elinor Armer - “Call of the West” Mahler - Symphony No. 4
November 22, 8 p.m. Calvary Presbyterian Church Michael Morgan, Guest conductor Zachary Gordin, baritone Conrad Susa - The Blue Hour Mahler - Kindertotenlieder Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 2 (“Little Russian”) March 14, 2015 8 p.m. Everett Middle School Dawn Harms, conductor Carey Bell, clarinet Marko Bajzer - Codex Weber - Clarinet Concerto No. 1 Brahms - Symphony No. 3
June 6, 8 p.m. SF Conservatory of Music Dawn Harms, conductor Sara Davis Buechner, piano Clara Schumann - Piano Concerto Sibelius - Symphony No. 6

June 14, 2014, 8 p.m.

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St at Van Ness, SF 94102 (Map)(Tickets)  

Dawn Harms, Music Director and Conductor

"Opera Goes to the Movies"

Smyth - Wreckers Overture

Copland - Old American Songs (Simple Gifts, Bought Me A Cat)

Burr Phillips, baritone

Dvorak - Hymn to the Moon from Rusalka

Nicolle Foland, soprano

Lehar - Lippen Schweigen from Merry Widow (soprano and baritone duet)

Burr Phillips and Nicolle Foland

Morricone - The Mission

Bernstein - West Side Story Overture

Herrmann - Psycho Suite

Orff - In trutina, from Carmina Burana

Darita Mara Seth, countertenor

Delibes - Flower duet from Lakme

Nicolle Foland and Darita Mara Seth

Morricone - Cinema Paradiso

John Williams - Schindler's List

Dawn Harms, violin

Borodin - Polovtsian Dances

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

About Nicolle Foland, soprano

The San Francisco Chronicle has praised Nicolle Foland as “a singer who boasts a beautiful tone—accurate and clear from a lusty lower register up through the crystalline high notes—an eloquent way with a melodic phrase, and, to top it off, a stage presence both elegant and alluring." Her 2012-13 season highlight was a debut with Sacramento Opera singing the role of Nella in Gianni Schicchi as well as four Puccini arias in Puccini and His Muses. Earlier in the season, she performed a concert for the Napa Valley Opera House Association at the Mondavi Winery. The 2011-12 season included a recital on the A. Jess Shenson Recital Series at Stanford University and a debut for the San Francisco Ballet's opening gala singing Handel's "Lascia ch'io pianga" for a Helgi Tomasson choreographed classic. In the 2010-11 season she made a return to Opera Colorado as a Wood Nymph in Rusalka, a role in which she began her career with the San Francisco Opera. The season also included a recital in Sacramento, a performance of Ravel's She?he?razade with the Redwood Symphony as well as several benefit concert appearances for the Lung Cancer Foundation.

Her 2009-2010 season began with an appearance at the Music in May Chamber Music Festival performing works by Jake Heggie, and she finished her season with a debut at Virginia Opera singing the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She also sang on benefit concerts throughout the season.

In 2008-09 she began her season with a debut at the Princeton Festival singing Mimi in La bohème. She returned to the Mendocino Music Festival as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and made her debut there as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. A favorite in Telluride, she performed as the featured artist on the 35th Anniversary Gala for the Telluride Chamber Music Festival. She appeared with Utah Opera as the Countess and finishes the season making her debut with Opera Colorado in her first Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte.

Ms. Foland has a long-standing relationship with San Francisco Opera that began when she was a member of the prestigious Adler Fellowship program. She received great acclaim as Musetta in San Francisco Opera's highly successful 1996 production of La bohème, and she has since returned to the company as the Countess, Donna Anna, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Micaela in Carmen, Virtue in a new production of L’incoronazione di Poppea, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, multiple roles in Harvey Milk, and Freia in Das Rheingold. In addition, she appeared under the company’s auspices in a joint concert with Placido Domingo and sang Tina in the Opera Center production of Dominick Argento’s Aspern Papers, a West Coast premiere.

Nicolle Foland has appeared with leading opera theaters throughout North America. She made a highly-acclaimed debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Violetta in La Traviata, and later she repeated this role for her debuts with Houston Grand Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Utah Opera. Her debut with the Santa Fe Opera was in the role of Sifare in a new production of Mitridate, re di Ponto. Ms. Foland has also appeared at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, and New York City Opera in performances of the Countess and with Minnesota Opera in her first performances of Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello. She made her debuts with Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Baltimore Opera, and Opera Bilbao in Spain as Musetta. She also appeared as the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte for Los Angeles Opera. She made her debut with Cincinnati Opera as Micaela and has also sung the role at Michigan Opera Theatre, Arizona Opera, and New York City Opera. She has sung Mimi in La bohème with Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Arizona Opera. As Donna Anna, she debuted at Palm Beach Opera, at Opera Thessaloniki in Greece, and made a return to sing the role at Boston Baroque. Her debut with Boston Baroque and Opera Boston was in the title role of Glück’s Alceste. She made her New York City Opera debut as Kitty Hart in the New York premiere of Dead Man Walking, the role she sang at the work’s world premiere in San Francisco.

Recent performances include Rosalinda with Opera Grand Rapids, Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Central City Opera, and Fiordiligi in a concert version of Cosí fan tutte at the Mendocino Music Festival.

Ms. Foland appears frequently with leading symphony orchestras, including multiple appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, where she most recently sang the Fauré Requiem under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy. Her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Pierre Boulez was as a Flower Maiden in Parsifal, and she appeared as the featured soloist in gala concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra. She made her debut with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center as Genièvre in a rare performance of Chausson’s Le Roi Arthus. She sang with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in an evening of Italian operatic arias and duet. Her first appearance with the Colorado Symphony was as soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, and she later appeared with the Symphony in a gala opera concert. Singing operas in concert, she has performed Desdemona with the Kentucky Symphony and Micaela with the Sioux City Symphony in her home state of Iowa. With the Marin Symphony she was soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, she sang Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the California Symphony, and made her debut with the Mendocino Festival Orchestra in Ravel’s Shéhérazade. She has subsequently appeared in Mendocino singing her debut in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony.

Ms. Foland made her San Francisco solo recital debut in 1997 on the prestigious Schwabacher Debut Recital Series accompanied by Donald Runnicles, and she continues to present recitals throughout the United States, including on the acclaimed Bay Chamber Concerts Series in Rockport, Maine. She can be heard on the CD Faces of Love, a collection of songs by Jake Heggie on the BMG label, and has appeared at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and San Francisco’s Herbst Theater in an evening of his music. She can also be heard on the complete recording of Dead Man Walking on Erato.

About Burr Phillips, baritone

Mr. Phillips has performed with the Dallas Symphony, Royal Philharmonic (London), Fort Worth Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, and San Antonio Symphony. He has also appeared with Sacramento Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and Carmel Bach Festival.

He has taught at the Big Bear Lake Festival of Song (Big Bear Lake, CA) as well as the Taos Opera Institute (Taos, NM) since the summer of 2010. Sought after as an adjudicator for various national competitions in singing, Mr. Phillips has served on juries for the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award (NATSAA) on regional levels in San Jose, CA and Las Vegas, NV. In the Fall of 2012, he served as a jury member to adjudicate the preliminary rounds for the Texoma Singer of the Year competition at the University of North Texas (Denton, TX). This event drew singers from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Burr Phillips joined University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in the fall of 2007. Previously, he was a faculty member at the University of Texas (Arlington), Southern Methodist University, and Northern Arizona University. He holds the M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance from Texas Christian University and the B.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas.

About Darita Mara Seth, countertenor

DARITA MARA SETH, countertenor, is a native of Columbus, Ohio. He was transplanted to the Bay Area to sing with Grammy Award-winning, San Francisco-based men's vocal ensemble, Chanticleer. Prior to his appointment with Chanticleer, Darita attended the Conservatory of Music at Capital University, studying vocal performance.  While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Darita first gained experience singing countertenor and was immersed in sacred choral rigor at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Columbus. His versatile vocal timbre has been featured in performances of Durufle's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, and Byrd's Mass for Five Voices.  Additionally, Darita has recorded with AireBorn studios for various new music publications. As an actively traveling musician, he has performed in many notable concert venues internationally. Some favorites include Musikverein in Vienna, Austria; The Lizst Grand Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary; Endler Hall in Stellenbosch, South Africa; and TAISM in Muscat, Oman. He also is a proud alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp, where he participated in the composition, opera, and choral programs. He is recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts as a youngARTS 2008 finalist. Darita enjoys bringing new music to life and serving his time as a mentor for young choral students.

About Dawn Harms, Music Director, conductor and solo violin

Dawn Harms’ diverse career ranges from playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame at a Giants game with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, to playing on her cousin Tom Waits' CD's, Alice, Blood Money, and Bad as Me. A member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and associate concertmaster of the critically acclaimed New Century Chamber Orchestra, Dawn also performs as co-concertmaster with the Oakland East Bay Symphony.

Dawn was chosen to be one of the fellows at the exclusive American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, where she worked with some of the top conductors of the world. She is co-founder and Music Director of the Music at Kirkwood chamber music festival and currently serves on the music faculty at Stanford University.

As a strong advocate for children's music education, Dawn was conductor and music director of the Amarillo Youth Orchestra and continues to design and perform educational concerts throughout the United States. She recently performed her one-woman family show with the Lincoln Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, Berkeley Symphony and the Napa Youth Symphony.

Dawn was featured in a concert at the Guggenheim Museum, premiering works by Jake Heggie and Gordon Getty, where she collaborated with Frederica von Stade, Zheng Cao, Eugenia Zukerman, and Matt Haimowitz.

Another highlight of her career was a performance at the GLAAD awards in San Francisco, with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, in which Suze Orman had the honor of introducing them for the first time to a very diverse audience.

After returning from a highly successful two and a half week east coast tour with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Dawn was invited to conduct the Tennessee honors youth orchestra, in Chattanooga Tennessee, and then conducted the Livermore-Amador Symphony, and played the first movement of the Barber Violin Concerto as well as a world premiere by Peter B. Allen with the Folsom Symphony.

Interested in Playing with BARS?

Musicians, especially violinists and other strings, are invited to join the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (BARS) for an open reading rehearsal on Wednesday January 29 at SF State at our regular 7:30 – 10:00 p.m. time and place 1600 Holloway Ave, Creative Arts Building Room 153, San Francisco State University. BARS members, and any interested string players, will play through Beethoven's Fidelio Overture and Hanson's Symphony No. 2 ("Romantic").  Double bass, violin and percussion players are especially encouraged to join us (though the wind sections are generally full, please email if you're interested in joining).  You will have the opportunity to practice sight reading, to reconnect with old friends, to make new friends, and to find out more about playing with BARS.  Please RSVP if you plan to come by emailing ed@bars-sf.org.

Our conductor for that evening will be our Music Director, Dawn Harms.  BARS has a recording that hit the top 10 in iTunes classical albums, had a resoundingly successful gala opener featuring Frederica Von Stade this season, and consistently sells out performances at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

This rehearsal will be a fun session to read through some great orchestral literature … and to help recruit new players.  The Hanson will be distributed at the rehearsal, but please bring the Beethoven with you by downloading and printing using the link below.

The Beethoven link for parts is http://imslp.org/wiki/Fidelio,_Op.72_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van)#Overture_2.   This link should take you to the Sheet Music section of that page and show the parts (16) tab; then print out the parts for your instrument.

March 29-30, 2014

St Mark's Lutheran Church, 1111 O'Farrell Street, SF 94109 (Map)(Tickets) Note that there are two performances, Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 4pm

Dawn Harms, Music Director

Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man

Beethoven - Fidelio Overture

Ravel - Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet & Strings

 Grandjany – Aria for Harp and strings

Dan Levitan, harp

 Hanson – Symphony No. 2 ("Romantic")

About Dan Levitan, harp   Dan Levitan is Principal Harpist of three professional orchestras: Marin Symphony (since 1984), Symphony Silicon Valley (since its founding) and Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley. In addition to having performed with San Jose Symphony as Principal Harpist from 1978 until its closure in 2002, he has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Opera, and Ballet orchestras, and is sought after as a soloist with orchestras, choirs, and other ensembles throughout Northern California.   Mr. Levitan's concerto performances by Bach (Johann Christian), Boieldieu, Debussy, Ginastera, Gliere, Mozart, Ravel, Reinecke, and Saint-Saëns with orchestras throughout the San Francisco Bay Area have been highly praised by local critics, who write of his 'impeccable virtuosity" (San Jose Metro), "virtual perfection"(Marin Independent Journal) and "precision and élan" (Mercury News). Internationally, Mr. Levitan was invited to perform two works for harp and string quartet at the Seventh World Harp Congress in Prague, Czech Republic, and was a semi-finalist in the prestigious 10th International Harp Competition in Israel.   Mr. Levitan's first solo harp CD, "10th Anniversary Concert", was released in 1995. He is featured on two commercial cassettes: "Shades of Love", with flute and voice, and "Moonlight", featuring both solo harp and flute with harp. His recording credits also include Benjamin Britten's 'A Ceremony of Carols for Chorus and Solo Harp", Claude Debussy's "Trio for flute, viola, and harp", works by Lou Harrison, and T.V. and film recordings. Soon to be released is a flute and harp recording that celebrates ethnic music.   Born and educated in Philadelphia, Mr. Levitan received bachelor degrees in Music Performance and in Music Education from Temple University, both magna cum laude, and was named "Most Promising Musician" on graduation. He has studied with Margarita Montanaro, Co-Principal Harpist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, internationally acclaimed harpists Susann McDonald and Susanna Mildonian, and well-known San Francisco Bay Area harpists Anne Adams, Marcella DeCray, and the late Phyllis Schlomovitz.  

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

January 12 - Mill Valley Rainbow Flag Fundraising Chamber Concert

Community Church of Mill Valley, 8 Olive Street (at Throckmorton), Mill Valley, CA 94941 (Map)(Tickets) Sunday, January 12, 2014 at 4:00 pm

John Ireland - Sextet for clarinet, horn & string quartet

Allegro, ma non troppo

Francis Poulenc - Sextet (for wind quintet & piano)

Beethoven - String Quartet Op. 18, No. 3

Schubert - Quintet in C Major, Op. 163 for two violins, viola and two celli

Allegro, ma non troppo

Fundraising Concert to replace vandalized Rainbow Flag Players from the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony are performing to help raise funds for the vadalized rainbow flag which was mounted outside the church. Last August, the Community Church of Mill Valley, a progressive church long active in social justice issues, was vandalized.  The church had been flying a rainbow flag outside its building since late June when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Prop. 8 (which had been banning same-sex marriage in California).  Within the first week the rainbow flag was up, its edges were defaced and smeared with grease.  Then a few weeks later, the flag was ripped down, stolen, and its sturdy metal holder left twisted and bent out of shape.

Church members, astounded that this could happen in Mill Valley, notified the police, as well as local newspapers. Here’s a link to an article that appeared in the Marin Independent Journal.

The Community Church of Mill Valley is a progressive church that has been active in social justice issues for more than 80 years. The brown-shingled church was built in 1929 and stands amid a grove of redwoods near downtown Mill Valley.

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

BARS Hits Top 10 in iTunes!

BARS has hit the top 10 in iTunes classical albums!  This is the world's largest music store and we hit number 3!  The album is the recording for "I Am Harvey Milk" in which members BARS collaborated with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus this past June. The world-premiere original cast recording of Andrew Lippa's I AM HARVEY MILK was released Oct 22nd and features members of the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, Andrew Lippa, Noah Marlowe, and Laura Benanti under the direction of Dr. Timothy Seelig. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) Artistic Director, Dr. Timothy Seelig, announced the original cast recording of I Am Harvey Milk is now available for purchase and download. The world premiere of the choral work, I Am Harvey Milk, concluded the Chorus’s 35th anniversary season at the Harvey Milk 2013 concert. The recording is a perfect culmination of SFGMC’s 35-year history, which began at the candlelight vigil for slain Supervisor Harvey Milk. With music and words by Tony® and Grammy Award nominee Andrew Lippa (Big Fish, The Addams Family, The Wild Party), I Am Harvey Milk features Lippa as Harvey Milk, Tony® Award-winner Laura Benanti (Gypsy, NBC’s “Go On”) as the Soprano Soloist and Noah Marlowe (Mary Poppins, Fun Home) as young Harvey, along with the 300 men of the Chorus. Recorded live during the world premiere at Nourse Theatre in San Francisco, the recording is mixed and mastered by multi-Grammy award-winner, Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Ranch. The recording is available now at SFGMC.org and is also available on iTunes. I Am Harvey Milk weaves the story of Harvey Milk’s life – from boyhood to his rise as the first openly gay man to hold public office in California to his assassination. Part choral work, part theater piece, I Am Harvey Milk is an emotional celebration of an American icon. Complete track listing is as follows: 01. An Operatic Masterpiece 02. I Am the Bullet 03. You Are Here 04. Friday Night in the Castro 05. Was I Wrong? 06. A Decent Society 07. Sticks and Stones 08. Lavender Pen 09. Thank you, Mrs. Rosenblat 10. San Francisco 11. Leap 12. Tired of the Silence I Am Harvey Milk is conducted by Dr. Timothy Seelig, orchestrated by August Eriksmoen, and features the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus accompanied by Carl Pantle on piano and members of the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. I Am Harvey Milk at Nourse Theatre was produced by Bruce Cohen, in association with Robb Nanus and Jessica Leventhal, directed by Noah Himmelstein, and Video and Projection Design by Andrew Lazarow.

November 16-17, 2013

St Mark's Lutheran Church, 1111 O'Farrell Street, SF 94109 (Map)(Tickets) Note that there are two performances, Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 4pm

Cyrus Ginwala, guest conductor

Kenton Coe - Ischiana Overture

Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto

Jassen Todorov, violin

Britten – "Letters from a Life" Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell with Narrators Neil Sharp and Drew Poling

About Dr. Cyrus Ginwala, guest conductor

Conductor Cyrus Ginwala has appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Boca Pops, the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, the Aspen Concert Orchestra and the Sewanee Summer Festival Orchestra. He has served as visiting faculty at the Peabody Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Since relocating to the Bay Area in 2005, he has conducted concerts throughout the region, including during the inaugural season of the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony.

Born and raised in Boston, his early training was as singer and pianist. While in high school, he studied at the Tanglewood Young Artist Program, after which he was appointed to the faculty for an additional three years. After completing a B. Mus. in piano at Boston University, he earned Master and Doctor of Music degrees in Orchestral Conducting at the Peabody Conservatory, where he conducted opera productions annually and was the only student in the conservatory’s modern history entrusted with a major production of the Peabody Opera Theater.

From 1989-1996, Dr. Ginwala was Music Director of the Orchestra and the Opera Workshop at Towson University in Baltimore and, from 1994-96, Music Director of the Young Victorian Opera Company.

Music Director of the Symphony of the Mountains from 1996-2005, he conducted more than 100 works in subscription and pops series, while expanding the orchestra’s concert and education programs. During the same period, Dr. Ginwala was Resident Conductor of the Sewanee Summer Music Center, one of the oldest summer orchestral training programs in America.

An outspoken advocate for social and community causes, he was founding member of Equality Tennessee, created following the 2000 March on Washington, and the Kingsport Community Foundation. He lives in Oakland with his husband Dennis and two unreasonably demanding cats..

About Jassen Todorov, violin

Jassen Todorov has distinguished himself as one of the most prominent violinists of his generation. Dubbed “an outstanding violinist…a player to watch” by the British music journal, The Strad, Mr. Todorov has played and taught master classes throughout Europe, Australia, Asia and North America, and garnered much acclaim for his intense, original musicianship. He has performed at venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Melba Hall in Melbourne. He is also an active performer in his native Bulgaria, where he is considered one of the country’s most prized young musicians and his recordings of Bach, Ysaye, Brahms and Beethoven have received high praise. A top prize winner of several national and international competitions, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Harid Conservatory, Florida, and his master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. From 2000 to 2003, he served as the teaching assistant to Professor Oleh Krysa at the Eastman School and held a violin position at the University of Rochester. Mr. Todorov is the recipient of prestigious awards including the Eastman award for excellence in teaching (2002) and the Crystal Lyre for achievements in music (2006). Currently, Mr. Todorov is a Professor of Violin at San Francisco State University and Visiting Professor of Violin at Xinjiang Arts University and Qimingxing School of Music, China. He is also an active pilot and holds a Commercial Pilot’s License and Flight Instructor Certificate. Visit Mr. Todorov on the web at www.jassentodorov.com.

About Kenton Coe, composer

Kenton Coe began his musical training at the Cadek Conservatory in Chattanooga and continued studies in Knoxville before attending Sewanee Academy. He attended Hobart College in upstate New York for two years before entering Yale University, from which he graduated as a History of Music major. He studied composition at Yale with Paul Hindemith and Quincy Porter. He worked privately for three years in Paris with Nadia Boulanger both at the Paris Conservatory and the Fontainebleau School, and received two French Government scholarships at her request. Sponsored by Aaron Copland, Kenton Coe received two fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, where he began his first full-length opera, South, which was premiered in 1965 by the Opera of Marseilles under the direction of conductor Jean-Pierre Marty. A new production of South was given by the Paris Opera with an opening night Gala in the presence of President and Madame Georges Pompidou. A studio recording by the French Radio of this opera was given as a part of their American Bi-Centennial celebration. He has written a one-act comedy, Le Grand Siècle, on a text of Eugène Ionesco, which was premiered by the Opera of Nantes and later recorded for broadcast by the French Radio. Kenton Coe has sketched a second full-length opera, The White Devil, based on the Jacobean play by John Webster and is collaborating with Allen Cargile on a chamber opera based on James Agee's The Morning Watch. In 1989, the Knoxville Opera Company gave, in both Knoxville and Nashville, the highly successful world premiere performances of his third opera, Rachel, based on the tragic love story of Andrew and Rachel Jackson. The libretto was created by fellow-Tennessean and Emmy-Award-winning TV writer, Anne Howard Bailey.

For more info, see www.kentoncoe.com

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

2013-2014 Subscriptions Now Available

 Purchase all four productions at the same price tier and automatically receive a 20% discount and waiver of all fees!   Season highlights include Frederica von Stade, Melody Moore, Beth Clayton, a Benjamin Britten Birthday Bash led by guest conductor Cyrus Ginwala, works by Jake Heggie and Howard Hanson, plus much more.  Please join us for this exciting season with our new Music Director Dawn Harms by securing your seats with subscribing.   New this season we are offering both Saturday evening and Sunday matinee performances for November and March.  You can mix matinee and evening shows, just make sure all four productions have the same price level indicated by color.  Purchase your tickets here.

Opening Night Gala September 7, 2013 8 pm

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St at Van Ness, SF 94102 (Map)(Tickets)

A small number tickets donated by those who could not attend will be available at the box office.

BARS is adding Sunday matinees to our traditional Saturday evening concert for our November and March performances this season.

Dawn Harms, Music Director

Verdi - La Forza del Destino

Strauss - Trio from Der Rosenkavalier

Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano

Melody Moore, soprano

Marisol DeAnda, soprano

Heggie - Primary Colors

Frederica Von Stade, mezzo-soprano

Rachmaninoff - Symphony No. 2

Part of BARS' LGBTQ Composer and Performing Artist Series, which strives to redefine perceptions of LGBTQ music and increase awareness of the beauty, talents, and accomplishments of fellow LGBTQ individuals and groups.

        About Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano   Described by the New York Times as “one of America’s finest artists and singers,” Frederica von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the music world’s most beloved figures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname “Flicka,” the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for three decades.   Miss von Stade’s career has taken her to the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. She began at the top, when she received a contract from Sir Rudolf Bing during the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut in 1970 she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. In January 2000, the company celebrated the 30th anniversary of her debut with a new production of The Merry Widow specifically for her, and in 1995, as a celebration of her 25th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera created for her a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande. In addition, Miss von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. She is invited regularly by the finest conductors, among them Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas, to appear in concert with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Washington’s National Symphony, and the Orchestra of La Scala.   With impressive versatility, she has effortlessly traversed an ever-broadening spectrum of musical styles and dramatic characterizations. A noted bel canto specialist, she excelled as the heroines of Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Bellini’s La Sonnambula. She is an unmatched stylist in the French repertoire: a delectable Mignon or Périchole, a regal Marguerite in Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust, and, in one critic’s words, “the Mélisande of one’s dreams.” Her elegant figure and keen imagination have made her the world’s favorite interpreter of the great trouser roles, from Strauss’ Octavian and Composer to Mozart’s Sesto, Idamante and - magically, indelibly - Cherubino. Miss von Stade’s artistry has inspired the revival of neglected works such as Massenet’s Cherubin, Thomas’ Mignon, Rameau’s Dardanus, and Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. Her ability as a singing actress has allowed her to portray wonderful works in operetta and musical theater including the title role in The Merry Widow and Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. Her repertoire is continually expanding with the works of contemporary composers. She created the role of Tina in Dallas Opera’s world premiere production of Dominick Argento’s The Aspern Papers (a work written for her) as well as the role of Madame de Merteuil in the Conrad Susa’s Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, both for San Francisco Opera.   Frederica von Stade continues to create compelling new stage portrayals. In 2005, Los Angeles audiences saw her first-ever performances of the title role in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein in a new production directed by famed movie director Garry Marshall for Los Angeles Opera. Later that season, she gave her first performances as Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Houston Grand Opera, a role she reprised for Los Angeles Opera in the 2006-07 season.   She has made over seventy recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy’s Premio della Critica Discografica, and “Best of the Year” citations by Stereo Review and Opera News. She has enjoyed the distinction of holding simultaneously the first and second places on national sales charts for Angel/EMI’s Show Boat and Telarc’s The Sound of Music.   About Melody Moore, soprano   American soprano, Melody Moore, to great critical success, recently sang her first Tosca at San Francisco Opera while filling in for Angela Gheorghiu on opening night and again later in the run. No stranger to the San Francisco Opera stage, Melody had the honor of portraying Susan Rescorla in the World Premiere there of Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier, which opened on the eve of the ten year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center. After having successfully debuted as Rita Clayton in Stephen Schwartz’s Séance on a Wet Afternoon, Melody returned to New York City Opera in early 2012 to sing the leading role of Régine Saint Laurent in the American debut of Rufus Wainwright’s new opera, Prima Donna. Melody recently sang the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Atlanta Opera before returning to San Francisco Opera as First Lady in The Magic Flute. In early 2013 Melody made her Houston Grand Opera debut as Julie LaVerne in their new production of Show Boat. In the Spring of 2013 Melody was seen on the Opera Colorado stage as Elvira in Don Giovanni followed directly by singing in Rufus Wainwright's "Prima! Rufus! Judy!" concert at the Philadelphia International Arts Festival. Melody began the summer of 2013 with her debut at Opéra National de Bordeaux as Pamina in The Magic Flute. She will next be performing at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival singing the role of Senta in The Flying Dutchman.   Recent critically acclaimed performances include two appearances with English National Opera as Mimi in Jonathan Miller’s production of La Bohème and as Marguerite in Des McAnuff’s production of Faust. Melody has also performed the role of Mimi with San Francisco Opera and Opera Cleveland. She has appeared with Los Angeles Opera as Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and in their Recovered Voices Project, highlighting recovered works by composers affected by the Holocaust, in the productions of Der Zwerg and Der Zerbrochene Krug. Melody has also performed the role of La Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro productions at San Francisco Opera and Madison Opera. Elsewhere, she has appeared with the New Orleans Opera as Manon Lescaut, Orlando Opera in the title role in Suor Angelica, and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra production of Don Giovanni as Donna Anna. She has appeared regularly with the San Francisco based New Century Chamber Orchestra headed by Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and has recently sung Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. This year, Melody debuted in Munich with the Bavarian Radio Symphony in a concert performance of Gordon Getty’s opera, Plump Jack, conducted by Ulf Schirmer.   Born and raised in Dyersburg, Tennessee, Melody, as a small child, first began singing with her parents at church and other community functions. She received her Master’s Degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and her Bachelor’s degree from Kent State University. Her Kent State teacher, James Mismas, encouraged her to pursue a performance career and she credits his faith in her abilities with much of her current success. Melody Moore is a former Merola Opera Program participant and was a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow. She currently lives in San Francisco with her wife.   About Jake Heggie, composer   Jake Heggie is the American composer of the operas Moby-Dick, Dead Man Walking, Three Decembers, To Hell and Back, For a Look or a Touch, Another Sunrise, and At the Statue of Venus. He has also composed more than 250 songs, as well as concerti, chamber music, choral and orchestral works. His songs, song cycles and operas are championed internationally by some of the most celebrated singers of our time, including Isabel Bayrakdarian, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Susan Graham, Ben Heppner, Jonathan Lemalu, Jay Hunter Morris, Patti LuPone, Robert Orth, Kiri Te Kanawa, Morgan Smith, Frederica von Stade, Talise Trevigne, and Bryn Terfel, to name a few. The operas — most of them created with the distinguished writers Terrence McNally and Gene Scheer — have been produced internationally on five continents. Since its San Francisco premiere in 2000, Dead Man Walking has received more than 200 international performances. Moby-Dick will be telecast on Great Performances in the fall of 2013 and is set to receive its East Coast premiere in February 2014 by the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Since its 2010 world premiere at The Dallas Opera, Moby-Dick has also been produced by San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia, and Calgary Opera. Upcoming projects include Great Scott (libretto and story by McNally) for The Dallas Opera's 2015/16 season; plus works commissioned by Music of Remembrance, Houston Grand Opera, Pacific Chorale, Pittsburgh Symphony and the Ravinia Festival. www.jakeheggie.com