Friday, June 7, 2013

Two Shout-Outs and a Third Vinaccesi


Vinaccesi Ensemble in Santa Rosa at CAS on June 2

Today's post is a quick one, two, three, four...two shout-outs for friends and colleagues who are performing in the Bay Area over the the next week plus a third Vinaccesi concert and yet another shout-out.

First, pianist John Boyajy will be playing Debussy, Chopin, Bach, and Callaway at Old First Concerts on Friday June 7 at 8 p.m. (that's tomorrow, folks, and today by time you read this post, in all likelihood!).  Ticket link: www.oldfirstconcerts.org/performances/530.

Second, on Thursday, June 13, at 7 p.m., mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich--who is in the Vinaccesi Ensemble with me--will be joined by violist Paul Yarborough (of the Alexander String Quartet) and pianist John Parr for "Songs of Voice and Viola," Lieder Alive's season closer, in a Liederabend of Brahms, Marx, Loeffler and more.  At Salle Pianos (1632C Market) in SF.  Three marvelous musicians performing seldom-heard gems. Ticket link: http://liederalivevoiceandviola.eventbrite.com/

And sandwiched between those two concerts, the Vinaccesi Ensemble returns to San Francisco on Tuesday, June 11 at 12:30, at Noontime Concerts (Old St. Mary's, 660 California St.), for the third our "Voices of Venice" series, this time a lunchtime version. Music by Vivaldi, Vinaccesi, Strozzi, Rossi, and Monteverdi. Read more about it in Classical Sonoma and see the program here.

Isn't the Bay Area great?!  Sooo many things to do, places to see, music to hear, people to be with...

What I'm reading: the second Andrea Camilleri book, The Terra-Cotta Dog, which arrived from the library last week. (The Berkeley Public Library is a jewel in the crown of the public library system.  I am a frequent visitor, a regular patron--and very grateful to my local librarians!)

What I'm listening to: Rossi, Vinaccesi, and more Italian Baroque music...can't shut off my internal sound track of these fabulous tunes.

What I'm working on: spurious Vivaldi, Rossi, Strozzi, and Hugo Wolf.

And...as a P.S., almost forgot about yet another colleague's concert(s) this weekend. The Vinaccesi Ensemble's own Adam Cockerham has a duo, Jarring Sounds.  You can hear them this weekend in Berkeley (Garden Gate Center at 8 on the 8th) and SF (Church of the Advent of Christ the King at 3 on the 9th).  Check out how they named their ensemble...





Saturday, June 1, 2013

A Vinaccesi Weekend


In the ever-so-infrequent land of my occasional blog, it's time for yet another quick and last-minute  announcement...for my Baroque group, the Vinaccesi Ensemble.  Our June series is in full swing, which in this case means concerts in Berkeley, Santa Rosa, and SF, plus a CD release celebration.  Here's the low down....

After our much-loved archlute player, Sarge Gerbode, decided to focus on the revisions to a new edition of his book on metapsychology, Beyond Psychology, we are thrilled to welcome a new and fabulous plucked instrument player (say that five times fast if you can), Adam Cockerham, who will be playing theorbo and Baroque guitar in our June concerts.   The rest of the group is the same as before: Kindra Scharich, mezzo, Jonathan Smucker, tenor, Kirk Eichelberger, bass, Hallie Pridham on Baroque cello, Susie Fong on harpsichord, et moi.  Welcome, Adam!

Adam recently earned his Master's degree from the SFCM, where he won the concerto competition with the Vivaldi Lute Concerto.  You can hear him play the slow movement from it this weekend.

Curious about the rest of the program? There's more Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Monteverdi, Strozzi and more... Check it out here.

And the schedule?

Voices of Venice, Saturday, June 1 8 p.m., Trinity Chamber Concerts, 2320 Dana St., Berkeley $15/10
Post-concert, come and join us for an hour of celebrating our new CD at the Musical Offering, 2430 Bancroft, Berkeley.  Food, beverages, CDs for signing and sale...should be fun ;)!

Voices of Venice, Sunday, June 2, 3:30 p.m., Creative Arts Series, 303 Stony Point Rd., Santa Rosa, $15.
Catch a podcast of our interview with the knowledgeable Charles Sepos on KRCB in Santa Rosa, on his program "Curtain Call" last week here.

And if only San Francisco will do for you, we'll be performing a shortened version of the program on Tuesday, June 11 at 12:30 p.m., at Noontime Concerts, a great series at Old St. Mary's Cathedral, 660 California St.

Hope one of those will work for my ever-patient blog readers who are in the region by the Bay.

What I'm reading: Vigilant by James Alan Gardner, sci fi.  This is a sequel to his Expendable and an interesting read. Also the second book by Andrea Camilleri in his popular and beautifully-written Inspector Montalbano (Sicilian) mystery detective series (translated by Stephen Sartarelli).

What I'm listening to: Are you kidding?  I can't get the music for this weekend's concerts out of my head!
What I'm studying: ditto. :)