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...

Back from Deutschland

This past spring, I did more than my normal share of crossing the Atlantic pond back and forth and then back again, in too short a time span, with meetings and auditions in Germany, Italy, and Austria. I made some great new friends, enjoyed visiting with some old ones, and got some positive results from the whole effort(more on those when contracts are firmly in hand...)

While I was in D-land, I started studying scores by some wonderful Jewish composers who perished in the Holocaust, in preparation for a program I'm putting together for 2012/13. Looking through these pieces evokes such unspeakable sadness. It's horrible when a life is cut short by human action, be it the life of a talented young artist, a mature composer, or "just" a normal person. The Kaleko/ Garner project, Chanson fuer Morgen--which we premiered in April--addresses this, too.

Now that I'm back, though, it's Vinaccesi time. Is that some kind of rare northern Italian vintage micro-brew? Not one bit, not even a sip.

Besides being devilishly difficult to spell, Benedetto Vinaccesi is the name of an obscure seventeenth century Italian composer, most of whose works didn't survive to the present. He's also the namesake for the Baroque chamber group I'm in, the Vinaccesi Ensemble. We are recording all 8 of his extant solo cantatas later this summer and we'll be performing 6 of them at the end of July in SF. They are quirky, expressive pieces, and well worth investigating.

Shameless plug: the Ensemble has some great players and singers: Jonathan Smucker (tenor), Kindra Scharich (mezzo-soprano), Kirk Eichelberger (bass), Amy Brodo (cello), Sarge Gerbode (archlute), and Jonathan Davis (harpsichord). Check us out at Old First Concerts on July 29! If you mention this blog when you say "hi" afterwards, you'll make me smile.


What I'm reading: I just finished Alyson Noel's fabulous Evermore YA series--a coming of age sextet that deals with transformation and spiritual growth. Noel takes the issues, characters, and voices she first began developing in Faking 19 and hones them to a high level.

What I'm listening to: The Ring, Das Rheingold! The SF Ring was all-around fab. Now it's my turn to learn Das Rheingold from the inside out, as I prepare to sing Freia this fall. Plus a fun jazz CD by a new friend from Berlin, Bettina Pohle.

BFX 10--the 10th Berkeley Early Music Exhibition and Fringe Festival

After a short break-let, I'm on to the BFX, as promised...

June 6--tomorrow--is the start of BFX 10. With seven "mainstage" performances, loads (over 50) of Fringe concerts, and lectures/ demonstrations, BFX is an event-packed early music week that runs through June 13.

More a local affair than in previous years, the Early Music Festival still has much to interest attendees. You can check it out at the Berkeley Festival Blog, SFEMS (San Francisco Early Music Society) website, SFEMS (SF Early Music Society) website or even at the Festival's Facebook page.

My own contribution is a little lunchtime concert of Baroque Venetian music tomorrow as part of the Fringe (shameless plug moment coming up) at Trinity Chapel: June 7, 1 p.m., with the Vinaccesi Ensemble--tenor Jonathan Smucker and a wonderful continuo band--Amy Brodo, Baroque cello, Jonathan Davis, harpsichord, and Sarge Gerbode, archlute.

Entitled Involto il tristo core, the program festures well-known duets by Monteverdi, less-known gems by Strozzi, Caldara, and Castello, and unknown but quirkily wonderful cantatas by Vinaccesi.


WHERE: Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana (betweeen Bancroft and Durant), Berkeley
WHAT: Involto il tristo core: Venetian Cantatas, Solos, & Duets
Tickets: $15 general, $10 sfems, students, seniors & disabled. No one turned away for lack of funds.

In other news, I've finished up reading and judging all the books sent me for the Sharp Writ Book Contest (originally associated with Mensa's SIGs, but now spun-off). The Finalists and winners are due to be announced in the next month or so. This is leaving me the opportunity to do some summer reading, such as the below...


What I'm reading: Just started "Have Mercy"
What I'm working on: see this post, plus two chamber pieces for Cabaret Opera's Tenth Festival of New Music coming up later in June, X in the Heart of Europe and America. More on this after BFX.
What I'm listening to: Have to decide which BFX concerts to go to--while in the midst of other rehearsals...so much good music and so little time...