In the midst of this year’s many anniversaries of significance on an international level, it is important that, on the home front, we recognize that this is the fifteenth year of San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music (SFFCM). This non-profit organization was founded in 1998 with the mission of promoting and supporting chamber music of all genres in the San Francisco Bay Area. SFFCM applies its resources to provide performance opportunities, fiscal sponsorship, career development, and financial support to both performers and composers who wish to work in the chamber music genre. Their best known performance opportunity is the annual event that used to be called Chamber Music Day. Live + Free, an all-day marathon organized into 30-minute performance slots taking place in multiple venues.
This year, to provide better emphasis on its local significance, the event has changed its name to SFMusicDay. Live + Free. In addition it will have a subtitle, Latin American Connections, that will provide a general (but not constraining) orientation for the performances that will be given. Finally, in spite of the use of the singular noun, this year’s event will begin on a Saturday evening and continue for much of the following Sunday. All performances will be held at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, taking place in the Concert Hall, the Recital Hall, and the Osher Salon.
The festival will start of Saturday, October 19, at 8 p.m. All performances will take place in the Concert Hall, and a program has been prepared to acknowledge and thank sponsors, board members, and the many supporters and friends of SFFCM. That program is expected to conclude at 10:45 p.m. The specific schedule of performances is as follows:
8:00 p.m. martha & monica
8:15 p.m. Conjunto Nuevo Mundo
8:40 p.m. Marc Teicholz and Angela Lee Duo
9:00 p.m. Mariachi Nueva Generación | Cage/Galindo
9:15 p.m. Intermission
9:30 p.m. Cascada de Flores
9:50 p.m. MUSA + Jarring Sounds
10:15 p.m. John Calloway and Clave Unplugged
Performances the next day, Sunday, October 20, will begin at noon and continue through 7 p.m. The schedule for the Concert Hall will be as follows:
12:00 p.m. The John Santos Sextet
1:00 p.m. Quinteto Latino
1:30 p.m. Alexander String Quartet
2:00 p.m. Intermission
2:30 p.m. Orquesta la Moderna Tradición
3:00 p.m. sfSound
3:30 p.m. Grupo Falso Baiano
4:00 p.m. Quartet San Francisco
4:30 p.m. Intermission
5:00 p.m. Potaje Ensemble
5:30 p.m. Musical Art Quintet 5 + 5
6:00 p.m. Cascada de Flores
6:30 p.m. Coro Hispano de San Francisco
The Recital Hall will have the following schedule running in parallel:
12:00 p.m. MUSA + Jarring Sounds
12:30 p.m. The Sun Quartet
1:00 p.m. The Bernal Hill Players
1:30 p.m. Intermission
2:00 p.m. Vinaccesi Ensemble
2:30 p.m. Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
3:00 p.m. Quijeremá
3:30 p.m. Bella Trio
4:00 p.m. Intermission
4:30 p.m. martha & monica
5:00 p.m. Ensemble Mirable
5:30 p.m. Mobius Trio
6:00 p.m. Farallon Recorder Quartet
6:30 p.m. ZOFO duet
The Osher Salon will be used in a slightly different capacity. Between noon and 2 p.m. there will be a mini-concert called Next Generation! This has been organized to provide a showcase for young emerging musicians and the institutions offering training and encouragement. The first half of the program will feature the following groups of college-level students:
- Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble of SF State – John Calloway, director
- SFCM Collegiate Chamber Music Program Ensemble – Jodi Levitz, director
- San Francisco State University Chamber Music Ensemble – Sandy Wilson, director
The second half will then feature pre-college level students as follows:
- Ruth Asawa School of the Arts – Ava Soifer, director
- SFCM Preparatory Chamber Music Program – Doris Fukawa, director
- SFJAZZ High School All Stars Combo – Dann Zinn, director
- Young Chamber Musicians – Susan Bates, director
This mini-concert will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic Influences and Cultural Identities in Latin American Arts. Seven panelists will participate:
- Verónica Bashbush, Moderator
- Juan Pedro Gaffney, (music)
- Rafael Jesús González (writing)
- Plinio Hernández (visual arts)
- Rebeca Mauleón (music)
- Verónica Meza (theater)
- Steven Valencia (dance)
The panel discussion will run until 3:30 p.m., after which the remainder of the time in Osher Salon until 7 p.m. will be devoted to the following performance schedule:
3:30 p.m. Friction Quartet
4:00 p.m. Berkeley Choro Ensemble
4:30 p.m. Dave Rocha Jazz Group
5:00 p.m. Intermission
5:30 p.m. La Familia Peña-Govea
6:00 p.m. Ricardo Peixoto Group
6:30 p.m. The VNote Ensemble
Once again, all events will be held at the SFCM at 50 Oak Street. Everything will be free, and no tickets will be required. Visitors will have the liberty to come and go from the individual venues according to their interests.
However, it is important to note, as an additional feature, that Quinteto Latino, which will be participating on Sunday, will be holding its own Latin American Chamber Music Festival the preceding day. This will also be an all-day affair consisting of four consecutive events to be given on the following schedule:
- 12:30 p.m. Inspiring Young Latinos Concert, which will include musicians from Enriching Lives Through Music performing with the Community MusicWorks Alumni String Quartet
- 2 p.m. Quinteto Latino will perform works by Marquez, Hurtado, Janfer, Garcia, Sierra, and Siqueira
- 6 p.m. a reception of food and drinks with the artists
- 8 p.m. a joint recital by Quinteto Latino and the Musical Art Quintet performing works by Sierra, Lecuona, Jacobsen, and others
This Festival will be held at Old First Church (1751 Sacramento Street on the southeast corner of Van Ness Avenue) under the auspices of the Old First Concerts series. The price of admission to their entire event will be $35. However, it is possible to purchase tickets for any three events ($28), any two events ($20), or any single event ($12). In addition, there will be a special student rate of $5 for any single event.
Finally, following their collaboration with MUSA, which will feature music for seventeenth-century Latin America, Jarring Sounds will be giving a recital of its own entitled Evolution through Transcription: Transcriptions and arrangements for voice and plucked strings. This program will be presented at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 8, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church (1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner with Franklin Street). Further in the future, this duo will be giving its second annual Prelude for Valentine’s Day concert under the auspices of San Francisco Renaissance Voices at the Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church (1329 Seventh Avenue), for which further information will be forthcoming.
