Carol Menke and Marilyn Thompson
Friday, October 16, 2009, 8pm

Program: Selections by Vaughan Williams, Clara Schumann, Oliver Messiaen, W.A. Mozart, Brian Wilson, Claude Debussy, Gordon Jacob and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Two well-known Bay Area musicians join forces for a memorable evening of song. Soprano Carol Menke, long a Bay Area favorite, began her vocal studies at the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria, where she coached with some of Europe’s finest recitalists, including Elly Ameling and Jörg Demus. She holds an MA in vocal performance from CSU Chico and teaches music at Santa Rosa Junior College. She also directs several local choirs, including Cantiamo, the St. Cecilia Choir and the Santa Rosa Children’s Chorus. Pianist Marilyn Thompson has concertized throughout the world and has played with several prominent chamber music groups, including the Chamber Soloists of San Francisco, the San Francisco Trio and, most recently, the Trio Navarro. She studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Vienna Academy of Music and Stanford University, where she received her master’s degree. She has taught at Sonoma State University since 1976.

Buy tickets online: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79426

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Alexander String Quartet
Friday, November 6, 2009 8pm

Program:Mozart’s String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major, K. 458 “The Hunt” (1784); Schumann’s String Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1 (1842); and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1 (1806).

After almost 30 years of performing, the Alexander String Quartet has secured its standing as one of the world’s leading chamber ensembles. Widely admired for its interpretations of Beethoven, Mozart, and Shostakovich, the group is also a strong advocate of new music, with more than two dozen commissions and numerous premiere performances. Long associated with San Francisco, the members of the Quartet—Zakarias Grafilo, first violin, Frederick Lifsitz, second violin, Paul Yarbrough, viola, and Sandy Wilson, cello—direct the Morrison Chamber Music Center at San Francisco State University. The ensemble originally formed in New York City in 1981

Buy tickets online:http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79428

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Steven Isserlis and Kirill Gerstein
Friday, January 8, 2010, 8pm
Special Randolph Newman Concert

Program: Britten’s Cello Sonata; Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 3 (arranged by Steven Isserlis), and Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata.

This season’s Randolph Newman Concert features two world-class musicians in a rare Bay Area performance. Cellist Steven Isserlis’s passion for music transcends conventional divisions. Acclaimed worldwide for his musicality and technique alike, he is equally at home drawing the audience into his circle of friends for chamber music or in recital; delving into the historical archives to emerge with a forgotten gem; or on the concert platform with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and conductors. He also has a strong interest in writing and playing for children. His popular children’s history of the lives of six great composers, Why Beethoven Threw the Stew, was published in 2001; a sequel, Why Handel Waggled his Wig, appeared in 2006. Pianist Kirill Gerstein was the First Prize winner at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv and has concertized in the intervening years in virtually all major international music centers. He received the Gilmore Young Artist Award in 2002 and was selected as Carnegie Hall’s “Rising Star” for the 2005/06 season. Born in 1979 in Voronezh, Russia, he won his first competition—the International Bach Competition in Gorzuw, Poland—at the age of 11.

Buy tickets:http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/80933

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Gustavo Romero
Friday, February 19, 2010, 8pm

Program: All Chopin program including ballads and shorter pieces to celebrate the composer’s 200th birthday in 2010

Pianist Gustavo Romero has a stellar reputation for both the technical brilliance and interpretive depth of his playing, as well as his commitment to in-depth exploration of individual composers. A native of San Diego, with heritage in Guadalajara, Mexico, Romero discovered his love and gift for music at age five, when being introduced to the piano of a neighbor. He started taking lessons and gave his first public performances at the age of 10, while also winning his first piano competition. Following a recommendation by the legendary pianist Rudolf Serkin, Romero moved to New York City to attend Juilliard. He performed with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta at age 13 and has since played to great acclaim around the world.

Buy tickets online:http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/80934

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Jupiter String Quartet
Friday, March 19, 2010, 8pm

Program: Haydn’s Quartet in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2; Janacek’s Quartet #1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’, Visconti’s ‘Ramshackle Songs’, and Dvorak’s Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, ‘American’

The Jupiter String Quartet, formed in 2001, is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Nelson Lee and Megan Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (older sister of Meg), and cellist Daniel McDonough (husband of Meg, brother-in-law of Liz). Daniel, Nelson, and Meg met at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and when they were searching for a violist, Meg suggested they might consider her sister Liz, who was at nearby Oberlin College. The quartet finished up their schooling together at the New England Conservatory of Music. The Jupiters have received several recent honors, including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Buy tickets online:http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/80935

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Amelia Piano Trio
Friday, April 16, 2009, 8pm

Program: Debussy’s Trio in G Major, Bernstein’s Trio,and Chopin’s Trio in G minor, Op. 8

Formed in 1999, the Amelia Piano Trio came to the fore after participating in Isaac Stern’s Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in 2000. Stern became a mentor to the Trio and presented the ensemble’s Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall. The Trio—consisting of Anthea Kreston, violin, Jason Duckles, cello, and Rieko Aizawa, piano—went on to win the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison wrote his first full-length piano trio for the Amelia, which released a recording of the work on Naxos in the spring of 2007. The Trio is actively involved in arts education and dedicates a substantial amount of time to educational projects, master classes, and coaching children and adults. All three members of the Trio are professors at the Hartt School of Music and Connecticut College.

Buy tickets online:http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/80936

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