Younis Raza – Page 40 – Repeat Performances

October 3, 2011

Contemporary Music Players open their season

Pushing boundaries at Herbst A program of coloristic extremes lit up San Francisco’s Herbst Theater on Monday, October 3, as the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players inaugurated their new season with three eccentric and occasionally brilliant works. This concert also marked the inauguration of new Artistic Director Steven Schick, whose careful conducting and immersion in the music was a pleasure to watch. After a two-year search, the...

Categories: music

September 17, 2011

Cypress Quartet at Piedmont Center for the Arts

Piedmont Center for the Arts—fledgling gem takes flight The acclaimed Cypress Quartet tested the waters at Piedmont’s brand new Center of the Arts on Friday, September 17. Their sound overflowed the lively central hall, submerging us in sonorous waves. Like multiple-use art spaces, while enjoying the concert one could also see the current show, a photographic essay of the people and mountains of Peru. Pre-Colombian villages and Incan faces, aged...

Categories: music

September 14, 2011

Turandot at SF Opera

Stunning voices at War Memorial Opera House A mesmerizing production of Turandot by the San Francisco Opera emphasized the right stuff—brilliant singing—in a fantasy setting worthy of Disney. Giacomo Puccini’s final opera had a story line that was tough to swallow, but it was a surprising fit for David Hockney’s lurid sets. Hockney has made a career out of carefully thumbing his nose at the establishment, and Wednesday night at the War...

Categories: opera

September 13, 2011

Guirao-Howard-Graber Trio at Berkeley City Club

Monumental program, distinguished atmosphere Strains of Shostakovich and major 7th chords ran through a powerful evening at the Berkeley City...

Categories: music

September 11, 2011

Searching for meaning on an inauspicious day

The tenth anniversary of September 11 dawned cloudy in the Bay Area. In San Francisco thousands were lured to Sharon Meadows in Golden Gate Park by an offer of free opera, spreading blankets and hauling picnic baskets and wine. By two in the afternoon the last shreds of fog had burned off, giving a somber occasion a sunny patina. Undampened by speeches from a long roster of public figures, the public milled about until the San Francisco...

Categories: music

August 20, 2011

Melos Music Festival in San Francisco

Catching the wave: The next generation of contemporary composers. Ten young and audacious composers gathered in San Francisco on Friday, August 20, at the Community Music Center to hold the second annual Melos Music concert of original works. The composers, many of whom are also electro-acoustic, have loosely organized as “Melos” to publish and publicize their music. Last year’s...

Categories: music