music

November 8, 2013

Oakland East Bay Symphony opens fall season.

Maestro Michael Morgan pirouetted through a complex program last Friday, November 8, as he celebrated the Oakland East Bay Symphony’s 25th anniversary and led them in two bicentennial salutes. Downtown Broadway’s art deco masterpiece, the Paramount, filled its 3000 seats with an audience poised to celebrate the opening of the season. ...

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October 3, 2013

Gerard Schwarz conducts Berkeley Symphony

Resilience and depth at Zellerbach Under the gentle ministrations of a top conductor, the Berkeley Symphony pulled off an entirely satisfying concert last Thursday with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 that would have been the envy of any major orchestra, along with a provocative premier and a surprisingly tender Wagner. ...

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September 11, 2013

Interview with Ming Luke

A conductor and educator for young and old. In ramping up for the Berkeley Symphony’s new season, which opens Thursday, October 3, it is timely to highlight one of the Symphony’s less profiled programs, but one that has a life-changing impact on many lives. That is, their award-winning Music in the Schools program. Led by Education Director Ming Luke, this program brings stellar musicians into every classroom, and then takes those students through to...

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August 17, 2013

SF Choral Society tackles Haydn’s “Seasons”

Peasants at play in San Francisco The San Francisco Choral Society and the SF Chamber Orchestra combined forces for Joseph Haydn’s mighty Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons). Led by Robert Geary in the Fillmore district’s Calvary Presbyterian Church, this two-and-a-half-hour work is seldom performed in its entirety. As tight as the chorus was—and they flexed their muscles in the fugues—and as expressive as the musicians were,...

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