2018—Music to brighten a year

Bay Area music made a strong showing in 2018. The arts are subtle but solid, a rock we can cling to despite a year when divisive voices and dire predictions roiled our society.  Pointing the way through political differences, music is an art form of discourse, a place where every voice matters, where each of us tries to speak our truth in beauty and in harmony. That strong showing is not so surprising when one recalls that small lights burn...

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Garden of Memory Solstice Celebration

A musical party for young and old The longest day of the year, June 21, has been celebrated by avant garde and experimental musicians at Oakland’s Chapel of the Chimes since 1996. This past Thursday there were 48 separate events that shared the chapels and rooms of this unusual space, some of them solo composer/performers, many duos and several large groups. Titled, “Garden of Memory,” this acknowledgment of the summer solstice was created by Sarah Cahill, a remarkable...

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Kitka brings “Wintersongs” to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Oakland

Weaving a mid-winter spell Creating deep harmonies in the long nights of December, Kitka brought its Wintersongs concert to the Bay Area this past week. Although it makes its home in Oakland, this women’s vocal group is internationally famous for its explorations of the music of Eastern Europe and Georgia, and they have been creating fresh arrangements based on ancient scales for the last 39 years. Friday night’s program, Dec. 15, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakland,...

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