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Chamber
SPLENDID ECHOES ACROSS THE BAY
by Abby Wasserman
Sunday, February 9, 2025
ETHEREAL DUO IN WEILL HALL RECITAL
by Pamela Hick Gailey
Thursday, February 6, 2025
ESPANA SEGURO AT SO CO PHIL'S JACKSON THEATER CONCERT
by Terry McNeill
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Choral and Vocal
MASTERFUL SINGING CLASS IN SCHROEDER HALL
by Pamela Hicks Gailey
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Recital
MUSICAL POT POURRI AT SPRING LAKE VILLAGE RECITAL
by Terry McNeill
Friday, January 31, 2025
CELLO AND CLARINET HIGHLIGHT TRIO NAVARRO'S CONCERT
by Ron Teplitz
Sunday, January 26, 2025
SONGS OF LOVE, IN A WARM TRIO
by Pamela Hicks Gailey
Sunday, January 26, 2025
Symphony
EARTHLY PLEASURES AT THE VALLEJO SYMPHONY
by Peter Lert
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Symphony
EARTHLY PLEASURES AT THE VALLEJO SYMPHONY
by Abby Wasserman
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Recital
TWO AND FOUR HANDS DELIGHT AT THE 222
by Nicki Bell
Sunday, January 19, 2025

Reviews

2/9/2025 - SPLENDID ECHOES ACROSS THE BAY - Abby Wasserman
ECHO Chamber Orchestra / Daniel Canosa, conductor; Kyle Beard, clarinet
In what is hoped not to be a permanent departure, ECHO Chamber Orchestra moved its concert Feb. 9 from the First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Oakland. The churches are similar, both having high vaulted ceilings and good acoustics. ECHO, led by musical director...
2/6/2025 - ETHEREAL DUO IN WEILL HALL RECITAL - Pamela Hick Gailey
The virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell appeared Feb. 6 in Weill Hall in an unforgettable performance. I would say that he descended from heaven but that wouldn’t begin to completely describe the empyreal beauty that emanated from his Stradivarius instrument, made in 1713. Joined by pianist Peter Dugan, ...
2/2/2025 - ESPANA SEGURO AT SO CO PHIL'S JACKSON THEATER CONCERT - Terry McNeill
Calling a Sonoma Philharmonic program “lightweight” might be accurate related to their recent powerhouse concerts of Shostakovich and the Frankenstein movie score adaption, but that would do a disservice to the Feb. 2 concert in the Jackson Theater of music with a Spanish flair. Beginning with a se...
2/2/2025 - MASTERFUL SINGING CLASS IN SCHROEDER HALL - Pamela Hicks Gailey
National Associastion of Teachers of Singing / Nikola Printz, mezzo-soprano an teacher; Robert Mollicone, piano. Student singers TBA
Santa Rosa born and rising Bay Area operatic luminary Nikola Printz graced the Schroeder Hall stage Feb. 2 in a hybrid concert/master class featuring four Sonoma State University voice student alums. Printz was a stellar participating singer as well as teacher. The master class is a coproduction o...
1/31/2025 - MUSICAL POT POURRI AT SPRING LAKE VILLAGE RECITAL - Terry McNeill
Spring Lake Village Classical Music Series / Cristiana Pegoraro, piano
Spring Lake Village’s Concert Series tend to be short one hour events, often with a pot pourri of works, and Jan. 31 found Italian pianist Cristiana playing 15 works in a concise and novel group format. In a rare standing room only concert for 150 SLV residents, Ms. Pegoraro’s charming spoken intro...
1/26/2025 - CELLO AND CLARINET HIGHLIGHT TRIO NAVARRO'S CONCERT - Ron Teplitz
Pierné’s Op. 19 Canzonetta for clarinet and piano, opened the Trio Navarro’s winter concert Jan. 26 in Schroeder Hall before an audience of 75. Played by guest artist Roy Zajac and Trio founder Marilyn Thompson, the Canzonetta unfolded as a charming waltz, in singing cantabile, with an occasional b...
1/26/2025 - SONGS OF LOVE, IN A WARM TRIO - Pamela Hicks Gailey
The 222 Gallery Impresario Caroline Altman presented Jan. 26 another marvelous Opera Series recital entitled Songs of Life, Songs of Love. A nicely full room of about thirty art song lovers warmly welcomed a young soprano Morgan Harrington as she delved into a nicely varied, well-structured cache of...
1/19/2025 - EARTHLY PLEASURES AT THE VALLEJO SYMPHONY - Peter Lert
Vallejo Symphony / Marc Taddei conductor
It’s refreshing to see a resurgence in performances of the works of Mahler. Once the province only of major metropolitan orchestras, it’s now increasingly common to find Mahler symphonies on the programs of smaller regional (and, in some cases, even volunteer community) orchestras. One such professi...
1/19/2025 - EARTHLY PLEASURES AT THE VALLEJO SYMPHONY - Abby Wasserman
Vallejo Symphony / Marc Taddei conductor
At a pre-performance talk January 19 the Vallejo Symphony’s conductor Marc Taddei addressed an early-bird Empress Theater audience with tales of two composers, Haydn and Mahler. He characterized the program we were about to hear as “two approaches to our place in Nature.” He termed Haydn’s Symphon...
1/19/2025 - TWO AND FOUR HANDS DELIGHT AT THE 222 - Nicki Bell
The 222 / Vieness Piano Duo
Before a packed Jan. 19 house in Healdsburg’s 222 gallery the Vieness Piano Duo played a nearly two-hour recital that seemed to evoke joy and often vivid musical excitement. Pianists Eva Schaumkell and Vijay Venkatesch, playing in two and four-hand formats, began most works with compelling spoken i...
1/18/2025 - NEW CENTURY'S BRILLIANT STRING PLAYING IN WEILL - Terry McNeill
San Francisco-based New Century Chamber Orchestra has a long relationship with North Coast audiences, and Jan. 18 found their 18 musicians again in Weill Hall before an audience of 350, presumably mostly string afficionados. Pianist Inon Barnatan joined the ensemble in C.P. E. Bach D Minor Third K...
1/11/2025 - SYMPHONIC CONTRASTS IN SRS WEILL HALL CONCERT - Peter Lert
Santa Rosa Symphony's Jan. 11 concert was billed as “RACH and the Hollywood Sound,” although the actual order of the program put Rachmaninoff's 1940 Symphonic Dances last, rather than first. The rest was indeed the Hollywood Sound, beginning with a suite from Elmer Bernstein's score for the 1960 fi...