Chamber

Take a mild autumn evening, a garden gazebo with patterned rugs and lit with soft bulbs, shake in a fine chamber ensemble, add a rising new moon, and you have a recipe for the musical delight that violist Elizabeth Prior presented Oct. 9 in her Devon House Garden Concert series. The Marin Terra Li

Chamber

Schroeder Hall was nearly full July 29 for the final pianoSonoma concert of their season, and presumably the draw and highlight for many of the 150 attending was Bach’s Concerto for Four Pianos. And that performance was probably going to be a North Bay premiere. However, it wasn’t the highl

Chamber

The 2021 Valley of the Moon Music Festival continued on July 29 with a sumptuous online offering of French songs, concluding with the second piano quartet by Fauré, Op. 45. Such a beautiful bouquet of video performances wonderfully filmed and recorded softened the disappointment of not being able to

Chamber

The preconcert call that music lovers should gather at Gualala Arts July 25 to attend the final Roy Bogas and Friends Concert was not quite as dire as it sounded. It seems that a year of Covid 19 and an 88th birthday had combined to convince Mr. Bogas that he was working too hard. But with cellist P

Chamber

The Valley of the Moon Chamber Music Series has begun several virtual and a few live concerts in its new seventh season, some broadcast from Sonoma’s Hanna Center Hall and some in posh local venues. July 24’s video had a small live audience and a well-produced video program of three works. Titled “

Chamber

Unexpected pleasures are often the best. Valley of the Moon Chamber Festival presented a such a pleasure last week-a July 21 recorded performance by tenor Kyle Stegall and pianist Eric Zivian in another mini-recital (very mini-just 15 minutes!) of six songs by the nineteenth century German composer

Chamber

Faced with the impossibility of presenting concerts in the iconic large white tent on the bluff, the Mendocino Music Festival opted to use Ft. Bragg’s Cotton Auditorium for ten events in the abbreviated 35th season. San Francisco’s Alexander String Quartet played July 21 to a fully masked audience

Chamber

After a dark year bereft of live performance, pianoSonoma launched July 20 the first Vino & Vibrato concert of the 2021 season in Sonoma State's Schroeder Hall, albeit sadly senza vino due to Covid protocols. Three exceptional musicians showered the audience with an interesting variety of pia

Chamber

Brave New Music sporadically produces concerts in and around Healdsburg, and July 10’s violin recital in downtown St. Paul’s Church must have been one of the first post-lockdown, post-be-extra-careful classical music concerts in Sonoma County's summer season. New Music Founder Gary McLaughlin with

Chamber

ECHO Chamber Orchestra’s first concert in a year and a half, “A Musical Promenade,” was a promenade indeed. When patrons arrived at San Anselmo’s First Presbyterian Church for the 6:00 performance July 10, they were funneled through the garden to the Duncan Hall patio, where folding chairs were set

10/9/2021 - SPARKLING WIND, STRING, HARP MUSIC AT DEVON HOUSE GARDEN CONCERT - Abby Wasserman
Devon House Garden Concerts / Elizabeth Prior, viola; Joseph Edelberg, violin; Chloe Tula, harp, Jesse Barrett, oboe, Rebecca Roudman, cello; Stacey Pelinka, flute
Take a mild autumn evening, a garden gazebo with patterned rugs and lit with soft bulbs, shake in a fine chamber ensemble, add a rising new moon, and you have a recipe for the musical delight that violist Elizabeth Prior presented Oct. 9 in her Devon House Garden Concert series. The Marin Terra Li...

7/29/2021 - ONE PIANO, TWO PIANO, THREE PIANO, FORE - Terry McNeill
Piano Sonoma / Michael Shinn, Jessica Shinn, Christina Wu and Peter Dugan, Piano; Anita Graef, cello
Schroeder Hall was nearly full July 29 for the final pianoSonoma concert of their season, and presumably the draw and highlight for many of the 150 attending was Bach’s Concerto for Four Pianos. And that performance was probably going to be a North Bay premiere. However, it wasn’t the highl...

7/29/2021 - PENULTIMATE VOM FESTIVAL CONCERT FEATURES GORGEOUS VOCALISM - Pamela Hicks Gailey
Valley of the Moon Music Festival / Emily Marvosh, contralto; Lisa Lee, violin; Liana Bérubé, viola; Tanya Tomkins, cello; Eric Zivian, piano
The 2021 Valley of the Moon Music Festival continued on July 29 with a sumptuous online offering of French songs, concluding with the second piano quartet by Fauré, Op. 45. Such a beautiful bouquet of video performances wonderfully filmed and recorded softened the disappointment of not being able to...

7/25/2021 - BOGAS' TENURE ENDS IN OUTDOOR GUALALA CHAMBER CONCERT - Iris Lorenzfife
Gualala Arts Chamber Music Series / Roy Bogas, piano; Peter Wyrick and Mariko Hiraga, cello; Amy Hiraga, viola; Mayumi Wyrick and Sarn Oliver, violin
The preconcert call that music lovers should gather at Gualala Arts July 25 to attend the final Roy Bogas and Friends Concert was not quite as dire as it sounded. It seems that a year of Covid 19 and an 88th birthday had combined to convince Mr. Bogas that he was working too hard. But with cellist P...

7/24/2021 - CLARA SCHUMANN TRIO COMMANDS VOM CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT AT HANNA - Terry McNeill
Valley of the Moon Music Festival / Rachel Ellen Wong, violin; Tanya Tomkins, cello; Eric Zivian, piano
The Valley of the Moon Chamber Music Series has begun several virtual and a few live concerts in its new seventh season, some broadcast from Sonoma’s Hanna Center Hall and some in posh local venues. July 24’s video had a small live audience and a well-produced video program of three works. Titled “...

7/21/2021 - RARE LANG SONGS SPARKLE AT VOM FESTIVAL VIDEO RECITAL - Pamela Hicks Gailey
Valley of the Moon Music Festival / Kyle Stegall, tenor; Eric Zivian, piano
Unexpected pleasures are often the best. Valley of the Moon Chamber Festival presented a such a pleasure last week-a July 21 recorded performance by tenor Kyle Stegall and pianist Eric Zivian in another mini-recital (very mini-just 15 minutes!) of six songs by the nineteenth century German composer ...

7/21/2021 - EXEMPLARY QUARTET PLAYING IN MENDO FESTIVAL FT. BRAGG CONCERT - Terry McNeill
Mendocino Music Festival / Alexander String Quartet
Faced with the impossibility of presenting concerts in the iconic large white tent on the bluff, the Mendocino Music Festival opted to use Ft. Bragg’s Cotton Auditorium for ten events in the abbreviated 35th season. San Francisco’s Alexander String Quartet played July 21 to a fully masked audience ...

7/20/2021 - ECLECTIC PROGRAMMING AT PIANOSONOMA CONCERT IN SCHROEDER HALL - Pamela Hicks Gailey
Piano Sonoma / Peter Dugan and Christine Wu, piano; Kara Dugan, mezzo-soprano
After a dark year bereft of live performance, pianoSonoma launched July 20 the first Vino & Vibrato concert of the 2021 season in Sonoma State's Schroeder Hall, albeit sadly senza vino due to Covid protocols. Three exceptional musicians showered the audience with an interesting variety of pia...

7/10/2021 - RARELY-PLAYED SCHUMANN HIGHLIGHTS HEALDSBURG RECITAL - Terry McNeill
Brave New Music / Gary McLaughlin, violin; Rose McCoy, piano
Brave New Music sporadically produces concerts in and around Healdsburg, and July 10’s violin recital in downtown St. Paul’s Church must have been one of the first post-lockdown, post-be-extra-careful classical music concerts in Sonoma County's summer season. New Music Founder Gary McLaughlin with ...

7/10/2021 - ECHOS ON A WARM SUMMER NIGHT - Abby Wasserman
ECHO Chamber Orchestra / Daniel Canosa, conductor. Carol Adee, Flute
ECHO Chamber Orchestra’s first concert in a year and a half, “A Musical Promenade,” was a promenade indeed. When patrons arrived at San Anselmo’s First Presbyterian Church for the 6:00 performance July 10, they were funneled through the garden to the Duncan Hall patio, where folding chairs were set ...

6/24/2021 - LONG DISTANCE LOVE BEGINS VOM SUMMER FESTIVAL - Pamela Hicks Gailey
Valley of the Moon Music Festival / Nikki Enfeld, soprano; Emily Marsh, contralto; Kyle Stegall, tenor; Edward Nelson, baritone; Allegra Chapman and Eric Zivian, piano
The Valley of the Moon Music Festival offered a 7th season preview June 24 with a stunning online concert, aptly named Long Distance Love, featuring inspired performances of Beethoven's short song cycle An die ferne Geliebte,, and selections from Brahms’ beloved Liebeslieder Wal...

5/9/2021 - STYLISH HAYDN QUARTETS CLOSE GREEN ROOM SERIES - Terry McNeill
Green Music Center / St. Lawrence String Quartet. Geoff Nuttall and Owen Dalby, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; Christopher Costanza, cello
Completing the Green Music Center’s spring series series of “Green Room” virtual concerts, the St. Lawrence String Quartet played May 9 a lightweight program of two Haydn works. Lightweight perhaps, but in every way satisfying. The G Major Quartet (Op. 76, No.1) began the music that was supplement...

3/28/2021 - ECLECTIC CELLO PIANO VIRTUAL RECITAL FROM TOMKINS ZIVIAN DUO - Terry McNeill
Redwood Arts Council / Tanya Tomkins, cello; Eric Zivian, piano
The venerable 41-year Redwood Arts Council Series in Occidental has joined the virtual recital world with low budget but artistically satisfying programs, mostly using videos filmed in the performer’s residences. March 28 saw the Tanya Tomkins-Eric Zivian duo present an eclectic program from their ...

2/21/2021 - NOVEL OBOE-HARPSICHORD RECITAL FROM AIKEN DUO IN UKIAH - Terry McNeill
Ukiah Symphony / Beth Aiken, oboe and English horn; Tom Aiken, harpsichord
Oboe and harpsichord recitals are a rare North Bay event, even in a pandemic environment where a formal hall setting isn’t available. So it was a delight Feb. 21 to experience on the Ukiah Symphony’s website a recital by Symphony oboist Beth Aiken and harpsichordist husband Tom. The Aiken home vis...