Kids Around the Bay

More Notes to Young Musicians

My SFCV feature Portraits for a Young Musician was originally titled “Notes to a Young Musician” thinking of Ranier Maria Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet,” those 10 inspiring letters addressed to a young man tossed between a career in literature and a career in the Austro-Hungarian army.

The problem is that I can’t play Rilke’s parallel in music; I’m not a musician. I’m merely a journalist, gathering up shiny bits of the zeitgeist and putting them in the display window. But in my travels around the classical music culture for this piece I heard over and over stories about giving or receiving advice.

One of the people I talked to was Matthew Cmiel, who himself writes for SFCV. He studied composition at the Curtis School of Music, moved to San Francisco, is an alumn of the Crowden Music School (2003), he received  a second degree at the San Francisco Conservatory, and has developed his own ‘portfolio-career’ that includes a teaching position at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA), where he’s the director of orchestras. He also earns commissions from various new music groups he works with. Cmiel's work was just included on Mobius Trio's new CD here, and also on the the Del Sol String Quartet's Del Sol Days.

He cobbles his work life together, lives at home, teaches three hours a day five days a week, and enjoys the freedom to create. He’s chosen the poet’s life and it works. (He’s even written a symphonic work based on Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus.)

“It’s true there are fewer venues,” he told me, “and yes it’s very hard to get a job at the symphony, but you can play at museums and churches. And public schools are always looking for musicians, even if only for one-time appearances. Most of my friends have one primary income source, either in a coffeehouse or as teacher. But it works.”

Incidentally, Cmiel notes that of the 40 students in his graduating class at Curtis, 35 are still in music, although mostly as students. Meanwhile, at SOTA, last year’s graduating class included 180 students, of which 27 were in music. And to this point, 25 are still in music.

“I have a student right now,” Matthew told me. “He’s 17, a senior, and trying to decide whether to stay with music. I would say he’s moderately talented; he’s qualified, he’s skilled. Last year he came to me and said, I know I am not the best of the class, but I love music. And I have to decide whether to stay with this. This is one of those defining moments when, as a teacher, you can make such a difference. I looked at him and said, You know, if you love it, I don’t think you should give up music. Maybe you don’t want to major in music but you can keep playing. The truth is I don’t care if my students major in music. My goal is to foster their interest and encourage them to love music for the rest of their lives.

“For me, if you have the drive to be an artist of any type and you want to do it, then do it. And the reason should be because you have something to say and art is a way to get people to listen and to communicate. That’s beautiful.”

Holiday Concerts and More

SFCV published a roundup of holiday concerts last week, which includes a family friendly section. But there are so many out there, that we thought we’d give you a few more options across the Bay Area.

Ballet San Jose: The Nutcracker

If you live in the South Bay there’s absolutely no reason to go to San Francisco to see this holiday staple. Ballet San Jose has put together a superb production with choreography by Karen Gabay; sets and costumes from American Ballet Theater, and conducted by company Music Director George Daugherty.

Dec. 8 – 23, San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, $30 to $105, Ballet San Jose The Nutcracker.

All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 (Mondavi Center, Davis)

A choral concert based on that surreal moment at first light on Christmas morning, 1914, when German and Allied soldiers met in no-man’s-land, without the permission of their officers, shook hands, exchanged cigarettes and plum puddings, sang carols, and even played soccer. The gesture was never repeated, in a war that left 16 million dead. Cantus, the noted nine-man choral ensemble, along with Theatre Latte Da, sets the scene on Christmas eve with new arrangements of European carols, war songs, and excerpts from soldiers’ diaries.

Dec. 8, 8 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis, $12.50- $55, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.

San Francisco Girls Chorus Alumnae Perform Seasons of Joy

The San Francisco Girls Alumnae Chorus, now in its sixth season, performs Orlando di Lasso, William Billings’ Shepherd’s Carol, along with traditional Christmas carols arranged by Kirke Mechem.

Dec. 1, 8 p.m., Old First Church, San Francisco, $14-$17, S.F. Girls Chorus Alumnae: Seasons of Joy.

Cantabile Youth Singers’ Annual Holiday Concert

Artistic Director Elena Sharkova and Associate Artistic Director Shane Troll lead Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley in their annual Holiday Concert.

Dec. 1, 1 p.m., Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, San Jose, $15-$50, under 18, free, Holidays With Cantabile.

The Cantare Con Vivo presents All I Want For Christmas Is You!

Cantare Con Vivo founder and Artistic Director David Morales has designed a terrific program of song classics from around the world, including Benjamin Britten’s brilliant A Ceremony of Carols, with solo harp accompaniment by Wendy Tamis, principal harpist with the Berkeley Symphony and the Fremont Symphony.

Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m., Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church; Dec. 2, 4 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, $10-$35, All I Want for Christmas is You.

City Ballet School’s The Nutcracker

City Ballet School, which is to say Artistic Director Galina Alexandrova, former dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, presents the school’s tenth anniversary Nutcracker with some of the most accomplished students in the Bay Area, ages 6 to 19. If you’re interested in seeing young talent this is where you go.

Dec. 8, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Dec. 9, 2 p.m., Palace of Fine Arts Theater, San Francisco $25-$35, City Ballet School The Nutcracker.

San Jose Youth Symphony: Philharmonic Orchestra Concert

The top-tier ensemble of the SJS, the Philharmonic Orchestra, will feature renowned jazz pianist and composer, Taylor Eigsti, performing a commissioned composition of his own, along with his wife and San Jose Youth Symphony Alumni Member, Ashley DuVal, as trumpet soloist. This concert will also feature the orchestra and Classical Revolution’s Musical Art Quintet playing a work by composer and MAQ bassist Sascha Jacobson. That’s in addition to Aaron Copland’s Suite from The Tender Land and a full symphony. This orchestra is obviously not conceding anything to age. Except in the price of a ticket.

Dec. 1, 2:30, p.m., California Theatre, $5-$15, San Jose Youth Symphony.