Rudolphus rubrinasus fulgentissimo naso,
vidisti et si eum dicas quoque candere.
Omnes tarandi ceteri ridebant vocantes nomina;
non sinebant Rudolphum interessa ludentes.
olim crassa nocte Christi, Nicolaus it dictum:
"Rudolphe, naso tam claro, agesne traham meam?"
Qui tum tarandis amor conclamantibus eum,
"Rudolphe, rubrinase descendes historia!"

Sugar Plums ... on Tape

Oakland East Bay Symphony musicians are picketing Oakland Ballet Nutcracker performances in the Paramount Theater because of the company's use of recorded music. The Ballet — which shut down operations last year — pleads poverty. With this notable exception, the Bay Area is bucking an unfortunate national trend of performing arts groups trying to save on musicians' meager wages: San Francisco Ballet, Cal Performances, Sacramento Ballet, and Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley all use live music for their Nutcracker productions.

Previn Premiere in Sacramento

A world premiere of a work commissioned by Michael Morgan's Sacramento Philharmonic, originally scheduled for April, had to be put off when composer André Previn missed the deadline. The composition has now been delivered, and it even got a name. Night Thoughts, written in honor of Sacramento artist Wayne Thiebaud, is now scheduled to open the orchestra's next season — which marks a decade of new life — on October 14, 2006. Morgan describes the work as "by turns contemplative and exuberant ... lyrical in some passages, rhythmic and even jazzy in others. I am impressed by the variety in it. I can't wait to hear it done by the full orchestra."

The 2006-2007 anniversary season will include other new works, as well, such as those commissioned from Jon Jang and Gang Situ for the Gold Mountain Project, which honors Chinese contributions to California. Situ's work is a concerto for guitar and orchestra; Jang, primarily known as a jazz composer, is writing his first symphony. The project has just received a $10,000 NEA challenge grant.

The current season continues on January 14, with Morgan conducting Holst's Planets and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, with Anton Nel as the soloist. See www.sacphil.org.

Girls Chorus Follow-Up

A report here earlier this month about the resignation of Rachel Malan as executive director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus questioned why she is leaving so suddenly (on a three-week notice) following such an impressive run with the organization. It turns out the decision came months ago, but the announcement was delayed. No hidden reasons for quitting, Malan says, just her wish to rest up (and visit St. Andrews with an "avid golfer," as though there were any other kind). Until the search committee completes its work, June Wiley returns as interim executive director. See www.sfgirlschorus.org.

Midori's Commitment, Ruth Felt's Gamble

For a violinist of Midori's stature, there is no need to take chances; for Ruth Felt's San Francisco Performances, an organization, like all others, fighting for attendance and income, presenting "difficult programs" is a clear case of risk-taking. And yet, in her 23rd season of performing, Midori has been steadily increasing her commitment to contemporary music, education, community outreach, and master classes — and Felt's SFP presents her here in two bold programs of new music.

On April 15, Midori appears at an all-day program of contemporary music in the JCC's Kanbar Hall, consisting of lectures in the morning and afternoon, an evening master class, and a reception to follow. See www.performances.org/workshop.

Midori and pianist Robert McDonald are touring with a program of Judith Weir (Music for 247 Strings), Isang Yun (Sonata No. 1), Alexander Goehr (Suite), György Kurtág (Tre Pezzi per violino e pianoforte), and Witold Lutoslawski (Partita), arriving in Herbst Theater on April 27. See www.performances.org/concert.

Santa Rosa's Star Search Continues

In an unusual season of guest conductors "auditioning" for the music director's position vacated by Jeffrey Kahane (now heading the Denver Symphony), the Santa Rosa Symphony's next candidate-guest is Steven Smith, who conducts the January 21-23 concerts in the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts (formerly Luther Burbank Center).

Smith, 44, is the sixth in the series of guest conductors. He has been music director of the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus since 1999, and also serves as music director of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, an ensemble devoted to the performance of contemporary music. Now on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory, Smith was previously assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra.

The program consists of Dreamwaltzes by Steven Stucky, winner of this year's Pulitzer Prize for music; Mozart's Symphony No. 38; Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Kirill Gerstein as soloist); and Bartók's Miraculous Mandarin. See www.santarosasymphony.com.

Dead Man Walks to Canada

Since its San Francisco Opera birth in 2000, Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking has reached out nationally and internationally, and is about to achieve its Canadian premiere, with the participation of some names familiar here. Calgary Opera stages Dead Man January 28 through February 3. The title role (of Joseph de Rocher, the man to be executed) is sung by Daniel Okulitch, a 2002 Merola participant, originally from Calgary, where he made his operatic debut at age 12, in Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Kimberly Barber sings the role of Sister Helen Prejean; Canadian national treasure Judith Forst is de Rocher's mother. The music director is David Agler, formerly of Vancouver Opera, resident conductor of S.F. Opera, and newly appointed artistic director of the Wexford Opera Festival. See www.calgaryopera.com.

From SFO to the Met

Elena Park, formerly public relations director for the San Francisco Opera, begins work next month as director of communications for the Metropolitan Opera. Since leaving San Francisco, Park has worked with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and radio station WNYC. Other news from the Met — the largest classical music company in the U.S. — is about a $4 million deficit, and the beginning of a transition from Joseph Volpe, general manager since 1990, to former Sony Classical music executive Peter Gelb, who will head the organization beginning in August. Volpe, incidentally, has neither confirmed nor denied news from S.F. Opera that its world premiere production of John Adams' Doctor Atomic will be presented there during the 2008-2009 season.

Iranian Dilemma: What of Western Classical Music?

When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad banned "all Western music from Iran's state radio and TV stations" on Monday, chances are he was irked by rock and pop. At the same time, however, there are a few orchestras in Iran, such as the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, which frequently plays the music of Weber, Chausson, and Beethoven. Will Western classical music be banned also? If the situation slides back to the days of Ayatollah Khomeini, the answer is likely to be in the affirmative.

Meanwhile, earlier this month — before Monday's presidential ban — Tehran Symphony Music Director Ali Rahbari resigned in protest against the low salaries paid to members of the orchestra "and other problems."