Jeff Dunn
Jeff Dunn is a freelance critic with a B.A. in music and a Ph.D. in geologic education. A composer of piano and vocal music, he is a member of the National Association of Composers, USA, a former president of Composers, Inc., and has served on the Board of New Music Bay Area. A photomontage enthusiast, he illustrates his own reviews.
Articles by this Author
Artist Spotlight
January 20, 2012
A Bay Area ensemble performs a reduced-forces version of a classic American novel, set in opera form by John Harbison.
More »Feature Article
January 2, 2012
Lovers of orchestral music are in for something special, even historic, in the spring season. If you can’t spend everything on tickets, let SFCV guide you to the best of the best.
More "A Symphonic Spring That May Never be Topped" »Recital REVIEW
December 6, 2011
Sage artistry and inconsistently appropriate voice for repertoire characterized Karita Mattila’s recital of French, Finnish and German songs Tuesday night at Herbst Theatre.
More about San Francisco Performances »CD REVIEW
November 30, 2011
Take heart: Fascinating moods of music-to-despair-by comes from Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho.
More »Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
November 6, 2011
A Marin audience hails a fine Mahler performance and Kenji Bunch’s pleasurable new piano concerto.
More about Marin Symphony »Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
November 2, 2011
Comfortable on the podium, commanding yet avuncular, Semyon Bychkov led substantial performances of two Richard Strauss works and Robert Schumann’s Second symphony Wednesday night at Davies Symphony Hall.
More about San Francisco Symphony »
Critics' Picks
Nov. 6 - 8
If you’ve been avoiding “modern” music like the plague, you may not realize that fashion has brought new music back into audience-pleasing land. One of the more attractive young exponents of this trend is Kenji Bunch, the Oregon-born, multistylistic composer whose Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra brings back the glory days of melody.
Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
October 22, 2011
Chamber concertos and vocal works distinguish BluePrint’s program, inviting cross-comparisons and rewards for the ear.
More about San Francisco Conservatory of Music »CD REVIEW
October 20, 2011
It’s about time for the American composer’s symphonies to be heard again, and the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz does him honor.
More »
Critics' Picks
Oct 23 - 24
Let’s hear it for “More power to the cello!” The L.A. Philharmonic and its dynamic director arrive in town with Johannes Moser his plugged in instrument.
Critics' Picks
October 14 - 16
If you’ve been dying to hear Shostakovich, his Symphony No. 14 is the one for you
Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
October 5, 2011
At the helm of the San Francisco Symphony, with Joshua Bell as soloist, conductor Vasily Petrenko delivers on his program, but only half-way.
More about San Francisco Symphony »Chamber Music REVIEW
October 3, 2011
A revered San Francisco institution inhabits the Difficult Music Zone, with works new and really old, but all of them challenging to ear and mind.
More about San Francisco Contemporary Music Players »CD REVIEW
September 27, 2011
A cantata of fen and flood by Patrick Hadley puts one by Ralph Vaughan Williams in the shade.
More »Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
September 22, 2011
The New Century Chamber Orchestra began their 20th with a fascinating program of works exploiting antecedent musical styles. It made for a mesmerizing evening showcasing the ensemble’s commitment, technique, synchrony, passion, and sheer joy of music-making.
More about New Century Chamber Orchestra »Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
September 14, 2011
It has been 20 years since one of the best-regarded modern cello concertos has been played here. And it took the same wizard, Yo-Yo Ma, who played it then to show us now how to do it right; matched by MTT and the S.F. Symphony for quality in a spectacular evening of all-German repertoire.
More about San Francisco Symphony »Opera REVIEW
September 10, 2011
Like a well-trained infantryperson, Heart of a Soldier triumphed in its first battle with opera’s ultimate enemy, public indifference: Patrons greeted the premiere in the War Memorial Opera House with a sustained standing ovation.
More about San Francisco Opera »Feature Article
August 30, 2011
The 100th-anniversary season of the S.F. Symphony features a star-studded lineup. But it’s not the only orchestra with exciting performers and composers. Here are highlights from the birthday orchestra, as well as other concerts to put on the calendar.
More "Fall Orchestra Concerts: The Stars Are Aligned" »Opera REVIEW
August 19, 2011
Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein’s opera Four Saints in Three Acts receives a colorful, if often inscrutable, remounting at Yerba Buena Center.
More »Festival REVIEW
August 13, 2011
Cabrillo treats listeners to some delectable 20th anniversary sweets, some of higher calorie than others.
More about Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music »
