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Parade of Ensembles in Noe Valley

Janos Gereben on October 14, 2014

Noe Valley Chamber Music's 22nd season features seven notable ensembles, beginning with the Hausmann Quartet on Oct. 19, at 4 p.m., in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. The program: Haydn's String Quartet Op.33, No. 5; Gruenberg's Four Diversions for String Quartet; and Debussy's String Quartet in G Minor.

Alex Greenbaum, Angela Choong, Guillaume Pirard, and Isaac Allen of the Hausmann Quartet Photo by John Petreikis
Alex Greenbaum, Angela Choong, Guillaume Pirard, and Isaac Allen of the Hausmann Quartet
Photo by John Petreikis

All season long, the performers are all top professionals, but — as ever before — the series itself is informal and neighborly: tickets are $20-$25, with discount for students and seniors; there are free pre-concert talks (half hour before performance), wine at intermission, and mingling with the artists after the concert. Where "Ministry" is shown as location below, it's the the newly renovated Noe Valley Ministry at 1021 Sanchez St., otherwise, it's St. Mark's at 1111 O'Farrell St.

On Nov. 16, it's the Mobius Trio — of Robert Nance, Mason Fish, and Matthew Holmes-Linder, guitars — with works by Dan Becker, Belinda Reynolds, Danny Clay, Adrian Knight, and Sergio Assad.

Jan. 24, at the Ministry, Emil Miland and Friends: Jake Heggie, Candace Forest, Ann Moss, Alison Lovejoy, Steven Bailey, and Joan Nagano; a world premiere by young composer Liam Wade; pre-concert conversation with the composers at 3:15 p.m.

Feb. 22, at the Ministry, pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, in a recital titled "Masques and Lullabies."

March 22 will be the annual benefit, with Jorga Fleezanis, violin, and Karl Paulnak, piano, performing works by De Falla, Copland, Bolcom, and Bartók.

The a cappella vocal ensemble Clerestory presents a program called "Love and the Knight," on April 26, a tribute to the music-loving King Charlemagne and his musical legacy in Europe, beginning with Gregorian chant and the songs of Hildegard von Bingen, then through the Renaissance and the Romantic masters with songs both sacred and amorous.

The San Francisco Piano Trio of violinist Axel Strauss, cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau, and pianist Jeffrey Sykes perform music by Dvořák, Schubert, and Shostakovich at the season-closing concert on May 17.