Artist Spotlights

An Interview With Susan Graham: The Intimate Singer

Jason Victor Serinus - November 3, 2009
Texas-born mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is no stranger to these parts. Since 1990, she has sung everything from Monteverdi to Jake Heggie in six different productions with San Francisco Opera, performed several times in concert with the San Francisco Symphony, and sung two recitals here.

An Interview With Sara Jobin: It's All About the Music

Georgia Rowe - October 27, 2009
On November 7, 2004, Sara Jobin made opera history by becoming the first woman to conduct a San Francisco Opera main stage production. The opera was Tosca, and Jobin has since conducted the company’s performances of The Flying Dutchman, Norma, and Appomattox, as well as the S.F.

An Interview With Alexander Barantschik: Playing Second Fiddle to None

Lisa Petrie - October 20, 2009
Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony for eight years, violinist Alexander Barantschik has won the hearts of patrons with his wide range of talent. As soloist, conductor, and section leader, “Sasha,” as his colleagues call him, has become something of a rock star at Davies Symphony Hall.

An Interview With William Lyons: Eclectic About Early Music

Lisa Petrie - October 13, 2009
Renaissance music aficionado William Lyons is known for his work with the Dufay Collective and as music director of London’s Globe Theatre. On Oct. 18, MusicSources presents his new ensemble, City Musick, in its first American tour.

Where did you grow up, and what bearing did that have on your becoming an early-music freak?

An Interview With Robert Geary: Master of Choral R&D

Lisa Petrie - October 12, 2009

Robert Geary is expanding the envelope of modern choral music, building a body of repertoire by commissioning and performing new music with his three groups — Volti, the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, and the San Francisco Choral Society. On Oct. 18, the proud papa of Volti celebrates the group’s 30th anniversary with a special CD release and gala.

An Interview With Wu Han: Music@Menlo Lands a Brand New Venue

Marianne Lipanovich - October 6, 2009

The founders of the summer music festival Music@Menlo are returning to the Peninsula this fall. Wu Han and David Finckel, along with Anthony McGill, are performing on Oct. 11 at the opening of the new Menlo-Atherton Performing Arts Center, on the campus of Menlo-Atherton High School. It’s a state-of-the-art building, and, says Wu Han, “I can’t wait to play there.”

An Interview With Thomas Hampson: Playing Your Game

Lisa Houston - September 29, 2009

This week Bay Area music lovers can look forward to two events featuring the music and scholarship of baritone Thomas Hampson. Tuesday evening, he will be joined at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music by curators from the Library of Congress to discuss their collaboration celebrating the history of American song.

An Interview With David Harrington: Forever Deepening Musical Relationships

Jeff Kaliss - September 28, 2009
In his fourth decade as a violinist and as both founder and artistic director of the award-winning Kronos Quartet, David Harrington still exudes the infectious excitement of a gifted student infatuated with experimental and global music from beyond the conservatory’s walls.

Christopher Honett Comes Home

Georgia Rowe - September 21, 2009
When Christopher Honett left the East Coast this summer to start his new job at the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the journey felt like a homecoming. That’s not just because Honett was born and raised in the Bay Area. Joining the venerable new music ensemble, he says, gives him the opportunity to do the kind of work he’s always wanted to do.

An Interview With Christine Brewer: Bringing Back Beloved Songs

Lisa Houston - September 21, 2009

Christine Brewer is coming to town. Her upcoming recital for Cal Performances on Sept. 27 will feature the music of Berg, Strauss, and Britten, along with some old chestnuts favored by big-voiced sopranos of the last century. She was happy to be back home in St. Louis for a couple of weeks, as I caught up with her to chat about her life as world-class dramatic soprano, mother and ...