Jason Victor Serinus

Jason Victor Serinus regularly reviews music and audio for Stereophile, SFCV, Classical Voice North America, AudioStream, American Record Guide, and other publications. The whistling voice of Woodstock in She’s a Good Skate, Charlie Brown, the longtime Oakland resident now resides in Port Townsend, Washington.

Articles By This Author

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Review

The Demented and the Divine

Jason Victor Serinus - October 19, 2009

“The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death,” sings Salome, the eponymous central character in Richard Strauss’ 1905 opera.

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Preview

Laying Out a Smorgasboard For Percussion

Jason Victor Serinus - October 12, 2009
Some people are born to pound their way through life. Take Loren Mach, for example.
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Review

Thomas Hampson Surveys American Song

Jason Victor Serinus - October 2, 2009

Midway through his Song of America recital on Wednesday, presented by San Francisco Performances, Spokane-raised Thomas Hampson paused to address the adoring Herbst Theatre audience he had sung for on 10 previous occasions. “In many of the places where I’ve presented this project," the 54-year-old baritone declared, “people ask me if I’d please sing more songs like that one called Shenandoah.

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Review

Heartening a/rhythmia From Alarm Without Sound

Jason Victor Serinus - September 28, 2009
Within three or four measures, the riot is in full swing. It’s as though Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti embrace under acid rain madness, while Frank Zappa and Bruce Springstein come sloshing through in quick-step fashion.
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Review

A House of Many Chambers

Jason Victor Serinus - September 27, 2009
It’s easy to understand why Cal Performances scheduled four preconcert educational events in association with the two-performance U.S. premiere of Evan Ziporyn’s new opera, A House in Bali, at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall.
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Feature

Downloading Primer: How to Get the Most From Your Clicks

Jason Victor Serinus - September 22, 2009

As we approach the year 2010, downloading music has become as ubiquitous as iPods.

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Review

Keeping Score Scores a 10

Jason Victor Serinus - September 21, 2009

Keeping Score is about to return. The first three musical journeys in the second season of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony’s Keeping Score TV series are set to air nationwide. Scheduled locally on KQED-TV for Oct. 15, 22, and 29 at 10 p.m., the one-hour programs explore Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, and Ives’ Holidays Symphony.

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Preview

California Symphony: Moving Ahead With the Times

Jason Victor Serinus - September 21, 2009
Beyond the splendor of the big city’s symphony, the extraordinarily progressive California Symphony is often relegated to “over there” status.
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Review

Listening to Thomas Hampson's America

Jason Victor Serinus - September 14, 2009

After several decades of championing American art song, baritone Thomas Hampson refuses to let the major label slowdown hold him back. Instead, he’s started the Thomas Hampson Media label, and launched a full-out multimedia American song assault, as well.

A Lang Lang Primer

Jason Victor Serinus - September 8, 2009
As he prepares to open the San Francisco Symphony’s 2009-2010 season Wednesday with Prokofiev’s challenging Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26, in Davies Symphony Hall, 27-year-old Lang Lang seems to have embraced his superstar pianist reputation — and run with it.