Jeff Rosenfeld

Jeff Rosenfeld is a Bay Area science communicator and arts writer. He has long performed as an oboist in local orchestras, bands, and operas.

Articles By This Author

Seiji Ozawa
Feature

The Essential Seiji Ozawa

Jeff Rosenfeld - March 25, 2024

The great conductor, who died in February, left an unparalleled recording legacy that spans a huge range of music. Here’s where to begin.

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
Review

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Celebrates Kaija Saariaho’s Legacy

Jeff Rosenfeld - March 8, 2024

A trio of players make extraordinary music from the composer’s technical challenges and also premiere a new Saariaho-inspired work.

Berkeley Symphony
Review

From Impressionism to Jazz and Back With the Berkeley Symphony

Jeff Rosenfeld - February 28, 2024

Directed by Joseph Young, an exciting program draws connections between French and American musical icons.

Oakland Symphony
Review

Oakland Symphony Premieres Carlos Simon Oratorio

Jeff Rosenfeld - February 20, 2024

Michael Morgan’s last commission for the orchestra is realized by debuting conductor Kedrick Armstrong and star bass Morris Robinson.

Feature

My Love Affair With Internet Radio

Jeff Rosenfeld - August 12, 2008

On the day my lifelong infatuation with classical radio died, I hardly realized it would be revived by the Internet just a year later and become better than ever — so exciting that my CDs are quickly becoming superfluous, forgotten on their dusty shelves. Studio recordings simply can't compare to the magnetism of the great live performances on Internet radio.

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Review

Taking the Pulse of Italian Music

Jeff Rosenfeld - November 6, 2007
At one time, Italian music meant throbbing voices soaring unashamedly through ornate melodies, propelled by the pulsating oom-pah-pah of an orchestra masquerading as a massive guitar. In its latest concert, last Monday at the Green Room of San Francisco’s Veterans War Memorial, the Left Coast Ensemble took stock of recent Italian music.

Bigger Is Not Bolder

Jeff Rosenfeld - May 15, 2007
No music makes a bigger statement than the brassy sunrise of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra. Because tour programs are generally about making statements, the extravagant tone poem based on Nietzsche's extravagantly confident philosophy is music befitting the San Francisco Symphony's current itinerary.

Musicians Loose in the Asylum

Jeff Rosenfeld - April 24, 2007
At nearly every turn there was something crazy about the Berkeley Symphony concert on Thursday, making it one of the most stimulating but maddening musical events of the year. To begin with, however, give kudos to the orchestra for scheduling itself two dates in Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, instead of Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, barely a stone’s throw away.

The Unbearable Lightness of Music

Jeff Rosenfeld - March 27, 2007

To say we heard Martin Fröst play the clarinet at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre on Thursday would be an understatement. We came to see his San Francisco Performances debut, and in return he made us see how music can defy gravity.