Michael Zwiebach

Michael Zwiebach is the senior editor/content manager for SFCV. He assigns all articles and content, manages the writing staff, and does editing. A member of SFCV from the beginning, Michael holds a Ph.D. in music history from the University of California, Berkeley.

Articles By This Author

Eidolon String Quartet

Michael Zwiebach - April 21, 2009
New chamber groups spring up all the time, usually without fanfare. But the new Eidolon String Quartet deserves attention because its founder is Franklyn D’Antonio, concertmaster of the Berkeley Symphony, and former member of the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
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Review

Power Play

Michael Zwiebach - April 20, 2009

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and their indefatigable music director, Nicholas McGegan, were in top form as they tore into Handel’s oratorio Athalia Saturday night. That means that a writer can only cast about for enough synonyms for the word wonderful.

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Orchestra of Fun

Michael Zwiebach - April 7, 2009
Benjamin Simon

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra concerts are always lively affairs.

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Preview

Carmen

Michael Zwiebach - April 7, 2009
Carmen

Few classical works are as recession-proof as Opera San José's next production, Georges Bizet's Carmen.

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Rossetti Piano Quartet

Michael Zwiebach - April 7, 2009
Rossetti Piano Quartet

Put three-quarters of a string quartet (violin, viola, cello) together with a piano and you have a grouping that has inspired some of the g

Alfonso Alberti:The Music of Niccolò Castiglioni

Michael Zwiebach - March 24, 2009
A rare opportunity to hear one of the 20th century’s underplayed composers. Though Niccolò Castiglioni (1932-1996) isn’t often mentioned in histories of 20th-century music, his music seems more contemporary than many composers who are.

Magnificat: Scarlatti Serenata

Michael Zwiebach - March 24, 2009
In the old days, when classical music was reserved for upper-crust audiences, a lot of music got one or two performances and then was put away in a library and forgotten. That’s why a group like Magnificat, Warren Stewart’s 17th-century music band, is so much fun to see. Often their performance of a piece is the only chance you’ll get to experience it live.
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Old Friends, Getting It Right Again

Michael Zwiebach - March 17, 2009
You often hear chamber music described as a conversation, but really it’s like a meeting of friends. Back in the old days, chamber music was one way to pass the time with friends, and also to indulge a love of music (since there were no radios or stereos to turn on).

Think about that as you listen to the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio in their concert for Chamber Music San Francisco.

Feature

Passion for Bach

Michael Zwiebach - January 20, 2009
The American Bach Soloists, a charter member of the Bay Area’s thriving early music community, turns 20 this season.
Feature

Welcoming the Dawn

Michael Zwiebach - January 13, 2009
It's rare that an interesting new opera simply appears, without the fanfare of commissions and publicity surrounding the premiere. Yet composer Allen Shearer's second opera, The Dawn Makers, is poised to do just that, when it debuts at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre on Feb. 4, conducted by J. Karla Lemon, directed by Brian Staufenbiel, and produced by Composers, Inc.