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Nicholas Jones

Nicholas Jones is a retired professor of English (Oberlin College) and a member of the board of Early Music America. He sings and plays recorder, violin, and viola da gamba in a number of early music groups in the Bay Area.

Articles by this Author

Opera Review
August 5, 2019
Jake Heggie Premiere at Merola Inhabits a Dark and Shifting World
BY Nicholas Jones

Brilliant Merolini were more than up to the rich challenges offered in the commissioned If I Were You.

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Opera Review
July 15, 2019
Festival Opera Makes a Triumphant Return with Susannah
BY Nicholas Jones

Carlisle Floyd’s Appalachian-themed study of cultural hypocrisy and sexual violence is more timely than ever.

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Opera Review
June 8, 2019
San Francisco Opera Plays Carmen With a Heavy Hand
BY Nicholas Jones

The production is at its best when it gives the singers space to do what they do best.

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Choral Review
May 20, 2019
L.A. Master Chorale Stages Lagrime di San Pietro With Piercing Expressivity
BY Nicholas Jones

Peter Sellars’s masterful, minimalist direction provides the perfect setting for LAMC’s powerful performance.

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Recital Review
May 6, 2019
Alisa Weilerstein Performs Bach in a Monumental and Exhausting Recital
BY Nicholas Jones

The virtuoso cellist takes a Romantic approach to the Six Suites.

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Opera Review
March 26, 2019
A Neglected Smetana Opera Gets New Life at Pocket Opera
BY Nicholas Jones

The Two Widows bubbles over with life’s sorrows and joys.

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Choral Review
March 5, 2019
California Bach Society Sings a Moving All-Night Vigil
BY Nicholas Jones

Paul Flight deftly guides the chorus through Rachmaninoff’s demanding masterpiece.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
February 19, 2019
S.F. Symphony Finds Bach and Mendelssohn at Cross-Purposes
BY Nicholas Jones

András Schiff plays and conducts a long, oddly asynchronous concert.

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Opera Review
December 4, 2018
Solo Opera Delivers a Sweet Gift of the Magi
BY Nicholas Jones

David Conte’s tuneful music makes a heartfelt comedy.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
November 19, 2018
Oakland Symphony Commemorates the Ghost Ship Tragedy
BY Nicholas Jones

The world premiere of Richard Marriott’s Ghost Ship Concerto headlines the somber program.

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Early Music/Baroque Review
November 5, 2018
Jordi Savall Leads a Global Village of Musicians in a Kaleidoscopic Tour of Slavery
BY Nicholas Jones

A concert that at once recounts the brutality of slavery while embracing the musical cultures it brought together.

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Recital Review
October 2, 2018
Yo-Yo Ma Delivers a Powerful Musical Message for Our Times
BY Nicholas Jones

The cellist gives a marathon performance of Bach at the Greek.

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Choral Review
September 17, 2018
Cappella SF Expertly Showcases Gems of British Choral Music
BY Nicholas Jones

Cathedral acoustics muddy the brilliance of Britain’s “Crown Jewels.”

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Early Music/Baroque Review
June 12, 2018
Monks Singing Pagans: Lost Songs at the Berkeley Festival
BY Nicholas Jones

Sequentia performs compellingly reconstructed music from a thousand years ago.

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Chamber Music Review
May 8, 2018
The Ives Collective Rings Changes on Music of The First World War
BY Nicholas Jones

A fascinating concert of seldom-heard music reflects on the Europe of a century ago.

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Early Music/Baroque Review
March 13, 2018
Music of the Sun King Shines Brightly With Paolo Pandolfo and Ensemble
BY Nicholas Jones

The viol virtuoso brings French Baroque chamber music to the Bay Area.

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Opera Review
January 22, 2018
Island City Opera Reveals Two Sides of Rimsky-Korsakov
BY Nicholas Jones

A pair of one-act operas range from the restrained to the flamboyant.

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Choral Review
October 31, 2017
Cappella SF Triumphs Timelessly
BY Nicholas Jones

Pitch-perfect performances blend seamlessly in a program spanning the centuries.

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Choral Review
October 24, 2017
California Bach Society Dazzles With a Shorter Mass and an Expressive Cantata
BY Nicholas Jones

Vocalists, orchestra, and conductor are in perfect synch in this intense, spiritual program.

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Opera Review
October 17, 2017
Passionate Music and Druidic Barbarity Emerge in West Bay Opera’s Norma
BY Nicholas Jones

Superb singing and playing transcend lackluster acting and staging in this challenging opera.

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