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Simon Says
The almost-monthly newsletter of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra
November 2009
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Hot off the press: Gabriela Frank wins Latin Grammy award!
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Our very own Composer in Residence
Gabriela Lena Frank, won her first Grammy award last week at the Latin Grammy ceremony in Las Vegas. Gabi’s Inca Dances won in the category Best Classical Contemporary Composition performed by guitarist
Manuel Barrueco & Cuarteto Latinoamericano on Barrueco’s recent Tonar Music album, Sounds of the Americas.
Get your own copy of this award-winning CD here!
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Name that Haydn symphony
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Perhaps you’ve heard of the Farewell Symphony (No. 45), or Surprise (94), or Drumroll (103). But how about Philosopher (22), Hornsignal (31), Mercury (43), Palindrome (47), Schoolmaster (55), La Chasse (73), Bear (82), Miracle (96), Military (100), or London (104)?
Many of Haydn’s 100+ symphonies were named, for a variety of sketchy reasons… but many were left moniker-less. Help us name Symphony #77 in B-flat Major, in time for our performance on New Year’s Eve! Listen to the last movement, and send us your submission ideas. Attend our Classical with a Twist event on Monday evening, Nov. 30 (members and their guests only) when the winner will be selected by popular acclamation from the Freight & Salvage stage at 7:15. Prizes for the winner and top runner-ups will be awarded. Winners need not be present to win.
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Who said it?
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Is it not strange that sheep’s guts should hale souls out of men’s bodies?
{answer below}
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Classical with a Twist: two special events for members (and their guests)
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Classical at the Freight
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 Monday Nov. 30: 8pm
The New Esterhazy String Quartet performs Haydn
@ the new Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse,
2020 Addison St, Berkeley
These four wonderful players are well-known to Bay Area audiences: Lisa Weiss, Kati Kyme, Anthony Martin, and William Skeen. At the tail end of their monumental project to perform all 66 of Haydn’s string quartets, they’re bringing a few of their favorites to the Freight for our delectation and delight. This is a ticketed event: $8.50 in advance, $9.50 at the door, and SFCO members get two tickets for the price of one! Click here for more Classical at the Freight info
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Viola joke of the month
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Three violists are sitting in a car. Who’s driving?
The police.
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Get a head start on your holiday shopping
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by purchasing gift memberships in the SFCO for all your friends and family.
 Even your tone deaf friends will appreciate your commitment to the arts and your wish to support the fresh, fun, first-rate and absolutely free programming by the Bay Area’s favorite chamber orchestra. And just think how much more your musically inclined friends will enjoy the gift of live music?
Speaking of members,
your SFCO memberships are now on an automated system of renewal… but you’re welcome to sign back up at any time. This year, members can make advance reservations for themselves and their guests ($20 per guest suggested admission, please) at our increasingly popular Home Series concerts.
Click here for membership info.
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Ask the Maestro
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 Dear Maestro
Sheep’s guts? I don’t get it.
Puzzled in Palo Alto
Dear Puzzled,
For millenia, before modern industrial techniques made metal strings widely available, zithers harps lutes guitars gambas not to mention violins violas celli and basses were strung with various lengths and thicknesses of sheep’s guts. A handy and practical solution, unless you were a sheep. You can still buy gut strings, but most professionals prefer one of the newer composites. Still interested? Check this out!
Got questions? Need some musical advice? Dating a violist?
Ask the Maestro at SimonSays@sfchamberorchestra.org
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Virtuoso violin meets surround sound
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An Evening with Composer Gloria Justen
Gloria Justen, composer and violinist, will present a unique program on November 14th, which ranges from subtle insect rhythms to passionate virtuoso violin playing. Original pieces for solo violin will be juxtaposed with digital sound collages played back on a multiple-speaker system. Her sound collages combine environmental field recordings, studio-recorded instruments, and digital processes to create evocative dream trips.
Saturday, Nov 14, 8pm
tickets $10 – $15
a.Muse art gallery & meeting place
614 Alabama St.
SF, CA 94110
415.279.6281
Gloria is also appearing on Classical at the Freight on Monday evening, Dec 14. Her new concerto for Violin and Cello will be premiered on the SFCO’s Double Trouble concert set.
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From the Berzerkeley Dictionary of Musical Terms
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Chromatic Scale: An instrument for weighing that indicates half-pounds
Harmonic Minor: A good music student
Virtuoso: A musician with very high morals
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Who said it
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Is it not strange that sheep’s guts should hale souls out of men’s bodies?
William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616),
Much Ado About Nothing
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Video of the month
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Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray in a classic comedy sketch to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
Click here to watch.
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Simon Says
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One family concert down, and an entire season to go. Our Meet the Composers performances, featuring composer Doctor Professor Laurie San Martin, actor Thomas Flynn, and a cast of dozens of wonderful young musicians from around the Bay Area, was a smash hit over the past weekend in San Francisco, Berkeley, and San Mateo.
Looking forward, we hope you will attend one of our upcoming Classical with a Twist events (members and their invited guests only) and then our first set of Home Series Concerts over the New Year’s weekend, Double Trouble.
Please come to lots of our first-class and admission-free performances, and tell all your friends about us. Make sure all the children in your neighborhood know about our Very First and Family concerts. Already a member? Consider a gift membership for your sister, neighbor, or dentist. Let’s let San Francisco’s best kept secret out of the bag!
Onward and upward!
Ben Simon |
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