Main Stage Concerts

Classical masterpieces, unusual gems, and new commissions offer something for everyone at our Main Stage Concerts! Be sure to join Maestro Ben Simon for an engaging and informative onstage-talk 30 minutes before each concert. Concerts are two hours in length.

Admission is free, but tickets are required for non-members! Reserve online using the "Click for Tickets" buttons below, or call 415.692.5258 to make your reservation by phone. Doors open to the public 45 minutes before concert time.

SFCO supporting members receive priority seating and do not need tickets. Please bring membership card to concert, and please arrive no later than 15 minutes before concert time to guarantee yourself a seat. Doors open to SFCO supporting members 60 minutes before concert time.

---

2011–2012 Main Stage Concert #3:
The Goldberg Variations

Benjamin Simon, conductor

Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations

The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra presents a special Main Stage Concert featuring Johann Sebastian Bach's brilliant Goldberg Variations in a virtuoso arrangement for string orchestra. These variations—one of Bach's crowning achievements—are a set of thirty-two short pieces that range from thirty seconds to several minutes in length. Each variation is derived from a single, simple, musical pattern, which is presented in the opening Aria. Dances such as gigues and sarabandes are then interleaved with canons and fugues, deriving incredible diversity from that one pattern. Together, they offer a comprehensive, almost encyclopedic view of Bach’s musical world. There's even a quodlibet. What's that? Come and find out!

The concert begins with a talk by Music Director Ben Simon, who will explain the work's fascinating architecture and unlock its secrets with live musical examples.

Feb. 24 • Fri. 8:00pm • San Francisco
Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. [map]

Feb. 25 • Sat. 8:00pm • Palo Alto
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 600 Colorado Ave. [map]

Feb. 26 • Sun. 3:00pm • Berkeley
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way [map]

---

2011–2012 Main Stage Concert #4:
La Bella Musica

Benjamin Simon, conductor
Avi Avital, mandolin

Gioachino Rossini: L’italiana in Algeri Overture
Giovanni Paisiello: Concerto for Mandolin & Strings in E-flat major
Gioachino Rossini: String Sonata #2 in A major
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony #4 in A major, Op. 90 (“Italian”)

Come with us to bella Italia, where we’ll be celebrating the leap-year birthday of Gioachino Rossini. Our concert also features the much-anticipated return of mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, performing Paisiello’s delightful Mandolin Concerto. Mendelssohn’s sunny and beautiful “Italian” Symphony will close our program and our Main Stage Concert series.

Mar. 30 • Fri. 8:00pm • San Francisco
Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. [map]

Mar. 31 • Sat. 8:00pm • Atherton
Menlo-Atherton Center for the Performing Arts, 555 Middlefield Rd. [map]

Apr. 1 • Sun. 3:00pm • Berkeley
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way [map]