Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Sunset Music | Arts Announces Two Concerts for September, 2016

Next month Sunset Music | Arts will offer two decidedly different concerts on two successive Saturday evenings. The first of these will be the latest collaboration with Verismo Opera, and the second will be a chamber music recital of music for violin (Kate Stenberg) and piano (Sarah Cahill). Taken together these events should appeal to a wide variety of tastes.

For those unfamiliar with it, Verismo Opera is a community-based organization operating out of Fairfield, California. Its mission is to make opera accessible to the public at reasonable prices through a community effort involving professional musicians and singers. Repertoire tends to be focused on the familiar and the popular. The operas are sung in the original language with English supertitles projected. Accompaniment is provided by a chamber orchestra, but performances include both costumes and sets.

Next month’s production will be Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore (the troubadour). The leading roles will be sung by Frederick Winthrop (Manrico), Eliza O’Malley (Leonora), Steve Zimmerman (Count di Luna), and Liliane Cromer (Azucena). The conductor will be Michael Moran.

Like all Sunset Music | Arts events, the performance will take place at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, located at 1750 29th Avenue, about halfway between Moraga Street and Noriega Street. It will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 17. Seating is limited, but tickets are still available for general admission at $25 with a $20 rate for students and seniors. Because the demand tends to be high, advance purchase is highly advised. Tickets may be purchased online through an Eventbrite event page. Further information may be obtained by calling 415-564-2324.

The chamber music recital will present three sonatas from three centuries given in chronological order. It will begin with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 454 in B-flat major, which he composed in 1784. This will be followed by the second of Johannes Brahms’ three violin sonatas, Opus 100 in A major. The program will then make a bold move into the twentieth century with Henry Cowell’s first sonata for violin and piano.

This program will begin at 7:30 p.m. the following Saturday, September 24. Tickets will be sold at the door for $20 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors. However, those using the Eventbrite event page for advance purchase will receive discounted rates (including the processing fee) of $16.74 for general admission and $13.59 for students and seniors.

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