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HSC Concert Series Past Programs
The Berkeley Hillside Club Concert Series has been proud to host some of the finest
artists performing today. Scroll down this page to view some of the past programs in our series.

Bay Area Composers Big Band
In Concert
Friday, June 12, 2008 at 8:00pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present the Bay
Area Composers Big Band in concert. This is the first public
performance of this remarkable ensemble, consisting of some of
the finest musicians and composers in the Bay Area. Don't miss
this opportunity to hear these superb artists performing in our
acoustically-excellent hall.
The Band:
The Bay Area Composers Big Band began as a reading band
organized by Erik Jekabson and Jeannie Geiger, with the purpose of
hearing new music written for big band. Drawing from the roster of
world-class jazz musicians in the Bay Area who have formidable
reading and improvising abilities, these monthly reading
sessions featured new works by different members of the band,
each showing different influences and different approaches to
writing for an ensemble this size and instrumentation. The music
ranges from avant-garde jazz to modern jazz to "third-stream"
jazz and features many of the leading voices in the Bay Area's
music scene. This concert marks the first public performance of
this new big band, which is featuring music by Jekabson, Geiger,
Johnston, Hung and others.
The Players:
Erik Jekabson - trumpet
Darren Johnston - trumpet
Mike Olmos - trumpet
Henry Hung - trumpet
Neil Levonious - trumpet
Evan Francis - saxophone
Kasey Knudsen - saxophone
Mike Zilber - saxophone
Sheldon Brown - saxophone
Doug Rowan - saxophone
Jeannie Geiger - trombone
Dave Martell - trombone
Mara Fox - trombone
Rich Lee - trombone
Colin Hogan - piano
Jon Monahan - guitar
Tommy Folen - bass
Jeff Marrs - drums

Seventh Annual Matthew Sperry Memorial Festival,
featuring Gail Brand
Friday, June 5, 2008 at 8:00pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased once again to host the
annual Matthew Sperry Memorial Festival, this year featuring
English composer and trombone virtuoso, Gail Brand.
Brand will perform duo, trio and quintet improvisations with
Morgan Guberman, Gino Robair, John Shiurba, Tim Perkis and Tom
Djlla. Don't miss this opportunity to hear these superb
artists performing in our acoustically-excellent hall.
The Festival:
This is an evening of music in honor of bassist Matthew Sperry,
featuring English trombonist Gail Brand (www.gailbrand.com),
with whom he frequently collaborated, in a series of duos, trios
and quintets. Brand is one of the most active improvisers on
the European free-improv scene and is known for her fiery style
and exceptional use of extended techniques.
Together with Sperry, Brand formed the group 'Supermodel Supermodel,'
which recorded a CD for
the influential British label, Emanem. The group also included
John Shiurbai (guitar), Gino Robair (percussion), and Tim Perkis
(electronics), who will be performing with her tonight. Trumpeter
Tom Djll will also take part in the quintet pieces.
The evening will also feature Brand in her ongoing duo with
Bay Area vocalist Morgan Guberman. The duo recorded the CD 'Ballgames and Crazy'
for Emanem and has played concerts and festivals around the
US and Europe.
Proceeds from this benefit performance supports the Matthew Sperry
Memorial Fund.
For more info:
http://www.hillsideclub.org/concerts.htm#sperry_fest_09.
The Featured Artist:
English trombonist Gail Brand is a commissioned composer
and has performed on the international jazz and improvising
scene since the early 1990s. Her collaborations include Butch
Morris, Billy Jenkins, Mark Sanders, Elton Dean, Phil Minton, Lol
Coxhill, Veryan Weston, Oren Marshall, Maggie Nichols, and Luc Ex,
among others. She works frequently with her group Lunge, which
has recorded two CDs, and she has received critical accolades for
her recorded work overall. London's Time Out magazine noted that
she is "one of the most passionate and dynamic musicians alive."
Jazz Weekly called her "one of the most impressive brass
soloists of her generation." Gail Brand also works as a qualified
Music Therapist and is the professor of Group Improvisation
skills at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London on
the Music Therapy MA course.

The Invaders Trio

Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble
Double Jeopardy:
The Invaders Trio
and
Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble
In Concert
Friday, 29 May at 8:00 pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present another
double-bill of superb music. Two virtuoso ensembles, The
Invaders Trio and Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble
will perform compelling original compositions with strong
influences from both jazz and classical traditions. Don't miss
this opportunity to hear these superb artists performing in our
acoustically-excellent hall.
The Ensembles:
Bay Area-based ensemble leaders Mitch Marcus and
Matt Small bring The Invaders Trio and Matt
Small's Chamber Ensemble together on the same bill for the
first time. This performance will be a tour-de-force for Marcus,
as he performs on piano with The Invaders Trio, and then switches
to the demanding sax repertoire of Small's music. Marking a new
direction for Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble, Bay Area drummer
Micah McClain will make his concert debut with the group as they
perform recent works included on its upcoming third CD release
(due winter 2009) along with compositions off the group's first
two releases.
The Invaders Trio is a brand new project that performs
Mitch Marcus' compositions, featuring Mitch on piano (not sax),
George Ban-Weiss (upright bass), and Jeff Marrs (drums). The music
brings together a number of elements, creating a new twist on
the sound of the standard jazz piano trio. From arching melodies
to mixed meter grooves, the band draws on a wealth of collective
musical experience.
Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble has been heard in
performance since 2002, including its 2005 Carnegie Hall
debut. Born of the composer's desire to write complex material
with a strong improvisatory concept, the quintet (bass, piano,
saxophone, clarinet, violin) / sextet (with the addition of drums)
blends elements of a modern classical ensemble with those of a
flexible jazz/improvisatory group. The Ensemble's repertoire is
comprised of Small's compositions, many of which can be heard
on the group's two CD's, On the Verge of Sentiment (2005), and
The Royal Collection of Exotic Beasts (2006). The group is also
a member of Intersection for the Arts' Incubator Program.
The Players:
The Invaders Trio
Mitch Marcus - piano
George Ban-Weiss - bass
Jeff Marrs, - drums
Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble
Matt Small - bass
Kymry Esainko - piano
Paula Dreyer - piano
Mitch Marcus - saxophones
Sarah Zaharako - violin
Rachel Condry - clarinets
Micah McClain - drums
The Bios:
San Francisco bassist and composer Matt Small creates
music that blurs the boundaries between divergent musical styles,
producing a uniquely fresh sound. As a performer, composer,
and producer, Small currently leads three distinct ensembles:
Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble, The Crushing Spiral Ensemble,
and The Bedlam Royals. Small has released five CD's with these
groups showcasing a wide variety of his compositional work. He
made his Carnegie Hall debut as a composer in April 2005,
when Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble participated in a workshop,
led by renowned trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas, culminating in
a concert in which Small premiered three, eight-minute works at
Carnegie's Zankel Hall. In September 2004, Small's multi-faceted
musical personality was honored when he made his Carnegie debut
as a bassist with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, performing in
four evening concerts and multiple daytime demonstrations with
Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. Compositional honors for Small
include 2005 and 2007 Subito Awards, as well as a 2006 Northern
California Composers Commissioning Program Award, all administered
by the American Composers Forum.
www.mattsmall.org
Sarah Jo Zaharako is a graduate of the Oberlin
Conservatory where she completed degrees in music performance and
arts education. Sarah spent two summers at the Tanglewood Music
Festival and has performed in Carnegie Hall on numerous occasions,
including as part of Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble. Since moving
to the Bay Area, Sarah has incorporated free improvisation,
Klezmer, Balkan, jazz, and fiddle music into her performance
and teaching repertoire. In 2002, she completed her M.F.A.at
Mills College where she studied violin with David Abel and
improvisation with Fred Frith. She is a cofounder of the band
Gojogo and founder of the group Scrappy.
www.sarahjozaharako.com
Rachel Condry, clarinetist and composer, has been an
advocate and promoter of new music for over a decade. She has
premiered multiple works for solo clarinet, clarinet with tape,
and clarinet with orchestra, as well as recently commissioning
several chamber works. In addition to performing with Matt
Small, Rachel is a performing member of the San Francisco
Composer's Chamber Orchestra where she is often a featured
soloist. Rachel is committed to innovating new music programs
that feature local composers, such as "Clarinetist as Rockstar"
and "Weapons Pointed Out, Weapons Pointed In." She is a graduate
of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Kymry Esainko has been principal pianist for the Santa
Rosa Symphony since 2002, making his solo concerto debut in
December 2008. As a vocal and choral accompanist, Kymry has
performed in concert halls around the globe. An active jazz
musician, Kymry plays piano, celeste and pump organ in Iron & the
Albatross, a chamber jazz group that made its SF Jazz Festival
debut in March 2008. Kymry graduated from Oberlin College and
Conservatory of Music with degrees in piano performance and
American history. He studied classical piano with Frank Wasko,
Peter Takacs, and Sanford Margolis, and jazz piano with Neal
Creque and Ed Kelly.
Pianist Paula Dreyer has played all over the world,
including engagements with the Santa Rosa and Monterey Symphonies
and at Carnegie Hall with Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble. In
addition to working with Small, she is half of Duo Cantando with
cellist Kelley Maulbetsch, and performs in the Latin group Potaje,
led by Chus Alonso. Paula is a band member for Steve Silver's
legendary show "Beach Blanket Babylon." Paula is on faculty at
San Francisco's Community Music Center, she directs a private
piano studio, and is the author of the instructional book For
the Aspiring Pianist. M.A., SF State; B.A., McGill University.
www.pauladreyer.com
A student of drumming for over 20 years and a teacher for over
15, Micah McClain has performed with artists representing
a rich cross-section of musical traditions - jazz luminaries
Red Rodney, David Baker and James Moody, MTV favorites Oh My
God, traditional Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Ugandan, Ghanaian,
and Native American ensembles, the rockabilly circus music of
The Kehoe Nation, and bass clarinet quartet Edmund Welles. His
current projects include the Terrence Brewer Quintet, Stanley,
Project Pimento, Water Babies, and all of Matt Small's current
ensemble projects. Micah attended Indiana University, where he
studied with Kenny Aronoff and David Baker.
www.micahmcclain.com
Mitch Marcus is a performer, composer and arranger who has
been an integral part of the Bay Area music scene since 1998. In
1999 he founded the Mitch Marcus Quintet (MMQ) and the MMQ + 13
(an 18 piece big band). These groups deliver a unique brand of
original music from post-apocalyptic jazz to trance hypnotism,
and feature many of Mitch's extended compositions. In 2004, he
was awarded a Subito grant from the American Composer's Forum
for his work with the MMQ + 13. As a composer, his commissions
include chamber and orchestral scores for original ballets with
Ballet Counterpointe Repertory.
www.mitchmarcusmusic.com
George Ban-Weiss is a member of several local bands such
as The Mitch Marcus Quintet (voted "Best Bay Area Jazz Group,"
SF Weekly, 2006), Shotgun Wedding Hiphop Symphony, Telepathy,
Low End Theory, The Yancie Taylor Quartet, The Contemporary
Jazz Orchestra (Jazz at Pearls Bigband), Realistic Orchestra
(voted "Best Bay Area Jazz Group," SF Weekly, 2005), Ben Stolorow
Trio, and Mitch Marcus Bigband, among others. He even had the
opportunity to play a live show at the Palace of Fine Arts with
legend Donovan. George has played at many high profile venues
such as Yoshis, The Warfield Theatre, Great American Music Hall,
The Palace of Fine Arts, Brunos, and Pearls on the west coast,
as well as the 55 Bar in New York City.
www.myspace.com/georgebanweiss
Jeff Marrs has become one of the top call drummers in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Since moving back in 2001, Marrs
works regularly with the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (MSJO),
The Eaton-Barics Quintet, The Mel Martin Quartet, The Mitch
Marcus Quintet, The "Dynamic" Ms. Faye Carol, Sista Kee and IOP,
Natasha Miller, and The Collective West Jazz Orchestra. He has
also worked with, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Don Friedman, Donnie McCaslin,
Dayna Stephens, Ambrose Akinmuseri, Josh Nelson, Rodger Kellaway,
and Jakie Ryan. Others that Jeff Has played with are, Stefon
Harris, Marc Cary, Ledisi, Kim Nally, Jason Palmer, Bob Reynolds,
Matt Small, Bob Brookmeyer, George Russell, John McNeil, Geroge
Garzone and Danilo Perez. Marrs has also played at the Fillmore
Jazz festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Jazz
Festival, the Montclaire Jazz Festival, the Sonoma Jazz Festival,
the Belvedere Jazz Festival and the Concord Jazz Festival. Marrs
performed with Marcus Shelby at the Montreal Jazz Festival in July
(08).
www.myspace.com/jeffmarrs

Beyond All Limits
Honoring the Musical Legacy of the
Legendary Trumpeter/Composer Woody Shaw
Featuring Ian Dogole, Sheldon Brown,
Frank Martin, Harvey Wainapel,
and Sam Bevan
Friday, 8 May at 8:00 pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to collaborate in the
presentation of a fabulous concert in tribute to the legendary
Woody Shaw, featuring Ian Dogole, Sheldon Brown, Frank Martin, Harvey
Wainapel and Sam Bevan. Don't miss this opportunity to hear
these superb artists performing in our acoustically-excellent
hall.
About Woody Shaw:
Despite his extraordinary contributions to the evolution of
Jazz during hard bop and post-bop eras of the 1970s and '80s,
Woody Shaw has never received his due recognition compared
to other trumpet legends such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and
Clifford Brown, to name a few. During the 1960s, word of Woody
Shaw's virtuosity and inventiveness as a trumpeter led him
to perform and record with some of the most revered musicians of
the era, including Horace Silver, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Jackie
McLean, McCoy Tyner and Andrew Hill. According to critic Ron
Wynn, Shaw was, "on the verge of stardom" when he met with an
untimely death from heart failure at age 44. The Rolling Stone
Jazz Record Guide discussed Shaw's works as, "rewarding examples
of the best postbop, analogous to the work of Dexter Gordon and
McCoy Tyner during the same period..." He remained determined
throughout his lifetime to never compromise his purist styles in
return for commercialized adaptations of his music. During the
course of his career, Shaw released over two dozen recordings
as a leader and performed in venues around the world.
The Tribute Concert:
Multipercussionist/bandleader Ian Dogole was recently awarded
a grant from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music (SFFCM)
to present a concert that pays tribute to the prodigious musical
legacy of the great trumpet master and brilliant composer Woody
Shaw. Having seen Woody Shaw's bands numerous times in concert
during the 70s and 80s, Dogole was smitten with the vision and
passion of this under-acknowledged instrumentalist, bandleader
and composer. After establishing a friendship with Shaw's son,
Woody III, in 2001, a mission emerged to honor Woody's music
both on record and in performance. With the upcoming Hemispheres
release of Crossroads (Sunnyside Records) on which the group
recorded Woody's piece Katrina Ballerina, and the tribute concert
at The Hillside Club, both of these goals will be realized.
The Artists:
For over 25 years, Ian Dogole has articulated his vision
of Global Fusion Music as a multipercussionist, bandleader,
composer, recording artist, producer and educator. He has
released five records and a DVD as a leader - Along the Route,
Dangerous Ground, Ionospheres, Night Harvest, Convergence and
Ian Dogole & Hemispheres In Concert (DVD). A new Hemispheres
recording, Crossroads, will be released on the Sunnyside
Records label in the spring of 2009. Dogole has recorded and
performed with artists such as the late Nubian oud/vocal master
Hamza El Din, woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless and Peruvian
shaman/multi-instrumentalist Tito La Rosa. Dogole performs on a
wide variety of percussion instruments, including udu, cajon,
hang, talking drums, global drum set, mbiras and dumbek. He
received a Jazz Performance Fellowship from the National Endowment
for the Arts in 1991, Marin Arts Council grants in 1994, 1995
and 1998 for his educational program, Adventures in Global
Fusion Music, a Marin Arts Council Career Development grant
in 2008 and a grant from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber
Music (SFFCM) in 2009 to present Beyond All Limits, a musical
tribute to the legendary trumpeter/composer Woody Shaw. Dogole
has been a frequent participant in the San Francisco Symphony's
Adventures in Music program, presenting assemblies to more than
20,000 elementary school students throughout the San Francisco
Public School system. He is currently a faculty member of the
Sierra Jazz Society's summer Jazz Camp and is a contributing
writer for JazzTimes Magazine.
After growing up and attending college in Salt Lake City,
bassist Sam Bevan now lives only a few miles from where
he was born in Oakland, California. Sam's adoption of the
bass followed periods playing classical and jazz piano, singing
professionally (he still sings when he solos on bass) and getting
a BA in French. Sam prefers the bass because, as he puts it,
"The bass has the best job: I can interact with the drummer,
I can make melodic comments and I can support soloists. It's
the one instrument that can really play all the different
roles in the band while having an interactive relationship with
everyone." And Sam does have a professional relationship with many
bands, among them Monk's Music Trio, the David Grisman Quintet,
multi-instrumental wizard Joe Craven and the VNote Ensemble. He
also works with other fine artists including Roswell Rudd, Geoff
Muldaur, Jim Kweskin, the Matt Flinner Trio, Marco Granados,
Mamadou and Vanessa Sidibe, Rumbache, Bjorkestra, Mary Wilson,
Hal Stein, Kenny Washington, Candela, Louie Romero & Mazacote,
Scott Nygaard & Crow Molly, the Hot Club of San Francisco,
Ellen Robinson, Mimi Fox, Adam Levy, Venezuelan Music Project,
Michael O' Neill Quintet, Chelle & Friends, Contemporary Jazz
Orchestra and the New Pickle Family Circus.
Composer and woodwind multi-instrumentalist Sheldon
Brown formed the Sheldon Brown Group in 1993, and in 1996
he released the jazz/fusion CD Shifting Currents. Brown has
performed internationally (most recently with pianist Omar Sosa)
at world-renowned venues such as the North Sea Jazz Festival,
Moers Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Jazz d'Or,
Toronto Jazz Festival and the Spoleto Festival. He is featured
on Omar Sosa's CDs Prietos, Bembon, Spirit of the Roots and
Free Roots, on Ian Dogole's CDs Ionospheres and Night Harvest,
and on the Hemispheres CDs Convergence and the band's upcoming
release Crossroads. Brown is a member of San Francisco's Club
Foot Orchestra, for whom he has composed scores for Film Roman's
cartoon series The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat and silent films
such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. and
Cops, G. W. Pabst's Pandora's Box and Robert Wiene's Hands of
Orlac. Club Foot has performed at New York's Knitting Factory,
Walter Reade Theater, at Lincoln Center and the Smithsonian
Institution, in Washington, D.C. Brown performed in Anthony
Braxton's Composition No. 132 at Grace Cathedral as part of
the 1986 San Francisco Jazz Festival. Brown currently teaches
composition at Jazzschool in Berkeley, California.
Keyboard virtuoso/arranger/producer/musical director Frank
Martin has amassed a very impressive track record working
with world-class performers in a diverse array of musical
styles. In the pop arena, Martin has performed and/or recorded
with stars that include Sting, Stevie Wonder, Elton John,
Steve Winwood, Whitney Houston, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Chris
Isaak, Andrea Bocelli, Cheryl Crow, Philip Bailey, James Taylor,
Joe Cocker, Billy Joel, Madonna and Ricki Martin. In the jazz
world, his performance credits include Richard Bona, Jose Neto,
Dori Caymmi, Flora Purim & Airto Moriera, Herbie Hancock,
John McLaughlin, Dizzy Gilespie, Mel Torme, Bobby McFerrin,
John Handy, Ramsey Lewis, Joe Farrell and the Slide Hampton Big
Band. Orchestra performances have included concerts with the
San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and the
"Orchestra of St. Lukes" (New York Philharmonic Orchestra). As
a producer, he has worked with high-profile artists such as Al
Jarreau, Randy Brecker, Bobby McFerrin's "Voicestra," SoVoSo,"
Joey DeFrancesco, Hiram Bullock, Alex Acuña, Jazz guitarist
Mimi Fox, vocalist Angela Bofill and the Turtle Island String
Quartet. As musical director, he has toured with such artists
as Patti Austin, Angela Bofill, Narada Michael Walden, Mickey
Thomas, Roy Ayres, and Clarence Clemens. Currently, Martin is
on staff at the University of California in Berkeley as well
as the Jazzschool in Berkeley, California. He is in demand as
a clinician both in the United States and in Europe.
Originally from upstate New York, saxophonist/clarinetist
Harvey Wainapel (pronounced "wine-apple") studied at
Berklee College of Music, during which time he recorded and
performed with vibist Gary Burton. Following a two-month tour
of Tunisia, Wainapel settled in Europe for five years, including
one year with the German Radio Big Band in Frankfurt. Soon after
returning to New York, Wainapel was hired by singer Ray Charles
for a ten-month world tour, and then moved to San Francisco. He
has performed with the likes of McCoy Tyner, Joe Lovano, Ray
Charles, Dave Brubeck, Joe Henderson and Johnny Coles. Wainapel
has also toured extensively under his own name and has performed
in 22 countries. His heavy involvement with the music of Brazil
has led to performances with top-level musicians such as Airto
Moreira, Flora Purim, Dori Caymmi, Guinga, and Jovino Santos
Neto. Wainapel has released numerous CDs as a leader, including
The Hang, Ambrosia: The Music of Kenny Barron, At Home/On
the Road, New Choros of Brazil and his most recent recording,
Amigos Brasileiros, A favorite of critics, musicians and fans,
Wainapel was nominated for two BAMMY (Bay Area Music) Awards:
Outstanding Reed Player and Outstanding Jazz Musician. Since
the mid-1980s, Wainapel has been on the Jazz faculty at Sonoma
State University and the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and currently
presents workshops around the world.

The pickPocket Ensemble

The Underscore Orkestra
Music At The Crossroads:
The pickPocket Ensemble
and
The Underscore Orkestra
In Concert
Friday, 1 May at 8:00 pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present a
double-bill of fabulous music. Local favorites, the pickPocket
Ensemble, will be sharing the stage with the Underscore
Orkestra from Portland, OR. Both ensembles offer an eclectic blend
of Eastern European-inflected music with strong influences from
klezmer, and jazz. Don't miss this opportunity to hear these
superb artists performing in our acoustically-excellent hall.
The pickPocket Ensemble makes Music at the Crossroads:
inspired by many global folk and instrumental traditions, from
Eastern European and Balkan, to Klezmer, to French Musette
and Swing, even Contemporary Classical, the pickPocket
Ensemble blend together these inspirations and more to
create a beautiful music that is both hauntingly familiar and
surprisingly fresh and new. The music of the pickPocket ensemble
has been called "soul-wrenching" for its evocative and passionate
expressiveness. For its ability to communicate across cultures,
the pickPocket ensemble has been termed "una banda del pueblo
para el pueblo." The pickpocket ensemble is: Alisa Rose-
violin, Rick Corrigan accordion and composition, Tim
Fox - guitar Greg Kehret - double bass, Michaelle
Goerlitz - percussion, and Myra Joy - cello.
The Underscore Orkestra is a Portland OR based band,
playing a blend of Balkan, Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz and Swing,
with a repertoire consisting of both original and traditional
material. The Underscore Orkestra has been performing
for the past 5 + years, touring all around the western U.S.,
Mexico and Guatemala and has been seen from intimate coffee
shop setting all the way to huge outdoor festivals. We are also
working with and interested in continuing to meet performance
artists, jugglers, poets, storytellers, clowns, actors and tech
folk alike. The current Underscore Orkestra players are
Jorge - violin, flute, harmonica, and voice, Willo
- accordion, and voice, Susanna - violin, Andrew -
clarinet, Cliffton - double bass, Scott - guitar,
Cody - guitar, and banjo, Peter - percussion, and
Eric - accordion.

California Chamber Players Piano Trio
In Concert
Sunday, 5 April at 7:00 pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present The
California Chamber Players Piano Trio in a concert of
three rarely-performed 20th century Russian masterpieces.
Don't miss this opportunity to hear these virtuoso artists
performing in our acoustically-excellent hall.
The California Chamber Players Piano Trio, featuring
Victor Romasevich - violin, Lawrence Granger -
cello, and Marilyn Thompson - piano, will perform three
masterpieces of the Piano Trio repertoire, written by Moscow-born
composers Georgy Catoire, Sergei Taneyev and Iosif Andriasov
in 1900, 1908 and 1957 respectively. All of these compositions
are richly endowed by their authors with melodic and harmonic
beauty and freshness, intricate counterpoint, great emotional
power and positive energy.
The Program:
GEORGY L'VOVICH CATOIRE (1861-1926)
Piano Trio in F minor, Op.14 (1900)
Allegro moderato
Allegretto fantastico
Allegro molto agitato
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgy_Catoire
IOSIF ARSHAKOVICH ANDRIASOV (1933-2000)
Piano Trio in C minor, Op.7 (1957)
Allegro moderato con vigore
Andante con tenerezza
Allegro con brio
www.iosifandriasov.net © Marta Andriasova-Kudryashova
SERGEI IVANOVICH TANEYEV (1856-1915)
Piano Trio in D Major, Op.22 (1908)
Allegro
Allegro molto
Andante espressivo
Allegro con brio
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Taneyev
The Artists:

Victor Romasevich was born in Minsk, Belarus. His
mother, Lena Lubotsky, began teaching him piano at the age
of four. When five, he started violin studies with Anna
Silberstein. At six, he enrolled in the violin class of
Mikhail Garlitsky and Lev Sharinov at The Gnesin Music School
in Moscow. As a youth he studied violin with Rostislav Dubinsky
of the Borodin Quartet. He continued his training at the Moscow
Conservatory with Boris Belenky and Nadia Beshkina. Following his
emigration to the United States in 1977, he studied at Juilliard
with Ivan Galamian. In 1979 he became a violin and viola pupil
of the composer and philosopher Iosif Andriasov. Winner of
the Gina Bachauer Prize at the 1985 J.S. Bach International
Competition, Mr. Romasevich joined the Orchestra as Associate
Principal Violist in 1990, and in 1992 moved to the First Violin
section. He appears frequently in recitals and chamber concerts
as a violinist, violist, and keyboard player.
Lawrence Granger has been a member of the San Francisco
Symphony since 1979 and performs regularly in the Chamber Music
Sundaes programs which is a concert series in Berkeley organized
and performed by musicians of the San Francisco Symphony. In the
late 1970's he was Principal Cellist of the Oakland Symphony,
and since then, has appeared as soloist with many orchestras
throughout Northern California. Mr. Granger is active as a solo
recitalist and chamber musician with many Bay Area groups, and has
a special interest in promoting and performing contemporary works
for cello. He has recorded for several movies at George Lucas'
Skywalker Ranch, and for many radio and television commercials.
He has recorded on the CRI label, Secret Thoughts, (a piece
written for him by composer and CSUH Music professor, Frank La
Rocca), and on the New Albion label, Cello Concerto by Peter
Lewis.
Pianist Marilyn Thompson received her Bachelor's Degree
from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was
a student of Adolph Baller. She was awarded a Fulbright grant
to the Vienna Academy of Music, and subsequently received her
Master's Degree from Stanford University, where she studied
under the Helen Evans Memorial Scholarship - a full-tuition
grant. While at Stanford, she gave the West Coast Premier of
Roger Sessions' Piano Concerto. She has given countless recitals
in the United States and abroad, and has been the featured
soloist in concerti of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn,
Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Martinu, Hindemith, Barber
and others. She has performed virtually the entire standard
chamber music repertoire. Her recordings include performances
of the Thomas Beversdorf Cello sonata, the Brahms Trio Op.87,
and Ravel's Violin-Piano Sonate. Miss Thompson has performed
in chamber music concerts in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center;
the 92nd Street "Y" in New York City; the Philip's Gallery,
Washington D.C.; Boston's Symphony Hall; Davies Symphony Hall
in San Francisco; and most recently in the Teatro Nacional, San
Jose, Costa Rica. In the 1980's she was the pianist member of the
Chamber Soloists of San Francisco and the San Francisco Trio. At
the present time Miss Thompson is the pianist of the Navarro Trio,
a group which performs frequently throughout the Bay Area. Marilyn
Thompson has taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music;
the College of Holy Names, Oakland, California; at the University
of California at Santa Cruz; and is presently on the faculty of
Sonoma State University where she has taught since 1976.

A Valentine's Day Bouquet
Friday February 13th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present A
Valentine's Day Bouquet, a unique recital of love songs from
the nineteenth century with four singers and two
pianists (including four hands on one piano!). The German Lied
(song) is a rich tradition of combining the romantic outpourings
of love and longing in poetry with expressive musical settings.
This program will focus on the music of one of the greatest 19th
century composers, Johannes Brahms. The program will include both
sets of Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes performed by the entire
ensemble - love set to waltzes! Completing the program are the
gorgeous Brahms vocal quartets of Op. 64 and four-hand piano
music.
The Program:
Brahms.....Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52
...Rede, Mädchen
...Am Gesteine rauscht die Flut
...O die Frauen
...Wie des Abends schöne Röte
...Die grüne Hopfenranke
...Ein kleiner, hübscher Vogel
...Wohl schön bewandt
...Wenn so lind dein Auge mir
...Am Donaustrande
...O wie sanft die Quelle
...Nein, es ist nicht auszukommen mit den Leuten
...Schlosser auf
...Vögelein durchrauscht die Luft
...Sieh, wie ist die Welle klar
...Nachtigall, sie singt so schön
...Ein dunkeler Schacht ist Liebe
...Nicht wandle, mein Licht
...Es bebet das Gesträuche
Brahms.....Drei Quartette, Op. 64
...An die Heimat
...Der Abend
...Fragen
Brahms.....Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 65
...Verzicht, o Herz, auf Rettung
...Finstere Schatten der Nacht
...An jeder Hand die Finger
...Ihr schwarzen Augen
...Wahre, wahre deinen Sohn
...Rosen steckt mir an die Mutter
...Vom Gebirge Well auf Well
...Weiche Gräser im Revier
...Nagen am Herzen fühl ich ein Gift mir
...Ich kose süß mit der und der
...Alles, alles in den Wind
...Schwarzer Wald, dein Schatten ist so düster!
...Nein, Geliebter, setze dich mir so nahe nicht!
...Flammenauge, dunkles Haar,
...Nun, ihr Musen, genug!
The Artists:
Margaret Valeriano, lyric soprano, was most recently
seen as Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen with Danville Lyric Opera. She
is active in opera and music theater throughout the Bay Area -
having performed with BareStage, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater
Institute, Berkeley Opera, East Bay Aria Club, Lyric Theatre of
San Jose, Strawberry Shakes and Taneen Opera. Favorite roles she
has performed include: Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni,
Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuleti ed I Montecchi, Phyllis in
Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, the Young Wife in Michael John
LaChiusa's Hello Again, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors and
Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello. In the summer of 2008 summer
Margaret traveled to Europe where she was invited to study with
Joan Patenaude -Yarnell (Manhattan) at the Centro Studi Lirica
Summer Opera Program in Novafeltria, Italy. Ms. Valeriano received
a bachelor's degree in theater from U.C. Berkeley.
Joyce Todd McBride, mezzo-contralto, performs music
from the 12th to the 21st centuries. She has formed and directed
two early music ensembles. One of these, HelioTrope, an ensemble
that performed both medieval and new music, has recorded three
discs for Koch International Classics. In addition, Ms. McBride
performs music of the Baroque era, German Lieder and French
art song, 20th century composers such as Ruth Crawford Seeger,
and works by Eisler, Weill, and Dessau. She is alto soloist
with the local group Baroque Etcetera and with St. Thomas
Episcopal Church, in San Francisco. Performances include a
recital of songs by Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht for the
2007 LaborFest in San Francisco, Berkeley Art Festival 2004,
LaborFest 2004, Between Nature Festival in Lancaster England,
2000, plus many local concert series from HausMusik to Noe
Chamber Concerts. Compositions include music for plays (Fire on
Pier 32, 1934, A Tale of Symbiosis), as well as several pieces
for chamber ensembles and songs for jazz quartet. Ms. McBride
currently directs the women's choir, Conspiracy of Venus, for
which she arranges works by singer-songwriters. Ms. McBride
maintains an active voice and piano studio in the East Bay,
and is an avid river rafter and gardener.
Keith Perry, tenor, since arriving in San Francisco
in 1998, Keith has found a place in many of the Bay area's fine
ensembles. Last year Keith appeared in his 21st production with
the SF Opera Chorus, was a vocal soloist in SF Ballet's setting of
Steve Reich's "Eden/Eden", and joined the SF Symphony Chorus in
their live recordings of Mahler's 8th Symphony. He has appeared
with Berkeley Opera, Baroque Et Cetera, Pacific Collegium, Pacific
Boychoir, UC Berkeley Festival Chorus and Music Department, SF
Boys Chorus and Festival Chorus, AVE (Artists' Vocal Ensemble),
and on a video game soundtrack produced by Skywalker Sound.
A liturgical musician of long standing, Keith sings in numerous
regional churches, including St. Margaret Mary and St. Paul's
in Oakland, and St. Mary the Virgin, St. Ignatius, and Grace
Cathedral in San Francisco. At Yuletide you may see Keith singing
like the Dickens in caroling quartets. In 1990 Keith moved to
the United Kingdom, and over the following seven years sang in
the choirs of Wells Cathedral, St. John's College (Cambridge)
and Winchester Cathedral, appearing in daily services, live radio
and television broadcasts, recordings, and international concert
tours. From 1988-90 he sang with the Washington Cathedral Choir.
Keith studies voice with Kathy McKee.
Richard Stumpf, baritone, has performed locally as a
soloist and choral member with the Baroque Choral Guild, Berkeley
Bach Cantata Group, Castro Valley Chamber Orchestra, Skyflower
Ensemble, with whom he appeared in Alessandro Stradella's opera
La Circe and other community choirs and orchestras, as well made
several appearances at the Berkeley Early Music Festival. He
has also been as active recitalist in the 19th & 20th century
art song repertoire, especially the lieder of Franz Schubert
and Robert Schumann. His focus on the performance of baroque
music led him to found and perform as bass soloist with Baroque Etcetera. Now in its
9th season, it is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specializing
in the authentic performance of 17th and 18th century repertoire
using original or replica instruments. Upcoming performances
include solo cantatas of J.S. Bach (with Ms. McBride),
and sacred works of Heinrich Schütz and his pupil Christoph
Bernhard. Richard has a B.A. in Music from U.C. Riverside, and a
M.M. from Northwestern University in Music History & Literature.
Dawn Kooyumjian, piano has performed extensively
here and on the East Coast, where she has performed with The
Washington Savoyards, Baltimore's KinderOpera Theater and at the
William Billings Festival of American Music. Locally, she is
most often heard playing harpsichord and organ, providing the
foundation for many local baroque ensembles. Ms. Kooyumjian
holds a bachelor's degree in music from UC Berkeley, where
she studied with Laurette Goldberg, as well as a master's
in harpsichord and piano accompanying from the Hartt School
of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. Additionally, she holds a
Master of Landscape Architecture from UCB, where she explored
the influence of seventeenth-century French architectural theory
and music on the gardens of Andre le Notre. Her current musical
activities include being the harpsichordist for Baroque Etcera
and the organist at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley.
She has an active career as an accompanist for dance studios,
choral groups and recitals.
Andrew Canepa, piano, received a BM and MM in Piano
Performance from the University of Colorado in Boulder. His
has studied piano with Sarah Beth Hinders, Frank Wiens, Alvin
Chow, Angela Cheng, Larry Graham, Mack McCray, John Bloomfield,
Edna Golandsky, and Marc Steiner. Andrew currently performs
solo piano and chamber music around California. In addition
to studying piano music, Andrew studied choral conducting with
Charlene Archibeque at San Jose State and with Marika Kuzma at UC
Berkeley. He currently conducts the choirs at St. Mary Magdalen
Church in Berkeley where he is the music director.

Hidden Jewel
Art Lande - piano
Paul McCandless - reeds
Günter Wehinger - flute
In Concert
Sunday February 8th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is honored to welcome back famed
jazz artists, Art Lande and Paul McCandless, joined this time
by virtuoso flute player, Günter Wehinger, performing as Hidden
Jewel. The musical collaboration of this ensemble will take your
breath away! Don't miss these fabulous players performing in
our acoustically-excellent hall.
The Ensemble:
The Hidden Jewel is a group comprised of three musicians
who are equally comfortable in the worlds of jazz and classical
music. The compositions and improvisations reflect a thorough
immersion in modern music.
The ensemble has an inherently beautiful sound, yet the music
also seeks the mystery of uncharted sonorities and rhythms that
wake up the ears. This innovative trio of musicians combines
flexibility, precision, interactive nuance and raw energy.
The realms of classical, jazz, world music and pure
improvisation blend together seamlessly to create concerts that
are unique and inspiring. The feeling in the center of their
music is a jewel worth searching for in the contemporary music
landscape.
The Artisis:
Grammy-nominated Art Lande is considered one of the
premiere improvisational jazz pianists today. He began piano at
age 4, studied at Williams College & moved to San Francisco in
1969. He has mostly carved out his own singular path throughout
his career, taking the innovations of Bill Evans several steps
further. In 1973 he recorded with Jan Garbarek and Ted Curson
and in the mid-1970's had started his own jazz school. In 1976
he formed the quartet Rubisa Patrol which recorded for ECM and
lasted until 1983. After teaching for three years in Switzerland,
Lande in 1987 moved to Boulder, Colorado. He appears in many of
the "Who's Who in Jazz" encyclopedias available today for his
role in the development of "Chamber Jazz."
Art Lande, an accomplished Pianist, drummer, composer and
teacher, born Feb. 5, 1947 in New York City, and has been a
bandleader since 1970 in San Francisco, Seattle, Switzerland and
Colorado. Art has played with many jazz greats inluding Bobby
Hutcherson, Gary Burton, Woody Shaw, Nat Adderley, Chet Baker,
Charlie Haden, Eddie Harris, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie
as weIl as vocalists Ernestine Anderson, Jon Hendricks, Jimmy
Witherspoon, Mark Murphy, Nancy Wilson and others.
Art's groups have included: the Quintet with Steve Swallow
and Eliot Zigmund (70-72), Rubisa Patrol with Mark Isham and Bill
Douglass (74-81), Trio with Gary Peacock (81-82), Ionia with Paul
McCandless (85), Russian Dragon Band (89--). Art has performed all
over the U.S., in Canada, and in most European countries. His
feature performances include Jazz Festivals in San Diego,
Berkeley, Bellevue(Seattle), Hamburg, Zurich, and Reims (France).
Art is a composer and arranger of well over 100 compositions
including "Times and Places" for orchestra ('86), and has varied
jazz experience with bebop, free improvisation, standards, and
salsa played in different performance formats from solo piano
to small group to big band. His creative efforts also includes
work with dance (Tandy Beal & Co. '88--), poetry, theatre,
puppet theatre, and children's stories.
Art is a noted teacher; devised innovative courses for
improvisation and ear training., and has lead improvisation
workshops in many parts of the U.S., Canada and Europe.
For more info on Art Lande, check out his website at
www.artlande.com/home.html
Born in the small town of Indiana, Pennsylvania to a musical
family, Paul McCandless inherited his artistic passion from
his parents who were both music teachers. During a distinguished
career spanning over three decades, McCandless brings a soaring
lyricism to his playing and composing that has been integral to
the ensemble sound of two seminal world music bands, the original
Paul Winter Consort and the relentlessly innovative quartet,
OREGON.
A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, he specializes on
the oboe, English horn, bass clarinet, soprano and sopranino
saxophones and a collection of folk flutes reflecting his
grounding in both classical and jazz disciplines. A student
of Robert Bloom at the Manhattan School of Music, he was a
finalist in the 1971 English horn auditions for the New York
Philharmonic. As a collaborator and solo artist he is credited
with more than 200 albums and performances with such musicians
as Jaco Pastorius, Carla Bley, Wynton Marsalis, Lyle Mays, Pat
Metheny, Mark Isham, Steve Reich, Al Jarreau, Bruce Hornsby,
Art Lande, Tony Furtado, the String Cheese Incident, Nguyen Le,
Proteus 7 and Fred Simon.
In 1996 he won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental with Béla Fleck
and the Flecktones with whom he was a guest artist. McCandless'
fine tuned compositional skills have been called upon for a
number of film scores. Most notably he wrote music for the video
Squanto and the First Thanksgiving, a Rabbit Ears Production with
Graham Greene as narrator. Paul recorded three of his orchestral
scores for a CD called "Oregon In Moscow" featuring OREGON and
the Moscow Tchaikovsky Orchestra. " Round Robin," the opening
track received two 2001 Grammy nominations for Best Instrumental
Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement. As an orchestral
soloist he has performed with the Camerata chamber orchestra of
Mexico City, St Paul chamber orchestra, and the Philadelphia,
Buffalo, Los Angeles and Stuttgart symphony orchestras.
For more info on Paul McCandless, check out his website at
www.paulmccandless.com/index2.html
Flutist, composer, and teacher Günter Wehinger born
1961 in Austria. His education included conservatory studies
in Austria yielding a Masters Degree, Jazz School St. Gallen in
Switzerland, and private studies with James Newton in Los Angeles
Günter has toured extensively, performing in both jazz and
classical domains. His jazz performances include concert
tours with The Hidden Jewel in Californiaand Switzerland, a
concert tour with Trilogy in Poland, concerts with Art Lande
at the Florida State University and at the Florida Flute Fair
in Daytona Beach 2005, a concert with compositions for Jazz
quartet and string-orchestra at the Philharmony in Bydgoszcz
(Poland); conducter: Jose Maria Florencio, a performance with
jazz-arrangements of the Martinu Sonata and Scherzo at the
Martinu Festival in Basel, among many others.
Günter's classical performance work has included performances of
Wehingers composition "Es" for flute, two percussionists and organ
at Klangfest Moderne Musik in Liechtenstein, a concert at the
Musikfestwochen Meiringen (CH) with the European Double-Quartet,
a performance of his composition Es for flute, two percussionists
and organ at the Hohenemser Chor- und Orgeltage, concerts with
the Double Quartet (with Wilanow Quartet) at the Phiharmony in
Olsztyn and at the 2nd String Quartet Festival in Radom, as well
as concert tours in California with pianist Eileen Huang, and
performances of flute and piano compositions by Poulenc, Messiaen,
Muczynski, Schubert, Bartok, Nielsen, Fauré, among others.
Günter is also a talented composer; his compositions include
numerous jazz compositions, most of them recorded on the CDs As
Promised and Cry Flute, crossover compositions for the European
Double-Quartet: Frozen Time, Summer Rain, Double Entendre, Billy,
So Nice, Prelude #1 and Dolphy Collage, four compositions for
the New Age album Medicin Buddha commissioned by the Taiwanese
record company Friendly Dogs, re-arrangement of Double Entendre:
Part I, Part II, Part III for jazz quartet and string orchestra,
Flobor for flute, oboe and organ, Water Mysteries for piano
solo, Waiting ... for nine instruments; crossover composition
commissioned by the Musikakademie Schloss Waldegg, Es for
flute, percussion and organ; commissioned by Hohenemser Chor-
und Orgeltage, Duet #1 for flute & marimba, and Trio #1 for
flute, bass-clarinet & marimba commissioned by the Duo Facilone.
Günter is a teacher of jazz flute, jazz history and band-workshops
at the Musikhochschule in Zürich, Bern and Basel, Switzerland. He
has also given many master classes
For more info on Günter Wehinger, check out his website at
www.gunterwehinger.com/

Deborah Katz - violin
Hillary Nordwell - piano
In Recital
Saturday January 31st at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present a recital
of music for violin and piano spanning three centuries performed
by violinist Deborah Katz and pianist Hillary
Nordwell. This performance will include works by Mozart,
Sibelius, and Franck. In addition, Debora Katz will be joined by
David Ryther - violin, Ilana Matfis - viola, and
Carol Rice - cello, in a performance of a string quartet
by Philip Glass. Don't miss these virtuoso players performing
in our acoustically-excellent hall.
The Program:
Sonata in D KV 301......Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto in D minor......Jean Sibelius
Sonata in A Major.........Cesar Franck
String Quartet No. 5.....Philip Glass
The Artists:
Deborah Katz celebrates her fourth year in the Bay Area
playing violin with the Presidio String Quartet, teaching violin
and viola lessons, and freelancing with local orchestras and
chamber groups. Her active involvement in the music community
has allowed her to draw on her affinity for contemporary
as well as traditional classical music. Deborah received her
bachelors of music from Indiana University where she studied with
Henryk Kowalski, Nelli Shkolnikova, Yuval Yaron and Ilya Kaler.
She received her Master's of Music from New England Conservatory
where she studied with Malcolm Lowe, concertmaster of the Boston
Symphony Orchestra. Deborah performed contemporary music with the
Boston Callithumpian Consort, directed by Steve Drury as well as
on the Harvard Composers' Series. While at NEC she participated
in various chamber ensembles collaborating with James Buswell,
Lucy Chapman, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, Mai Motobuchi, and
Eliot Fisk. She was concertmaster and Principal Second of the
NEC Chamber and Symphony orchestras. She also performed as soloist
such as at the Malden Church in Boston, student compositions,
and in collaboration with organist Tom Handel, Dean of Students at
NEC. In addition to her performances in the Bay Area, New England,
Colorado, and the Midwest in the U.S., she has also frequently
performed abroad in Europe and Israel. In 2004 and 2006 she was
invited to perform as Principal Second violinist with the Festival
Ensemble of Stuttgart under Helmuth Rilling throughout Germany
and Switzerland, and with the Jerusalem International Symphony
in Israel. With the Presidio Quartet, she has been featured on
new music concerts at Mills College, U.C. Berkeley and other San
Francisco venues. Selections from the group's Album, Five, have
been broadcast on the San Louis Obispo classical radio station
and on American Music Center's Counterstream radio online.
Currently Deborah studies with Catherine Van Heusen of the San
Francisco Symphony. Other teachers include Linda Cerone, Jenny
Rudin and Chen Zhao. When not performing or working at Ifshin
Violins, Deborah enjoys hiking amongst the redwoods, cooking,
dancing, and rolling down grassy hills.
Hillary Nordwell, an active performer on both piano and
viola, has performed chamber music throughout the United States,
as well as in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Sweden. In 2006,
she was invited as the pianist of the Eusebius Duo to perform in
Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall, New York), following the duo's
success as first prize winners of the CMFONE International Chamber
Music Competition. She earned her masters degree in Chamber
Music Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory in 2005,
where she studied with Paul Hersh, and participated in master
classes with renowned artists Menahem Pressler and Paul Katz.
Her undergraduate degree came from Lawrence Conservatory in
Appleton, Wisconsin, where she studied with Catherine Kautsky
and was honored for three consecutive years with the Marjory
Irvin Prize for "excellence in solo piano and chamber music."
As a soloist, she has made concerto appearances with orchestras
including the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, Port Angeles
Chamber Orchestra, and the Port Townsend Community Orchestra.
She has worked with master pianists and teachers Richard Goode,
Robert McDonald, and Gilbert Kalish, and performed with Ian
Swensen and Paul Hersh of the San Francisco Conservatory.
She has been featured on many Bay Area concert series including
Noontime Concerts, Trinity Chamber Concerts, Old First Concerts,
and the Bing Concert Series at Stanford University Hospital.
Alongside her performing career, she enjoys coaching young
musicians in programs such as San Francisco Conservatory's Summer
Music West and the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra's summer camp.
She also maintains a private teaching studio and is a member of
the piano faculty at St. Brigid School in San Francisco.

Awkward Encounter
In Concert
Friday January 23rd at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is excited to present Awkward
Encounter, a quartet of virtuosic improvisors from the Bay Area.
Don't miss this remarkable ensemble performing in our acoustically-excellent hall.
The Ensemble:
Awkward Encounter is a four-headed beast that roars its
joy-filled celebratory cry through the voices of percussionist
Shayna Dunkelman, electronic musician Preshish Moments
(Michael Carter), trombonist Andy Strain and cellist
Theresa Wong. To hear this quartet is to witness the many
moods and habits of this creature, which will bicker, wrestle,
explode, hypnotize and cheer with it's selves in an evening of
free improvisations.
The Artists:
Preshish Moments is the slap-happy moniker of
Michael Carter. He makes electronic music and builds
unique instruments for live performance. In 2007 he used one of
these instruments to win the San Francisco Laptop & Machine Music
Battle, competing against over fifty contestants. His debut album
"Let's be Friends" is out on Daly City Records and he can often
be heard performing in and around the San Francisco Bay Area
at a wide variety of venues playing an even wider variety of
styles. Raised in a suburb of Los Angeles (and former home of the
Carpenters), he played clarinet as a child and became obsessed
with spinning records and the art of sampling as a teen. He
learned how to spin hip-hop and jungle by closely studying
flourishing local hip-hop and rave scenes. He moved to Chicago
in 2000 to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
for painting, but quickly changed his focus to sound design. He
learned more about electronics and audio engineering and became
interested in creating new ways to play electronic music. This was
also where he discovered the music of Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares,
Squarepusher, and countless other electronic musicians who pushed
the boundaries of dance music. In 2005 he moved to Oakland to
pursue a Masters Degree in Electronic Music and Recording Media
at Mills College and it was here that he finally built and began
to perform with the instrument of his dreams. He uses it to play
house, noise, hip-hop, dubstep, jungle, hardcore, breakcore,
drone, free improv, cyber-boogie, metal, pop, wedding music,
chant-rock, and pre-preshcore. He also likes to bake.
Shayna Dunkelman is an active percussionist in and
around the San Francisco Bay Area. She was born in Tokyo, Japan
to an Indonesian mother and an American father and at age 15,
she started performing percussion/drum set/gamelan with her
mother, who is also a musician/composer in Tokyo, Japan. She
has performed with her mother at the National Panasonic Gobel's
30th Anniversary in Jakarta, Indonesia, and many concerts at the
Tokyo FM concert hall in Japan. She recently graduated from Mills
College in Oakland CA, with a BA in music with honors and a BA
in mathematics with honors. At Mills she studied percussion with
Willie Winant and received the Maurthea Friedberger Cup Award for
the most outstanding senior music student for the class of 2007.
During her time at Mills, she played pieces by Terry Riley,
Meredith Monk, Jose Maceda, John Bischoff, and Chris Brown. She
performs a wide variety of music, playing classical, contemporary,
avant-garde, rock, and pop-music. She is currently a member of
Mute Socialite (rock band with Moe! Staiano, Alee Karim, Ava
Mendoza, and Liz Allbee), which has shared bills with Sleepytime
Gorilla Museum, XBXRX, and many other bands. She also performs
regularly with the Willie Winant Percussion Group. Many percussion
pieces have been written specifically for her, by composers such
as, Steini Gunnarsson, Quentin Sirjacq, the Norman Conquest,
Preshish Moments, and Fei Wu. She has performed with Dominique
Leone, Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori, Fe-mail, John Zorn,
Wei Wang, and Les Stuck.
Trombonist Andy Strain moved to the Bay Area two
and a half years ago to work on an MFA at Mills College in
Oakland. There, he focused on combining his studies with Fred
Frith in free improvisation and modern dance with Shelley Senter
to create his own brand of performance. In addition to his
work as a solo trombonist, he collaborates regularly with Bay
Area dancers, recording artists, and bands. His recent project,
"Resonant Migration," involves work with infrared tracking and
can be seen on www.resonantmigration.com.
Until his move to the west coast, Andy lived for five years in southwest Germany. There
he studied classical trombone and played in various orchestras
and chamber ensembles such as the Sudwestdeutsche Philharmonie
in Konstanz. In 2004, Andy served as principal Trombonist in la
Orquesta Sinfonica de la UANL in Monterrey Mexico. Currently,
Andy resides in Oakland teaching young trombonists throughout
the Bay Area.
Theresa Wong is an improviser and composer based in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Her current work spans the areas of
improvisation, composition, video, performance art and large
scale performance pieces. After studying design, she became
interested in an art form which would unite the visual arts with
sound and performance. Current and recent projects include solo
songs for cello, voice and piano, Call It Culture, a cello duo
written for and performed with Joan Jeanrenaud and collaborations
with Ellen Fullman and Kanoko Nishi. She also performs on cello,
voice and piano in Necessary Monsters, a theater set song cycle
led by violinist Carla Kihlstedt. In 2006 she wrote, directed
and performed an improvised opera, L( )VE, which was presented
at Mills College in Oakland California. Her performances have
been included in the Unlimited 21 Festival in Wels, Austria,
the Other Minds Brink series in San Francisco, Fondation Cartier
in Paris, the Radio France broadcast A L'improviste, the Seattle
Improvised Music Festival and at The Stone in New York City. She
has collaborated and performed with such artists as Tatsuya
Nakatani, Joelle Leandre, Gianni Gebbia, Luciano Chessa, ROVA
Saxophone Quartet, MaryClare Brzytwa and June Watanabe. Theresa
completed an MFA in performance at Mills College in 2006 where she
studied with Fred Frith, Alvin Curran, Annie Gosfield and cello
with Gianna Abondolo and Joan Jeanrenaud. For more information,
check out www.theresawong.org.

Clarinet Thing
In Concert
Friday December 19th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present Clarinet
Thing, a quartet of virtuosic clarinetists from the Bay Area.
Sheldon Brown, Beth Custer, Ben Goldberg, and Harvey Wainapel
perform arrangements of a wide range of jazz, world, and new music
on the entire family of clarinets. Clarinet Thing has enjoyed many
sold-out performances with audiences of all ages. Don't miss this
virtuoso artist performing in our acoustically-excellent hall.
Founded by Beth Custer in 1989, Clarinet Thing has created a
large repertoire of arrangements of unusual tunes by Thelonious
Monk, Duke Ellington, John Carter, Pixinguinha/Larcerda, Eubie
Blake, Bobby Bradford and others. Original compositions by band
members are also performed.
Clarinet Thing performs acoustically using no amplification
whatsoever. The entire family of clarinets is used, from the
baby Eb clarinet up to the large contra alto clarinet. Clarinet
and jazz enthusiasts abound at our concerts.
Beth's label, BC Records released /Agony Pipes and
Misery Sticks/, a retrospective CD culled from years of live
recordings. The CD has enjoyed brisk sales and the group will
be recording another CD in studio in '09.
"Clarinet Thing's Agony Pipes and Misery Sticks CD featuring
sixteen lush and woody tracks...the startlingly beautiful
music is pithy and expansive, like a great collection of short
stories." -Andrew Gilbert, San Francisco Chronicle
"Clarinet Thing is a killer quartet that plays a rich,
woody blend of original music and Ellingtonia, Polish polka,
Brazilian choro, Kurt Weill Weimar waltzes and other pieces that
pop and sway with the pregnant sound of an improvising clarinet
choir." -Jesse Hamlin, San Francisco Chronicle

Deno Gianopoulos
In Recital
Friday December 5th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is honored to present renowned local
pianist, Deno Gianopoulos, in a recital including works by
Mozart, Chopin, and Brahms. Don't miss this virtuoso artist
performing in our acoustically-excellent hall.
The program will consist of some important cornerstones of
the modern keyboard literature, beginning with Mozart's C minor
Fantasy, and Brahms's colossal and beautiful Variations on a
Theme by Handel. The second half of the evening will include
some virtuoso pieces by Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Albeniz and and
Joaquin Nin-Culmell.
Deno Gianopoulos is a bay area native who by his
teen age years was winning piano competitions , piano prizes,
and performing piano concerti with symphony orchestras. His
talent came to the attention of the pianist ,Gina Bachauer, who
mentored him as a young man. Gianopoulos studied piano in London,
Berkeley, and New York and considers his studies with Marjorie
Petray and Joaquin Nin-Culmell -both of Berkeley- to have had
the greatest influence on his development as a musician. He has
performed piano recitals and with orchestras in many U.S.cities
and in Europe. For more than 3 decades, Gianopoulos was a member
of the piano faculty of the Music Department at U.C. Berkeley.
from the San Francisco Chronicle: "he is a cultural
resource" --in playing Schubert there was "a radiant feeling of
humanity and tender good will-the effect cannot be synthesized"
-- " It was an evening of service to music -there are few such
events".
from the San Mateo Times: playing a Mozart concerto in
Zellerbach auditorium --"there is a superior fluency and softness
of touch to his playing-- and has that all important ingredient:
impeccable taste."

The JazzSchool's Advanced Jazz Workshop Ensemble
In Concert
Friday November 14th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club proud to present a stellar ensemble
of young jazz artists performing at the highest level in our
acoustically-excellent hall.
Directed by Bay Area composer and saxophone virtuoso Michael
Zilber, the Jazzschool's Advanced Jazz Workshop Ensemble
is the top ensemble at the Berkeley Jazzschool. Consisting of
a remarkably talented group of high-school-age players, these
young artists are the future stars of jazz. Having performed at
Yoshi's, Anna's, Pearl's, the Berkeley Jazz festival and multiple
times at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the group is widely held
to be among the best and most creative high school jazz groups
in the country, as its national Downbeat awards for the past 5
straight years will attest. Previous members have already gone
on with scholarships to some of the best schools in the country,
including Julliard, New England, Manhattan, NYU and Berklee.
The students write and arrange much of their own material, and
play at a level of assurance and style far beyond their years.
This year's group comes from all over the Bay Area, from San
Jose to Davis, and will be featured in concert in December at
Yoshi's with trumpet superstar Ambrose Akinmusire.
Advanced Jazz Workshop Ensemble personnel:
Ben Kreitman - trumpet
Michael Czaja - saxophone
Chase Jackson - vibraphone
Adam Nash - guitar
Greg Chen - piano
Dorsey Bass - bass
Colin McDaniel - drums
If you have children or know other young aspiring jazz
musicians, you might want to make a special point of bringing
them by for a great evening of music and some inspiration.

Happy Hour
In a Post-Election Celebration Concert
Friday November 7th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club delighted is welcome back one of
our favorites, the all-star jazz ensemble Happy Hour
in a post-election concert of celebration. Don't miss
these fabulous players performing in our acoustically-excellent hall.
Come celebrate with Happy Hour in a
post-election Happy Hour Obamabration. Unabashedly and
unapologetically working for and rooting for an Obama victory,
the group will have a swinging blowout.
This innovative and virtuosic group is made up of five of
the leading jazz lights in the Bay Area, who come together in
a high-spirited and entertaining collective which has garnered
accolades and ovations throughout the Bay Area. The chordless
quintet consists of Trumpet, Saxophone, Trombone, Bass and Drums.
For this performance, Happy Hour will consist of
Erik Jekabson, the brilliant, lyrical trumpeter/composer
who is a member of the Trumpet Supergroup, his own quintet and
the Realistic Orchestra when not in Happy Hour, Saxes/Composer
Michael Zilber, a multiple Downbeat winner, who
collaborates with John Stowell, Dave Liebman, Peter Horvath
and Billy Collins among others,and is hailed by jazz legend
Liebman as "one of the best players and composers anywhere,
period", Grammy-winning trombonist-arranger Doug Beavers
of Eddie Palmieri fame, MVP bassist Peter Barshay, a
rare combination of virtuosity and powerful grooves, who counts
Mike Stern, Bob Shepherd and Joe Lovano among his credits, and
the Bay Area's most requested drummer, the fiery and singular
Jeff Marrs, who anchors a multitude of groups, including
Marcus Shelby, Mitch Marcus and Faye Carroll.
Still, the group's individual achievements alone do not describe
the musical experience of Happy Hour. A committed collective, the
group has been playing, writing, arranging and rehearsing together
for close to three years, dedicated to creating a harmonically
full three horn sound that is at once rich and transparent, one
where the bass, drums and horns all take on and reimagine the
contribution often supplied by a pianist or guitarist. The extra
breathing space and flexibility created by the chordless quintet
makes for compelling, imaginative and exciting musical synergy,
sure to please the jazz connoisseur and listening novice alike

Rova Saxophone Quartet
In Concert
Friday October 3rd at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to host the fabulous
Rova Saxophone Quartet, in concert. Don't miss this
remarkable group performing in our acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Group:
The Bay Area Rova Saxophone Quartet, recently named Best
Jazz Combo by the East Bay Express, kicks off its 32nd year with
a two set concert of original works at the historic Berkeley
Hillside Club. The concert will focus on recently recorded
Jon Raskin and Steve Adams pieces composed using graphic
notation-compositional systems that employ images and symbols
outside traditional music notation to convey the composer's
intentions to the performer. Including a good measure of the
graphically notated pieces along with other Rova originals, the
quartet performance will explore fresh methods to mine the fertile
ground of improvised music, finding new correspondences between
composed and open forms. The Berkeley Hillside Club offers a rare
opportunity to hear Rova in an optimal acoustic environment.
The Artists:
A student of Architecture and Fine Arts (1966-69), Rova
founding member Bruce Ackley formed Sound Clinic, an
improvising wind trio (with trumpeter George Sams and saxophonist
Lewis Jordan) and a 1970's precursor to the all-winds Rova. Ackley
has contributed to several recording sessions with such musicians
as John Zorn, Henry Kaiser and Eugene Chadbourne. He also
organized the quartet Unchambered with cellist Rohan de Saran,
koto player Miya Masaoka and bassist Stefano Scodanibbio (1996)
and leads the ongoing jazz trio Actual Size. He recorded a 1997
CD of his trio compositions with drummer Joey Baron and bassist
Greg Cohen for Avant.
Highlights of Rova founding member Jon Raskin's early
career include his '70s participation in new music ensembles
directed by John Adams (San Francisco Conservatory of Music)
and Dr. Barney Childs (University of Redlands). Before Rova,
Raskin served as music director of the Tumbleweed Dance Company
(1974-77), was a founding member of the Blue Dolphin Alternative
Music Space and participated in the creation of the Farm- an
art project that included a city farm, a community garden,
Ecology Center, Dance and Theater companies and organized
the creation of a city park. Highlights as a member of Rova
include composing a collaborative work for SF Taiko Dojo/Rova,
working with Howard Martin on the installation work Occupancy,
composing music for Mr. Bungle/ Rova, organizing the 30 year
Anniversary Concert of John Coltrane's Ascension, performing the
music of Miles Davis at the Fillmore with Yo Miles! Raskin has
received numerous grants and commissions to work on a variety
of creative projects: NEA composer grant for Poison Hotel, a
theater production by Soon 3 (1988); Reader's Digest/Meet the
Composer (1992 & 2000); Berkeley Symphony commission (1995).
Raskin's recording experience include Anthony Braxton, Eight
(+3) Tristano Compositions 1989 For Warne Marsh (1989) and The
Bass & the Bird Pond with Tim Berne (1996), Wavelength Infinity-
A Sun Ra Tribute, Between Spaces with Phillip Gelb, Dana Reason &
Pauline Oliveras, Terry Riley'sIn C 25th Anniversary, and solo
work on the Artship series. He also performs with the Phillip
Greenlief and Phillip Gelb in the Wind Trio of Alphaville and
in a trio with George Cresmaschi and Ches Smith.
Since 1978, Larry Ochs's professional activities
have been primarily centered around the Rova Saxophone Quartet,
which has made over thirty European tours and numerous concerts
throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as recording over 30
CDs as a quartet and/or in collaboration with other artists.
Ochs has composed some 2 dozen compositions for saxophone quartet
as well as many other pieces for mixed ensembles (see groups
mentioned in previous paragraph). His most recent composition for
saxophone quartet, a thirty-minute piece entitled Certain Space,
was commissioned by Chamber Music America / Doris Duke Foundation,
and he has twice previously been commissioned by Commissioning
Music USA / Meet the Composer Fund. He composed the music for
the film Letters Not About Love which won best documentary film
award at the 1998 South by Southwest Film Festival. His monograph
on "Strategies for Structured Improvisation" was published in
1999 as part of the book Arcana, a collection of composers'
writings edited by John Zorn (Granary Press, New York). He has
also composed for theater and one video play.
A graduate of the School of Contemporary Music in Boston,
Steve Adams has appeared on over 40 recordings, including
four with Boston's Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet and
three as a leader for the Nine Winds label. Adams joined Rova in
1988. He has written the music for seven productions of the annual
California Shakespeare Festival, contributed compositions to the
repertoires of the Empire Brass Quintet and the violin/marimba
duo Marimolin and performed as a sideman with such artists as
Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers, Dave Holland, Donald Byrd, Jaki
Byard, Vinny Golia and Ted Nugent. Adams received a Reader's
Digest/Meet the Composer commissioning grant in 1993.

VidyA
In Concert
Friday September 26th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to welcome back to our
stage the remarkable Carnatic jazz ensemble, VidyA. Don't
miss this unique and energetic group performing in our
acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Group:
VidyA is an adventurous new group that merges the virtuosity
of Jazz with the melodic and rhythmic nuance of South Indian
classical (Carnatic) music. Led by critically-acclaimed
saxophonist, Prasant Radhakrishnan along with Sameer
Gupta (Drums), special guest bassist, Eric Vogler, VidyA
has emerged with a soulful, penetrating sound that stretches the
envelope of labels like "fusion" and "world music."
The drums and bass lock into one another, driving the music
forward like a Jazz rhythm section, while the tenor saxophone
elaborates and improvises on Carnatic ragas. The group weaves
in and out of the two genres while all the time merging them
into one. VidyA translates the language of Carnatic music into
the idiom of Jazz.
The Artists:
Prasant Radhakrishnan is VidyA's saxophonist, founder, composer
and leader. A senior student of Carnatic saxophone pioneer,
Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant has performed solo internationally
in both the Carnatic and Jazz traditions and released three
critically acclaimed Carnatic saxophone albums.
Sameer Gupta has established himself as a powerful voice in
percussion and improvised music. His background in Indian
classical percussion combines with his powerful drumming
to create a dynamic soundscape for VidyA. Also a composer,
Sameer has worked in several succesful ensembles, including the
Supplicants, which he founded. David and Sameer have performed
together in various ensembles for several years.
Bay Area native Eric Vogler received a scholarship
to the Berklee School of Music, and studied in UC Berkeley's
music program, as well as privately with John Handy. Vogler has
performed at some of the best venues in the area, including the
Great American Music Hall, and he has worked with a diverse array
of artists including Steve Coleman, Lonnie Smith, Calvin Keys,
Sheila E., and Herbie Lewis.
The Reviews:
"VidyA's music breathes at the very center of a cultural
crossroads between the North American jazz idiom and the
Carnatic music of South India. VidyA's music is a new vein of
North American music... present tense, present location, new
culture in the making." -Todd Brown, Red Poppy Art House
"When these patterns are played on saxophone, violin, string
bass, and jazz drums, there is a build-up of emotional energy
and intellectual complexity which seems to recreate the energy
that was present at the birth of bebop in 1940's New York. In
fact, if Charlie Parker or Dizzie Gillespie had heard VidyA at
that time, I think it would have never have occurred to them
that VidyA's music was Indian. They would simply have wondered
where these cats had found a sound that was so mercilessly free
of the standard melodic and rhythmic clich's." -Teed Rockwell,
India Currents (March 2007)
"A style that's madly percussive and sparkling -combines jazz's
sweet dreaminess with the Indian form's insistent rhythmic and
tonal changes." - SF Weekly (Feburary 2007)
"Imagine ragas and American blues folded into a single
moment. It's a fusion of Indian classical and jazz, and the
leader, Prasant Radhakrishnan, 24, points the way for a number
of Bay Area improvisers." - SF Chronicle, "Year in Jazz" (January
2007).

The Lantana Koto Ensemble
In Concert
Friday September 19th at 8:00 PM
The Berkeley Hillside Club is thrilled to present the
Lantana Koto Ensemble in a concert of 20th and 21st
century works composed and arranged for the traditional
Japanese instruments, koto and sangen. The concert will
include the world premier of "Night Procession of the Hundred
Demons" by Hyo-shin Na, as well as works by Astor Piazzolla,
Eric Satie, and others arranged for koto. Don't miss this
amazing ensemble performing their rarely-heard repertoire in
our acoustically-excellent hall!
The Ensemble:
The Lantana Koto Ensemble is an exciting new performance
group with a fresh approach to the Japanese koto and sangen. All
of its members are associated with the Sawai Koto Institute
(Tokyo). Founded in 1979 by Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai, this
organization is recognized for its unique artistry and emphasis
placed on contemporary music for the koto. All the members of
the Lantana Koto Ensemble have strong training in traditional
koto methods, as well as significant experience in the US,
Japan, and Thailand performing solo, with ensembles, and in
collaborations with various musicians and artists.
The members of the ensemble include Shoko Hikage (koto, bass
koto), Ryuko Mizutani (koto, bass koto, strings) Michie Kobayashi
(koto, bass koto, sangen), Noriko Tsuboi (koto, bass koto),
Kanoko Nishi (bass koto), and Tomoko Kaneda (bass koto).
Joining the ensemble for several pieces will be special guest artist,
saxophonist Jon Raskin.
The Instruments:
The koto, similar to the Chinese gu-zheng, is a
13-string plucked zither, which was introduced to Japan from
China through the Korean Peninsula in the 7th century. This was
at the about the same time that Buddhism and many other cultural
influences arrived in Japan from the continent. [It is though
that there was also a koto-like zither which already existed
in Japan, evidenced in a small, clay figurine dating from the
Yayoi period (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD).]
According to legend, the shape of the koto originated from that
of a crouching dragon and parts of the instrument are named after
the dragon. The koto is roughly six feet long and usually has
thirteen strings arched over independently moveable bridges that
sit on a hollow body of paulownia wood. The movable bridges are
called ji and are made from plastic, ivory or wood. By adjusting
these bridges, any thirteen-note scale can be produced, even one
with microtonal intervals. In addition to the notes available
through the adjustment of the bridges, each pitch can be altered
by pushing down the strings with the left hand. Such a movement
stretches the string to produce up to a whole step difference
in pitch.
The instrument has been part of the gagaku court ensemble
for over one thousand years, and also became popular among the
merchant class of the Edo period (1600-1868). An important
member of the traditional sankyoku ensemble, along with the
three-strings shamisen and shakuhachi (bamboo flute), the
koto developed further in a solo capacity, eventually gaining
its place as one of Japan's most prominent instruments. Today
a varied repertoire of compositions, along with a wide range
of playing techniques providing a wonderful palette of sound
textures, make the koto appealing to audiences the world over.
A 17-string bass koto was developed early in the 20th century
by koto master Michio Miyagi, and this instrument now plays an
integral role in contemporary ensembles.
The sangen is a three-string long necked lute. The neck
extends through the head of the instrument over which skins are
stretched in the front and back. There are no frets on the neck,
so it easy to make subtle changes in pitch and tone quality
through slides and various other techniques. There are numerous
traditions of sangen performance, each with a unique sound and
repertoire. Neck and head size, shape and size of plectrum and
type of lower bridge all vary depending upon genre.
The Artists:
Shoko Hikage began playing Koto at the age of three. Her
first teacher was Chizuga Kimura of the Ikuta-ryu Sokyoku Seigen
Kai in Akita Prefecture, Japan. From 1985, 1985, she received
special training from the 2nd and 3rd IEMOTO Seiga Adachi
(hereditary head master of the Ikuta-ryu Sokyoku Seigen Kai). In
1988, hikage graduated from Takasaki college with a major in
koto music, and she was accepted as a special research student
(uchideshi) in Sawai Sokyoku In (Sawai Koto Academy) under Tadao
and Kazue Sawai where she subsequently received her master's
certificate(kyoshi). Hikage also completed a one-year intensive
seminar at the Sawai Sokyoku In. In 1992, she moved to Honolulu,
Hawaii to teach koto at the Sawai Kotot Kai Hawaii (Sawai Koto
Academy branch) and University of Hawaii koto class. There she
held her first American solo recital at the Honolulu Academy of
Arts Theatre as part of the New Music Across America series. In
1997, she moved to San Francisco, where she continues her pursuits
in improvisational dance and music. www.ShokoHikage.com
"Shoko Hikage, koto player extraordonaire will take you through
the universe and beyond on her strings of sound. From Cherry
Blossoms to John Cage, Shoko's performances will make you hear
things you never even dream before." -- Lynda Hess, Artbeat
"The relationship between Shoko Hikage and the audience is
"moving". Everyone is inspired during and even after the
concert." -- Masami Teraoka, painting artist
"Everthing was perfectly, nothing seemed to Shoko Hikage's
control as she soared through this riveting and often startling
piece." -- Heuwell Tircuit, SFCV world music
Shoko Hikage has been interested in collaborating with
musicians and artists of other genres, has worked with Anshin
uchida -Japanese Noh play, Trinth Minh-Ha -film, Mary Sano
-dance, Judith Kajiwara -butoh dance, Mark Izu -bass and
Japanese sho, Hyo-shin Na -composer, Marina Piccinini -flut,
Tokyo Nammy-voice and more. Hikage is member of Wooden Fish
Ensemble, Natto quartet (Philip Gelb -shakuhachi , Tim Perkins
-electronic and Chris Brown-electronics & piano), Ghost dance
trio (Pauline Oliveros -accordion & Toyoji Tomita -trombone),
Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble, Koto emsemble Lantana, Koto Phase
and Sawai Kazue Koto ensemble.
For more information about this artist, please see: www.ShokoHikage.com .
Ryuko Mizutani graduated from the NHK (Japanese National
Broadcasting Company) School for Performers of Traditional
Japanese Instrument in 1987. She then studied both classical
and modern koto music under the koto masters Tadao and Kazue
Sawai, even living with them for three years as an apprentice
(uchideshi). Mizutani also completed a one-year intensive seminar
at the Sawai Koto Academy. Further, she has been interested
in improvisational and experimental music and she continuously
explores new musical possibilities for the koto by collaborating
with western musicians and artists of other genres. From 1999
to 2000, she received a fellowship from the Japanese Government
overseas Study Program for Artists, studying with Anthony Braxton
and Alvin Lucier at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. In her
concerts at Wesleyan she performed entirely new experimental works
for koto by Wesleyan composers, including a work for solo koto
and pure-wave oscillator by Alvin Lucier composed for her. It
was recorded and published by Lovely Music Ltd. in June 2001.
Mizutani has an impressive list of premieres and continues to
commission new works for the koto by composers from around the
world.
For more information about this artist, please see: www.www.Ryuko-koto.com.com .
Noriko Tsuboi began studying koto at age eight,
concentrating on traditional Japanese music. She was awarded
with Lecturer^Òs certificate by the Sawai Academy of Music in
1987, and entered this academy as a Special Research Student.
She also completed NHK (The National Television Broadcasting
Network) Traditional Music Program, and Two-year Intensive Seminar
in Sawai Academy of Music while performing in many concerts,
recordings, and participating in tours abroad. She has not
limited herself to traditional music and has collaborated with
musicians of other genres, performing improvisational music at
an outdoor theater and many other activities. On 1992, Noriko
was invited to University of California, San Diego as a koto
instructor and went to the United States. Her complete devotion
to teaching impressed many in the university and her koto classes
were very well received. She also directed student koto ensemble
and held concerts in California area. In addition to teaching,
Noriko has held solo recitals and concerts collaborated with
various fields of musicians. After returning to Japan in 1998,
she had continued performing various types of music and appeared
in three music CDs released in Japan and The United States. Since
2001, Noriko resides in Bangkok, conducting unlimited musical
activities in Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, India,
Cambodia, Myanmar, and Japan.
Michie Kobayashi graduated from Takasaki Collage with
a major in koto music, and completed one year special course
with this collage. She studied both classical and modern koto
music under the koto masters Tadao and Kazue Sawai where she
received her master's certificate. Kobayashi also completed NHK
traditional Academy, and a one-year intensive seminar in Sawai
Koto Academy. In 2000, Kobayashi received award for her koto
performance from Osaka Butai Geijutsu Shourei. Kobayashi has
performed in Thailand, Malaysia, India, Europe, U.S., and Japan.
She lives in Chiba prefecture, Japan where she teaches koto and
performs as a solo player and also as a member of Sawai Tadao
Koto Emembel Tokyo.
For more information about this artist, please see: www.kobayashi-michie.com .
Kanoko Nishi graduated from Mills collage with a major
in piano and she studied koto under koto master Kazue Sawai at
the Sawai Koto Academy.
Tomoko Kaneda, a koto and shamisen performer and
producer, graduated from Hosei University, and completed one-year
course in NHK (Japan National Broadcasting Association) Academy of
Japanese Traditional Music. She started her training in Japanese
traditional music when she was twelve years old, and holds a
master's license from the Sawai Koto Institute. Currently residing
in Yokohama where she teaches koto and shamisen, Tomoko Kaneda
performs wide variety of koto music, not only the traditional one,
but also modern pieces. She has been also engaged in producing
of many koto and shamisen concerts, including the annual charity
concert performed by the 40th graduates of NHK Academy of Japanese
Traditional Music. In 2007, as a member of Kawasaki International
Friendship Ambassador (KIFA) appointed by Mayer of Kawasaki city,
Kanagawa prefecture, she performed Japanese and Chinese music
in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, the People's Republic of China.
Jon Raskin has been a member of Rova Saxophone Quartet for
the last 30 years exploring the relationship of improvisation and
composition, developing and honing the language of ensemble music
and researching linguistic possibilities of the saxophone. He
has performed and/ or recorded with Anthony Braxton, Fred Frith,
Sam Rivers, Nels Cline, Vladimir Tarasov, Leo Smith and Henry
Kaiser. Currents CD's include Juke Box Suite, Rova Saxophone
Quartet (Not Two), JR Quartet (Rastascan), Kaolithic Music,
Jaw Harp Music recorded in a 587 Gallon Vase(Evander Music)
and Music Plus One- An Improvisation Compendium which is solo
recordings from Bay Area improvisers designed for others to
improvise along with.

Robert Bowman
In Recital
Friday August 29th at 8:00 PM
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to welcome back to
our stage keyboard artist Robert Bowman in a concert
of keyboard music spanning three centuries, including works by
Prokofiev, Mozart, Scarlatti, Gottschalk, and Brahms. Don't miss
this wonderful artist performing in our acoustically-excellent
hall!
The Artist:
Keyboard artist ROBERT BOWMAN has performed
extensively on the West and East Coasts of the United States in
solo and chamber ensemble recitals, numerous appearances with
orchestra, and on radio and television since 1960. He has also
performed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Mexico, and Prague
(Czech Republic). He has also performed and lectured for state
conventions and local branches of the Illinois State Music
Teachers, CAPMT, MTAC, AGO, and Northern Nevada Music Teachers
Association.
He received a BA in music and MA in Orchestral Conducting from
Stanford University as well as a DMA in piano and harpsichord
performance from the University of Southern California. His
principal teachers and coaches include Gertrude E. Weeth,
Adolph Baller, Martin Canin, John Crown, Alice Ehlers, Nina
Scolnik, and Marc Steiner. He has performed in master classes
with Rosina Lhevinne, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Dorothy Taubman,
and Edna Golandsky.
He has taught on the music faculties of U.S.C., Eastern
Illinois University, and California State University, Chico
where he was coordinator of the keyboard program for 33 years
and Certification Program in Keyboard Pedagogy for the past
7 years. He was awarded Professor Emeritus in 2003 and fully
retired at the end of the Spring Semester 2008 after teaching
half-time for the past 5 years. He also maintains a private
piano studio in Chico, presents keyboard master classes and
interactive workshops on a wide variety of subjects, and has
been an active adjudicator for festivals and competitions
throughout California and Nevada including the U.S. Open Piano
Competition in Oakland, Ca. He recently returned from performing
in 5 concerts in Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden, Germany as well as
teaching a one-week course entitled "The Joy of Improvisation"
at the Musik Hochschule in Karlsruhe.
The Program:
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
      Sonata #1 in F Minor, Op. 1: Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
      Sonata #8 in A Minor, K 310
            Allegro maestoso
            Andante cantabile con espressione
            Presto
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869)
      Le Bananier (Chanson Nègre), Op. 5
      Morte!!(Lamentation)
      Souvenir de Porto Rico (Marche des Gibaros), Op. 31
      Le Banjo (Esquisse Américaine), Op. 15
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
      Sonata in F major, K. 44, Allegro
      Sonata in C minor, K. 84, Presto
      Sonata in F minor, K. 238, Andante
      Sonata in F minor, K. 239, Allegro
      Sonata in C major, K. 531, Allegro
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
      Sonata #3 in F minor, Op. 5
            Allegro maestoso
            Andante. Andante espressivo - Andante molto
            Scherzo. Allegro energico avec trio
            Intermezzo (Rückblick / Regard en arrière) Andante molto
            Finale. Allegro moderato ma rubato

Ben Bolt
In Recital
Friday August 8th at 8:00 PM
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present renowned
classical guitarist Ben Bolt in a recital of compositions
spanning the gamut from the Renaissance to the Romantic to the
Modern. Don't miss this sublime evening of music performed in
our acoustically wonderful hall!
The Artist:
Ben Bolt, once a student of famed Spanish guitar master,
Andres Segovia, is now a celebrated performer and teacher in his
own right. Possessing, according to Segovia, "...a sound to
be admired!" Bolt has led many young guitarists, enamored of
the more modern idioms, into the realm of classical repertoire
and in so doing has enriched the modern guitar canon.
Here's what some people are saying about Ben Bolt:
"Ben plays with an elegance and emotional commitment that is rare these days.
He exudes an Old-World grace, and his playing displays a deep love of the
instrument and its traditions".
--William Kanengiser, Los Angeles
Grammy award winning founding member, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
"An enthusiastic crowd of over three hundred was thrilled by
the performance of classical guitarist Ben Bolt. His subtle,
caressing style, always maintaining the balance of tone was
reminiscent of Segovia."
--Howard Lane, Star Herald Balboa Panama
"Ben Bolt is a really great guitarist!"
--Chet Atkins
"A guitarist of high musicality, impressive technique and emotional intensity"
--Philip Rosheger, Spain
The Program:
John Dowland (1563-1626)
      Frog Galliard
      Sir John's Smiths Almaine
      Lady Clifton's Spirit
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
      Sonata in E Minor
      Sonata in E Major
Albert Harris (1916-2005)
      Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel
            Theme
            Allegro
            Siciliana
            Minuet
            Tranquillo
            Scherzando
            Bacarola
            Fugue
Joaquin Malats (1872 - 1912)
      Serenata Española
Guido Santorsola (1904 - 1994)
      Three Airs of Court
            Preludio
            Aria
            Finale
Federico Moreno Torroba (1891-1982)
      Castillos de España
            Alcañíz
            Romance
            Alcázar de Segovia
Artist Biography:
Armed with a plywood classical guitar, a Spanish/English
dictionary, and a dream, Ben Bolt set sail for Spain
when he was seventeen. His goal was to study with the "Father
of Classical Guitar," Andrés Segovia. The year was 1971. It
would take him nearly three years to turn his vision into
reality. He found favor with his first teacher in Spain, Jose
Luis Rodrigo. On his eighteenth birthday while registering for
the draft at the United States Embassy in Madrid, his destiny
magically appeared. Sitting just two meters away was maestro
Andres Segovia waiting to sign his visa papers to enter America
for his annual tour. After Ben introduced himself, Segovia
helped him by setting up lessons with one of his assistants,
Jose Tomas.
All of Ben's sacrifice would soon be rewarded in Madrid. In
the summer of 1973 he would study with the ultimate, Andres
Segovia. Segovia bequeathed a full scholarship for Ben to
continue his music studies in Spain. "Clean, with a sound
to be admired!" was Segovia's acclamation after hearing Ben
play. In the spring of 1974 Ben headed to Paris to meet Abel
Carlevaro. Impressed with Ben's enthusiasm, Carlevaro invited
Bolt to study with him under full scholarship at the yearly
Master Classes held in Porto Allegre, Brazil. In Montevideo,
Uruguay, Bolt completed his music studies under the direction
of maestro Guido Santorsola at the "Escuela Normal de Musica".
Ben Bolt first received national attention in "Spotlight",
an article written by Mike Varney, columnist for Guitar player
magazine. His arrangement of Bach's Bourree in E minor was the
first classical guitar transcription to appear in "Guitar for the
Practicing Musician" bringing classical guitar to the attention
of heavy metal guitarists worldwide. Ben reached higher acclaim
after signing contracts with Cherry Lane Music in New York More
success followed with the publication of his version of Classical
Gas by Mason Williams. Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida presented his first public performance
on national television. For more than a quarter of a century,
he served as an adjunct professor of guitar at Carson-Newman
College, Jefferson City, Tennessee.
Music Trades magazine, National Public Radio, and Mel Bay
Music Publishers Inc. credit Ben Bolt with being the first
guitarist ever to introduce the classical guitar to the masses
using notation, tablature, and the recording format in the same
package. Ben Bolt has three best-sellers with Mel Bay. His best
selling titles with Cherry Lane Music (dist. by Hal Leonard),
"39 Progressive Guitar Solos Volumes 1 & 2" have been in print
for over two decades.
He has published works with recordings of Tárrega,
Sor, Carcassi, Mozart, Paganini, J.S. Bach, Carulli and
Giuliani. Along with Walt Disney, Luciano Pavarotti, and
Shinichi Suzuki, Ben Bolt is the only guitarist inducted into
Delta Omicron as a National Patron. He won first place in the,
"Concurso Internacional A.E.M.U.S." by unanimous decision held
in Montevideo Uruguay (1975). Columbia Music published Ben's,
his first publication, Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados. The
San Francisco Conservatory of Music invited Ben Bolt to assist
maestro Carlevaro in his debut in North America in 1976. He
was awarded the "Premio al Merito" at the National Library of
Montevideo by Abel Carlevaro
Ben Bolt uses D'Addario guitar strings for all performances
and recordings.


Robert Pollock & Sarn Oliver
In Concert
Sunday July 27th at 7:00 PM
The Berkeley Hillside Club and Ebb & Flow Arts
(www.ebbandflowarts.org) are delighted to present violinist Sarn
Oliver and pianist Robert Pollock, joined by several special
guest artists, in a recital spanning a century of compositions. Don't
miss this superb evening of music performed in our acoustically
wonderful hall!
The Ensemble:
Sarn Oliver and Robert Pollock joined forces
several years ago in New Jersey and New York through the vehicle
of modern music. They performed Roger Sessions "Duo" several
times including Alice Tully Hall. they also performed music by
Oliver's father, Harold, Pollock, Webern, Debussy, Brahms and
others. Joining Pollock and Oliver for this performance will be
special guest artists Mariko Smiley and Amy Hiraga on violin, and
Victor Romasevitch on viola.
The Program:
This concert reveals a 'classics to moderns' panorama of
compositional approaches during nearly a century, from 1910
to 2003. The program ranges from Webern's 1910, "Four Pieces"
to Sarn Oliver's "Sonus." Nearly a century separates the
works on our program. This renders the earlier work "classical"
or aged in nature. Yet, Debussy's "Sonate" speaks a much
different musical tongue than the Webern that preceded it by
just a few years. Each generation adds a new contribution to
the musical language. Each contribution transcends and includes
the previous. Thus, today we have a rich diversity of musical
approaches within the "avant garde."
Departure (1976)
Impromptu (1994).....Robert Pollock
Robert Pollock - piano
Four Pieces (1910).....Anton Webern
1. Sehr Langsam
2. Rasch
3. Sehr Langsam
4. Bewegt
Robert Pollock - piano
Sarn Oliver - violin
Duo (1942)......Roger Sessions
Robert Pollock - piano
Sarn Oliver - violin
Sphinxes: 25 Aphorisms for piano* (1974).....Edward T. Cone
Robert Pollock - piano
Sonus* (2008).....Sarn Oliver
Mariko Smiley - violin
String Trio (2006).....Sarn Oliver
Sarn oliver - violin
Amy Hiraga - violin
Victor Romasevitch - viola
Sonate (1917).....Claude Debussy
1. Allegro Vivo
2. Intermède: Fantasque et léger
3. Finale: Très animé
Robert Pollock - piano
Sarn Oliver - violin
* premiere
The Artists:
Robert Pollock, composer and pianist, now directs an arts presenting
organization, Ebb & Flow Arts, Inc., in Hawai'i. He co founded Guild of
Composers, New York, 1975, and founded and directed Composers Guild of
New Jersey, 1980-1997. He recently performed solo piano and chamber music
recitals in Honolulu, Hawai'i, Seoul, Korea (twice), and Tokyo, Japan
(twice). He participated as composer-in-residence in the Festival for New
American Music, Sacramento State University, and Composer in Residence
Day, William Paterson University. Some of his nearly one hundred (100)
compositions received recent performances in Israel, Moscow, Russia,
Japan, South Korea, Spain, Honolulu, Italy, Poland, Germany, Austria,
Mexico, Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark, New Jersey and New York City.
He has received numerous commissions and awards including the
Guggenheim Fellowship, NEA Grant Fellowship, Martha Baird Rockefeller
Fund for Music Award, Ingraham Merrill Award, several New Jersey State
Fellowships and Composers String Quartet Award, first prize. Several of
his works are recorded for Furious Artisan, CRI, CGNJ and Union of
Composers, Tartarstan, Russia, labels. Several works are published by
Mobart, E.C. Schirmer, Veritas Musicae and Rosalime Productions.
the critics rave about Pollock's playing:
"...splendid performances"....Dika Newlin, Richmond Times-Dispatch.
"...a powerful player with no lack of temperament..." Michael Redmond,
Newark Star Ledger
"...performed with passion and inner concentration..." Bogumila Mika,
Musical Movement (Warsaw)
"...performed with urbanity and polish...." Raymond Ericson, New York
Times
and his composition:
"...Pollock's luscious "Cygnature Piece" in which the first movement
- full of beautiful blendings, empty of expressive cliche, splendid and
sonorous - was even better than the ensuing tango..." Paul Griffiths, New
York Times
"...The piece ("Trio #5" for violin, cello and piano) crackled with
excitement..." Liz Janes-Brown, Maui News
As a violinist Sarn Oliver has performed as a soloist,
recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and
Europe. As winner of several competitions he has appeared in solo
performances with numerous orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony,
Sacramento Symphony and the Shreveport Symphony. He was a featured
artist on the PBS television program "State of the Arts" and
his concerts have been broadcast on radio stations throughout
the country. Mr. Oliver's violin playing has been described
by San Francisco Classical Voice as "simply phenomenal." His
performances can be heard on several recordings including his
1991 recording of the Benda and Stamitz Violin Concertos with
the Montpellier Chamber Orchestra, Sete France on the Rarête
Classiques label. and on the 2002 Fish Creek Music recording of
Eric Ewazen's Quintet for English horn and String Quartet. This
season Mr. Oliver performed with his trio; Tilden Trio, The
Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Diablo Symphony in 2008 as
well as many chamber music engagements throughout california.
Recent chamber music performances include appearances Ruby
Mountain Festival, Nevada, where he will soon be appearing in
August 2008 at the Kohl Mansion with pianist Garrick Ohlsson,
and frequent performances on the SF symphony chamber series at
Davies hall and Chamber Music Sundays, Berkeley. Mr. Oliver
has also been a member of The Archduke Trio and The Ansonia
Trio in NY and is currently a member of the Tilden Trio. Other
accomplishments include the creation of the jazz group, the
Continuum which performed throughout California.
Also a composer. In 2005 Mr. Oliver' Trio One for two Violins
and Viola was premiered at The Chamber Music Series at Davies
Symphony Hall. His Trio One was enthusiastically received by the
San Francisco Classical Voice, which hailed him as: "an unusually
thoughtful and eclectically-minded composer." In 2008 His piano
trio "Tilden Park " was performed on the SF Symphony series
at Davies Hall. An advocate of contemporary music, Mr. Oliver
performed frequently for the New York and the New Jersey Composer
Guilds, and has premiered many new works including Concerto for
Violin and Chamber Orchestra written for him by Harold Oliver.
Mr. Oliver attended the Juilliard School for precollege
and also receiving both Bachelor's and Master's degrees as a
student of Sally Thomas. He was a teaching assistant at Juilliard
Pre-College and at the Meadowmount School. Other teachers, include
Ivan Galamian and Elmar Oliveria. Mr. Oliver has served as violin
faculty at the University of the Pacific, Stockton California,
and UC Berkeley.
Mr. Oliver is currently a first violinist with the San
Francisco Symphony and a founding member of the Tilden Trio
(tildentrio.com). He is the former Principal Second Violin of the
Sacramento Symphony and Concertmaster of the Santa Cruz Symphony.
Mr. Oliver plays on a 1703 Joseph filius Andreas Guarnari
violin and a modern Grubaugh and Siefert violin.
Born in Los Angeles, Mariko Smiley began piano lessons
at four, at the encouragement of her parents, who were both
musicians. Her father, David Smiley, was a violist with the SFS
from 1962 until 1973, and Smiley began taking violin lessons
from him when she was six. She studied with two other former SFS
violinists, Leonard Austria and Stuart Canin, before leaving home
to attend Juilliard, where she earned her bachelor's and master's
degrees under the tutelage of Dorothy DeLay. When she returned
to San Francisco, she freelanced before winning a position with
the Orchestra in 1982.
Smiley never entertained a career outside professional violin
playing. Her family connections within the SFS violin section
are impressive: her brother, Dan Smiley, and his wife, Suzanne
Leon, are both SFS violinists, as is Suzanne's sister, Kelly
Leon-Pearce. Smiley's violinist husband, Sarn Oliver, whom she met
for the first time at the Music in the Mountains Festival in the
early 1990s and married in 1999, is also in the Orchestra. So it
is not surprising that one of the things Smiley likes most about
being in the Orchestra is the feeling of community she has with
her colleagues. She is devoted to chamber music, performing on
the SFS Chamber Music series, in Chamber Music Sundaes concerts,
and as a member of the Aurora String Quartet. She appreciates the
democracy of playing chamber music and the rich repertory, "and
the intensity of working with others is deep and fulfilling."
For Smiley, sincerity and musical integrity are the most
important parts of being a musician, "and you must maintain
a passion for playing." She also encourages the audience to
remember how important they are to music-making. Her other
interests: listening to world music and early music, hiking,
Tai Chi, spending time with her cats.
Victor Romasevich was born in Minsk, Belarus. His
mother, Lena Lubotsky, began teaching him piano at the age
of four. When five, he started violin studies with Anna
Silberstein. At six, he enrolled in the violin class of
Mikhail Garlitsky and Lev Sharinov at The Gnesin Music School
in Moscow. As a youth he studied violin with Rostislav Dubinsky
of the Borodin Quartet. He continued his training at the Moscow
Conservatory with Boris Belenky and Nadia Beshkina. Following his
emigration to the United States in 1977, he studied at Juilliard
with Ivan Galamian. In 1979 he became a violin and viola pupil
of the composer and philosopher Iosif Andriasov. Winner of
the Gina Bachauer Prize at the 1985 J.S. Bach International
Competition, Mr. Romasevich joined the Orchestra as Associate
Principal Violist in 1990, and in 1992 moved to the First Violin
section. He appears frequently in recitals and chamber concerts
as a violinist, violist, and keyboard player.
Violinist Amy Hiraga was a member of the Metropolitan
Opera Orchestra from 1991 to 1999. She is currently a permanent
member of the San Francisco Symphony. She also studied with
Dorothy Delay at Juilliard and Emanuel Zeitlin in Seattle. She
has performed and appeared as soloist with many symphonies and
chamber orchestras in the United States, and has also performed in
many music festivals. She and her husband, cellist Peter Wyrick,
live in Mill Valley with their two daughters, Mayumi and Mariko.

The Eric Muhler Quartet
In Concert
Friday July 25th at 8:00 PM
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the Eric
Muhler Quartet playing original jazz by Muhler and others.
This will be a remarkable evening of music performed in our
acoustically wonderful hall!
The Ensemble:
Pianist Eric Muhler and his San Francisco Bay Area
based ensemble have been making new friends, new jazz fans,
and lasting impressions everywhere they appear. Eric's original
compositions and playing virtuosity manage that most delicate and
difficult of all balancing acts. It is serious music; intense,
driving, complex, and multi-layered, yet accessible to a wide and
varied audience. The ensemble brings together some of the finest,
first-call players in the Bay Area, including Sheldon Brown
on horns, Michael Wilcox on electric bass, and Brian
Andress on drums and percussion.
The Concert:
Eric and the band will be performing from his book of original
compositions entitled Thirty Five Dreams Worth Remembering.
Some of the songs are very simple blues and swing based classic
jazz and others reflect what one critics called an "exercise in
tension building and suspense....that gnaw(s) at your musical
soul.
Some of Eric's compositions are multi-sectional scores that
mutate through musical styles suggesting, Latin, Brazilian,
African, gospel, rock, and blues as well as straight ahead jazz
and bop.
The Artists:
Jazz has always been full of colorful individualists,
characters whose music is as unique as their lives. Eric
Muhler, a pianist inspired by Keith Jarrett and McCoy Tyner
but always sounding very much like himself, has had an unusual
life, and the result is music that would not be mistaken for
anyone else.
Born in Oakland, Eric heard pop and jazz standards of the
1940s and ^Ñ50s while growing up. After his older sister and
brother had piano lessons but eventually quit, it was his
turn. He stuck with it and had classical music lessons for 11
years, starting when he was six. However Eric, who also played
clarinet and bass clarinet through eighth grade, had no plans
to become a classical pianist. "I was a professional rock and
roll pianist by the time I was 12, starting a rock band, so the
clarinet went by the wayside. I preferred Little Richard and
Jerry Lee Lewis. We played fraternity parties, society parties,
sixth grade graduations, high school dances, and any gig we could
get. I used to make $75-100 a night, which is the same amount
of money they pay these days to play clubs in New York! 1962
and 2008 seem to have the same pay scale."
In the early 1980s he co-led the jazz quintet Mobius Band with
guitarist Jim Slick. During 1982-85, Eric co-led Quiet Fire with
Dave Creamer, a modern jazz group that featured tenor-saxophonist
Larry Schneider. Their one recording, Red Daze (which has been
recently reissued), features Eric's originals and playing,
displaying his interest in the music of Keith Jarrett, Art Lande
and the ECM label in general while offering a fresh approach
to jazz. He also recorded eight of his songs as unaccompanied
piano solos on Other Worlds. In addition, Eric became involved in
providing accompaniment for jazz, modern and ballet dance classes
which evolved into him working with the Bay area choreographer
Martha Jenkins, at Peralta Colleges, UC Berkeley, CSU Hayward and
the Contra Costa Ballet, and as the Company Class Accompanist
for the Oakland Ballet. In 1984, he began a successful career
working with computer animation. "My improvisational and writing
skills made it easy for me to make up tunes for background music
for animation, children's videos and action feature films." He
also composed the score for Of Men And Angels.
In 1988 Eric began a 15 year hiatus from performance to become
a full-time parent, though he never forsook music. In 2003
with his daughters developing into increasingly self-sufficient
teenagers, Eric returned to music. He has since formed the Eric
Muhler Trio with bassist Michael Wilcox and drummer Rob Gibson,
recording Live At The Jazz School and the solo CD Something
New. Eric can be heard playing with his trio and quartet (and
occasionally solo) in jazz clubs, restaurants, bars, a country
club and parties in Northern California from Calistoga to San
Jose. He has composed over 50 original compositions and this
summer will be recording a new quartet CD featuring Sheldon Brown
on saxophones that is scheduled to be released in the fall. As
with his four previous recordings, all are available from his Slow
Turn label.
While Eric Muhler's style remains recognizable,
he has grown in depth and feeling due to his life experiences. "I
create original music that is not fusion, bop or retro. I am not
into recreating Miles Davis or bringing back bebop. Although
I'm still writing complex pieces, I'm also enjoying utilizing
simplicity more. These days I only play acoustic piano, performing
with a trio or a quartet rather than having a five or six piece
band with percussion and guitar. I have a much broader view now
of people and I'm much more accepting, which is displayed in my
music."
Sheldon Brown has been involved in the Bay Area
creative music scene for over 20 years. He formed Sheldon Brown
Group in 1994 to perform his original compositions, which range
from the intense and complex to the sublimely serene. Sheldon
Brown Group has performed in many of the Bay Area's premier jazz
venues, including several appearances at Yoshi's Nitespot, The
Jazzschool and Bruno's, and was featured in S.F. Jazz Festival's
series Jazz in the City. His group features some of the Bay
Area's finest players: Dave MacNab - guitar, Alan Hall - drums,
Michael Wilcox - bass, and Jonathan Alford - piano.
Brown has toured internationally with Cuban pianist Omar Sosa
and plays with Clubfoot Orchestra (which recently performed his
music at the San Francisco Jazz Festival). He also plays with and
contributes compositions to Clarinet Thing (led by Beth Custer)
and Hemispheres (featuring Paul MacCandless), and performs with
Mitch Marcus Quintet + 15, Realistic Orchestra, Marcus Shelby
Jazz Orchestra, Darren Johnston Quintet, and various Graham
Connah ensembles. He is currently teaching at The Jazzschool.
Michael Wilcox has performed and taught extensively
in Arizona and the San Francisco Bay Area. He has performed
with the Fifth Dimension, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Oakland Eastbay
Symphony, Eddie Duran, Jules Broussard, Richie Cole, Larry
Schneider, Kenneth Nash, Glenn Cronkhite among many others. KUAT
Radio (Tucson, Arizona) aired "The Michael Wilcox Special"
which featured his compositions and arrangements for solo and
overdubbed basses, trio and quartet. He has been recorded by KCSM
(formerly KJAZ) See's Sunday Night Live at Yoshi's Nightspot
with Michael Smolens' progressive Jazz Quintet KRIYA and the
Sheldon Brown Group. He is featured on the CD "Shifting Currents"
by the Sheldon Brown Group.
In addition to private teaching he has presented clinics for
Up With People, University of Arizona, Pima Community College,
Young Audiences of Arizona, etc. He studied theory with legendary
guitarist Dave Creamer and bass with Steve Swallow, Dave Holland
and Mike Richmond. He was an Adjunct Faculty member in the
Jazz Department at San Jose State University for five years
(1989-1994). Michael has done session and jingle work in Arizona,
Toronto and the Bay Area including commercials, TV shows and
short features. He has also toured with the theatrical companies
San Francisco Mime Troupe (appearing on the network TV show
Latenight and in the documentary feature Troupers) and the Pickle
Family Circus. He is working on a method book and a book of bass
duets. An excerpt from the duet book (written in collaboration
with bassist Keith Jones) appeared in the March/April 1991 issue
of Bass Player magazine. He has also written for Acoustic Guitar
magazine. He has done clinics for Tobias Guitars and SWR.
Recordings in 2001 include "Lee Waterman and Jazz Caliente",
Stephanie Bruce "April In Dogtown", among others. He is in the
staff of the Jazzschool in Berkeley and is staff bassist for
Community Presbyterian Church in Danville.
Brian Andreswas born in Cincinnati, Ohio into a family
of professional musicians. His father is a woodwinds specialist
and his mother a vocalist and pianist. The house was filled with
the sounds of his fathers constant practicing and his mothers
piano and voice students. It's no surprise that Brian found
himself drawn to the origin of all music: Rhythm.
After nearly being put up for adoption due to his constant
banging on inanimate objects, his parents decided to embrace
their obstreperous sons undeniable talent by purchasing him a
drumset and themselves earplugs. There was no turning back for
Brian. At the age of nineteen, armed with years of daily practice
and countless lessons, Brian began playing professionally. The
next ten years found him performing all over the midwest and east
coast in musical groups as diverse as Rock, Jazz, Big Band, R &
B, German Traditional, Blues and Afro-Caribbean.
In early 1999 Brian's growing interest in latin music and
culture resulted in his relocation to the San Francisco Bay Area
where he continues to focus on latin music while also performing
various other styles of music.

The Randy Vincent Quartet
In Concert
Friday July 18th at 8:00 PM
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present the
Randy Vincent Quartet in a concert of original jazz
and jazz standards. Don't miss this rare performance by these
noted artists in our acoustically warm and welcoming hall!
The Ensemble:
The Randy Vincent Quartet was formed in 2005 when Bay
Area veteran guitarist Randy Vincent and bassist Chris Amberger
collaborated with two up-and- coming talents in the area, drummer
Alex Aspinall and vibraphonist Tyler Blanton. Tyler and Alex,
both Sonoma State University Alumni, had the opportunity to
work with and learn from Randy in the classroom, as well as on
the bandstand. Randy, one of the founding faculty members of
Sonoma State's jazz program, has a long standing reputation
for mentoring young musical talents. The group plays mostly
original music composed by Tyler and Randy, as well as a handful
of jazz standards which have been arranged to suit the group's
instrumentation. They have frequently performed throughout the
Bay Area since 2005 including The Benbo jazz festival and The
Fillmore Jazz Festival in San Francisco, to name a few. The
groups first full length album, "Nisha's Dream" was released in
2007 on the Triangular music label.
The Artists:
Randy Vincent began his career in Florida and moved to
the San Francisco Area in 1980. Since then, he has divided his
time between performing and teaching. Among the many musicians
with whom he has performed and recorded are: Joe Henderson,
Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hutcherson, Leny Andrade, Stephanie
Ozer, Mel Martin, Benny Barth, Mel Graves, Bennett Friedman,
Larry Baskett, Peter Welker, Chris Amberger, George Marsh,
Smith Dobson, Bill Watrous, George Cables, Tony Dumas, Akira
Tana, Billy Childs, Bob Sheppard, Steve Smith, Harold Jones,
Bob Badgley, Ernie Watts, Warren Gale, Herb Pomeroy, the Bay
Area Jazz Composers' Orchestra, the New Oakland Jazz Orchestra,
Dave Eshelman Jazz Garden Big Band, and The Turtle Island String
Quartet. He plays on a regular basis with many local musicians
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
He has performed at numerous jazz festivals such as Monterey
Jazz Festival, Mount Hood Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival,
Telluride Colorado Jazz Festival, Space Coast Jazz Festival,
North Coast Jazz Festival, Fairfax Jazz Festival, Benicia Jazz
Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Sacramento Jazz Festival, Cotati
Jazz Festival, Jazz on the (Russian) River, Harvest Festival, San
Miguel de Allende Jazz Festival in Mexico, and at the Hollywood
Bowl for Dizzy Gillespie's 75th birthday celebration.
Randy has taught jazz guitar at Sonoma State University (in
Sonoma County, California) since 1981 and has conducted clinics
throughout the U.S. While on tour with Joe Henderson, he taught
at Taller de Musicos in Madrid, Spain. Randy's students include
Julian Lage, the young prodigy who appeared on the 2000 Grammy
Awards show. Randy has also taught Dave McNab, who has worked
with Shelby Lynne and has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno and Late Night with David Letterman; and Liberty Ellman, who
works on a regular basis with Greg Osby and Henry Threadgill.
Bassist Christopher Amberger's has studied music at
Merritt College in Oakland, Berklee College in Boston, Cowling
Institute in England, and Cal State, Los Angeles. Chris has made
several tours around the United States and Europe with The George
Shearing Quintet and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and has also
made tours with Rosemary Clooney in South America, to mention
just a few. He has worked with Helen Forrest, Vaughn Monroe,
Bobby McFerrin, Helen O'Connell, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson,
Maria Muldaur, Jimmy Witherspoon, Red Garland, Stan Kenton,
Art Pepper, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Donald
Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham, Herb Ellis, and many other
outstanding performers. Some of the musicians that Chris has
recorded with include Red Garland, Art Blakey, Noel Jewkes,
and Rosemary Clooney. He has also performed with the Buffalo
Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony.
Alex Aspinall is one of the San Francisco bay area's
up and coming jazz drummers. Alex graduated from the music
department at Sonoma State University in 2002. While earning his
BA at SSU Alex studied extensively with drum legend George
Marsh. Alex keeps a busy schedule performing, recording and
teaching. He currently performs with the Randy Vincent Quartet ,
Edo Castro, the Erik Lindquist Trio, Shea Breaux Wells, Michael
Lamacchia, and SF swing band Lee Press On and the Nails. Alex has
also performed with Mel Graves, Julian Lage, and award winning
vocalist Kathleen Grace.
Jazz vibraphonist Tyler Blanton moved to New York in
2007 from the San Francisco Bay area where he quickly gained
recognition as an up and coming talent on the instrument. He
has shared the stage with Randy Vincent, Mel Graves, Eddie
Marshall, and Chris Amberger, among many others. In 2006,
his long standing musical collaborations with veteran Jazz
guitarist Randy Vincent was documented with the release of
'Nisha's Dream" on the Triangular music label. As a bandleader,
Blanton performs regularly both in New York and abroad with
his trio featuring original music and arrangements of known Jazz
Standards. Blanton's repertoire ventures into swing, bebop,
brazilian, modern jazz styles, and everything in between.

Mitch Marcus Quintet + 13
In Concert
Friday June 20th at 8:00 PM
The Berkeley Hillside Club is excited to present the
Mitch Marcus Quintet + 13 in a remarkable evening of
original jazz. This award-winning ensemble will fill our stage
with virtuoso players and our acoustically-wonderful hall with
sublime sounds. Don't miss this event!
The Mitch Marcus Quintet + 13 Big Band is a highly
energetic, innovative group featuring 18 of the best musicians in
today's jazz scene. After receiving the 2004 Subito music award
from the American Composer's Forum, the Mitch Marcus Quintet was
expanded to form this super-group. The MMQ + 13 Big Band will
be performing new arrangements of the quintet material as well
as other cutting-edge compositions stretching beyond the post-bop
idiom. The group features works by collaborators Mitch Marcus and
Sylvain Carton. Their arrangements and compositions experiment
with dense harmony, polyrhythmic ideas, and altered song forms,
bringing the exploratory spirit of the underground jazz scene into
a traditional big band setting - juxtaposing improvisation with
orchestration. Every musician, being a distinguished soloist,
enables the music to reach new heights through improvisation
and personal interpretation.
"Mingus meets Prokofiev at a luncheon with Gunther Schüller
hosted by Duke Ellington and 70's cop show heroes Starsky
and Hutch. Art Blakey is the chef."
The Band:
Mitch Marcus - tenor sax
Sylvain Carton - alto sax
Sheldon Brown - tenor sax
Marcus Stephans - alto sax
Charlie Gurke - baritone sax
Henry Hung - trumpet
Darrin Johnston - trumpet
Erik Jekabson - trumpet
Mike Olmos - trumpet
John Gove - trombone
Jeanne Geiger - trombone
Danny Grewen - trombone
Marc Bolin - bass trombone/tuba
Jason Slota - vibraphone/percussion
Jeff Mars - drums
Mike Abraham - guitar
Geroge Ban-Weiss - bass
David Ewell - bass

John Butcher & Carla Kihlstedt
Sixth Annual Matthew Sperry Memorial Concerts
featuring performances over two evenings:
Thursday, June 5th at 8:00 pm
John Butcher
Friday, June 6th at 8:00 pm
Carla Kihlstedt
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to host the Sixth Annual
Matthew Sperry Memorial Concerts. Matthew Sperry was a talented
bass player and beloved member of the local avant garde music
community who was tragically killed while bicycling in 2003. Since then his
friends and fans have gathered annually to honor his memory in music.
Thursday's Program:
John Butcher - saxophone
Solo, duo, trio, and quintet
with special guests John Shiurba - guitar, Tom Djll - trumpet,
Tim Perkis - electronics, and Gino Robair - percussion.
Friday's Program:
Carla Kihlstedt - violin & vocals
Solo, duo, and trio with special guests Marika Hughes - cello, Myles Boisen - guitar
Fred Frith - guitar, and Chris Sipe - drums.
Featured Artists' Bios:
John Butcher's music ranges through free improvisation,
composition, multitracked saxophone pieces and work with live
electronics, amplification and feedback. He is well known as
a solo performer, recently exploiting extreme acoustics, and
has composed pieces for Chris Burn's Ensemble, Polwechsel,
the Elision Ensemble and the Rova Saxophone Quartet. He
started playing the saxophone whilst studying physics, but,
after finishing a doctorate on quantum chromodynamics he left
academia in 1982 and went off with music - working with Burn,
John Russell, Phil Durrant, Paul Lovens and Radu Malfatti. In
the early '90s he joined what became the final version of John
Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemble and also began playing with
Derek Bailey and Phil Minton.
Electronic music was an early influence on his approach to
saxophone playing, and became explicit in his electromanipulation
duo with Durrant, and, more recently, in duos with Christof
Kurzmann and Toshimaru Nakamura. Some current projects include
Thermal with EX guitarist Andy Moor & Thomas Lehn, The Contest
of Pleasures with Axel Doerner and Xavier Charles, and duos
with Steve Beresford, Gerry Hemingway, Rhodri Davies, Paal
Nilssen-Love, Gino Robair, John Edwards and Eddie Prevost. Butcher
continues to play in many occasional, sometimes just one-off
encounters - ranging from large groups such as Butch Morris'
London Skyscraper, Radu Malfatti's Orkestra and the EX Orkestra,
to duo concerts with Fred Frith, Akio Suzuki, and Otomo
Yoshihide.
For more info on John Butcher check out
www.johnbutcher.org.uk.
Carla Kihlstedt enjoys many kinds of music with many
kinds of people. Most recently, these people have included
Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Matthias Bossi, Colin Jacobsen,
and Lisa Bielawa. She also enjoys what happens when people
form groups. Some of her favorite such groups that she works
with are The Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, 2 Foot Yard, Tin Hat,
The Book of Knots, The ROVA Saxophone Quartet, San Francisco
Contemporary Music Players, and Cosa Brava.
She is in the process of starting her own label for her own
music (Twelve Cups), as a way of sidestepping the evils of the
recorded music industry and losing her own damn money. In three
days time, she will make a record with Matthias Bossi and Shahzad
Ismaily called Causing a Tiger, based on field recordings that
she has collected on her travels. Later this month, she will
record with one of her favorite musicians, Satoko Fujii. (The
resulting cd will come out on Tzadik later this year.) She
has also been working very hard on a staged song cycle called
Necessary Monsters (featuring Nina Rolle, Theresa Wong, Freddi
Price, Michael Mellender, Matthias Bossi, Chris Fisher-Lochhead,
and the words of Rafael Oses) that she hopes to bring to the
Bay Area next year.

Larry Karush and Gyan Riley
with Scott Amendola
In Concert
Friday, May 23rd at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present
pianist Larry Karush, guitarist Gyan Riley,
and drummer Scott Amendola in concert. These
virtuoso artists, each celebrated for his own individual
musical achievements, will collaborate in a concert featuring
new works and improvisation. Don't miss these three wonderful
players performing in our acoustically-excellent hall!
The Program:
For Larry Karush, improvisation is integral to the
genesis and performance of compositions created out of his roots
in jazz, world, and western classical and 20th century music.
This concert of "comprovisations" will feature new works, and
selections from original repertoire, including "The Salsa Way",
"The 5-Star Rag", and "Meditation: American Granite". Based in
Los Angeles, Mr. Karush's last Bay Area appearance was in a shared
concert with Maestro Terry Riley. For this event, he will share the
stage with M. Riley's son, guitarist/composer Gyan Riley,
in a program including solo and duo works by both artists. Joining
Karush and Riley for this evening's performance will be the celebrated
Bay Area jazz drummer, Scott Amendola.
The Artists:
Larry Karush is an improvising pianist/composer with roots
in Jazz, 20th century western music, African-based percussion,
and the classical music of North India. From Carnegie Hall to
the Purple Onion, he has performed Jazz with John Abercrombie,
Jane Ira Bloom, Jay Clayton, Bennie Wallace, and Oregon, World
Music with Kanai Dutta, Francisco Aguabella, and Glen Velez,
and New Music with Steve Reich and Terry Riley, in addition to
his solo piano performances.
His compositions and improvisations have been recorded on
the ECM, Vanguard, Inner City, AudioQuest, Music of the World,
and NAXOS labels. He has received grants and commissions from
the New York Foundation for the Arts, the NEA/Arts International,
Meet the Composer, the California Arts Council, and the City of
Los Angeles. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in
music composition, and a nominee for the 2008 Alpert Foundation
Prize in Creative Music.
He has performed concerts of original music for solo piano and
his piano/bass/three world percussion ensemble, The Combination,
throughout the United States in addition to festival appearances
in Europe, Canada, and South Africa.
Mr. Karush has been an artist-in-residence at the University of
California Santa Barbara, a composer-in-residence at the Wurlitzer
Foundation of New Mexico, and has presented lecture/demonstrations
of his approach to integrating composition and multi-stylistic
improvisation at the Universities of California, Tufts, Brandeis
and New York, Reed and Berklee Colleges, and the California
Institute for the Arts. He is currently on the faculty of
Occidental College in Los Angeles.
"In Art of the Improviser, a riveting set of solo piano tracks,
Karush draws together such disparate elements as bluegrass
banjo, stride, tinges of Erik Satie, boogie-woogie, country and
the blues. But his own vision - one of the most fascinating in
current jazz - remains constant." --Los Angeles Times (Don Heckman)
"Elegant and earth... (Karush's) music travels around the world
carving out some real poetry. Highly recommended." --Cadence
Gyan Riley brings together elements of American
fingerpicking, Indian raga, jazz, flamenco, and classical
guitar techniques to form a highly compelling compositional and
performance style unto itself.
In 1999, Gyan became the first guitarist ever to be
awarded a full scholarship from the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music. While still studying at the conservatory, he received
a recording contract for his debut CD of original works, Food
for the Bearded (New Albion Records). Gyan's awards include
First Prize in the Portland International Guitar Festival
Competition and First Prize in the San Francisco Conservatory
Guitar Concerto Competition.
Concert tours have taken him to some of the world's
most prestigious concert halls in the UK, Germany, Austria,
Italy, France, Spain, Croatia, Turkey, Norway, Ireland, and
throughout the United States. Gyan tours regularly with the
Los Angeles based Falla Guitar Trio, the Feinsmith Quartet,
and father/composer/pianist Terry Riley. Gyan has received
commissions from the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the New York
Guitar Festival, the San Francisco Foundation, and the Elaine
Kaufman Cultural Center.
Gyan served as the artistic director for the San Francisco
Classical Guitar Society from 2002-2004, and as professor of
guitar at Humboldt State University for the 2005-2006 academic
year. This year he serves on the faculty at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music.
"Gyan Riley is the future of guitar, now." --Guitarra Magazine, Dec. '02
"(Riley's) musical range reaches well beyond standard idiomatic
cliches with almost improvisatory freedom." --Gramophone, Feb. '03
While rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area scene, Scott
Amendola has woven a dense and far reaching web of bandstand
relationships that tie him to influential figures in jazz,
blues, groove, rock and new music. An organizer by nature,
he has become a creative nexus for a community of musicians
stretching from Los Angeles and Seattle to Chicago and New York.
While he first gained widespread notice a decade ago for
his work in eight-string guitar ace Charlie Hunter's trio,
in recent years Amendola has stepped forward as the leader of
several compelling bands that showcase his supremely supple trap
work. He continues to work as a sideman, accompanying artists
such as the tart-toned vocalist Madeleine Peyroux, guitarist and
singer/songwriter Kelly Joe Phelps and the Nels Cline Singers
(a volatile instrumental trio without a vocalist), but it's as a
bandleader that Amendola's dynamic, ever-evolving style is best
showcased.
Around the Bay Area, Amendola explores the many facets of
his expansive rhythmic sensibility in an intriguing series of
small combos. As a jazz player, for instance, he's performed
extensively with the cooperative group 'plays Monk', a trio
featuring clarinetist Ben Goldberg and bassist Devin Hoff that
focuses on the brilliant, knotty composition of modern jazz giant
Thelonious Monk. "We've created certain moods for tunes, more
than developing set arrangements," Amendola says. "What really
makes the trio its own thing and opens up possibilities is the
lack of a chordal instrument. We've all played and listened to
a lot of Thelonious Monk. One could really study Monk's music
for a lifetime
Amendola's past musical connections are vast and varied,
including recordings, tours and performances with artists such as
Bill Frisell, Wadada Leo Smith, Shweta Jhaveri, Larry Goldings,
Jeff Parker, Sex Mob, Larry Klein, Darryl Johnson, Carla Bozulich,
Robin Holcomb and the Joe Goode Dance Group, Wayne Horvitz,
Johnny Griffin, Viktor Krauss, Tony Furtado, Julian Priester,
Jessica Lurie, Sonny Simmons, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Pat Martino,
Peter Apfelbaum, Jim Campilongo, Bobby Black, Paul McCandless,
Ben Goldberg, Noe Venable, and Mark Turner. He considers all
of these formative experiences, but singles out a few gigs as
particularly inspiring, including a six-week European tour with
pianist Jacky Terrasson, and a performance at the Jazzschool in
Berkeley with saxophonist Dave Liebman that was documented on
a live recording.
"If Scott Amendola didn't exist, the San Francisco music scene
would have to invent him." -- Derk Richardson, San Francisco
Bay Guardian
"Amendola, certainly the most accomplished and inventive
drummer on the local scene, maintains a constant flurry of
percussive sounds - drums, cymbals, tom-toms - smoothly shifting
dynamics and rhythmic emphasis." - Phil Elwood, San Francisco
Examiner

Lily Storm & Dan Cantrell's MegaBand
In Concert
Friday, May 9th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present a fabulous double
bill with Lily Storm in a concert of folk songs from Eastern
Europe and neighboring countries, and Dan Cantrell's MegaBand
featuring a set of original compositions inspired by traditional
Romani (Gypsy) Jewish, and American Folk music. Don't miss this
innovative new acoustic music in the sonic splendor of our hall!
The Program:
Lily Storm will open the night with song selections from
Eastern Europe accompanied by the Indian Harmonium. Then she
be joined by vocalists Briget Boyle and Dan Cantrell to premier
a new set of Greek polyphonic vocal music from Epirus.
Dan Cantrell's MegaBand features an amazing cast of
musicians specializing in World music traditions. These songs
are presented with modern compositional complexity and sung
primarily in the English language. The group will be joined by
special guest dancers to premier some tasty collaborative treats
for the eyes.
The Artists:
Lily Storm is a singer specializing in traditional
music, with particular experience in Eastern European styles. She
has studied with many traditional singers (Donka Koleva, Kremena
Stancheva, Merita Halili, Mariana Sadovska, Christos Govetas,
Carl Linich, Tsvetanka Varimezova, Radostina Kaneva, Tatiana
Sarbinska), and has traveled extensively, living for some months
in Hungary and Greece and visiting Russia, Georgia, Turkey,
Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia and India. She
also makes use of archival recordings to study ancient styles
preserved into the early 20th century.
Lily performs with several ensembles in the Bay Area,
working with musicians including Ryan Francesconi, Dan Cantrell,
Aya Davidson, Beth Bahia Cohen, Eric Perney, Peter Maund, Shea
Comfort, Leslie Bonnett, Dan Ziagos, Bill Lanphier, Bryan Bowman,
and Lucia Comnes. She also performs early music with Shira Kammen,
Tim Rayborn, and Kit Higginson; Scandinavian folk music with the
Swedish duo Dråm, and she has collaborated with Kane Mathis,
an accomplished kora and oud player. Highlights of the last
year include singing with the Toids to open for Joanna Newsom,
and performing in Greece with Lucia Comnes at the Voices of Stone
Festival, sharing the stage with Petro-Loukas Halkias and Domna
Samiou, among others.
Previously she sang with the Bay Area vocal ensemble Kitka for
5 years. As part of Kitka, she recorded as a soloist (The Vine,
Wintersongs), collaborated in concert with ensembles including
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Ziyia, Ensemble Alcatraz, Linda
Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, Davka, and Mariana
Sadovska, and appeared on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home
Companion and then-NPR's Performance Today.
For more information about Lily, visit http://songbat.com
Dan Cantrell's Mega Band:
Dan Cantrell - Accordion, Voice
Briget Boyle - Voice
Peter Jaques - Clarinet
Eric Oberthaler - Trumpet
Lila Sklar - Violin
Eric Perney - Bass
Sean Tergis - Percussion
For more band info, visit
http://www.myspace.com/dancantrellsmegaband
Dan Cantrell began composing at age 11. Since that
time he has continued performing and writing music of all
kinds featuring his main instruments, accordion, piano and
musical saw. Dan received a rigorous training in Classical,
Jazz, and improvisational performance styles as well as extensive
formal composition training from an early age. He attended the
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and the Idyllwild
School of Music and the Arts studying piano performance and
musical composition. Drawing from his rich musical experience, he
strives to bring exciting new sounds to the world in collaboration
and composition for interdisciplinary art. In recent years
his attention has been focused on the study and performance of
Eastern European folk music as well as compositions for film,
dance, and theatre.
As a composer, Dan has scored over thirty films and numerous
plays. He has been commissioned by several dance companies
and circus arts groups to produce live and recorded scores.
His work has been premiered by a variety of ensembles ranging
from brass bands, to chamber orchestras, Balkan women's choirs,
to the California Shakespeare Festival ensemble cast. Dan has
been musical director for ensembles in theatre, dance and
for television with the PBS children's series Mark Kistler's
Imagination Station.
In recent years, Dan received an Emmy award for his soundtrack
to KQED documentary Home Front, as well two Golden Gate awards
from the San Francisco International Film Festival for his
work on local films. He is excitedly now writing the score
for a new television series "The Misadventures of Flapjack".
This new cartoon produced by the Cartoon Network which will air
this Summer.
As a performer, Dan recently had the honor of recording with
legendary songwriter Tom Waits. He has also recently toured and
recorded with emerging and internationally celebrated independent
artist Joanna Newsom.
For more information about Dan, visit www.bellowhead.com

Carl Ludwig Hübsch & Gino Robair
In Concert
Sunday, May 4th at 7:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club excited to present German
tuba virtuoso and composer Carl Ludwig Hübsch, and Bay Area
percussionist and composer Gino Robair in a concert of improvised
music that will stretch your ear and your mind. Don't miss this
exciting exposition of sound on the cutting edge of creativity in
our acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Concert:
Carl Ludwig Hübsch plays accoustic music that melds
the traditional brass sound of the tuba with the extended
sound/noise music genre, along with strong influences from electronic and
contemporary compositions. Perhaps one could say Hübsch plays
electronic music with mechanical means. In composition
Hübsch's work focuses on interweaving improvisation and ideas
written in advance of the performance. In the concert at
the Hillside Club he will play in a duo with the renonwned
percussionist Gino Robair. Together with the audience
they step into the unknown and let music grow from there.
The Artists:
Carl Ludwig Hübsch's early musical encounters were
with Punk, Rock and a local brass band. He later studied at
the University of Freiburg, earning diplomas in voice,
percussion and classical theory. He has studied composition
and New Music with Johannes Fritsch. He composes and performs
in concert halls, studios and theatres lending his talents to
ensembles and orchestras. He is well known for his unique solo
concerts. Hübsch concentrates on Improvised Music and Composition.
He also leads workshops for tuba and improvisation.
"Considering the dearth of good solo tuba recordings in recent years Carl
Ludwig Hübsch would be in a field of his own even if he didn`t try to be
different. DER ERSTE BERICHT ("the first report") acknowledges the
inevitable novelty charge with a Cover of Kashmir-we don`t get many Led
Zeppelin covers in these pages either but what persists is Hubsch`s control,
and, yes, poetry with an instrument that, for jazz, was long relegated to
huffing in the end zone, Creating overtones by singing through his horn, he
extends his instrument the way Albert Mangelsdorff stretched the trombone,
while his drumming on the side of the instrument in M5 and Ross 780 adds a
third party. Away from those extensions, he has astounding control of his
instrument`s softer range, as the reverie of Groombridge 34 affirms so
handsomely. -Coda Magazine July 2000"
Gino Robair is a percussionist, music journalist, and
published composer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gino
frequently tours North America and Europe as a soloist and often
improvises in ad-hoc groups. He has performed and/or recorded
with Anthony Braxton, Tom Waits, John Butcher, LaDonna Smith,
Otomo Yoshihide, Eugene Chadbourne, John Zorn, Nina Hagen,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Myra Melford, ROVA Saxophone
Quartet, The Club Foot Orchestra, and he is a founding member
of the Splatter Trio.
Gino Robair ...holds the listener captive as he
oscillates between the accidental and the intentional; between
the tiniest, most delicate noise and a torrential outpouring of
sound." -San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Robair is an enormously talented percussionist, with a
thorough-going musicality and an instinct for the unexpected."
-The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD
"Robair has taken the notion of open-ended improv to its
logical endgame; milking maximum-impact rhythms from the most
unlikely sources." -Jazziz

The Second Annual Bay Area
JazzPoetry Festival
Saturday, April 26th at 7:00 pm
Admission $20 ($15 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club pleased once again to host the Second
Annual Bay Area JazzPoetry Festival. As only the great Count
Basie could put it: "Let's try it one more once!" he called out
at the end of his classic "April in Paris." April in Berkeley
will once again be filled with jazz and poetry. Building on the
enthusiastic crowd response to its 2007 debut, the Second Annual Bay
Area JazzPoetry Festival returns to celebrate April's intersection
of Jazz Appreciation Month and National Poetry Month. "The mix of
spoken word with the soundscape of music was incredible. It was
like painting on a canvas with emotion-colored paints. Strikingly
beautiful." (from an attendee at the First Annual Bay Area
JazzPoetry Festival.) The Festival continues its mission of
presenting jazz and poetry collaborations from both New York
and the Bay Area.
This Year's Featured Artists:
The New York based Jessica Jones Quartet featuring
poet Arisa White. Berkeley High "jazz factory" alums
Jessica Jones and Tony Jones, are perhaps the only avant-garde,
tenor-sax playing husband-and-wife tandem in jazz. Their 15-year
track record revolves around experimental composition, freer
forms and collective improvisation.
Singer-poet Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein) and Her Trio.
Mentored by saxophonist Jackie McLean, Lisa B grew up in NY
and California. With two poetry books authored and three CDs
released "daring, dexterous singer, songwriter, and poet Lisa
B...appeals to both traditional and contemporary jazz tastes
and even...hip-hop hipsters." (Philadelphia Daily News)
Yancie Taylor Quartet featuring poet Julian
Carroll. A genuine Bay Area treasure and acclaimed
vibraphonist, Yancie has entertained audiences at numerous
clubs and festivals with jazz giants such as Pharaoh Sanders and
John Handy. Whether he's performing here or in Tokyo, France,
Holland, or Germany, Yancie spreads the truth of his motto:
"Love, Peace, and JAZZ GREASE!"
Berkeley-born, Oakland-based jazzpoetry group, UpSurge!
is "an ensemble that earns its exclamation point with dynamic
performances that capture the soul, humor and off-the-cuff
inventiveness of a cascading saxophone solo." (Andrew Gilbert,
Contra Costa Times)
---
This event is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant
it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.
The Festival also appreciates support from Poetry Flash,
KPFA, KCSM, KALW, KPOO, Cafe de la Paz, Berkeley Public Library,
Berkeley City Councilmembers Max Anderson, Kriss Worthington,
and Laurie Capitelli, Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) and National
Poetry Month.
For more info:
www.upsurgejazz.com/newsletter.

John Blakelock

César Cancino, Kathyrn Miller

Anna Pressler, Graeme Jennings, Leighton Fong
Spotlight on Local Composers
New Works by John Blakelock
Friday, April 18th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present a new feature in
our Concert Series. Recognizing that the Bay Area is a hotbed of
new musical creativity, both in academic programs and on the part
of talented individuals, we have decided to shine a spotlight on
the work some of these wonderful local artists. The first of what
we hope will become a regular part of our Concer Series features
the world premieres of four new works by composer John Blakelock.
Come join us for a remarkable evening of new music performed by
stellar artists in our acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Program:
The Burning Barn - piano solo
Cesar Concino - piano
The World is Charged - four settings of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins for mezzo-soprano and piano
Kathryn Miller - mezzo-soprano
Cesar Concino - piano
Piano Sonata No. 2
Scott Hawkins - piano
To My Father's Father
Poem and String Trio
Anna Pressler - violin
Graeme Jennings - viola
Leighton Fong - cello
The Artists:
César Cancino enjoys a musically diverse career as
pianist, musical director and conductor. He graduated from the
San Francisco Conservatory of Music and then studied piano with
Alain Naude, a pupil of the great Dinu Lipatti. He was for
many years the musical director/pianist for "Teatro Zinzanni"
(a european style circus-cabaret in San Francisco) and for
several years toured with singer/songwriter Joan Baez as her
musical director and pianist. He is also a recipient of the
Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle award for "Outstanding Musical
Director." Mr. Cancino has performed throughout North America,
Europe and Australia in such venues as "Montreux Jazz Festival,"
Carnegie Hall, "Int'l Music Festival of Mexico City," Atlanta
"Summer Pops" Symphony and the "New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival." He has appeared with such diverse artists as singers
Liliane Montevecchi, Thelma Houston, Maria Muldaur, Mercedes Sosa;
cellist Ron Leonard; and violinists Pierre d'Archambeau, Martha
Caplin and Tracy Silverman. Local credits include "Menopause,
The Musical", "Spelling Bee", Broadway By The Bay, 42nd Street
Moon, Theatreworks, Beach Blanket Babylon, Plush Room in San
Francisco, Monterey County Symphony, Alameda Civic Light Opera,
Circus Center/New Pickle Circus and Musical Director/Conductor
of Morrison Theatre Chorus. He is currently the new musical
director for "Palazzo", a German company that produces a variety
of circus-cabaret shows in Europe.
Leighton Fong is a longtime member of the Left Coast
Chamber Ensemble and serves as Principal Cello with the California
Symphony. He plays regularly with the Berkeley Contemporary
Chamber Players and the Empyrean Ensemble and is an active
freelancer in the Bay Area. He has taught at UC Berkeley since
1997. Mr. Fong studied at the San Francisco Conservatory, the
New England Conservatory, the Bern Conservatory in Switzerland,
and the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark.
He joined the San Francisco Contemporary Players in 2006.
Australian violinist, Graeme Jennings, formerly a
member of the legendary Arditti String Quartet (1994-2005), has
toured widely throughout the world, made more than 70 CDs, given
over 200 premieres and received numerous accolades including the
prestigious Siemens Prize (1999) and two Grammaphone awards. As a
recitalist, Mr Jennings has a wide repertoire ranging from Bach to
Boulez and beyond. HIs main focus these days is on chamber music,
as well as being an enthusiastic proponent of new music. He has
worked with and been complimented on his interpretations by many
of the leading composers of our time. After hearing him give
the Australian premiere of his "Partita" in 1987, Lutoslawski
described Graeme as an "inspired performer". In recent seasons,
he has given performances of Berg's Violin Concerto, and in
2003, the first Australian premiere of Ferneyhough's "Terrain"
with the Elision Ensemble. Graeme is now based in San Francisco
where he enjoys pursuing a wide range of musical activity.
Mezzo-Soprano Kathryn Miller began her vocal studies
at UC Santa Barbara and the San Francisco Conservatory, before
obtaining a post-graduate diploma from the Royal Academy of
Music in London. She focuses primarily on early music, and has
performed with the Vancouver Early Music Festival, where she
sang Dido; MusicSources, where she performed re-constructed court
ballets from France and Italy, and Bay Area Classical Harmonies
with whom she sang alto solos in the St. John Passion and Cantata
80. Opera roles include the Messenger from Monteverdi's Orfeo and
Menotti's Mrs. Nolan, both with BASOTI and Hansel, with both the
San Francisco Conservatory and the California Opera Association.
She currently studies with Michael Sokol.
A resident of Berkeley, California, violinist Anna
Presler plays in several Bay Area chamber ensembles. For ten
years she has played with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble,
bringing contemporary and classical works to San Francisco
audiences. She is a member of the New Century Chamber Orchestra,
where she has recently served as a soloist. As a member of the
Sun Quartet, Ms. Presler is on the faculty of Sacramento State
University. She has participated in programs at the Banff Art
Center, the International Music Seminar at Cornwall, and the
Tanglewood Music Center. Ms. Presler holds a degree in history
from Yale University and studied music at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
The Composer:
Composer John Blakelock began studying composition
with Dr. Gary Clarke as an undergraduate student at Washington
College. It was there that he received thesis honors for his
senior composition recital and the Alpha Chi Omega Award for
Outstanding Music Major. He went on to attend The Catholic
University of America where he studied composition with Dr. Helmut
Braunlich and Dr. Stephen Strunk and earned a master's in music
composition. In 2004 Mr. Blakelock moved to Berkeley to pursue
his compositional interests and recently studied compositon
with Dr. Brian Kane. His piece Tribute to Johannes Brahms was
premiered by the Menlo Brass Quintet in May of 2006.

Art Lande & Paul McCandless Duo
In Concert
Sunday, April 13th at 7:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to welcome back two
illustrious alumni of our Concert Series. Art Lande and Paul
McCandless, both internationally- renowned jazz artists in their
own right, are teaming up for a fabulous duo concert that promises
to be one of the hottest events of the season. Don't miss these
two superb artists performing in our acoustically-excellent
hall!
The Art Lande and Paul McCandless Duo:
Art Lande (piano) and Paul McCandless (saxes,
bass clarinet, oboe, English horn) have been performing and
recording together since the mid 1970's. They have had feature
concerts in festivals world-wide including Montreal, Zurich
(Switzerland) and Santa Fe. Their recordings for labels like
ECM (German), Windham Hill, (U.S.) and Musidisc (France), also
reflect their place in the international jazz community.
Both prolific composers, Lande and McCandless weave their
compositions together with improvisational interactions
where rhythm, texture, mood and style can go in many
directions. McCandless' wide variety of instruments give a
signature sound to each piece. Many musical traditions show
themselves in the course of an evening - from modern jazz to
blues to Indian music to salsa to modern classical and gospel
sounds. Both players' ftexibility on their instruments make
it possible for the duo to feel truly orchestral- full, lush,
and rhythmically alive, so that a rhythm section is never
missed. Between their sense of humor, driving intensity and
penchant for reflective beauty, their concerts satisfy a wide
range of listeners whose ears will surely get freshened, tweaked
and indulged.
The Artists:
An adventurous and subtle improviser who has established
himself as a creative voice in jazz as a pianist, drummer,
composer, arranger and educator, Art Lande was born in 1947
in New York City and studied classical piano there under Joseph
Kahn. He attended Williams College before moving to San Francisco
in 1969 and during the early 1970s played electric piano in a
jazz quintet with Steve Swallow. In 1973 Lande recorded in a duo
with Jan Garbarek and with the Ted Curson's septet and in 1976
he formed Rubisa Patrol, a quartet that regularly visited Europe
and made its recording debut that year on ECM Records. He left
Rubisa Patrol in 1983 to teach for three years at a jazz school
in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and in 1987 moved to Boulder, CO,
where he still resides, to teach at the Naropa Institute. Lande,
whose work as a pianist considerably advanced the harmonic
innovations pioneered by Bill Evans, has worked with Chet Baker,
Woody Shaw, Kenny Wheeler, Gary Peacock, Ernie Watts, Charlie
Haden, Eddie Harris, Joe Henderson, Sheila Jordan, Mark Isham
and Paul McCandless among others and over the years has mentored
emerging improvisers and composers in the Denver-Boulder area,
North America and abroad. Art is currently a faculty member of
the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The son of two music teachers, Paul McCandless
grew up playing with parts of musical instruments he found
in his grandfather's repair shop. By age nine he was playing
classical clarinet and was introduced to jazz in middle school
when he took up the saxophone and his primary instrument,
the oboe. McCandless continued his musical studies at Duquesne
University and the Manhattan School of Music before embarking
on a career as a multi- instrumentalist and composer that has
spanned three decades beginning with the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra and continuing with the Paul Winter Consort which
he joined in1968. In 1973 he left Winter to form the quartet
Oregon with guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner, bassist Glen Moore,
and percussionist Collin Walcott (now succeeded by Mark Walker
after Walcott's death). Oregon's discography includes recordings
on Vanguard, Elektra/Asylum, ECM, Epic, Chesky and Intuition
Records and the ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln
Center, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Vienna's Mozartsaal and other
intemationally renowned venues as well as at clubs and festivals
around the world. In addition to Oregon, McCandless has had an
eclectic and active solo career working with Jaco Pastorius, Carla
Bley, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Steve Lacy and Bela Fleck,
among others. His recordings as a leader include All the Mornings
Bring (Elektra), Navigator (Landslide), Heresay (Windham Hill)
and he contributed to several Windham Hill anthologies including
Bach Variations and The Impressionists. In addition to his ongoing
association with Oregon, McCandless works with artists in both
the jazz and classical worlds and appeared as a guest soloist with
the LA Philharmonic in 2005.

Jerry Kuderna
In Recital
Friday, April 11th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present a
celebrated local piano virtuoso in a brilliant program of 20th
Century masterworks. Jerry Kuderna is well known as a
solo performer, teacher and member of the popular Maybeck Trio.
He has kindly consented to perform this program on short
notice to help the Club showcase a stunning new Grotrian
Concert Royal piano on generous loan to us from JB Piano
Company of San Rafael. Don't miss the opportunity to hear
this wonderful artist performing on this amazing instrument in
our acoustically-excellent hall!
The Program:
Two Centenaries: Elliott Carter and Joaquin Nin-Culmell
  Claude Debussy: Etudes (1915)
      Pour les arpèges composés
      Pour les cinq doigts
  Milton Babbitt: Tableaux (1973)
  Elliott Carter: Night Fantasies
  Joaquin Nin-Culmell: Tonadas (selections) (1957-1972)
  Federico Mompou: Musica Callada (selections) (1959-1971)
The Artist:
Jerry Kuderna received his initial training in piano
and conducting in Denver with Antonia Brico. After moving to
California at age 10, he continued private studies with Laura Nast
Nicolaisen and later worked with Adele Marcus at Juilliard and
Robert Helps at the San Francisco and New England Conservatories.
He holds a Ph.D. from New York University where he wrote his
dissertation on the piano music of Milton Babbitt.
He studied Webern and Schoenberg with Rudolf Kolisch at the
New England Conservatory and while teaching piano at Princeton
University during the 70's developed his commitment to the works
of Roger Sessions and Milton Babbitt. He was also assistant and
accompanist for soprano Bethany Beardslee, whose groundbreaking
recordings of Berg and Schoenberg were a decisive influence.
Her encouragement led to the first performance of Babbitt's
Phonemena and its subsequent recording on New World Records by
Kuderna and Lynn Webber.
Mr. Kuderna has performed numerous concertos for piano and
electronic sound, including the American premiere of Philippe
Manoury's Pluton, under the auspices of CINMAT at the University
of California, Berkeley. He substituted for the listed performer
at the last minute in a performance of Babbitt Reflections
for Piano and Tape at the SCREAM Festival, LA County Museum.
He has premiered the work of Bay Area composers, Edwin Dugger,
Richard Swift and Herb Bielawa , and has performed with Composer's
Inc., Earplay, and Cal Performances .
Jerry Kuderna is known to Berkeley Symphony audiences for
his 2001 premier of Daniel Brewbaker's Piano Concerto No. 2, "To
Kalon," which occurred in the weeks following 9/11. The following
year he performed with the Berkeley Symphony in the U.S premier
of Galina Ustvolskaya's 4th Symphony under Kent Nagano.
Most recently, in January 2006 he gave the west coast premiere
of Elliott Carter's Piano Concerto under the baton of George
Thomson.
Jerry gave the Irving Fine memorial concert at Brandeis
University and a program of 20th century nocturnes (including
Carter's Night Fantasies) at the Berkeley Arts Festival.
He performs with the Maybeck Trio and teaches at Diablo Valley
College where he recently conducted its orchestra. He continues
to give open classes on the classical and contemporary piano
literature which he has taught in the communities of Berkeley,
Concord and, currently, Walnut Creek. Mr. Kuderna lives in
Berkeley.

Dan Zemelman Quartet
In Concert
Friday, April 4th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present the Dan
Zemelman Quartet in a concert of great contemporary
jazz. This excellent ensemble has been one of the most popular
acts in the three years of our Concert Series. Don't miss the
return of this great group to our acoustically-outstanding hall!
The Dan Zemelman Quartet:
This ensemble is comprised of four of the finest local jazz
artists playing today. Each has achieved individual recognition,
but when they come together to make their music the results are
truly magic. Each of the quartet members brings something special
to the ensemble, including unique original compositions and
arrangements, as well as a wide range of musical influences. The
music thus created is a tasty blend of the different creative
visions and musical backgrounds present including jazz, afro-latin
influences, rock, blues, and classical music.
The Artists:
Dan Zemelman maintains a very busy jazz life in the
bay area. He has performed numerous times with the bay area's
great bassist, Marcus Shelby, and also appeared on the last John
Lee Hooker album made, 'Face to Face'. Dan currently teaches
at the JazzSchool and Jazz Camp.
Erik Jekabson is one of the hottest trumpet players
in the Bay Area jazz scene. Jekabson, a conservatory-trained
musician with a master's degree in composition, currently works
as a freelance composer, arranger and trumpeter, leading his own
bands as well as playing with bands like the Realistic Orchestra,
Mitch Marcus Quintet +13 and the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. Erik
also teaches at the Jazzschool in Berkeley.
Fred Randolph is a busy freelance acoustic/electric
bassist, composer, and educator who works with top local and
national jazz artists. He has also turned out several great
albums of his own that feature some very talented bay area jazz
players.
Alan Hall is among the finest drummers on the local
jazz scene. A first-call player, Hall has also performed and/or
recorded with such jazz luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie
Harris, Paul McCandless, and Art Lande, among others.

Thomas Pandolfi
In Recital
Friday, March 28th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is honored to present international
prize winning pianist Thomas Pandolfi in a brilliant program of
music by Liszt, Scriabin, Chopin, and Gershwin. Lauded for the
"intensity, technical brilliance and clarity of his playing,"
Thomas Pandolphi has been described as "one of the finest young
pianists of his generation." Don't miss this wonderful recital
in our acoustically-excellent hall!
The Program:
This program features "Apres Une Lecture du Dante (Fantasia
quasi Sonata)" by Franz Liszt, "Nocturne in D-Flat Major, Op. 9,
No. 2 for Left Hand Alone" by Alexander Scriabin, "Four Etudes,"
"Fantasy-Impromptu, Op. 66," and the "Polonaise in A-Flat Major,
Op. 53" by Frederic Chopin, as well a selections from the work
of George Gershwin.
The Artist:
American pianist Thomas Pandolfi is emerging as a
prodigious virtuoso who excels in reviving the core repertoire
from the golden age of pianism. Praised for his interesting and
innovative programming, his recitals regularly include works
by Busoni, Godowsky, Dohnanyi and Chasins, and his orchestral
appearances often feature concerti by Paderewski, MacDowell,
Moszkowski and Anton Rubinstein.
The young pianist's career has already included performances
with such European orchestras as The George Enescu Philharmonic,
The Moravian Philharmonic, and The National Philharmonic of
the Republic of Moldova, as well as the American symphony
orchestras of Mississippi, Cedar Rapids, Asheville, Princeton,
and San Angelo, to name but a few. He has collaborated with such
conductors as Dimitru Goia, Peter Schmelzer, Mihail Agafita,
Andreas Delfs, Christian Tiemeyer, Ron Spigelman, William Kushner,
Nicholas Palmer and Robert Hart Baker. Following a performance
of Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Asheville Symphony,
The Asheville Citizen-Times remarked, "Pandolfi is a standout
among today's young pianists, demonstrating a great technician's
grace, finesse and polish...his virtuosity and strength might
have had some believing that Liszt himself had taken over the
keyboard." After a recent recital, The Washington Post described
him as "an artist who is master of both the grand gesture and
the sensual line. Pandolfi possesses first-rate technical skills,
an unerring command of phrasing, a quicksilver touch and cunning
legerdemain when it comes to pedaling...etched with calm and
crystal clartiy...outstanding."
In the "Pops" genre, Thomas is also considered a leading
interpreter of the works of George Gershwin.
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Pandolfi earned both his
Bachelor's and Master's degrees as a scholarship student.
For more information please visit the artist's website:
www.thomaspandolfi.com.

Faik Ibragim ogly Chelebi
performs Azerbaijani classical music
on the Azeri (11-string) Tar
Friday, March 21st at 8:00 pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is privileged to present Faik
Ibragim ogly Chelebi, virtuoso of the Azeri Tar, an 11-string
traditional instrument, in a concert of classical music from
Azerbaijan. Don't miss this opportunity to hear this rarely-played
repertoire performed by a master musician in our acoustically-wonderful hall.
About the Artist and the Performance:
Faik Ibragim ogly Chelebi, originally from Sheki,
Azerbaijan (of the south-east Caucasus), is a well-known
folklorist and an outstanding tar player. Chelebi holds a
Ph.D. in ethnomusicology (his 1999 dissertation was dedicated
to the Azeri instrumental genre called "reng"). Chelebi has
written many scholarly articles in the Russian and Azeri
languages; currently he is Professor in Music at the Herzen
State Pedagogical University of Russia and a research fellow at
the Russian Institute for History of the Arts, both located in
St. Petersburg.
At the same time, Chelebi has a long and very successful
career of solo performance on the Azeri tar, an 11-string version of the
original Iranian 5-string tar. His repertoire consists of the
instrumental mughams. The Azeri mugham is a highly original
Azerbaijani version of the well-known Iranian classical cycle
dastgah. This Islamic art music, based on modal principles, is
emotionally deep and beautiful, and represents an amazing
typological parallel to European baroque music.
Faik Chelebi will present the unique solo "poem" version
of the traditional mugham suite usually performed by a singer
accompanied by an instrumental ensemble. However, the mughams,
tantamount to classical tradition, can be performed on the tar
alone when the musician is a deep connoisseur of the genre and
a great virtuoso and improviser.
Faik Chelebi is a gifted pupil of a famous Azeri musician
Bahram Mansurov (1911-1985), one of the most distinguished tar
performers and teachers of the last hundred years. Chelebi as a
tar-player performed in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Estonia,
Lithuania, and many other places. In the USA he is, for the
first time, performing at the invitation of Indiana University
in Bloomington, City University of New York (CUNY), CREEES at
Stanford University, and the Silk Road House in Berkeley. His
visit is sponsored by the Silkroad Foundation.
During his presentation, Dr. Faik Chelebi will offer an
improvisational set of various mughams. Dr. Izaly
Zemtsovskyi, currently visiting professor in music at Stanford
University, will be introducing and commenting his performance.

Members of the Mirage Ensemble
Songs Without Words: great instrumental music inspired by song.
Friday, February 22nd at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is thrilled to present two members
of the aclaimed Mirage Ensemble in a program of masterworks
from popular song composers, performed in the classical idiom,
and featuring arrangements, improvisations and homages. Don't
miss this fabulous evening of music in our wonderful hall!
The Ensemble:
The Mirage Ensemble members in this performance
are clarinetist Rob Bailis, and pianist Hadley
McCarroll. Critical acclaim for these two artists is
glowing:
Rob Bailis has been lauded for his "sweet, singing
tone...and technical wizardry" (S.F. Classical Voice).
"Robert Bailis' memorable debut performance in London,
doubtless the first of many appearances in this country, was the
highlight of our summer season." - Matthew Greenall, Director,
British Music Information Centre
Hadley McCarroll, a familiar face in our Concert Series, has
been hailed for her "...lively and exhilarating..." pianism,
(San Francisco Classical Voice). "Hadley McCarroll is one of
the most expressive pianists I have heard. She is a technically
intuitive and sensitive musician who plays magnificently..." -
Matthias Kuntzsch, Conductor: Previously the General Music
Director, Opera and Symphony of Lübeck; State Theater and
Orchestra of the Saarland, Saarbrücken.
The Program:
Songs Without Words: great instrumental music inspired by song.
works by Gershwin, Bernstein, Copland, and others!
This program features an evening of great music, paying homage
not just to popular song but also to the composers who produced
memorable classical vocal music as well as major instrumental
chamber music works. Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" for solo
piano was the most popular song in its day. George Gershwin had
such success with his songs that he published improvisations for
solo piano on "I Got Rhythm" and "Clap Your Hands", in addition
to arranging his wildly popular "Three Preludes for Piano"
for clarinet and piano. In 1942 Leonard Bernstein published his
first work, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, which looks ahead to
the musical "West Side Story" with its Cuban and jazz rhythms,
and to his opera "A Quiet Place" with its intimate, poignant
melodies. In 1920, while studying in Paris with Nadia Boulanger,
Aaron Copland was delighted and shocked that he could sell a
quickly composed piano piece "The Cat and the Mouse" (Scherzo
Humoristique) to Debussy's publisher! Gerald Finzi composed
nine vocal cycles, countless choral works and, sadly for us,
few chamber music pieces. The Five Bagatelles for clarinet and
piano are a cornerstone of the clarinet and piano literature
by one of the most popular 20th century British composers.
The Artists:
An emerging leader of major arts organizations in his native
northern California, Rob Bailis is artistic director of
San Franciscor's acclaimed ODC Theater and a founding director
of Accendi Performances, a presenting/service organization for
independent musicians in the Bay Area. Previously he held posts
at the Perry Mansfield School for Performing Arts in Steamboat
Springs, Colorado, the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts
in Richmond, California, as well as the San Francisco Community
Music Center. In addition to his activities as a performing
arts curator, Mr. Bailis is an accomplished touring clarinetist,
appearing regularly with orchestras and in chamber recitals
across the U.S., Canada, Asia, and the U.K. He was appointed to
the Napa Valley Symphony in 1999; he performs as well with many
other symphony orchestras and chamber groups throughout Northern
California. A proponent of contemporary music, he has premiered
many new works, including pieces from Luciano Berio, Martin
Bresnik, Jack Perla, and Arlene Sierra. Mr. Bailis received
his early training from San Francisco Symphony clarinetist Don
Carroll. He went on to earn degrees from Northwestern University
School of Music, where he was a student of Russell Dagon, and
the Yale School of Music, where he studied with David Shifrin.
The recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, Mr. Bailis
was recently nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award, honoring
his performances in service to dance for the Composers' and
Choreographers' Consortium at the West Wave Dance Festival.
Highlights of past seasons have included recitals in Chicago,
San Francisco, New York, and at Cambridge University.
Pianist Hadley McCarroll appears regularly throughout
the San Francisco Bay Area, the United States, and internationally
as a solo and collaborative artist. An active vocal coach, Hadley
enjoys collaborations with local companies San Francisco Opera
and Opera Center, Festival Opera, Berkeley Opera, and West Bay
Opera. She has frequently collaborated with conductor Kent Nagano,
serving as musical preparer for concert performances of operas by
Elliott Carter (West Coast premiere of "What Next?") and Phillip
Manoury (West Coast premiere of "The 60th Parallel"). An active
teacher, Hadley has served on the faculty of the San Francisco
Community Music Center since 1997, in addition to running
a private music studio in Oakland. In the spring of 2006 and
summer of 2007 Hadley was invited to serve on the musical staff
of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Other projects in
2007 included assisting in preparing, for Kent Nagano, Unsuk
Chin's staged vocal work Sopranica Cantatrix, for two sopranos,
countertenor and chamber ensemble; Hadley was a featured pianist
at a forum on the music of George Gershwin at Grace Cathedral
in San Francisco, moderated, among others, by conductor Michael
Morgan and George Gershwin's nephew Michael Strunsky; she finished
the year with performances throughout the Bay Area as a member of
martha & monica, a piano-cello duo. In March of 2008 Hadley will
accompany a major concert of Wagner and Strauss arias at the Marin
Center featuring local heldentenor Roy Stevens, and in April she
will perform concerts at Old First Church in San Francisco and in
Point Reyes. Hadley received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees
in piano performance from the University of Texas at Austin,
where she studied with Danielle Martin. Ms. McCarroll has also
coached with Richard Goode, Mike Reynolds, Samuel Sanders,
Martin Katz, Warren Jones, and Isaac Stern.

Hemispheres
In Concert
Friday, February 1st at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is tickled at the thought of
presenting Hemispheres, in concert. This ensemble is the
musical collaboration of some of the best jazz artists playing
anywhere today. Each of these stellar players has achieved
recognition in his own right, and their gathering for this performance
can truly be called a super-group! Don't miss the rare appearance
of this ensemble in our acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Ensemble:
Blending African, Middle Eastern, Asian and South American
instruments with more traditional Jazz instrumentation,
Hemispheres merges myriad elements of Jazz with colors
and flavors from around the globe. Woodwind virtuosi Sheldon
Brown and Paul McCandless, blazing world percussionist
Ian Dogole, master bassist/flutist Bill Douglass,
pianist extraordinaire Frank Martin, and special guest
vocalist Hossein Massoudi collaborate to take their
listeners on an unforgettable aural journey, replete with
humor and a spirit of high adventure. Original compositions
by Hemispheres members, plus pieces from the Jazz and "World"
traditions will be featured at this special performance.
The Artists:
For over 25 years, Ian Dogole has articulated his vision
of Global Fusion Music as a multipercussionist, bandleader,
composer, recording artist, producer and educator. He has
released five records and a DVD as a leader - Along the Route,
Dangerous Ground, Ionospheres, Night Harvest, Convergence and Ian
Dogole & Hemispheres In Concert (DVD). Dogole has recorded and
performed with artists such as Hamza el Din, Paul McCandless,
Alex DeGrassi and Ancient Future. Dogole's compositions are
available on the recordings, Dreamchaser and Asian Fusion by
Ancient Future, and have been used by the San Francisco Giants,
the Philadelphia Phillies, Brown University and the Indonesian
Park Service. Dogole performs on a wide variety of percussion
instruments, including udu, cajon, hang, talking drums, global
drum set, mbiras and dumbek. He received a Jazz Performance
Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1991and
Marin Arts Council grants in 1994, 1995 and 1998 for his
educational program, Adventures in Global Fusion Music. Dogole
has been a frequent participant in the San Francisco Symphony's
Adventures in Music program, presenting assemblies to more than
20,000 elementary school students throughout the San Francisco
Public School system. He is currently a faculty member of the
Sierra Jazz Society's summer Jazz Camp and is a contributing
writer for JazzTimes Magazine.
Composer and woodwind multi-instrumentalist Sheldon
Brown formed the Sheldon Brown Group in 1993, and in 1996
he released the jazz/fusion CD Shifting Currents. Brown has
performed internationally (most recently with pianist Omar Sosa)
at world-renowned venues such as the North Sea Jazz Festival,
Moers Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Jazz d'Or, Toronto
Jazz Festival and the Spoleto Festival. He is featured on Omar
Sosa's CDs Prietos, Bembon, Spirit of the Roots and Free Roots
and on Ian Dogole's CDs Ionospheres and Night Harvest. Brown
is a member of San Francisco's Club Foot Orchestra, for whom he
has composed scores for Film Roman's cartoon series The Twisted
Tales of Felix the Cat and silent films such as Fritz Lang's
Metropolis, Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. and Cops, G. W. Pabst's
Pandora's Box and Robert Wiene's Hands of Orlac. Club Foot has
performed at New York's Knitting Factory, Walter Reade Theater,
at Lincoln Center and the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington,
D.C. Brown performed in Anthony Braxton's Composition No. 132
at Grace Cathedral as part of the 1986 San Francisco Jazz
Festival. Brown currently teaches composition at Jazzschool in
Berkeley, California.
Bassist/flutist Bill Douglass was influenced early in
his career by Rafael (Don) Garrett, who inspired him along his
lifelong path of pursuing both bass and bamboo flutes. In the
1970s, Douglass joined Rubisa Patrol, led by pianist Art Lande
and later joined The Flowing Stream Ensemble, a Chinese music
group in which he played bamboo flutes. Douglass is noted for
his flute work both in concert performances throughout the world
and in soundtracks for many highly acclaimed films, including
1000 Pieces of Gold, The Black Stallion and Never Cry Wolf. Over
the last three decades, he has performed and recorded on double
bass with world-renowned musicians such as Marian McPartland,
Mose Allison, Mark Isham, Terry Riley and Art Lande and has
performed at many of Europe's major Jazz festivals. Douglass
has also performed Chinese folk and classical music for over 20
years and has served as a Jazz instructor at the Cazadero and
Aptos Jazz camps. Currently, Douglass is the artistic director
of the Sierra Jazz Society, which presents the annual summer Jazz
Camp, along with year-round concert performances and educational
programs to the community in Nevada County, California.
During a distinguished career spanning three decades,
Paul McCandless has brought a soaring lyricism to his
playing and composing that has been integral to the ensemble
sound of two seminal world music bands, the original Paul Winter
Consort and the relentlessly innovative quartet, Oregon. A
gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, McCandless has
specialized in an unusually broad palette of both single and
double reed instruments that reflect his grounding in both
classical and jazz disciplines. With the innovative quartet
Oregon, McCandless has performed at major festivals throughout
the world such as Kool Jazz, Telluride, Berlin, Montreux,
Montreal and Pori. Oregon was also presented with the St. Paul
Chamber and Philadelphia Orchestras and traveled to Asia for the
U.S. State Department. McCandless's career includes appearances
on over 200 albums and scores or performance collaborations with
artists such as Steve Lacy, Nguyen Le, Jaco Pastorius, Wynton
Marsalis, Carla Bley, Pat Metheny, Elvin Jones, Mark Isham, Al
Jarreau, Stephanie Mills, Bruce Hornsby and Bela Fleck. His solo
recordings include All the Mornings Bring, Skylight, Navigator,
Heresay and Premonition. He plays a vast array of instruments,
including: soprano and sopranino saxophones, oboe, English horn,
penny whistle, wood flutes and bass clarinet.
Keyboard virtuoso/arranger/musical director Frank
Martin has amassed a very impressive track record working
with world-class performers in a diverse array of musical
styles. In the pop arena, Martin has performed and/or recorded
with stars that include Sting, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Steve
Winwood, Whitney Houston, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Chris Isaak,
Andrea Bocelli, Cheryl Crow, Philip Bailey, James Taylor, Joe
Cocker, Billy Joel, Madonna and Ricki Martin. In the jazz world,
his performance credits include Flora Purim & Airto Moriera,
Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Dizzy Gilespie, Mel Torme,
Bobby McFerrin, John Handy, Ramsey Lewis, Joe Farrell and the
Slide Hampton Big Band. Orchestra performances have included
concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Chamber
Orchestra and the "Orchestra of St. Lukes" (New York Philharmonic
Orchestra). As a producer, he has worked with high-profile artists
such as Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin's "Voicestra," SoVoSo," Joey
DeFrancesco and Alex Acuña, Jazz guitarist Mimi Fox, vocalist
Angela Bofill and the Turtle Island String Quartet. As musical
director, he has toured with such artists as Patti Austin,
Angela Bofill, Narada Michael Walden, Mickey Thomas, Roy Ayres,
and Clarence Clemens. Currently, Martin is on staff at the
University of California in Berkeley as well as the Jazzschool
in Berkeley, California. He is in demand as a clinician both in
the United States and in Europe.
Steeped in the folkloric Kurdish vocal tradition of his
native Iran, vicalist and percussionist Hossein Massoudi
integrates his knowledge and love of Persian Classical
with his Kurdish roots, resulting in a musicality which is
rarely heard. Hossein is largely a self-trained and intuitive
singer. He was a member of the San Francisco City Chorus for four
seasons, and attended San Francisco State University vocal Jazz
Combo under jazz singer Molly Holm for over a year. Hossein's
style reflects a union of these diverse traditions with his
original interpretations and an improvisatory approach that moves
effortlessly from the soulful to the whimsical. He is a founding
member of Aleph Null (world, middle eastern, and jazz)ensemble
since 1997.

The Los Angeles Electric 8
In Concert
Friday, January 25th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is intrigued to present the
eclectic Los Angeles Electric 8, in concert. These artists
meld the sensibilities of a classical chamber ensemble with the modern
tones and timbres of the electric guitar. This promises to be a superb
evening of unique music; don't miss it!
The Ensemble:
Upon hearing Italian virtuoso Mauro Giuliani play, Beethoven
remarked, "The guitar is a miniature orchestra in itself." What
would Beethoven have said had he heard Derek Bailey, Eddie Van
Halen, or Jim O'Rourke? What would he have said had he heard
eight?
The Los Angeles Electric 8 is a group of eight
guitarists who bring the electric guitar to a chamber ensemble,
channeling their classical backgrounds into an instrument usually
reserved for rock. They rectify the electric guitar's absence in
classical music, revealing the instrument's enormous potential
in the world of art music.
The 8's founding principle is to showcase the variety of rich
sounds made by guitars and vacuum-tube amplifiers. They draw
from and adapt a variety of art music including organ works,
string arrangements and Indonesian gamelan pieces. The effect is
an exploration of a greater potential of the electric guitar with
both intentional and accidental nods to the rock characteristics
of the instrument -- Mendelssohn meets Mogwai. The 8's sound is
a lush interweaving of clean and occasionally overdriven guitar
figures that often conjure harpsichords, bells, massive pianos and
choral textures. Their repertoire spans the late Renaissance to
today, including new works written specifically for the ensemble.
The Program:
Felix Mendelssohn: Organ Sonata in F minor
The organ and the electric guitar have a lot in common:
the physical distance between the played instrument and the
sound source, the range of possible effects (organ stops
and guitar pedals), the sheer volume, and even some timbral
similarities. This arrangement splits the voices juggled by an
organist among six electric guitars and two electric basses,
creating "clean" and "overdriven" halves of the group. The result
showcases the dynamic timbral range of the electric guitar and
offers another perspective on the music of Mendelssohn-a romantic
era composer who rediscovered the music of Johann Sebastian Bach,
experimenting with the then exotic sound of counterpoint.
Wayne Siegel: "Domino Figures"
Originally for 10-100 classical guitars, we think the sound
of eight electric guitars makes up for being two instruments
shy. This long minimalist piece highlights the acoustic artifacts
produced by blending the sounds of many electric guitars, creating
ethereal undertones and overtones. The effect is greater than
the sum of the parts, revealing both a grandeur and simplicity
of sound unique to the electric guitar.
Dmitri Shostakovich: Octet, Op.11: Prelude & Scherzo
We'll never know what Dmitri Shostakovich would have written
for the electric guitar, but this arrangement of his double
string quartet makes you wonder if he would have found voice
for his early works in a metal band-Schostakovich wrote these
two disorienting contemplative pieces at age eighteen following
the Russian Revolution.
Randall Kohl: "Balinesa"
Contrasting with Braddock's "Ill Tempered Lancaran," this
adaptation of Balinese Kecak brings the music of 100 men
reenacting a battle from the Ramayana to electric guitars. The
tight interlocking figures create thick textures of sound
reminiscent of American minimalist compositions.
Nathaniel Braddock: "Ill Tempered Lancaran"
Chicago guitarist/composer Nathaniel Braddock funnels his
knowledge of Javanese gamelan into a composition for six
electric guitars and two electric basses. The result is an aural
double-take, confirming the timbral similarity of two seemingly
different types of instrument-guitar and gamelan. The piece is
written in traditional Javanese lancaran form and the guitars
retune their strings to achieve the microtonal nuances of the
Javanese slendro tuning.
The Artists:
Philip Graulty is a native Los Angeleno. As a soloist,
he has performed works ranging from the Pavans of Luys Milan to
Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint." As a chamber musician,
he has participated in numerous festivals including MicroFest
and the Minimalist Jukebox Series. Philip received his M.M in
Guitar Performance from UCLA and his B.A. in Music from California
Polytechnic State University Pomona.
Chelsea Green is completing her Doctorate in Musical
Arts at UCLA where she has received both the Mimi Alpert Feldman
Scholarship and the Randy Rhoads Memorial Scholarship. California
Guitar Archives publishes her transcriptions of art songs
for guitar and voice entitled Erik Satie: Four Songs from
1886. Chelsea currently performs, teaches, transcribes and plays
in the alternative band SuperDuperStar.
Ben Harbert directs the Electric 8 and is the primary
arranger for the group. He studied classical guitar with three
Andrés Segovia protégés: Benjamin Bolt, Philip Rosheger and José
Luis Rodrigo. In Chicago, he led the guitar department at the
Old Town School of Folk Music where he taught classical guitar
and played the electric guitar and bass in rock bands Mezodigm
and OX.
Brandon Mayer studied guitar at UCLA with Theodore
Norman and Peter Yates. He has performed extensively as a solo and
ensemble artist. He has composed music for theater productions and
films that have been performed/screened at festivals throughout
the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Mayer lives and works as a teacher in
Los Angeles, primarily working with blind and autistic students.
Andy Nathan is a bassist/guitarist/composer who spent
his formative years training in big band jazz, funk, classical
guitar, free improvisation, rock and blues. A graduate of Mills
College, Andy has studied with Fred Frith and Joëlle Léandre,
Joel Ryan, Konrad Boehmer, and Ken Benshoof. Performance master
classes with Cecil Taylor, Merideth Monk and Leo Smith; performed
with Joe Louis Walker and the Bosstalkers. Andy currently teaches
guitar full time while pursuing interests in film composition
and country guitar.
Marc Nimoy recently graduated from CalArts with an MFA
in Music Composition/Experimental Sound Practices and received
his B.A. in Classical Guitar Performance from UCLA. He is a
working musician, teacher, and programmer, performing regularly
with laptop as well as guitar. He has received the Randy Rhoads
Memorial Scholarship and the STEIM artist residency in Amsterdam.
Felix Salazar is a Los Angeles-based composer-guitarist
whose music ranges from works for solo guitar to large
ensemble. After graduating from the California Institute of
the Arts, Felix collaborated with world-renowned DJ, Paul
Oakenfold, where he composed and conducted arrangements for an
unprecedented live performance of dance DJ with live orchestra. In
every manifestation, Felix fuses contemporary classical music,
improvisation, and popular music into his own unique, empathic
and emotionally driven compositions.
JohnPaul Trotter has been playing on records since he
was 20, playing electric and acoustic guitars for arists such as
folk/rock singer Courtney Chambers, hip-hop/reggae group Grand
Marquis, and funk/rock group the Dialectics. He holds a degree
from Cal Poly Pomona in Music with an emphasis on classical
guitar. He teaches guitar full-time and performs frequently with
his rock band and jazz quintet.

Carla Zilbersmith
In Concert
Friday, January 11th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to open our new year
with the critically-acclaimed vocalist, Carla Zilbersmith,
previewing material from her upcoming CD, "Extraordinary
Renditions". Carla will be accompanied by an ensemble of
the finest local jazz artists, including John R. Burr
(piano), Michael Zilber (sax), David Rokeach
(drums), and Robb Fisher (bass). Don't miss these stellar artists performing in our
acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Program:
Carla's upcoming CD is heavily influenced by some of Herbie
Hancock's recent recordings including The New Standard, River -
The Joni Mitchell Letters, and Gershwin's World. She is intrigued
by finding the jazz standards within the work of artists like
Prince, James Brown, the Beatles and of course fellow Canadian
Joni Mitchell herself. Carla's singing marries her Canadian folk
upbringing with her love for singers from both the jazz and R&B
world, including Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Betty Carter,
Sarah Vaughn and others. She is joined by musicians who are
equally comfortable straddling those worlds and who share a
commitment to exploring the new American Standard.
The Artists:
Carla Zilbersmith has been performing professionally
for over 15 years as both a singer and actress in Canada, Boston,
New York, and presently in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where
she has performed at The Coronet Theater, The Hayworth Theater,
Steinway Recital Hall, Gardenia Lounge, Anna's Jazz Island,
Yoshi's, Slims, Mr. E.'s, The Marsh, Venue 9, Theater Artaud,
Berkeley Repertory Theater, Don't Tell Mama, The Strand, Prism
and elsewhere.
Carla has performed in diverse settings ranging from the
Boston Symphony Orchestra to solo performance to folk/rock bands
to sketch comedy. She is the founding member of We're Redheads,
a women's sketch comedy troupe, Lighten Up John, a musical
improv group and was the Artistic Director of the College of
Marin Drama Department for many years. Carla is the vocalist
for The SubUrbans and was one of the year 2000 Lilith Fair
finalists. The band's CD is entitled Paradise . Lee Hildebrand
of the East Bay Express calls Carla "a superb singer." Carla"s
new CD "Extraordinary Renditions" will be released January 2008.
Carla's one-woman musical, Wedding Singer Blues has received
rave notices up and down the west coast, including a Best of
the Bay award(under Best Solo Flights). The LA Times compared
her favorably to Lily Tomlin.
Carla has written several plays and solo pieces: A Motherhood ,
which debuted at The Luggage Store Excess Baggage Festival , Car
Sex , developed with Charlie Varon and performed at The Marsh,
and License to Drive , also developed with Charlie Varon, a piece
chronicling her 15-year journey to learn how to drive. License
to Drive was a regular feature in The Marsh's Saturday night
series Night Schtick . Carla's off-Broadway production Notes ,
won her the Washington Square Players Young Playwright's Award
and was produced at the Intar Theater in Manhattan. She is
currently writing a new solo piece as well as performing with
We're Redheads, a sketch comedy duo with Gina Ottobini-Stahl.
John R. Burr is that rare pianist who combines jazz
technique with a genuine love for folk music. The Philadelphia
Weekly said, "Pianist extraordinaire John R. Burr has the most
sparkling style since former Allman Brother-turned-Rolling Stone
hired hand Chuck Leavell." Discology wrote, "John R. Burr ranks
with the best of the elegant jazzers." Burr was first drawn
to the piano at the age of 10 when he heard Vince Guaraldi's
playing on the Peanut's animated TV specials. He started out as
a child prodigy drummer; he was the only child out of 5 siblings
not forced to study the piano. It wasn't until he was in high
school that his focus turned to the keyboard. He then discovered
that there were too many drummers to compete with and the piano
became his instrument of choice.
After years of touring with such artists as Maria Muldaur,
The Alison Brown Quartet, Paul McCandless, Michael Manring
and Kathy Kallick and recognition including a feature spot on
Windham Hill's Piano Sampler II, Burr is stepping out with his
first solo album, Piedmont Avenue. His playing is as likely to be
inspired by James Taylor or Doctor John as by Oscar Peterson or
the Yellowjackets although he says it is his love of folk music
that has influenced him most. His musical diversity has enabled
him to tour and record with a variety of artists and has made
him the ideal pianist for the ground breaking folk/jazz group,
The Alison Brown Quartet. Burr explains, "I play a sort of jazz
piano version of the vocal music that I love to listen to. That's
what influences me. I love to play and study jazz but I listen to
vocal, folk/singer/songwriter music. I'm always searching for that
melodic song-like quality when I improvise."
Burr's playing is engaging and his breezy style blending
jazz and folk influences makes for a rare and articulate debut
album. Piedmont Avenue is cohesive in its conception, inspired
in its execution and serves as an excellent introduction to the
wonderfully original piano voice of John R. Burr.
Saxophonist Michael Zilber, whom jazz great David
Liebman calls" one of the best players and composers around
anywhere, period", has recorded 7 CDs as a leader, including an
independent music award finalist in 2000 and a Billboard pick
of the month in 1993 and over 20 as a sideman. He has performed
and/or recorded with too many leading artists in Jazz to list
here, co-led a band with drumming legend Steve Smith for 8 years
and has received multiple Downbeat awards as a jazz educator.
His current projects include a song cycle of poems by poet
laureate Billy Collins, as well as recording projects with
guitarist's guitarist John Stowell, a two sax-two drum CD with
Liebman, Steve Smith and Marko Marcinko, a collective project
with the group Happy Hour and leading the Jazzschool Composers
Collective, a big band made up of the bay Area's best musicians.
He is very proud to be part of Carla Zilbermsmith's new CD
project, believing her to be the best singer he has ever worked
with.
A long time Bay Area resident, drummer David Rokeach
has been working primarily in the San Francisco and Los Angeles
areas for more than 20 years. David toured nationally and
internationally with Ray Charles from 1990-91. This included
concert videos and many television appearances, including an
appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Doc
Severinson Orchestra. In recent years he has performed/recorded
with Patti LaBelle, Aaron Neville, Mavis Staples, Lou Rawls,
Grammy winner Joe Henderson, Down Beat Poll winner Mark Murphy,
Bluesman Charlie Musselwhite, The George Brooks-Zakir Hussain
Group, Wilson Pickett, Linda Tillery, Steve Miller, Joe Satriani,
Joyce Cooling, Maria Muldaur, Calvin Keys, Barry Finnerty,
Merl Saunders, David Grisman, Melvin Seals, The Family Stone
Experience, Louis Bellson, Wayne Wallace, The Nelson Riddle
Orchestra, Paula West, Brazilian Master Marcos Silva, Bluegrass
Grammy winner Alison Brown, Ernestine Anderson, Oscar Brown Jr.,
award-winning trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, acclaimed composer and
Grammy winner, Maria Schneider, and many more.
Since 1998 David has had the honor of playing with the Queen
of Soul, Aretha Franklin. In addition to live concerts, this has
included television appearances on the Rosie O'Donnell Show, The
View, Good Morning America, and VH1's Divas Live 1998, where he
also performed with Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan,
Shania Twain, and Carole King for the show's finale.
For the past few years, David has been working with Bay Area
Composer Joel Evans. Their recordings have appeared in numerous
motion pictures and television shows, including Universal's For
the Love of the Game, Paramount's What Women Want, Showtime's
Seventeen Again, Fox's Say It Isn't So, The Young and the
Restless, All My Children, Nash Bridges, The District, The
X-Files, Sex and the City, Frasier, The Osbournes, Desperate
Housewives, The West Wing, The O.C., LA Doctors, The Chris Isaak
Show, and many others.
David currently teaches at the Berkeley Jazz School, and has
also been a regular faculty member at the Stanford Jazz Workshop
and at the Rhythmic Concepts Jazz Camp West. Recently he played
the Broadway Shows "Les Miserables," "Ragtime", and the Janis
Joplin show "Love, Janis" during their San Francisco runs. He
also plays on many commercial jingles, and film and television
soundtracks, both in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Roberta Piket and Eric km Clark
with Special Guests
In Concert
Saturday, November 10th at 8:00 pm
Admission $15 ($10 for HSC members and Seniors)
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: (510) 845-1350
The Berkeley Hillside Club is tickled to host the return
of piano phenom Roberta Piket, joined this time by
talented violinist Eric km Clark, along with some special
guest artists, performing their exciting blend of classical,
jazz and experimental music. Don't miss these stellar artists
performing in our acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Program:
Roberta Piket is a superbly talented and accomplished
jazz pianist and composer whose music blends neo-classical
and post-modern jazz influences. Her musical relationship with
violinist Eric km Clark lies at the nexus of classical
music and improvisation. They will perform original works in
duo and with special guests including drummer Billy Mintz.
The Artists:
In the time since Roberta Piket returned to her native
New York, the pianist/composer has played professionally as a
sidewoman with David Liebman, Rufus Reid, Michael Formanek,
Lionel Hampton, Mickey Roker, Billy Mintz, Harvey Wainapel,
Eliot Zigmund, Benny Golson and the BMI/NY Jazz Orchestra and has
twice been a featured guest on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz,
on National Public Radio. It is in her work as a composer and
bandleader, however, that the depth of Roberta's talent becomes
most evident.
Roberta, who holds a B.S. in Computer Science which she earned
concurrently with her music degree, turned away from a future
as a software engineer after a year in that field to pursue an
inevitable path in creative music. A gifted composer, Roberta
placed second in the first annual Thelonious Monk BMI Composers'
Competition.
Roberta's trio has toured Japan and Spain as well as the
U.S. She has performed her music at the Kennedy Center in
Washington, D.C., at the Earshot Festival in Seattle, at the
Rochester (NY) Jazz Festival, and in New York at Small's, the
Blue Note Club, Birdland, the Knitting Factory and the Kitano.
Roberta's CDs frequently make the "best of" lists of the major
jazz magazines. Whether performing her original compositions or
highly personalized reworkings of standards, Roberta's daring
rhythmic modulations and vast harmonic expansiveness set a new
standard for the piano trio. "September of Tears", released in
Japan, finds Roberta joining forces with Rufus Reid and Billy Hart
for an adventurous program of originals and reworked standards. A
new release features the virtuosic gifts of Roberta's new trio:
bassist Ratzo Harris and drummer Billy Mintz. A new release
features the virtuosic gifts of Roberta's new trio: bassist
Ratzo Harris and drummer Billy Mintz. This working group has
toured the West coast during the past two autumns and performs
regularly in New York.
Roberta maintains an active schedule as an educator. She
has held master classes at the Eastman School of Music (where
she performed solo and in duo with Marian McPartland), Rutgers
University, Cal Arts, Duke University, the Northwestern University
Composers' Colloquium, and many others in the U.S., Europe and
Japan. She has coached ensembles at Long Island University,
has several private students, has served as a panelist for the
Queens Council on the Arts grant review process and has taught
at the Litchfield Jazz Camp and the Vermont Jazz Center. She is
also the author of the Jazz Piano Vocabulary series of workbooks,
published by Muse-Eek Publishing.
Eric Kenneth Malcolm Clark is a composer and violinist
originally from Victoria, BC, Canada. A recent addition to New
York, he spent the past two years in LA studying composition with
James Tenney. Eric has also worked privately or in masterclass
with artists as diverse as Charles Castleman, Dave Douglas,
Stefano Scodanibio, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the
Kronos Quartet, the Alcan Quartet, and the Purcell Quartet,
among many others. Over the years, he has been fortunate
enough to collaborate in performance with artists such as Han
Bennink, Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris, Mark Dresser, Jurg Frey,
Michael Gordon, David Lang, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Julia
Wolfe. Eric recently played lead violin with Ensemble Sospeso in
a series of performances of filmmaker Guy Maddin's silent film
Brand Upon the Brain!, which included live foley sound effects
and guest narrators, including: Tunde Adebimpe, Laurie Anderson,
John Ashbery, Justin Bond, Crispin Glover, Edward Hibbert, Anne
Jackson, Joie Lee, Lou Reed, Isabella Rossellini, Peter Scarlet,
and Eli Wallach.
Eric has enjoyed success performing in many genres, though
most often in new music, experimental, and improvisational
settings. He has performed throughout Canada, the US, Europe,
and Australia, recently completing a tour of Belgium and Oslo
with his high octane group Skakk Trio. Eric also enjoyed a series
of performances as violinist with the legendary west coast new
music group California EAR Unit last spring 2006. Other notable
recent appearances include the premier of his New York band
Passenger Fish, the 2006 Minimalist Jukebox festival in Walt
Disney Concert Hall, Michael Gordon's new opera What to Wear and
Decasia, and the Creative Music Festival at RedCat. Eric just
completed a recording in LA of Anne LeBaron's Opera Pope Joan,
to be released November 1st 2007 on New World Records.
Compositionally, Eric is an extremely diverse composer, ranging
from writing for hearing-deprived musicians to improvisational
works for his bands in New York and Europe. He has recently
returned from the neither/nor new music festival in Toronto,
in which he performed and presented his works Mein Schatz
and Slaughter Series I-IV. Eric's music has been performed by
numerous ensembles and soloists, such as ARRAYMUSIC, Bang on a
Can, the California EAR Unit, the ANAlog Arts Ensemble, and the
Bozzini Quartet.
In an extraordinary career spanning nearly 40 years, drummer
Billy Mintz has played with some of the biggest names in
the jazz and pop worlds.
Mr. Mintz was born in Queens, New York in 1947. By the age
of 15 he was firmly entrenched in several of the show bands of
the Catskill Mountain resorts, and as his musicianship developed
he would eventually tour with jazz artists such as Lee Konitz,
Eddie Daniels, Harold Danko, Mike Garson, Mose Allison, Mark
Murphy, and the Kim Richmond Sextet. He also toured and recorded
extensively with Bobby Shew. At the same time, his credentials
grew in the pop arena, leading to tours with Juliette Prowse,
James Darren, Gloria Gaynor, and a stint with the show band for
the Merv Griffin Show. In 1986, Mr. Mintz toured Japan with
the Los Angeles Symphonic Jazz Orchestra (having relocated to
Los Angeles in 1981). In 1988 he toured Europe with saxophone
great Charles Lloyd, and from 1989 to 1995 he performed with
the Alan Broadbent Trio.
Throughout his life Mr. Mintz has taught privately and done
clinics at schools around the world, including the Berklee
School of Music, the Dick Grove School of Music, Bloomingdale
House of Music, Long Island Drum and Percussion Club, Eagle
Rock H.S., Arizona State University at Tempe, University
of Arizona at Phoenix, and North Texas State University. He
also taught extensively while on tour with various artists in
Sydney, Australia, Tel Aviv, Israel and Wellington, New Zealand.
Mr. Mintz has written two books: Different Drummers, originally
published by Aamsco Music Publishing and Advanced Sticking
and Sight-Reading (BM Publications). He has also had articles
published in Not Just Jazz and Modern Drummer magazines.
Mr. Mintz appears on records by the following artists, among
others: Bill Perkins/James Clay Quintet; Vinny Golia; Fred
Tompkins; The Cryers; Harold Danko; Eddie Daniels; Bobby Shew;
Bob Magnusson; Mike Garson; Art Resnick; Walking Wounded; Kim
Richmond; Clay Jenkins; Ken Filiano; John Woods; Joey Sellars;
Bruce Fowler. In recent years, Mr. Mintz has taken on new roles
as a bandleader and a composer, performing his own compositions
with various ensembles. He also performs solo drumset concerts
with increasing frequency.
For more info on these artists, check out their websites:
Roberta Piket
Eric km Clark
Billy Mintz

Shoko Hikage and Yoko Hirano-Itatani
In Concert
Sunday November 4 at 7:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is honored to present koto virtuosi
Shoko Hikagei and Yoko Hirano-Itatani, along with special
guest artists performing a concert of contemporary Japanese
music. Don't miss this group of world-class artists performing
rarely-heard repertoir in our acoustically-excellent hall.
The Program:
Selected Koto Works of Michio Miyagi (1894-1956) and Tadao Sawai (1937-1997)
Known as the "Father of Modern koto music" Michio Miyagi (1894-1956) was
a great koto performer, composer, and educator who revolutionized koto
music through the utilization of new playing and compositional techniques
and the invention of instruments.
Tadao Sawai (1937-1997) has changed the koto from being a traditional
Japanese instrument to an instrument of universal expressiveness,
furthering the work of the late Michio Miyagi, the forerunner of the "New
Japanese Music" movement.
Recognized as the greatest composer/performer for the koto of the late
twentieth century, Tadao Sawai had the keenest musical sense and most
natural talent for bringing his instrument to life.
Shoko Hikage and Yoko Hirano-Itatani will perform two great contemporary
koto music composers, Michio Miyagi and Tadao Sawai. Compositions will
include Haru no Umi (koto & shakuhachi), Hira (koto, shamisen and
shakuhachi), Hakkafu (koto and bass koto) and more. Guests performers will be
Shirley Muramoto (koto), Brian Mitsuhiro Wong (koto) and Robin Hartshorne
(shakuhachi)
The Instruments:
Koto - Similar to the Chinese gu-zheng, this 13-string plucked zither entered
Japan from the continent in the 7th century. The koto has been part of the
gagaku court ensemble for over one thousand years, and today a varied
repertoire along with a wide range of playing techniques makes the
instrument appealing to audiences the world over.
Players of the koto by tradition are also generally versed in the music of
the shamisen. More recently the jushichigen (bass koto) has also become an
important means for expression.
Shamisen - Having entered Japan from the southern Ryukyu islands (present day
Okinawa), this 3-string long-necked lute is generally played with a large
plectrum. There are basically three different instruments used today, the
distinguishing feature being the size of the neck. The jiuta shamisen
featured here has a neck of medium thickness.
Jushichigen - The 17-string bass koto was developed early in the 20th century by koto
master Miyagi Michio. Originally intended to add depth to ensembles, the
instrument now plays an integral role in contemporary music and as a solo
instrument on concert stages.
Shakuhachi - The shakuhachi is an end-blown Japanese bamboo flute. It was brought from
China to Japan more than a thousand years ago by a Zen priest. During the
Edo period (1615-1868) the shakuhachi was played by wandering monks called
"komuso" or "priests of emptiness and nothingness." Today,
performances of traditional solo meditative "honkyoku" and "sankyoku"
chamber music with koto samisen, are common.
The Artists:
Shoko Hikage studied the koto with Chizuga Kimura, 2nd IEMOTO Seiga
Adachi, 3rd IEMOTO Seiga Adachi of the Ikuta-ryu Sokyoku Seigen Kai. In
1988, she graduated from Takasaki College with a major in koto music, and
was immediately accepted as a special research student in Sawai Koto
School where she subsequently received her master's certificate. In 1992,
she moved to Honolulu to teach at the Sawai Koto Kai Hawaii. There, she
held her first American solo recital at the Honolulu Academy of Arts
Theater as part of the "New Music Across America" series. In 1997, she
moved to San Francisco, where she continues her pursuits in
improvisational dance and music. www.ShokoHikage.com
Yoko Hirano-Itatani was born in Kanagawa, Japan. She has graduated the
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1997, having majored
in Japanese traditional music under the renowned musician, Professor
Masateru Ando. She performed in Young Artist Concert in of 1995 in Chiba,
Japan, and held annual recitals of her musical trio "Sonet" (violin,
piano and Koto) in 1998-2000. She performed the Koto at the Tulip festival
in Ottawa, the Music and People Festival in Montreal, and at several
cultural events at the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, Museum
of Civilization, and the Parliament Hill. In Bay Area, she continues her
music activity having several joint concerts and teaching Koto and
Shamisen.
Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto, a native Japanese-American of Oakland,
California, Muramoto learned to play the koto as a child. Koto music
became a part of her family legacy, when during WWII, Muramoto's
grandparents were incarcerated in internment camps. Her grandparents
encouraged their young daughters to take up the koto to keep their minds
occupied in a creative manner, and determined to keep the Japanese culture
alive in their daughters' lives. In 1976, Shirley received her "Shihan"
degree (instructor's license) with "Yushusho" (highest) honors from the
Chikushi School in Fukuoka, Japan, and her "Dai shihan" Master's degree
from the same school in 2000 for her mastery of the koto. Muramoto is also
the director of the world jazz fusion group, the Murasaki Ensemble.
Playing the koto for over 40 years, Shirley has the ability to perform in
a variety of genres and styles. She has been teaching students privately
and in koto classes since 1976, including koto classes at UC Berkeley,
Montclair Elementary School and Nihon Gakko Japanese School in Oakland.
Brian Mitsuhiro Wong carries on the musical family tradition inherited
from his mother Shirley Muramoto and grandmother. Wong has played the koto
since the age of 4. In the tenth grade, Wong experienced the most
important musical influence of his young life; a concert performed by one
of the top koto masters in Japan, Madame Kazue Sawai. Wong had the great
fortune to meet Madame Sawai after the concert. She invited Wong to come
to Japan to study the koto with her at her koto conservatory in Tokyo. In
2003, Wong became an 'uchi-deshi', a live-in student at the Sawai
Soukyokuin. Last year, he achieved his "Koshi", or instructor's degree,
winning the top award, or "Grand Prix", with the highest scores. He is the
third generation koto teacher in his family, and also in the U.S. This
spring, he will graduate from California State University, East Bay at
Hayward with a bachelor of arts degree in music composition.

Pandit Anindo Chatterjee
In Concert
Sunday October 28 at 7:30 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club Concert Series is honored to present the
world-famous tabla virtuoso Pandit Anindo Chatterjee
in concert. Don't miss this sublime artist performing in our
acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artist:
Pandit Anindo Chatterjee is a rare phenomenon in art of
tabla playing. Throughout history, few artists stand out in each
generation. They preserve a heritage while defining it anew,
marking its evolution in time . Anindo Chatterjee is one of
those few. The power and speed combined with the total clarity
and sweetness of his playing is unparalleled and speaks of years
of back breaking practice; his vast knowledge of repertoire and
ability to improvise in every style of tabla playing make him an
invaluable asset to Indian music and a reference for its scholars;
the spontaneity and intuitiveness of both his accompaniment and
his solo improvisations speak of the depth of his artistry and
leave his audiences speechless. Anindo Chatterjee is one of the
great musicians of our time.
The guiding force of Anindoji's amazing musical journey was
his beloved uncle Biswanath Chatterjee. His family was full
of music and from the beginning Anindo was groomed to become
a tabla player. Early childhood lessons were received from his
uncle Amarnath Chatterjee. After receiving first prize in the
all India Children's Music Competition at the young age of 6,
he was accepted his technique and learned the rich repertoire
of traditional tabla. He also received two years of taleem from
Ustad Afaq Hussain Khan (1964-66) of Lucknow Gharana. Anindoji's
tabla solo debut was at age 10. He has since developed one of the
most dynamic and rich table solo performances of his generation.
Infused with the legacy of the Farukhabad gharana yet
enriched with aspects of all gharanas, his performances are
unpredictable and extraordinarily diverse. With technical and
artistic brilliance he presents some of the rarest and most
difficult material in the tabla repertoire: this at extreme speeds
with uncompromised clarity and beauty. In addition to his vast
traditional repertoire, He himself is the composer of countless
compositions, through which he explores the edge of possible and
makes his timeless contribution to the art from. For the tabla
lovers around the world his playing is the pinnacle. No Jawab.
As an accompanist, Anindoji made his world debut in 1975 with
one of the greatest musicians in the history of Indian Music,
Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. Anindoji's musical sensitivity and
technical genius, combined with his majestic stage presence make
him the favorite accompanist to all the preeminent musicians of
India . He continued to perform with Pandit Nikhil Banerjee till
his death and has shared the stage with the late Ustad Vilayat
Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar khan, Ustad Amjad
Ali Khan, Ustad Raise Khan, Ustad Imrat Khan, Pandit Shiv Kumar
Sharma, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur,
Parveen Sultana, Kishori Amonkar, Pandit Bhimsen Jhoshi, Pandit
Jasraj, Pandit Ram Narayan, Dr. L. Subramanium, Dr. Balmuruli
Krishna and many others. In addition to performing on the
great stages of over 60 countries, Anindoji had the honor of
performing as a delegate for the Government of India in Japan ,
Mongolia , and Russia and in 1990 was the youngest tabla player
ever to perform at the House of Commons in London . Anindoji has
made countless recordings for both National and International
recording houses touching the world with his music.
As a guru and a teacher Anindoji is equally accomplished. He
has taught at the American Center for the Performing Arts in 1978
in Berkley (USA), Texas University at Austin (USA), Bard College
in New York ( USA ), Pittsburg University (USA), Smithsonian
Museum in Washington DC , Ritburg Museum in Zurich Switzerland ,
Leeds University in the UK , and Rabindra Bharati University in
Kolkata. From years of dedicated teaching Anindoji has many very
promising disciples making their way to the stage as stalwarts
of the next generation. Among them are his only son Anubrata,
who is making his mark as one of the finest tabla players of
his generation, and several talented foreign students who are
performing both in their countries and in India.
From the very beginning, great musicians, scholars, and music
lovers have appreciated and praised Anindoji's music. In honor of
a lifetime of effort and achievement, Anindoji has received many
awards and honors. Included among them are a Gold Medal at the All
India Radio Music Competition at the tender age of 16, "Talsamrat"
from Ustad Amir Hussain Khan Memorial Foundation of Bombay in
1991, the "Shiromoni Award" by Asian Paints of Kolkata in 1995,
"Best Performer of the Year" in 1997 from the All India Critics
Association, "Tala Rishi Samman" by Aurangabad State Academy in
1997, the "Guru Kelucharan Award" from the government of Orissa in
2003, "Swarsagar Puraskar" by the Maharastra Municipal Corporation
in 2005, and the prestigious "Sangeet Natak Akademi Award"
by the honorable President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2002.

martha and monica is...
Monica Scott, cello and Hadley McCarroll, piano
martha and monica
In Concert
Friday, 26 October at 8:00 pm
martha & monica embark on their second concert season and
the Hillside Club Concerts Series is delighted to host the return of
these two superbly talented artists in our wonderful hall.
The Program:
On October 26th, 2007, the duo launches a brand-new program
entitled Voyages - a journey traversing a wide stylistic
territory while crossing new frontiers. The program sets off
with songs from Banalites, Fetes Galantes and other cycles
(transcribed by martha & monica) composed by Francis Poulenc and
Claude Debussy, both masters of mood - always with the lightest
of touches - balancing perfectly crafted phrasing and sensitive poetic
nuance.
Two works for solo piano and cello, respectively, show off
some singular qualities of each instrument. Ondine,
by Maurice Ravel, is from a larger suite for the piano
entitled Gaspard de la Nuit. Ingeniously, the work
creates a sublime reverie by conjuring an aural equivalent to
"mist" by exploring the qualities in the tuning of the piano
itself. Invece, by Pascal Dusapin was composed
with the idea of trying out novel techniques on the cello that
were not only unusual, but also breaking many of the composers'
own conventions. The Italian word invece translates as "instead
of", or "on the contrary". Stemming from a period in which
Dusapin composed a series of solo works for various intruments,
all beginning with the letter "i", Invece is an energetic tour
de force.
Nadia Boulanger was one of the most influential
French musicians of the twentiethy century: teacher, composer and
pianist, she counted Elliott Carter, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland
and Philip Glass among her many famous American students. 3
pieces for cello and piano offer a glimpse into Boulanger's
musical soul.
The journey ends with the great Sonata, Op. 65 by Frédéric
Chopin. Despite requesting his heart be sent back to his
native Poland after his death, that heart remained French to its
core! His compositional aesthetic embodied all that was distinctly
Parisian: elegance, embellishment, taste and refinement - all
coupled with exquisite technical mastery. Chopin's friendship with
the notable cellist Franchomme inspired him to write numerous
works for cello, the only instrument besides piano for which
he did compose solo works. The Sonata is a major work in four
movements, exploiting the richness and depth of the cello's
singing qualities, arabesquing around a beautiful, delicate
yet forceful piano part. A performance featuring the Sonata,
with Chopin at the piano and Franchomme on cello, was the last
public concert Chopin ever gave!
The Artists:
Offering a rewarding and eye-opening experience, pianist
Hadley McCarroll and cellist Monica Scott share an
intense and passionate desire to communicate through music. As
martha & monica, Ms. McCarroll and Ms. Scott come together
to perform music from eras, styles, and cultures that run the
gamut, their own curiosity leading them in repertoire choices
and interpretation. Both artists have extensive chamber music and
solo performing experiences, both in the U.S. and abroad. martha
& monica is an affiliate of the San Francisco Friends of Chamber
Music, and is generously supported by the Bay Area community. The
2007-08 season includes concerts in San Francisco, Berkeley,
and Point Reyes.
Monica Scotta, cellist, [monica] has had a varied career
of solo, chamber music and orchestral work on both sides of the
Atlantic. After completing her studies at the Oberlin Conservatory
of Music, she received her soloist's diploma from the Sweelinck
Conservatorium in Amsterdam. Ms. Scott has played at numerous
festivals in Germany and Switzerland, as well as in Prussia Cove,
England, and Sarasota, Florida. After an artist residency at
the Banff Centre, Monica performed for four seasons with the
Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa in Portugal, a position which
included performing over 50 concerts per year with the Alcantara
Quartet. During this time she was also a featured soloist with the
Orquestra Metropolitana, performing concertos under the baton of
Eduardo Alonzo Crespo, with whom she has also performed Dvorák
and Haydn concertos in Argentina. Since moving to the Bay Area
in 1997, Ms. Scott has concentrated on the presentation of little
known twentieth century repertoire, and programming mixed recitals
both on modern and baroque cello. Formerly the cellist in the Del
Sol String Quartet, Monica performed countless premieres in that
capacity, helping to develop an artistic vision for the ensemble
which led to two consecutive Chamber Music America/ASCAP Awards
for Adventurous Programming. Monica has performed with Composer's
Inc and the Composer's Alliance, is a member of the sfsoundGroup,
and also has a duo with her mother, pianist Irene Schreier. She
teaches cello both privately and in the Preparatory Division of
the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Hailed for her "...lively and exhilarating..." pianism (San
Francisco Classical Voice), Pianist Hadley McCarroll
[martha] appears regularly throughout the San Francisco Bay Area,
United States, and internationally as a solo and collaborative
artist and opera coach. Ms. McCarroll enjoys collaborations with
local companies San Francisco Opera and Opera Center, Festival
Opera, Opera San José, Berkeley Opera, North Bay Opera, West
Bay Opera. Ms. McCarroll also serves on the music staff of the
Royal Danish Opera, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Under the baton of
maestro Kent Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, she has
served as musical preparer for concert performances of operas
by Elliott Carter and Phillip Manoury. In the spring of 2007
she assisted in preparing Unsuk Chin's work Sopranica Cantatrix,
a chamber work for two sopranos and countertenor. In addition to
directing her own private piano and coaching studios in Oakland,
she has served on the piano faculty of the Community Music Center
since 1997. Ms. McCarroll has received an individual artist
grant from the City of Oakland to perform concertos for piano
and chamber wind ensemble. As a member of the acclaimed Bay Area
vocalinstrumental trio The Mirage Ensemble, she has presented
chamber music masterclasses and concerts at the Northwestern
University School of Music.

Kurt Ribak Ensemble
with Special Guests
In Concert
Friday October 12 at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present
the Kurt Ribak Ensemble in concert.
Don't miss this talented group performing in our
acoustically-excellent hall.
The Ensemble:
The Kurt Ribak Ensemble definitely qualifies as a
local treasure; bassist Ribak and his group have been delighting
Bay Area audiences for almost a decade. While their repertoir
has a firm grounding in jazz standards and the Great American
Songbook, much of the ensemble's performance features Kurt's
original compositions. For this date the ensemble features
Kurt's long-time collaborator, pianist Greg Sankovich,
and the superb Bay Area drummer Bryan Bowman. Featured
guest artists will include vocalist Sheilani Alix, and
Johannes Mager on trombone.
The Artists:
Kurt Ribak grew up in Berkeley, CA. Early musical
experiences included singing in the San Francisco Boys Chorus. In
grade school Kurt began studying the cello. Kurt later studied
with major cellists, including Bonnie Hampton, Susie Napper,
and Elisabeth LeGuin.
While a student at UC Berkeley Kurt began playing electric
bass, buying his first good bass with money made working as a
janitor. At Cal he continued to play classical music and studied
jazz under Neal Heidler and Jeremy Cohen while playing in the
UC Jazz Ensembles, where he met and first played with pianist
Greg Sankovich. Kurt also studied West African drumming with
C.K. Ladzekpo and spent summers teaching at Cazadero Music Camp,
where he played with trombonist Julian Priester, guitarist /
composer Paul Dresher, and steel drummer Andy Narell, as well
as working in the local early music scene.
Kurt subsequently earned a scholarship to Berklee College
of Music, after a bout with tendinitis. He graduated with top
honors, studying bass with Whit Browne, Bruce Gertz, and John
Repucci. Kurt spent many hours transcribing and absorbing the
styles of bassists Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, and Charles Mingus,
but also spent hours dissecting the compositions and arrangements
of African bandleader Fela Kuti and R&B giant James Brown.
Kurt first learned of his love of composition while at
Berklee College of Music. His early tunes often reflected a
strong Thelonious Monk influence, while others reflect his love
of the great bassists/composer/bandleader Charles Mingus, whose
music he studied intensively at Berklee. Later tunes bring to
mind the South African composer Abdullah Ibrahim a.k.a. Dollar
Brand, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, and Cannonball Adderley.
After graduation from Berklee Kurt returned to the San
Francisco Bay area. Drummer Bryan Melvin, formerly with the
great electric bassist Jaco Pastorius, said Kurt plays bass
"the way it should be played." R&B legend Johnny Otis sought
him out to say Kurt's playing reminded Otis of the late bassist
Curtis Counce, a favorite sideman of Otis.
Kurt has played with many prominent musicians. Among them are
jazz/blues vocalist Faye Carol, new music composer Paul Dresher,
Broadway singer Lillias Brooks, JC Hopkins (writer and former
bandleader for Norah Jones), guitarist Adam Levy, sideman with
Tracy Chapman and Norah Jones, and with Ralph Carney, best known
for his work with Tom Waits. Kurt's also played with prominent
non-jazz musicians, including Danny Carnahan of Wake the Dead and
Eric and Suzy Thompson, who have received international acclaim
for their performances of bluegrass and Cajun music. Kurt also
appeared as an actor in commercial videos and films, including
Erica Jordan's "In the Wake" (released in 2001) and Rob Nilsson's
upcoming release "Scheme." He also contributed music to both
films.
In 2001 Kurt started his own group, the Kurt Ribak Trio, which
has been his primary musical focus. In 2003 he re-connected
with UC Jazz Ensembles bandmate Greg Sankovich, the trio's
pianist. The Kurt Ribak Trio features Kurt's own compositions but
includes select jazz standards and under-appreciated tunes from
the Great American Songbook. The Kurt Ribak Trio's second CD,
"more," featuring his compositions, has just been released on
Rodia Records.
Greg Sankovich has been performing on keyboards and
producing music since he was twelve years old. He began with
classical studies when he was five years old. Later he studied
with some of the finest jazz and Latin pianists and educators in
the Bay Area. His musical inspirations included Herbie Hancock,
Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, and Keith Jarrett.
Greg attended University of California, Berkeley, where he
was active in the UC Berkeley Jazz Ensembles, touring Japan,
Northern Europe, Poland, and Scandinavia. After graduation from
UC Berkeley, Greg moved to Japan with a UCB inspired jazz-fusion
band, Taikun. Greg lived in Japan over ten years, performing
and composing for a long line of top Japanese artists.
Greg, a Bay Area native, returned to the san Francisco area
in the mid-1990s and has since contributed to an eclectic range
of musical projects from jazz to house to hiphop to pop. He
has worked with many talented artists including Terry Francis,
Brenda Boykin, H-Foundation, Onions, and Doc Martin. He has
contributed music to over 20 record labels including Warner,
Columbia, Siesta, Tango, and Yoshitoshi. Greg's music can also
be found in the soundtrack for "Groove," a Sony Classics film.
Greg produces dance music and performs regularly in the SF Bay
Area. Greg has produced dance music currently in Europe's Top
Ten. He performs with many groups, including bassist/composer
Kurt Ribak's original groups, jazz-funk band Times 4 featuring
sensational saxophonist Lincoln Adler, jam band Ten Ton Chicken,
R&B band Blue Sky Band, and various jazz projects. Times 4 has
appeared at the JVC Jazz Festival, Pearl's in San Francisco,
and Yoshi's in Oakland.
Born in Los Angeles, Bryan Bowman was surrounded by music from an
early age. His Father Robert is a classical pianist and music
professor at Chico State University and his mother plays the cello and
is an international folk dancer. These influences guided his musical
journey toward the study of classical, jazz, rock, Balkan and North
Indian classical music.
He has performed and recorded with numerous jazz and rock artists including:
Deron Johnson (Miles Davis, David Sandborn, Marcus Miller, Stanley
Clark), Mike Zilber, Dayna Stevens, Thomas Morgan, Sam Bevan, Bob
Kenmotsu, Mike Abraham, Jeff Massanari, Randy Vincent, John Stowell,
John Wiitala, Ben Stolorow, Mark Levine, John Shifflet, Andre Bush,
Ken French, Clairdee, Harvey Winapel, Dahveed Behroozi, Betty Fu,
Sarah Manning, Mario Guaneri, Jessica Neighbor, Loose Wig, Anton
Schwartz, and Brian Kane.
Bryan recorded and toured the United States with RCA recording artists
Behan/Johnson. He has also recorded and performed in the international
music arena which such groups as Ivan Milev and Bulgarika, Edessa,
Trio Mopmu with Lily Storm, Late Cift, Members of Kitka and Aleph
Null.
Bryan studied music formally at The Berklee College of Music in
Boston, CSU Long Beach and CSU Chico. He is currently a free lance
performer and composer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Antonio Jorge Gonçalves and Gino Robair:
Improvised Light Painting with Skronky Music
Tuesday October 2 at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is enraptured to present
Antonio Jorge Gonçalves and Gino Robair
performing a piece entitled"Improvised Light Painting with
Skronky Music". This promises to be be a one-of-a-kind
event; don't miss it!
The Performance:
Portuguese multimedia artist Antonio Jorge Gonçalves
will improvise with light and drawings throughout the Hillside
Club, accompanied by two local musical groups-the Acme House
Band and the Jon Raskin Ensemble. Gonçalves creates his visuals
using a laptop, a Wacom tablet, and a portable projector, which
he pushes around in a cart in order to use the entire performance
space as a canvas. He calls his real-time digital drawing "live
comics and projection."
The music and visuals will take advantage of the entire
performance space, with sound bathing the room from all directions
and nearly every surface becoming a canvas. As a special addition
acclaimed Butoh dancer, Monique Goldwater, will be a "living
screen" for a section of the performance.
The Performers:
Through the '80s and the '90s, Lisbon-based Antonio Jorge
Gonçalves published his graphic novels in books, newspapers,
and magazines in Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. He has also
designed sets and costumes for several theater productions, and he
recently created the Subway Life Project.
Jon Raskin is a founding member of the ROVA Saxophone
Quartet (he's the R in the acronym) and an active member of the
San Francisco Bay Area music scene. Raskin has collaborated with
a Who's Who of contemporary artists, including Anthony Braxton,
Terry Riley, Fred Frith, Alvin Curran, Tim Berne, Henry Kaiser,
and Nels Cline. He has composed for dance, theater, and the
score for the film Just Another Weekend. Jon's ensemble includes
Liz Allbee (trumpet), Matthew Goodheart (piano),
Kjell Nordesen (drums), and Jon Raskin (saxophones).
The Acme House Band is a group of electro-acoustic
improvisers including Tom Djll (trumpet), Matt
Ingalls (clarinet), John Shiurba (guitar), Tim
Perkis (electronics), and Gino Robair (synth). The
musicians are an integral part of the Bay Area scene and have
performed and recorded with artists as varied as Tom Waits,
Anthony Braxton, Merce Cunningham, and John Zorn.

Rova Saxophone Quartet
In Concert
Friday September 28th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is ecstatic at the thought of presenting
the Rova Saxophone Quartet in concert.
Don't miss this wonderful, world-famous ensemble performing in our
acoustically-excellent hall.
The Group:
Rova Saxophone Quartet, the acclaimed all-saxophone
ensemble, has fundamentally extended the horizons of music
since forming in 1977. Positioning themselves at music's most
dynamic nexus, Rova has become an important leader in the
movement of genre-bending music that has its roots in post-bop
free jazz, avant-rock, and 20th century new music as well as
traditional and popular styles of Africa, Asia, Europe and the
United States. With its potent mix of stellar musicianship and
compositional creativity, Rova explores the synthesis
of composition and collective improvisation. The result is
adventurous works that are ardent and riveting, exhilarating and
free-spirited. While much of Rova's music is composed by
its members, the group has also collaborated with and commissioned
new works by a wide range of creative artists. Since its founding,
Rova has released nearly 3 dozen recordings of original
music.
Rova is currently performing pieces using scores which
are graphically notated. Non-traditional symbols and graphic
images are used along with traditional musical notation to create
highly original works which are vehicles for interpretation and
improvisation. Additionally, the Quartet continues to explore its
unique blend of improvisation and composition. 30 years later
the players are still fascinated by the myriad ways that sound
can be put together to present exciting performances with this
unique instrument - the improvising saxophone quartet.
Headed for Poland, Austria and Lithuania in October,
Rova is gearing up for tour mode and a very busy 30th
anniversary season.
The Artists:
A student of Architecture and Fine Arts (1966-69), Rova
founding member Bruce Ackley formed Sound Clinic, an improvising
wind trio (with trumpeter George Sams and saxophonist Lewis
Jordan) and a 1970's precursor to the all-winds Rova. Ackley has
contributed to several recording sessions with such musicians
as John Zorn, Henry Kaiser and Eugene Chadbourne. He also
organized the quartet Unchambered with cellist Rohan de Saran,
koto player Miya Masaoka and bassist Stefano Scodanibbio (1996)
and leads the ongoing jazz trio Actual Size. He recorded a 1997
CD of his trio compositions with drummer Joey Baron and bassist
Greg Cohen for Avant.
Since 1978, Larry Ochs's professional activities have
been primarily centered around the Rova Saxophone Quartet,
which has made over thirty European tours and numerous concerts
throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as recording over 30
CDs as a quartet and/or in collaboration with other artists.
Ochs has composed some 2 dozen compositions for saxophone
quartet as well as many other pieces for mixed ensembles. His
most recent composition for saxophone quartet, a thirty-minute
piece entitled Certain Space, was commissioned by Chamber Music
America / Doris Duke Foundation, and he has twice previously
been commissioned by Commissioning Music USA / Meet the Composer
Fund. He composed the music for the film Letters Not About
Love which won best documentary film award at the 1998 South
by Southwest Film Festival. His monograph on "Strategies for
Structured Improvisation" was published in 1999 as part of the
book Arcana, a collection of composers' writings edited by John
Zorn (Granary Press, New York). He has also composed for theater
and one video play.
Highlights of Rova founding member Jon Raskin's early
career include his '70s participation in new music ensembles
directed by John Adams (San Francisco Conservatory of Music)
and Dr. Barney Childs (University of Redlands). Before Rova,
Raskin served as music director of the Tumbleweed Dance Company
(1974-77), was a founding member of the Blue Dolphin Alternative
Music Space and participated in the creation of the Farm-
an art project that included a city farm, a community garden,
Ecology Center, Dance and Theater companies and organized the
creation of a city park. Highlights as a member of Rova include
composing a collaborative work for SF Taiko Dojo/Rova, working
with Howard Martin on the installation work Occupancy, composing
music for Mr. Bungle/ Rova, organizing the 30 year Anniversary
Concert of John Coltrane's Ascension, performing the music of
Miles Davis at the Fillmore with Yo Miles!
Raskin has received numerous grants and commissions to work on a
variety of creative projects: NEA composer grant for Poison Hotel,
a theater production by Soon 3 (1988); Reader's Digest/Meet the
Composer (1992 & 2000); Berkeley Symphony commission (1995).
Raskin's recording experience include Anthony Braxton, Eight
(+3) Tristano Compositions 1989 For Warne Marsh (1989) and The
Bass & the Bird Pond with Tim Berne (1996), Wavelength Infinity-
A Sun Ra Tribute, Between Spaces with Phillip Gelb, Dana Reason &
Pauline Oliveras, Terry Riley'sIn C 25th Anniversary, and solo
work on the Artship series.
A graduate of the School of Contemporary Music in Boston, Steve Adams
has appeared on over 40 recordings, including four with Boston's
Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet and three as a leader for the
Nine Winds label. Adams joined Rova in 1988. He has written the
music for seven productions of the annual California Shakespeare
Festival, contributed compositions to the repertoires of the
Empire Brass Quintet and the violin/marimba duo Marimolin and
performed as a sideman with such artists as Anthony Braxton, Sam
Rivers, Dave Holland, Donald Byrd, Jaki Byard, Vinny Golia and
Ted Nugent. Adams received a Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer
commissioning grant in 1993.

Adam Shulman Quartet
In Concert
Friday September 7th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present
The Adam Shulman Quartet in concert.
Don't miss this talented ensemble performing in our
acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Group:
The Adam Shulman Quartet was formed in January of 2007 to make
Adam's debut record as a leader, "On Second Thought." The album
features all original material from Shulman. The compositional
style borrows from many different influences including traditional
and modern jazz, classical and pop. The overall goal of the
music is to be highly interactive and intimate but intense and
driving at the same time. The band features some of the most
talented jazz musicians in the bay area: Dayna Stephens on
tenor saxophone, John Wiitala on bass and Jon Arkin on drums.
The Artists:
Since Graduating from the Monk Institute in 2003, Dayna
Stephens has been performing and teaching actively. He plays
regularly in San Francisco & New York City and has performed in
recent times with Salvador & Carlos Santana, Kenny Barron, Roy
Hargrove, OZOmatli, Patrice Rushen,Tom Harrell, Quincy Jones,
Stevie Wonder, Jeff Parker, Freddie Hubbard, Steve Coleman,
Oliver Lake, Eric Gravatt, Ndugu Chancler, Idris Muhammad, Bobby
Short, and Josh Roseman. Dayna also plays upright bass and has
performed with Stefon Harris, Marcus Belgrave, Sonny Fortune,
Roy Hargrove and Natalie Douglas.
Adam Shulman has been a staple of the San Francisco Jazz
scene since he moved to the city in 2002. Before the move, Adam
was a student at UC Santa Cruz where he studied with the great
Smith Dobson and the trumpeter/arranger Ray Brown. He received
his degree in classical performance under the tutelage of the
Russian pianist Maria Ezerova. Currently, Adam plays regularly
with Marcus Shelby in large and small group contexts and with
Anton Schwartz mostly in a trio setting. He can also be seen as
a sideman with countless bay area musicians and vocalists such
as John Wittala, Vince Lateano, Kitty Margolis, Andrew Speight,
Dayna Stephens, Ian Cary, and Mike Zilber. Adam has played as
a sideman with internationally renowned artists Stefon Harris,
Willie Jones III, Paula West and Bobby Hutcherson and with the
Glen Miller Orchestra.
John Wiitala has performed with, among others, Buddy Tate,
Hal Stein, Shorty Rogers, Charlie Rouse, Joe Henderson, James
Moody, Charles McPherson, Rob Schneiderman, Pete Malinverni
and Richie Vitale. He has performed and recorded with Mark
Levine, Scott Hamilton, Jessica Williams, Bruce Forman, and Wesla
Whitfield. John currently teaches at the Stanford Jazz workshop,
and is a member of Mark Levine's trio.
Originally from the Boston area, Jon Arkin grew up in a diverse
musical setting. His family's musical influence inspired him
to learn how to play piano, orchestral percussion, and finally
drumset, which led to his attending the University of Miami School
of Music in Coral Gables, Florida. During his years there,
his studies included many styles of music and composition, and
he became active in the Miami local music scene. He received
several Downbeat awards for his participation in the School's
top jazz combo, and he performed with many of the local legends,
including Ira Sullivan, Barry Ries, Grady Tate and others.
After earning his degree in 1998, he relocated to the Bay Area,
where he continues to perform and compose in a wide variety of
musical styles. In addition to leading his own groups, he has
been busy as a freelance musician with many notable Bay Area/West
coast/NY-based artists.

VidyA
In Concert
Friday August 31st at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present
VidyA in concert.
Don't miss this unique and remarkable ensemble performing in our
acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Group:
VidyA is an adventurous new group that merges the virtuosity
of Jazz with the melodic and rhythmic nuance of South Indian
classical (Carnatic) music. Led by critically-acclaimed
saxophonist, Prasant Radhakrishnan along with David Ewell (bass)
and Sameer Gupta (Drums), VidyA
has emerged with a soulful, penetrating sound that stretches the
envelope of labels like "fusion" and "world music."
The drums and bass lock into one another, driving the music
forward like a Jazz rhythm section, while the tenor saxophone
elaborates and improvises on Carnatic ragas. The group weaves
in and out of the two genres while all the time merging them
into one. VidyA translates the language of Carnatic music into
the idiom of Jazz.
The Artists:
Prasant Radhakrishnan is VidyA's saxophonist, founder, composer
and leader. A senior student of Carnatic saxophone pioneer,
Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant has performed solo internationally
in both the Carnatic and Jazz traditions and released three
critically acclaimed Carnatic saxophone albums.
David Ewell is one of the most sought after bass players in
the Jazz and contemporary music scene. His innate sense for
improvised music has made him a inseparable part of VidyA's
intense sound. David has travelled the world playing with jazz
greats while performing regularly with Marc Cary, Howard Wiley,
Lavay Smith and many others.
Sameer Gupta has established himself as a powerful voice in
percussion and improvised music. His background in Indian
classical percussion combines with his powerful drumming
to create a dynamic soundscape for VidyA. Also a composer,
Sameer has worked in several succesful ensembles, including the
Supplicants, which he founded. David and Sameer have performed
together in various ensembles for several years.
The Reviews:
"VidyA's music breathes at the very center of a cultural
crossroads between the North American jazz idiom and the
Carnatic music of South India. VidyA's music is a new vein of
North American music... present tense, present location, new
culture in the making." -Todd Brown, Red Poppy Art House
"When these patterns are played on saxophone, violin, string
bass, and jazz drums, there is a build-up of emotional energy
and intellectual complexity which seems to recreate the energy
that was present at the birth of bebop in 1940's New York. In
fact, if Charlie Parker or Dizzie Gillespie had heard VidyA at
that time, I think it would have never have occurred to them
that VidyA's music was Indian. They would simply have wondered
where these cats had found a sound that was so mercilessly free
of the standard melodic and rhythmic clich's." -Teed Rockwell,
India Currents (March 2007)
"A style that's madly percussive and sparkling -combines jazz's
sweet dreaminess with the Indian form's insistent rhythmic and
tonal changes." - SF Weekly (Feburary 2007)
"Imagine ragas and American blues folded into a single
moment. It's a fusion of Indian classical and jazz, and the
leader, Prasant Radhakrishnan, 24, points the way for a number
of Bay Area improvisers." - SF Chronicle, "Year in Jazz" (January
2007).

New West Guitar Quartet
In Concert
Friday August 24th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is excited to present
The New West Guitar Quartet in concert.
Don't miss this talented ensemble performing in our
acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Group:
What started as a class for individual guitarists became an
opportunity for Perry Smith, John Storie, Brady Cohan, and Matt
Roberts to create a group like none other. In reference to their
west coast roots and passion for new music, the group dubbed
themselves the New West Guitar Quartet.
By arranging classic jazz standards and exploring original
compositions, NWGQ established themselves as a notable jazz
group when they were all students at the University of Southern
California. As music majors, NWGQ collaborated with USC to
become the first group to receive the coveted Thornton Protégé
Grant. Since the group started in 2003 they have performed in
major venues throughout Canada, Japan, Europe and all over the
Western United States.
With the release of their second album "Wide Awake" on Art
Song Music, NWGQ focuses to combine the improvisational
elements of jazz with the performance standards of a chamber
group. By utilizing all the colors of the guitar, New West
Guitar Quartet creates a new medium of chamber music.
The Artists:
Perry Smith:
Born in San Francisco, CA has been playing guitar since age
eleven. Guitarist for the California-All-State High School Jazz
Band and SF All-Star High School Jazz Band. Recipient of the
USC Undergraduate Outstanding Leader Award, 2006 ASCAP Young
Composers Award, and a finalist for the 2007 International
Songwriting Competition.
John Storie:
Born in Walla Walla, WA has been playing guitar since age
five. A three-time Down Beat Student Music Award Winner and
four-time Oregon High School State Champion of Classical Guitar,
John was selected as a semi-finalist for the 2005 Thelonious
Monk International Guitar Competition.
Brady Cohan:
Born in Los Altos, CA has been playing guitar since age
12. Guitarist for the Grammy High School Jazz Band and the SF
All-Star High School Jazz Band, and Monterey All-Star Jazz Band.
Matt Roberts:
Born in Bellflower and raised in N. Hollywood, Ca., Matt has
been playing guitar since 12. Winner of the 2003 ASCAP Young Jazz
Composers Award and LA Music Awards Independent Jazz Ensemble
of the Year 2004 (Matt Roberts Group).

Happy Hour
In Concert
Friday August 17th at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present
Happy Hour in concert.
Don't miss this talented ensemble performing in our
acoustically-wonderful hall.
Happy Hour is an all-star quintet made up of some of the Bay Area's
best and best-known musicians. Trumpet, sax, trombone, bass and drums
make up this high energy and highly original collective, whose
individual credits number Dizzy Gillepsie, Dave Liebman, Joe
Henderson, Bobby McFerrin, Steve Smith, Stefan Harris, Art Lande and
numerous others as well as more than 20 CDs as leaders.
Happy Hour is:
Erik Jekabson - trumpet
Michael Zilber - saxophones
John Gove - trombone
Peter Barshay - bass
Jeff Marrs - drums

The Art Lande / Bruce Williamson Quartet
In Concert
Sunday 1 July at 7:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present
The Art Lande / Bruce Williamson Quartet in concert.
Don't miss these jazz legends in a stellar ensemble performing in our
acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Group:
Art Lande - piano
Bruce Williamson - sax & woodwinds
Alan Hall - drums
Peter Barshay - bass
Art Lande (Boulder, CO) and Bruce Williamson (New York)
have been making music together since the 1970s, when Lande's
band Rubisa Patrol was performing regularly in the Bay Area
with trumpeter Mark Isham. This quartet includes two of the Bay
Area's finest musicians; bassist Peter Barshay and drummer Alan
Hall. The music is a unique blend of intriguing compositions and
flexible interplay, creating music of lyrical beauty yet also
seeking the mystery of uncharted sonorities and rhythms that wake
up the ears. The realms of jazz, classical, world music and pure
improvisation blend together seamlessly to create concerts that
are unique and inspiring.
The Artists:
As a pianist, Art Lande has recorded some 40+ albums for
ECM, Arch, Elektra and Windham Hill Records, appearing with Gary
Peacock, Eliot Zigmund, Jan Garbarek, Steve Swallow, Mark Isham,
Paul McCandless, Ron Miles, Mark Johnson and Peter Erskine. He
has also performed with such musical greats as Chet Baker,
Charlie Haden, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Ernie Watts,
Jon Hendricks and Sheila Jordan. As a teacher he has influenced
countless musicians, including pianists such as Fred Hersch, Kenny
Werner and Myra Melford. He has composed over 250 songs and has
collaborated with dancers, visual artists and poets, including
Allen Ginsberg. Art brings a vast vocabulary of musicianship
and composition to a performance ensemble which strives for
creativity, interaction and improvisational flexibility.
Bruce Williamson, from Oakland California, has lived in
New York since 1983 and has performed over the years with jazz
artists such as Toshiko Akiyoshi , Dave Douglas, Benny Green,
Tom Harell, Fred Hersch, Mark Isham, Art Lande, Mark Levine,
Jack McDuff, Gary Peacock, Jim Pepper and Jack Walrath. He
performs regularly in the NYC area and can be heard on dozens
of recordings. Over the last decade Bruce has also worked with
composer Elliot Goldenthal and director Julie Taymor on many of
their theatre and film projects (including "Across the Universe"
and the Academy award-winning "Frida"). As a jazz composer he
has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts for
his jazz septet (Timeless CD "Big City Magic" featuring trumpeter
Randy Brecker) and an extended piece for string quartet, sax
quartet plus percussion (featuring soprano saxist Tim Ries and
percussionist Satoshi Takeishi). Bruce is on the music faculty
at Bennington College, Vermont.
Alan Hall has played and/or recorded with bassists
Stuart Hamm, Brian Torff and Kai Eckhardt; guitarists Larry
Coryell, Mick Goodrick and Joyce Cooling; saxophonists Ernie
Watts, Paul McCandless, Bobby Mintzer, John Handy, Jerry Bergonzi
and Eddie Harris; trumpeter Bobby Shew; and pianists Billy
Childs, Tom Coster, Kit Walker and Smith Dobson and vocalists
Mark Murphy and Rebecca Parris. Alan's work has been heard on
jazz radio stations nationally and his original compositions have
been recorded and released on the "Blue Crescent" and "Polymorph"
record labels. His performances have been aired on B.E.T.' s
Jazz Discovery Series and KRON TV's Daybreak. He is
currently a member of several groups including Ray Brown's:
Great Big Band, Dave Eshelman's: Jazz Garden Big Band, Michael
Smolens' quintet: Kriya. He is currently a faculty member of The
Jazzschool in Berkeley, CA. and a participating faculty member of
The Brubeck Institute, University of the Pacific, Stockton. CA.
A veteran bassist who has established a strong reputation
over the years from his sideman work on both the New York City
and Bay Area jazz scenes, Peter Barshay has performed with
such jazz luminaries as Milt Jackson, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny
Stitt, Eddie Henderson, John Handy, Woody Shaw, Pharoah Sanders,
Blue Mitchell, Tony Williams, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, Johnny
Griffin and Bobby McFerrin. On his debut recording as a leader,
Pit Of Fashioni , the bassist-composer steps out as a leader in
his own right. Barshay's numerous appearances at clubs and jazz
festivals have taken him around the world, helping to establish
his reputation as a solid, reliable bassist. Having soaked up a
lifetime of sounds on both coasts -- everything from salsa and
straight ahead to funk-fusion, avant garde and music derived
from the Afro-Cuban and Brazilian traditions -- he brings a
wealth of experiences to the table on Pit Of Fashion with the
common thread being the deeply rooted sound of his upright bass.

Edmund Welles: the bass clarinet quartet
In Concert
Friday 22 June at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased (and slightly frightened)
to present Edmund Welles: the bass clarinet quartet
in concert. Don't miss this unique and amazing ensemble
performing in our acoustically-wonderful hall.
The Group:
Edmund Welles: the bass clarinet quartet has the
distinction of being the world's only original, composing band
of four bass clarinetists, they invent and perform heavy chamber
music. The bass clarinet has a 5 octave range and a huge span of
tonal, melodic, and rhythmic capabilities. Since 1996, Cornelius
Boots has led and composed for Edmund Welles, which received a
Chamber Music America Grant in 2004 for the creation of Agrippa's
3 Books, a multi-movement work inspired by occult philosophy and
heavy metal music. This piece is featured on their debut album
of the same title [mixed and mastered by Grammy-award winning
sound alchemist Oz Fritz]. The album made the Top Ten Albums
of 2005, and the New York premiere of the piece made the Top
Ten Performances of 2005 in All About Jazz NYC.
Drawing virtuosic precision from the classical realm;
innovation and texture from jazz; and power, rhythm and
overall perspective from rock and metal, the quartet's sound is
characterized by a thickness of tone, a density of texture,
absolute rhythmic precision, and the extreme use of dynamic
contrasts: a dense, pulsing sound capable of expressing and
reflecting the full range of human emotions.
This past year, The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San
Francisco commissioned the group to compose and perform 2012:
A Requiem for Baktun 12, the 13th and Final Cycle; and another
Boots composition for the quartet, Tooth & Claw, placed 2nd out
of thousands of entries in the "Instrumental" category of the
2006 International Songwriting Competition.
The Program:
The evening's program will feature primarily original heavy
chamber music, which takes the form of short barn-burners,
expanded epics, sonorous ballads, and multi-movement mystical,
occult, or esoteric explorations. The writing style is as
inspired by boogie woogie and heavy metal as it is Rossini or
Pink Floyd, and the arrangements likely to be addied to the
set may be from Josquin de Prez, the Residents, Black Sabbath,
or the Swan Silvertones.
The Artists:
Cornelius Boots performs, records, composes and
instructs classical, rock, jazz, and blues styles of music on
clarinets, saxophones and flutes. In spite of these primary
focal points, Cornelius continues to strive for authentic
self-expression, discovery and expansion with reverence towards
but not allegiance to any particular style. Some specialties
include hard rock bass playing on both acoustic and robot bass
clarinets; composing and arranging virtuosic heavy chamber
music for Edmund Welles: the bass clarinet quartet; and rock,
funk and blues baritone saxophone performance. Other interests,
which constantly inspire and inform Boots' approach to music and
sound, include kung fu, tree cosmography, theological metaphysics,
breath awareness, sensory deprivation floatation, throat singing,
flutes and beekeeping.
The conservatory style training received at the Indiana
University School of Music (BM Clarinet '97, BS Audio Recording
'97, MM Jazz Studies '99) was an essential developmental aspect
of the core of his woodwind abilities and provided the groundwork
for his continuing education which takes many forms including
intensive study of Japanese Buddhist honkyoku music on the
shakuhachi flute; methodical transcription and analysis of the
bass lines, song forms and lyrics of Geezer Butler as written and
performed with Black Sabbath from 1970-1978; and the synthesis
and application of Zen, Taoist, Mayan, occult, Jedi and Shaolin
philosophies towards personal expansion and woodwind performance.
This last element has led to the evolving Wu Wei Woodwind
Method, which Boots utilizes in private woodwind instruction
on all levels for all ages. The realizing and remembering of
the true self and the power of breath and sound is at the core
of each of Cornelius' projects including the multi-movement CMA
commissioned work Agrippa's 3 Books, the YBCA commissioned 2012:
A Requiem for Baktun 12, the in-progress opera-esoterica Books
of the Dead featuring the wind, gong and throat-singing ensemble
Sabbaticus Rex, and two unpublished books, The Black Sabbath
Sutras, and A Method for Life and the Bass Clarinet.
Aaron Novik has been living and performing in the
Bay Area for a decade now, in too many ensembles, and with too
many great musicians to mention here. He now is focusing his
energies on his groups Floating World and Simulacra, as well
as performing with the bass clarinet quartet Edmund Welles,
and the singer Andre Karpov.
As with most musicians, Aaron has a lot of opinions about
how music should sound. Music should draw attention to itself,
without being grating or experimental per se. Music should sound
good (it sounds too simple, but believe me...) and all other
goals are secondary really. After that the main focus is melody,
harmony, rhythm and order. Music can be unique and beautiful
and interesting all at the same time!
Jonathan Russell is active in the Bay Area as a
composer, performer, and conductor. His compositions have been
performed by numerous ensembles and performers, including the San
Francisco Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, San Francisco Conservatory
of Music (SFCM) Orchestra, Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Woodstock
(NY) Chamber Orchestra, the new music group FIREWORKS, and the
pianist Sarah Cahill.
Jonathan is a versatile and creative performer on
clarinet, bass clarinet, and alto saxophone. A member of
the genre-defying Edmund Welles bass clarinet quartet and
the Balkan/Klezmer/Experimental band Zoyres, he also plays
in, composes for, and is a founding member of the Sqwonk bass
clarinet duo and the rock chamber music band Oogog, both frequent
performers at clubs, galleries, and churches throughout the Bay
Area. He has also performed locally with the Marin Symphony,
Ensemble Parallele, and the Thick Description Theater Company,
and has appeared as soloist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic,
Harvard Univeristy's Bach Society Orchestra, and the Woodstock
Chamber Orchestra.
Jonathan has conducted over thirty premieres of works by
students and other young composers in the past four years, and
regularly conducts the SFCM Orchestra student composer reading
sessions. Jonathan received his Bachelors degree in music from
Harvard University and his Masters degree in Composition from
SFCM. He has studied clarinet with Janet Greene and Alan Kay
and composition with Dan Becker, Elinor Armer, Eric Sawyer,
John Stewart, Bernard Rands, and Eric Ewazen. He is currently
a Professor of Musicianship at SFCM, Music Director at First
Congregational Church, San Francisco, and a Concert Reviewer
for the San Francisco Classical Voice. For more information,
visit him online at http://www.jonrussellmusic.com.
Jeffrey Anderle, clarinet, is a recent graduate of
the San Francisco Conservatory, where he received his Master of
Music degree. He studied clarinet with Luis Baez and bass clarinet
with Ben Freimuth. Equally active with both instruments, he has
presented numerous solo and chamber music recitals on each.
He also performs regularly around the San Francisco Bay Area
with Edmund Welles: the bass clarinet quartet and with his
bass clarinet duo, Sqwonk, which will be releasing a CD in the
spring of 2007. Mr. Anderle received his bachelor's degree from
the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was a Gluck
Fellow studying the clarinet with Gary Gray. Also in Los Angeles,
Jeff was a member of the Definiens Project, a chamber music group
dedicated to redefining chamber music in a contemporary context.
Jeff has spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival, the
most recent one as a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble.
He has also studied the clarinet in Budapest with József Balogh.
The Reviews:
"The music is simply remarkable...Never before has the instrument been written for so well..."
---Andrey Henkin, All About Jazz NYC
"You might call it 'clarinet rock.' Never have you heard the clarinet take on so much attitude,
so much angst, so much personality. Mixing in styles and approaches from contemporary classical
writing to jazz to just good old rock 'n roll licks..."
---CD Baby Staff Review

John Stowell and Michael Zilber
In Concert
Friday 15 June at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present
guitarist John Stowell and saxophonist Michael Zilber
in concert. Don't miss these two talented jazz artists performing
in our acoustically-wonderful hall.
John Stowell is a unique jazz guitarist influenced as
much by pianists and horn players as he is by guitarists. His
original take on harmony, chords and improvisation sets him
apart. Of John's music, jazz legend Paul Horn says, "In the
age of mediocrity and clones, John Stowell's uniqueness and
originality is a breath of fresh air. I love playing with him."
"John can make the electric guitar sound like a singing voice"
- Nat Hentof
Michael Zilber is one of the top saxophone artists
on the scene today. His playing is charged with an energetic,
yet lyrical originality. Saxophone great Dave Liebman says,
"Mike is one of the best composers and players around, anywhere,
period!"
"Vibrant and sure-toned saxophonist Mike Zilber plays jazz like
it should be played, with emotion, virtuosity and a lightning
agility. His style is fluid and always full of rewards, as if
he had an entire orchestra tucked away in his horn." - Jerry Karp

The Presidio Ensemble
In Concert
Friday 1 June at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present The Presidio
Ensemble in concert. They will be performing a collection
of pieces that explore nature through sound (animal sounds,
sound as describing nature etc).
The Program:
"Music For..." John Cage
"A Night Piece" Arthur Foote
"Pan" Mauricio Kagel
"Moments in Time, Mvt. II" Brett Eastman
"The Children's Eternal Rain Forest" David Ryther
"Study no. 5 for String Quartet" Matthew Goodheart
"Impressiones de la Puna" Alberto Ginastera
The Presidio Ensemble is a musical collaborative comprised of five
outstanding young musicians with a wide range of international
performance experience. The group performs to critical acclaim
throughout the bay area and offers programs of complex yet accessible
repertoire, with a focus on new music.
The Presidio Ensemble are:
Amelia Lukas - flute
Kathryn Thompson - cello
Deborah Katz - violin
David Ryther - violin
Victor Lowrie - viola
For more information, please visit their website:
www.presidioensemble.com

martha and monica is...
Monica Scott, cello and Hadley McCarroll, piano
martha and monica
In Concert
Friday, 18 May at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the cello and
piano duo martha and monica. Performing music from eras,
styles, and cultures that run the gamut, martha & monica offers
its audiences a rewarding, eye-opening experience. Both pianist
Hadley McCarroll and cellist Monica Scott bring to the ensemble
an intense and passionate desire to communicate through music,
their own curiosity leading them in repertoire choices and
interpretation.
The Program:
A glimpse into the far-reaching influence of Antonin Dvorak on
twentieth century Eastern European composers' music inspired
by national pride while displaying deeply personal sentiments,
this program offers fresh, innovative works by composers Peter
Eotvos (Hungary), Vladimir Godar (Slovakia), Witold Lutoslawski
(Poland), contrasted with sonatas and solos from the Czech
Republic by Bohuslav Martinu and Leos Janacek.
Vladimír Godár - Sonata in Memory of Viktor Shklovsky (1985)
Leos Janácek - In the Mists (1912)
Peter Eötvös - Erdenklavier-Himmelklavier (2003)
Witold Lutoslawski - Sacher Variations for Violoncello Solo (1975)
Bohuslav Martinu - Sonata No. 1 for cello and piano (1939)
Artists Bios:
Cellist, Monica Scott, has performed throughout the United States, in
almost every European country, Argentina, Canada and South Korea,
engaging audiences with her energetic, eloquent playing. With a
stylistic range that includes historically informed performances
on baroque cello, all music from the classic and romantic eras,
to the less charted territories of twentieth and twenty-first
century avant-garde and improvised music, Ms. Scott has enjoyed
a varied career both abroad and in her native California.
She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the
Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam. After an artist residency at
the Banff Centre (Canada) in 1994, Ms. Scott performed for four
seasons with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa in Portugal,
a group with which she also appeared as concerto soloist. Since
her move to the Bay Area in 1998, Ms. Scott has been actively
promoting new music, performing with sfSoundGroup, Composers'
Inc, the Composers Alliance, and in numerous chamber music groups.
Most recently, Ms. Scott was the cellist with the Del Sol String
Quartet, a group with which she developed an artistic vision
that was recognized with two consecutive awards for Adventurous
Programming by Chamber Music America and ASCAP. Ms Scott is also
an enthusiastic educator; besides teaching at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music and privately, she coaches chamber music,
and leads innovative workshops in creative music-making to both
children and teachers.
Pianist Hadley McCarroll has been hailed for her "...lively and
exhilarating..." pianism (San Francisco Classical Voice). Born in
Washington D.C., she received her formative training at the Levine
School of Music and the Washington Conservatory of Music, where
she was a scholarship student in the piano and opera studios, in
addition to private study under Santiago Rodriguez. While still
in high school, Ms. McCarroll had the opportunity to accompany
famed Bolshoi Opera mezzo-soprano Renata Babak in one of her
last public appearances, at which time critic Joseph McClellan
of the Washington Post noted in his review of the concert that
her accompanying was noticeable for its high level at her age
, and that accompanying was a skill which few pianists master
even later in life. She went on to earn Bachelor's and Master's
degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, where she made her
orchestral debut under the baton of the renowned American composer
and conductor Gunther Schuller. Ms. McCarroll has worked with
many eminent artists, including Richard Goode, Vladimir Viardo,
Isaac Stern, Martin Katz, Warren Jones, and Marlena Malas.
Ms. McCarroll is a well-known performer throughout the San
Francisco Bay Area, working with many local composers and
performers, and has worked throughout the United States and
internationally as a collaborative artist and opera coach. In
the spring of 2006 Ms. McCarroll was on the music staff of
the Royal Danish Opera, where she assisted in preparation of a
new Ring cycle. She enjoys collaborations with many local opera
companies-Ms. McCarroll has worked with every local Bay Area opera
company-including San Francisco Opera, Opera San Jose, Festival
Opera, and West Bay Opera. She has accompanied such artists
as Jane Eaglen, Nucia Focile and Linda Watson. Under the baton
of Kent Nagano she has served as musical preparer for concert
performances of operas by Elliott Carter and Phillip Manoury, as
well as preparing singers for Unsuk Chin's Sopranica Cantatrix,
a chamber work for two sopranos and countertenor. Ms. McCarroll
has presented chamber music masterclasses and concerts at the
Northwestern University School of Music, and has served on the
faculty of the San Francisco Community Music Center since 1997,
in addition to directing her own private studio. An active chamber
musician, Ms. McCarroll was awarded an individual artist grant
from the City of Oakland to perform concertos for piano and
chamber wind ensemble, as well as three Shenson Faculty Grants
from the Community Music Center. Upcoming projects include Porgy &
Bess with the Oakland East Bay Symphony.

The First Annual Jazz Poetry Festival
Friday, 27 April at 7:00 pm
FESTIVAL LINEUP:
* Golda Solomon and Saco Yasuma (NYC)
* Avotcja and Modupue (Oakland)
* Adam David Miller and Gael Alcock (Berkeley)
* COPUS (SF)
* UpSurge! (Oakland)
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to host
The First Annual Bay Area JazzPoetry Festival
The First Annual Bay Area JazzPoetry Festival features
New York City alto saxophone sensation Saco Yasuma paired
with New York poet Golda Solomon. Time Out New York said
"Avant-Jazz altoist Saco Yasuma has a theatrical bent-but
she is not hiding anything. She's got a killer sound and
soulful compositions." Dubbed the Medicine Woman of Jazz,
"an insightful observer of the scene and narrator of a thousand
hipper yesterdays, Golda Solomon lays it all out with streetwise
authority on Word Riffs, the second recording to document her
compelling partnership of poetry and jazz."-Bill Milkowski,
Jazziz, Jazz Times
Avotcja, poet and host of KPFA's popular Music of the World
segment "BeBop, CuBop y Loca Saya" will perform with her band
Modupue (Mow-dew-pway) voted Jazz Group of The Year 2005 by the
West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. A gifted poet, Avotcja fluidly
goes back and forth between Spanish, English and Spanglish while
never veering from truth, justice and the blues.
Adam David Miller, Berkeley's revered, esteemed poet author whose
memoir "Ticket to Exile" is due to publish this coming fall from
Heyday Books performs with cellist Gael Alcock. The classically
trained Alcock works with composers and new music ensembles,
and accompanies singers, dancers, poets, and artists. Her solo
compositions explore jazz, middle-eastern, and free styles of
improvisation. The Bay Area JazzPoetry Festival's eclectic and
exciting line-up will include world beat band COPUS. "COPUS
produces music that is part jazz, part classical, cerebral
and sexy. Think of COPUS as the love child of Jack Kerouac
and Grace Jones."-Music Connection Magazine." Although I have
always been a jazz fan, the spoken word aspect was never one of
my favorites. COPUS has definitely changed that perspective. It
is my belief that this music could be legendary if given the
opportunity to thrive." -MusicDish.com
Oakland's own UpSurge rounds out the first year festival's
lineup with their unique fusion of eclectic jazz and courageous
poetry that reaches deep into your soul. Their conscious words,
assorted grooves and feels, dissolve boundaries that separate
genres and people. Voted "Best of the East Bay" (East Bay Express
Reader's Poll 2003), critic Lee Hildebrand describes UpSurge as a
"free-pushing jazz band with two strong poets out front...fresh
energy."

pickPocket Ensemble
in Concert
Friday 20 April at 8:00 pm
The pickPocket Ensemble makes a new music at the crossroads:
inspired by many world folk and instrumental traditions, it is
soulful and cinematic, with chamber-music grace and a street-wise
edge. The music of the pickPocket ensemble has been called
"soul-wrenching" for its evocative and passionate expressiveness.
For its ability to communicate across cultures, the pickPocket
ensemble has been termed "una banda del pueblo para el pueblo."
"They play a certain style of music that can't be found anywhere
... Middle Eastern? Gipsy Music? Let's call it pickPocket
style... beautiful music with no boundaries of any kind." -
Javier Moreno, The SF Tribune
"A sublime and nuanced hip acoustic band." - West Coast Live Radio.

The Sun Quartet

Natsuki Fukasawa
Sun Quartet
In Concert
with special guest pianist
Natsuki Fukasawa
Thursday, 12 April at 8:00 pm
The Sun Quartet is:
Ian Swensen - Violin
Anna Presler - Violin
Anna Kruger - Viola
Andrew Luchansky - Cello
Program:
Haydn - Quartet in C Major, Op. 76, No. 3
Elliot Carter - Elegy for String Quartet
Brahms - F minor Piano Quintet
Artist Bios:
Pianist Natsuki Fukasawa's active career has taken
her around the world in the role of both soloist and chamber
musician. As a founding member of the award-winning Jalina Trio,
Ms. Fukasawa has won many accolades and international prizes,
including a January 2006 rave review in Fanfare magazine. The
reviewer wrote of the trio's recording of the Mendelssohn and
Brahms piano trios: "Never--and I mean never--have I heard
either of these works played with such expressive nuance and
exquisite, heartfelt sensitivity. When I am moved to tears
of joy, I know I am hearing what music can and should be."
She has released two additional compact discs with the trio of
contemporary Danish music titled Now!Denmark (Classico label) and
Kaleidescope (da capo label). She collaborates regularly with
many fine chamber musicians in Northern California and appears
frequently in chamber music concerts. Natsuki holds degrees from
the Juilliard School, Prague Academy of Music and the University
of Maryland. She studied chamber music intensively with
Ferenc Rados (Liszt Academy in Budapest) and Tim Fredericksen
(Royal Danish Music Conservatory).
Ian Swensen is one of the very few musicians to
have been awarded top prize in both the International Violin
Competition and the International Chamber Music Competition (as
first violinist of the Meliora String Quartet) of the Walter
W. Naumburg Foundation; he received the awards consecutively
in 1984 and 1985. Since then he has performed as soloist and
chamber artist in many prestigious concert halls, including
Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Symphony Hall in Boston,
and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He has
also performed with the Spoleto, Santa Fe, Aspen, Marlboro,
and Chamber Music West festivals, among others. Swensen studied
at the Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay and at the Eastman
School with Donald Weilerstein, and has taught at the Longy
School at Cambridge, Florida State University, and Oberlin
Conservatory. His recordings can be found on the Telarc, Mercury,
and Musical Heritage labels.
Anna Presler is a member of the New Century Chamber
Orchestra, where she frequently serves as soloist and Associate
Concertmaster. She is also a member of the Left Coast Ensemble's
Onyx Quartet, and a former member of Alternate Currents. As a
member of the Sun Quartet, Ms. Presler serves on the faculty of
Sacramento State University. She has participated in programs at
the Banff Art Center, the International Music Seminar at Cornwall,
and the Tanglewood Music Center. She is a graduate of Yale
University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
As founding violist of the renowned Lark Quartet, Anna
Kruger toured extensively for 13 years throughout the United
States and Europe, to Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Mexico,
Canada, and Russia. Among many competition prizes awarded the
Lark were the Gold Medal in the 1991 Shostakovitch International
String Quartet Competition and the 1990 Naumburg Chamber Music
Award. Highlights of Ms. Kruger's seasons with the Lark
include performances at the Lockenhaus Festival in Austria at the
invitation of Gidon Kremer, the Beethoven Festival at the Pushkin
Museum in Moscow, (under the direction of Sviatoslav Richter),
Lyon's Musicades Festival in France, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik
Festival in Northern Germany, and Mexico's Festival de Musica de
Camera. Major centers where she has performed include NY's Lincoln
Center, the National Gallery and Kennedy Center in Washington,
DC, St. Paul's Ordway Theater, San Francisco's Herbst Theater,
and in the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston,
Honolulu, Chicago, Atlanta, and Indianapolis. She has concertized
abroad in the major cities of London, Paris, Basel, Stockholm.
Andrew Luchansky earned a Bachelor of Music in cello
performance from the New England Conservatory of Music,
and a Master of Music from State University of New York
at Stony Brook. In addition, he studied chamber music with
members of the Juilliard and Guarneri Quartets, as well as the
Beaux Arts Trio. Prior to joining the CSUS faculty in 1993,
Mr. Luchansky served as Professor of Cello at the Florida
State University School of Music, and also as Principal Cellist
with the Tallahassee Symphony. Before joining the FSU faculty,
Mr. Luchansky spent ten years in New York City, where he was a
frequent performer on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln
Center's Avery Fischer Hall. He has performed in nearly every
other major U.S. city, as well as in Europe. In addition to
teaching at CSUS, Mr. Luchansky also coaches chamber music at
the San Francisco Conservatory and has recorded for the Sony
Classical label. Mr. Luchansky has presented Master Classes at
The University Of Florida,

The Fred Randolph Quintet
In Concert
Friday, 23 March at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present The
Fred Randolph Quintet in concert, celebrating the release
of their new CD, "New Day." This ensemble features
talented local artists including Tim Bulkley on drums,
Erik Jekabson on trumpet and flugelhorn, Rob Roth
on tenor and soprano saxophone, Dan Zemelman on piano,
and band leader Fred Randolph on basses.
The ensemble will be performing all original music from their new
CD as well as some new compositions. Don't miss this opportunity
to see this excellent group in our acoustically-outstanding hall.

Brazilian Origins
In Concert
Friday, 16 February at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present Brazilian
Origins, featuring four of the best Brazilian Jazz
musicians in the Bay Area: Carlos Oliveira - 7-string
guitar, Mauro Correa - 7-string guitar, Harvey
Wainapel - clarinet & saxophone, and Claudio Bebianno
- percussion. These virtuoso players will explore the classic
genres of choro, baiao, bossa, and samba, as well as original
compositions, including music by Pixinguinha, Toninho Horta,
Chico Buarque, Sivuca, Carlos Oiveira and others. Don't miss
this evening of fabulous Brazilian music.

Pianist Sontraud Speidel In Concert
Wednesday, January 31st 8 p.m.
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the
internationally acclaimed pianist, Sontraud Speidel
of Karlsruhe, Germany. Speidel will play a program from the
Schumann-Brahms circle of German Romantics. The featured works
in this concert will include Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen,
op. 15 and Kreisleriana, op. 16, Clara Schumann-Wieck's Quatre
pièces fugitives, op. 15, and Johannes Brahms' Sonata #1 in C
major, op. 1. Don't miss the opportunity to hear this superb
artist in our wonderful hall.
About the artist:
Sontraud Speidel has performed solo recitals, chamber music,
and with orchestra in concert, radio and television worldwide. She
has performed on 32 commercially sold CD's recording in most
European countries, the former Soviet Union, Canada, the United
States, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil. She regularly
serves on jury panels for International, National, and Regional
Competitions. Her students have won numerous prizes in Germany
and other countries.
She has been featured in prestigious international festivals
including the Schwetzinger Festspiele; Bayreuther Festspiele;
Kfar Blum Chamber Music Festival, Israel; Euro-Event, Korea and
numerous other cities and countries. She has conducted
master classes in Maryland, Tennessee, Alabama, Hawaii,
Washington, Minnesota and California as well as Germany, Vienna
(Austria), Israel and Greece. In 1979, she was invited by former
Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to perform at the Palais Schaumburg
in Bonn.
She was "Distinguished Visiting Professor" at California State
University, USA, and at the Université de Montréal, Canada. She
was also guest professor at Tel Aviv University; in Bologna,
Bruxelles, London, South Korea; and Tokyo. Sontraud Speidel is
currently Professor of Piano at the Music University of Karlsruhe,
Germany, where she is head of the Keyboard Department and head
of the Department for Advanced Studies.
Many composers such as the Greek master Yannis Papaioannou,
Violeta Dinescu and Kurt Hessenberg have dedicated piano works
to Sontraud Speidel. She also plays piano music which has been
neglected (Fanny Hensel, Clara Schumann, other women composers;
Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Theodor Kirchner, Carl Reinecke) and is
active in several chamber music ensembles. She has recorded 22
commercial CD's. She was the first pianist to record works for
piano solo by Fanny Hensel, the sister of Felix Mendelssohn
Bartholdy.
Her principal teachers include Irene Slavin, Yvonne
Loriod-Messiaen, and Géza Anda. After winning various awards in
Germany, she won the first prize of the Johann Sebastian Bach
International Piano Competition in Washington D.C. She is also
the recipient of the Boston Symphony's Jackson Prize for Modern
Music and Italy's Ettore Pozzoli Prize.
Her playing has gained great acclaim by critics around the
world. The comments below are typical:
"Sontraud Speidel is one of the most outstanding pianists
of our days" (Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinski)
"With an artist of this calibre every piece has
authority" (Washington Post)
"Sontraud Speidel - a Clara Schumann of our days"
(Neue Zeitschrift für Musik)

The Four Bags
In Concert
Friday, 26 January at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present The Four
Bags in concert. Combining the vibrancy of modern jazz and
popular music with the sophistication of a classical chamber
group, The Four Bags features a captivating blend of Trombone
(Brian Drye), Accordion (Jacob Garchik), Guitar
(Sean Moran) and Woodwinds (Mike McGinnis). Each
member brings a distinct compositional voice to the ensemble,
creating a body of original work that traverses jazz, classical
and pop with an astonishing array of tonal colors. In addition to
mind-bending improvisations and fresh originals, The Four Bags
draw from a diverse collection of music from Arnold Schoenberg
to Brian Wilson. These elements result in richly layered
performances led WNYC's David Garland to describe the music as
"wonderfully difficult to define, easy to enjoy."
About the artists:
Saxophone/clarinetist Michael McGinnis performs
regularly with the four bags, the Lonnie Plaxico Group, OK|OK, and
the Loser's Lounge. He has one recording with his group Between
Green on RKM Music (an independent NYC-based label started by
Ravi Coltrane). He has also recorded two CD's with the four bags
and one each with DDYGG and the MG Marching Band for NCM East.
His performances and compositions have been featured on WNYC and
WFMU. Michael is a native of Sanford, Maine and studied at the
University of Southern Maine and the Eastman School of Music. In
addition to his current musical projects Michael has performed
with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra conducted by Buddy Morrow, the
Portland Symphony Orchestra and Barry Manilow. He is a founding
member of the Creative Music Workshop and also teaches at the
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Village Community School.
Accordionist and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Garchik has
lived in New York since 1994. Since then he has played accordion
with a Balkan brass band, a "old-time" country band, and at
a concert of contemporary music organized by the composer's
collective Wet Ink. He played slide trumpet, percussion, and
conducted music in a play by Stanislaw Witkiewicz at La Mama. He
has worked as a piano accompanist for the Imani Singers of
Medgar Evers College. He also improvises on a laptop computer
with the group the Ben Gerstein Collective. His mobile bugle
calls became a staple of the monthly political and environmental
bicycle ride/protest "Critical Mass".
Guitarist and composer Sean Moran has worked with
artists such as Steve Wilson, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra,
Teo Macero, Ron McLure, and John D'earth. He currently performs
and has recorded with Bift, Twelve 20 six, vocalist Andrew
Thompson, singer/songwriter Allison Tartalia, One Ring Zero,
and Alvin Walker (of the Count Basie Orchestra). Sean is a
faculty member at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and also
has several private guitar and composition students. He recently
completed a piece for the Soundclock contemporary music ensemble
that was performed at Merkin Concert hall. Sean studied music
at Virginia Commonwealth University and New York University.
Brian Drye plays trombone and lives in Brooklyn,
NY. He has performed with many famous pop stars and big bands
including The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, The Four Tops, Dianne Schuur
and Paul Anka. He is a regular member of "Slavic Soul Party"
a Balkan Brass Band based in NYC. In addition to "The Four Bags"
he has recorded on NCMEast Records with several NYC based groups
including "SLOG", "DDYGG", and "The Morpholinos". Brian currently
teaches trombone and jazz improvisation at CPSM at Queens College
and is the director of Jazz Studies at the JCC Thurnauer School
of Music in Tenafly, NJ.

Dangerous Rhythm
In Concert
Friday, 19 January at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present DANGEROUS
RHYTHM in concert. This group of virtuoso players is a
marvelous musical experiment performed to answer an intriguing
"what if" question. Join us in the acoustically- wonderful
Hillside Club for this evening of musical mischief.
What would swing have become had it not turned into bop? This
is the musical premise behind guitarist Tim Fox's group,
DANGEROUS RHYTHM. Playing mostly original compositions
and the occasional not-so-moldy oldie, this group will get your
toes tapping, your heart pumping, and your mind racing. Veteran
bassist and vocalist Steven Strauss (Penelope Houston, the
Hot Club of San Francisco, Old Puppy), vibraphonist and aspiring
ukulelist, Gerry Grosz, accordionist extraordinary,
Dan Cantrell (The Toids, Peoples Bizarre, Tom Waits),
and percussionist Brian Rice (the Paul Winter Consort,
Mike Marshall's Chôro Famoso, Wake the Dead, the pickPocket
Ensemble) complete the group.
It's Twenty-First Century Swing, folks. Accept no substitutes.

The Dan Zemelman Quartet
In Concert
Friday, 12 January at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present The Dan
Zemelman Quartet in concert. The quartet, featuring Dan
Zemelman on piano, Erik Jekabson on trumpet, Fred
Randolph on bass, and Dave Rokeach on drums, is an
exciting new jazz ensemble consisting of talented and experienced
Bay Area artists.
With each of the players contributing original compositions
and arrangements, the ensemble's performances are diverse musical
forays exploring new and traditional forms. They set no musical
limits and no genre that is out of bounds for them. The music
that is results is a tasty blend of all the different musical
backgrounds present, including standard jazz, afro-latin, rock,
blues, and classical music.
Don't miss the opportunity to enjoy this talented group in
concert in an acoustically wonderful hall.
About the artists:
Dan Zemelman is currently working with an original jam
band project, Plum Crazy, as well as maintaining a very busy jazz
life in the bay area. He has performed numerous times with the
bay area's great bassist, Marcus Shelby, and also appeared on
the last John Lee Hooker album made, 'Face to Face'.
Erik Jekabson, a wonderful trumpet player from New
Orleans via New York; he has toured with the funky jam band,
Galactic and pop star,John Meyer. He is currently a mainstay
in the bay area jazz scene.
Fred Randolph, a busy freelance acoustic/electric
bassist, composer, and educator who works with top local and
national jazz artists. He has also turned out several great
albums of his own that feature some very talented bay area
jazz players.
Dave Rokeach, a fine jazz and rock drummer with a long
history of bands in the bay area and also stints with Aretha
Franklin and Ray Charles.

*Almost Famous*
-a Jazz Musical
Friday, 10 November at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present *ALMOST FAMOUS* -a
Jazz Musical by Cathi Walkup and Shanna Carlson_, giving you
the lowdown and the upside of life as a jazz singer. *ALMOST
FAMOUS* (formerly "Girl Talk") is about two touring singers
who also happen to be best friends; they find themselves in San
Francisco at the same time, and meet up for some cocktails and
chat - about life in general and their lives in particular.
Music by T. Monk, C. Porter, D. Frishberg, B. Dorough,
B. Timmons , S. Rollins, C. Walkup & S. Carlson.

The Snake Trio
"New Directions in Jazz and Venezuelan Music"
Friday, 3 November at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the The Snake Trio
in concert. Don't miss the opportunity to hear this fine ensemble in
a superb acoustic space.
THE SNAKE TRIO - "New Directions in Jazz and Venezuelan Music"
with special guest: Lali Mejia - percussion
Hailed for its spirited performances and its fascinating fusion
of Latin and folk rhythms with adventurous jazz explorations,
The Snake Trio gives voice to the hidden treasure of
Venezuelan music. The group is committed to raising that
voice and exploring the connection between North American
jazz, traditional Venezuelan songs and original musical
ideas. Jackeline Rago (Cuatro/Mandolin/ Bandola/Percussion),
Donna Viscuso (Flute/Alto Saxophone), and Saul Sierra (Bass)
defiantly ignore musical boundaries to create a new direction
that journeys the infectious rhythms of joropo and swing, gaita
and soul and be-bop and calypso among many others.
"Latin Jazz with a cool Venezuelan twist that will have
you savoring your Coltrane with joropo and your Ellington with
calypso" - Jesse "Chuy" Varela
For more information check out the The Snake Trio website

Tatsuya Nakatani

Shoko Hikage

Theresa Wong
"An Evening of Improvised Music"
Monday, 30 October at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present "An
Evening of Improvised Music" with Tatsuya Nakatani
(percussion), Shoko Hikage (koto) and Theresa Wong
(cello). Nakatani, originally from Japan, via Boston, New York and
now living in Easton, Pennsylvania, will be making a stop in the
Bay Area on his "Solo Percussion" cross country tour. This evening
of improvised music will reveal the acoustic meeting of Nakatani
with local players Shoko Hikage and Theresa Wong.
The trio, playing together this evening for the first time,
will perform free improvisations which juxtapose the personal
vocabularies of each player on their instruments. A universe of
unexpected sound is bound to open with the vast possibilities
of these performers, who explore both traditional and unusual
ways of playing their instruments, from Nakatani's use of bowed
metal percussion to Hikage's textural palette on the koto and
Wong's percussive and rhythmic use of cello.
For more information on these talented artists, check out these links:
Tatsuya Nakatani (PERCUSSION)
Shoko Hikage (KOTO)
Theresa Wong (CELLO)

Matt Renzi Trio - Saxophone Jazz
In Concert
Friday, 27 October at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the Matt
Renzi Trio in concert. Matt Renzi, saxophone, John
Wiitala, bass, and Tim Bulkley, drums, have been
playing together as a group for over two years. The band plays
interpreted standards mixed in with free improvisation, drawing
from contemporary classical music, indian music and traditional
jazz to form a unique sound. Don't miss this opportunity to
hear these great local players in an outstanding hall.

Roberta Piket Trio - Modern Jazz and Beyond
In Concert
Saturday, 14 October at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the Roberta
Piket Trio in concert, featuring Roberta Piket
on piano, Ratzo Harris on bass, and Billy Mintz
on drums. Don't miss this opportunity to hear the best of the
New York jazz scene in an intimate acoustic setting.
In anticipation of their brand new CD release, pianist
Roberta Piket and drummer Billy Mintz bring their
New York trio featuring virtuoso bassist Ratzo Harris to
the West coast. In addition to performing originals by all three
band members, the trio will play several underplayed standards
from the American songbook and a polymetric arrangement of The
Fifth Dimension's "Up, Up And Away" that has become a "special
request" among Roberta's listeners. Samples from their upcoming
CD can be heard at
www.myspace.com/robertapiket .
Roberta Piket has played professionally as a
sidewoman with David Liebman, Rufus Reid, Michael Formanek,
Lionel Hampton and the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra and has
twice been a featured guest on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz,
on National Public Radio. Roberta, who holds a B.S. in Computer
Science, turned away from a future as a software engineer after
a year in that field to pursue what now seems an inevitable path
in creative music. A gifted composer, Roberta placed second in
the 1993 Thelonious Monk-BMI Composers' Competition. She has
six CDs released as a leader on various independent labels.
A Thelonious Monk Competition Semi-finalist, National Endowment
for the Arts recipient, and contributing columnist for Bass Player
magazine, Ratzo Harris has worked with some of the greatest
musicians of our time. Kirk Norock, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano,
Jon Hendricks, Jane Ira Bloom, Roseanna Vitro, John Handy, Betty
Carter, Les Paul, Joanne Brackeen, Jim Pepper and Betty Buckley
are just a few of the artists who have repeatedly called on his
services for concerts, tours and collaborations. Vocalist Tom
Buckner, pianist Kenny Werner, trombonists Bob Brookmeyer and
Ed Neumeister, and guitarists Bruce Arnold and Royce Campbell
are some of the artists who have recorded his music.
In an extraordinary career spanning nearly 40 years,
Billy Mintz has played with some of the biggest names
in the jazz world including Lee Konitz, Eddie Daniels, Harold
Danko, Mose Allison, Mark Murphy, Bobby Shew, Charles Lloyd,
Vinny Golia, and the Alan Broadbent Trio. Mr. Mintz has written
two books: Different Drummers, originally published by Aamsco
Music Publishing and Advanced Sticking and Sight-Reading (BM
Publications). In recent years, Mr. Mintz has taken on new roles
as a bandleader and a composer, performing his own compositions
with various ensembles. He also frequently performs solo drumset
concerts.

Trio Falso Baiano
In Concert
Friday, 6 October at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the Trio Falso Baiano
in concert. Don't miss this opportunity to hear this talented group in
our historic hall.
Trio Falso Baiano is a choro group that offers a window
into the history and diverse culture of Brazil. Choro is one of
Brazil's earliest popular musics, dating back to the late 1800s,
and, similar to jazz, it reflects the melding of African rhythms
with a melodic and harmonic structure closely resembling Baroque
Classical music.
The Trio's exploration of choro spans nearly 100 years,
including everything from the traditional to more contemporary
versions and jazz influenced reinterpretations. In addition
to performing and touring, Trio Falso Baiano has worked in
collaboration with the Pasadena Pops and Around the World Music
Program to bring choro and Brazilian music to students throughout
the Los Angeles County Unified School District.
For more information check out the Trio Falso Baiano website

The Tilden Trio
In Concert
Sunday, 24 September at 7:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the Tilden Trio
in concert. This will be a superb evening of music performed by
three virtuoso artists; don't miss it!
The Tilden Trio was formed in 2004 by Juilliard
schoolmates, Sarn Oliver (First Violin, San Francisco
Symphony), Peter Wyrick (Associate Principal Cello,
San Francisco Symphony) and June Choi Oh (faculty, the
Dominican University and San Francisco Conservatory of Music)
after collaborating for decades in various ensembles settings.
The Trio has appeared in the Chancellor's Series at University
of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Chamber Music Sundaes in
Berkeley, the Guest Concert Series at Dominican University,
and the San Francisco Symphony Chamber Music Series at Davies
Symphony Hall, among others. This season, Tilden Trio will
be one of the featured artists for the 2007 Music Teacher's
Association of California Convention (MTAC) where the trio will
present a recital and masterclasses.
Program:
Antonio Dvorak- Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, B. 166 Op. 90, "Dumky"
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion
Astor Piazzolla - La Muerta Del Angel
INTERMISSION
Sarn Oliver - Tilden Park (2006)
Maurice Ravel- Piano Trio in A minor
Artist Bios:
Sarn Oliver, violin, has won many music competitions
resulting in soloist performances with numerous orchestras such
as the Dallas Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Richardson Symphony
and South Orange Symphony. His solo performance is featured in
the 1991 recording of the Benda and Stamitz Violin Concertos with
the Montpellier Chamber Orchestra in Sete, France on the Rarête
Classiques label. He served as the Principal Second Violin of the
Sacramento Symphony for five years where he frequently appeared
as a soloist. he has also been the Concertmaster of the Santa
Cruz Symphony and is currently a first violinist with the San
Francisco Symphony.
Sarn Oliver has performed chamber music around the country and
recent performances include appearances at the Kohl Mansion with
pianist Garrick Ohlsson. His violin playing was described by
San Francisco Classical Voice" as simply phenomenal." He has
been a member of The Archduke Trio and The Ansonia Trio and is
currently a member of Tilden Trio. He can be heard on the 2002
Fish Creek Music recording of Eric Ewazen's Quintet for English
horn and String Quartet.
Also a composer, in 2005, Sarn premiered his Trio One for
two Violins and Viola at The Chamber Music Series at Davies
Symphony Hall where he is a frequent performer. His Trio One
was enthusiastically received by the San Francisco Classical
Voice, which hailed him as: "an unusually thoughtful and
eclectically-minded composer" and "A piece I'd like to hear
again, and soon."
Sarn attended the Juilliard School receiving both Bachelor's
and Master's degrees as a student of Sally Thomas, to whom he
was a teaching assistant at Juilliard Pre-College and at the
Meadowmount School. His other teachers include Ivan Galamian
and Elmar Oliveria. He has also served as violin faculty at
the University of the Pacific, Stockton California.
An advocate of contemporary music, he performed frequently
for the New York and the New Jersey Composer Guilds, and has
premiered many new works including Concerto for Violin and
Chamber Orchestra written for him by his father, Harold Oliver.
Other accomplishments include the creation of the jazz group,
the Continuum which performed throughout Northern California.
Sarn plays on a 1701 Joseph filius Andreas Guarnari violin.
Peter Wyrick, cello, is the Associate Principal cellist of the
San Francisco Symphony. He has performed as chamber musician and
soloist with renowned chamber groups and orchestras throughout
the world. Before joining the Tilden Trio, Peter was a member of
the acclaimed Ridge String Quartet whose recording of the Dvorak
Piano Quintets with Rudolf Firkusny on the RCA label won the
French Diapason d'Or and was nominated for the 1993 Grammy Award
for best chamber music. He has participated in Finlandís Helsinki
Festival, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina,
and Spoleto, Italy, as well as the Vancouver, Bard, Chamber
Music West, La Jolla, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals.
Peter has performed as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony,
the Aspen Chamber Symphony, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the
Queens Philharmonic, the American and the Oklahoma City Chamber
Orchestras, and the Kozponti Sinfonicus in Budapest, Hungary.
He has recorded the cello sonatas of Gabriel Faure with pianist
Earl Wild for D'ell Arte records, and can also be heard in chamber
music performances on the Arabesque and Stereophile record labels.
Peter held the position of the Principal cello for the Mostly
Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center in New York City
and was also the Associate Principal cellist for the New York
City Opera Orchestra. He studied at the Juilliard School in
New York City with Leonard Rose.
June Choi Oh, piano, has performed nationally and internationally
as a recitalist and as a soloist with orchestras including the
New Haven Symphony, Aspen Concert Orchestra, Yonkers Philharmonic
of New York, Palo Alto Philharmonic and Filarmonica de Jalisco
in Mexico.
As a recitalist, her appearances include performances at the Dag
Hammarskjold Auditorium at the United Nations in New York City,
Paul Hall and Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Dame
Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, Kieller Schloss in
Germany, and Stadsgehoorzall in Holland. She has also performed
on radio with WNCN in New York City, WPKT in Connecticut, WFMT
in Chicago, as well as on American PBS television, and abroad
on National Television of Denmark.
A winner of numerous music competitions, June received first prize
in the Aspen Music Festival Piano Competition, and was a medalist
at the Maria Canals de Barcelona International Competition in
Spain. She was a prize winner in the New York Chopin Competition
and the Stravinsky Awards International Competition. She holds
Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School, where
she was a recipient of many scholarship awards, including the
prestigious Endowments for the Arts Scholarship, and the William
Petschek Scholarship.
An avid chamber musician and a member of Tilden Trio, June has
performed frequently at Dinkelspiel Auditorium at Stanford
University, in the San Francisco Symphony Chamber Series at
Davies Symphony Hall, and Chamber Music Sundaes in Berkeley.
She directed the Pacific Music Festival of California from 1996
to 1999 which was held in Stanford University and Santa Clara
University. She is a former faculty member of the Manhattan
School of Music and is currently a faculty member at the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music and Dominican University of
California where she also directs the Guest Concert Series.

Dr. Robert Bowman, Piano
In Recital
Friday, 25 August at 8:00 pm
Program:
Dr. Bowman will perform Mozart's Rondos in D major and A minor,
Bach's Partita #5, Chopin's Ballade #1 in g minor, Nocturne
in F major, and Scherzo #2 in Bb minor in the first half; and
after intermission, he will continue with 3 Sonatas by Domenico
Scarlatti, and works by Spanish Composers Turina, Albeniz and
Granados, and 4 American Preludes by Argentinean Ginestera. He
will conclude the program with his solo adaptation of Gershwin's
Rhapsody in Blue.
Artist Bio:
Dr. Robert Bowman, a keyboard artist and Professor
Emeritus of Music at California State University, has performed
extensively on the West and East Coasts of the United States
in solo and chamber ensemble recitals, and has made numerous
appearances with orchestra, and on radio-television since 1960.
He has also performed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Baja
California, Mexico, and Prague, Czech Republic including chamber
music concerts with violinists John Creighton Murray and Alfred
Csammer (Germany), the Vivace Players, and The Sun and DaVinci
Quartets.
He has performed and lectured for state conventions and local
branches of the Illinois State Music Teachers, CAPMT, MTAC, and
AGO, Nevada MTA. He is active as a judge for festivals and
competitions throughout California and Nevada including the US
Open Piano Competition in Oakland, Ca.
He received a BA in music and MA in Orchestral Conducting from
Stanford University as well as a DMA in piano and harpsichord
performance from the University of Southern California. He
has taught on the music faculties of University of Southern
California, Eastern Illinois University, and California State
University, Chico where he coordinated the keyboard program
from 1971-2003.
He currently teaches at CSU, Chico half-time, performs, and
presents workshops on a wide variety of topics.
For more information please refer to Dr. Bowman's website:
www.robertebowman.com
Paulo Sergio Santos

in concert
with special guests
Saturday, 19 August at 8:00 pm
Billboard says: "Paulo Sergio Santos is one of the
Brazil's best wind players." Blending a solid background of
training with a passion and talent for popular music, mainly
the choro, he was embraced by popular musicians, with whom he
developed important projects. He was the first clarinetist of
the Orquestra Sinfonica of Rio de Janeiro, a member of the World
Philharmonic. In 1987, in France, he won the honourable mention
in the Acanthes contest of contemporary music interpretation. In
popular music, he has worked with Turibio Santos, Sivuca,
and Joao Carlos Assis Brasil, and Mauricio Carrilho and Pedro
Amorim he formed the O Trio, which was awarded the Sharp prize
in 1994 for best instrumental group. He is also a member of the
wind ensemble Quinteto Villa-Lobos, specializing in Brazilian
advanced repertory. Since 1994 solo artist, he released his
first solo album Segura Ele in 1995. Recently he toured the
United States with guitarist/composer Guinga.

Steve Oda

Anubrata Chatterjee
Steve Oda and Anubrata Chatterjee
Friday, 21 July at 8:00 pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present these consummate artists
in a concert of North Indian classical music. This will be a very
special evening; don't miss it!
Artist Bios:
Born in Canada of Japanese ancestry, Steven Oda began his
musical education at the age of seven, learning to play
slide guitar and then jazz guitar. His love of creativity
through musical expression led him to the classical music of
North India and the sarode. His practice started earnestly
with Ustad Aashish Khan in 1971, and then in 1973, with
Aashish's father, the world-renowned maestro, Dr. Ali Akbar
Khan, a living legend and national treasure among India's
foremost musicians. Since then Steven has dedicated himself
to learning and teaching this complex art form. In 1996,
Steven received a Canada Council Artists Grant to pursue
intensive studies at an advanced level with Ali Akbar Khan
and moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1998. There he
served for two years as Executive Director of the Ali Akbar
College of Music in San Rafael, California. Among the many
performances Steven has given include special invitations
from the Ali Akbar College of Music, the Asian Art Museum,
the Ragmala Association of Canada, University of Toronto,
and the Spirit of India Festival. He has performed with such
notable artists as Pandit Sharda Sahai, Bob Becker (NEXUS),
Anubrata Chatterjee, Vineet Vyas, Ravi Naimpally (TASA), Ty
Burhoe, Stephen Bacchus and Betty Moon. Also on stage, Steven
has been honored to accompany artists including Maestro Ali
Akbar Khan, Ustad Aashish Khan and Pandit Anindo Chatterjee.
He now resides in San Rafael, California actively teaching
and performing the beautiful classical music of North India.
Anubrata Chatterjee, the gifted son of the great tabla
maestro, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, became the disciple of
the legendary guru, Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh in 1992. He
continues his tabla tutelage under the guidance of his
illustrious father in the traditional Farukhabad style. At the
age of nine he gave his first public performance with none
other than Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. In 2001 he placed
first in the All India Radio Music competition and was honored
with the President of India award. In 2002 he received the
prestigious Padmabhusan Pt. Nikhil Ghosh memorial award by
the Music Forum of India. At the young age of 21, Anubrata
(Bubui as he is known by his friends) has already performed
at all of the major music conferences in India with artists
including Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Vishwa Mohan
Bhatt and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. He has toured with his father
and alone throughout Europe, Malaysia and the United States
earning praise from India's finest musicians including Ustad
Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Pandit Shymal Bose,
Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Shivkumar
Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Swapan Chaudhury,
Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and Ustad Zakir Hussain.

pickPocket Ensemble

3 Leg Torso
pickPocket Ensemble and 3 Leg Torso
in a fabulous double bill
Sunday, 9 July at 7:00 pm
The pickPocket Ensemble makes a new music at the crossroads:
inspired by many world folk and instrumental traditions, it is
soulful and cinematic, with chamber-music grace and a street-wise
edge. The music of the pickPocket ensemble has been called
"soul-wrenching" for its evocative and passionate expressiveness.
For its ability to communicate across cultures, the pickPocket
ensemble has been termed "una banda del pueblo para el pueblo."
"They play a certain style of music that can't be found anywhere
... Middle Eastern? Gipsy Music? Let's call it pickPocket
style... beautiful music with no boundaries of any kind." -
Javier Moreno, The SF Tribune
"A sublime and nuanced hip acoustic band." - West Coast Live Radio.
3 LEG TORSO creates charming, elegant and daring modern
chamber pop music infused with equal parts tradition and
innovation. Influenced by tango, Eastern European folk and
other world music traditions, their cosmopolitan musical style
embraces wit and humor within thoughtful, uncommon and beautiful
musical arrangements.
"A success in the fluid netherworld between serious art and
popular culture." - The Oregonian
"All the beauty of Astor Piazolla's music and all the spunk
of Kronos Quartet's." - CMJ
"Wildly exciting, wildly eclectic, rather difficult to
describe." - Dirty Linen
"... both devilishly clever and damn beautiful." - Willamette
Week
For more information on on these great groups, check out:
www.pickpocketensemble.com
and
www.3legtorso.com

Vidya (Indian and Improvised Music)
Vidya is an instrumental quartet led by the disciple of Carnatic
saxophone pioneer Kadri Gopalnath. Prasant Radhakrishnan has
brought together four extremely talented world music and jazz
artists. Sameer Gupta (drumset) and David Ewell (bass) of The
Supplicants, along with Gautam Tejas (violin), join Prasant
Radhakrishnan (tenor sax) to reflect the meaning and depth of
Indian jazz.
Artist Bios:
Prasant Radhakrishnan is a saxophonist identified with both the
South Indian Classical (Carnatic) Music and Jazz disciplines. He
was born in 1982 and raised in Phoenix, AZ. He started learning
Carnatic music on saxophone under the able guidance of Padmashri
Kadri Gopalnath in 1996 after receiving initial training from
veena vidwan, Mrs. Vijaya Prabhakar. He then dedicated his high
school summer vacations to learning music, staying with and
traveling with his Guru in India, while practicing on his own
during the rest of the year in Phoenix. He began giving solo
concerts on the saxophone in 1998. Awarded an honorary Mellon
Fellowship in Ethnomusicology for his work on improvisation in
Carnatic music,
Gautam Tejas lives and performs in the bay area. His talents can
be heard on the documentary film "Infinite Vision", selected as
Best International Documentary at the 2004 New York Independent
Film Festival. He will be accompanying his father, the singer
R. Ganeshan, on a tour of South India this winter, and counts him
heavily among his influences, which also include Chris Potter,
Rashid Khan, and Yehudi Menuhin.
Sameer Gupta is becoming an original musical voice in jazz, world,
and fusion music. He has studied percussion for most of his life
beginning in Tokyo, Japan 1985, and since then has consistently
placed himself in many challenging musical environments. From
bebop to avant-garde jazz, and European classical percussion to
North Indian classical tabla playing; Sameer chooses to have
a mature relationship with music from a perspective that now
bridges several continents.
David Ewell (String Bass) hails from Berkeley, CA, and graduated
from Berkeley High's nationally renowned music program. He has
worked with Arthur Blythe, Bobby Watson, Greg Tardy, Babatunde
Lea, Mark Levine, Bishop Norman Williams, Randy Vincent and many
other greats. David often performs in a trio format with New
York-based Piano player Marc Carey as well as The Howard Wiley
Trio. He is also a founding member of the excellent Brazilian
band Vivendo de Pao and performs regularly with The Supplicants.
For more information on Vidya, check out:
www.myspace.com/vidyamusic
and
www.prasantmusic.com

In Tempore Belli
The Presidio Ensemble
This concert program, In Tempore Belli (In Time of War), features
some of the groundbreaking chamber works for flute and strings
composed during and influenced by the artistically innovative
decade of the 1960's. All of these artists were living and creating
during a time of political divide and strong anti-war sentiment,
relevant to today's political situation and social reaction. Come
hear rarely performed works by:
Aaron Copland
George Crumb
Oedoen Partos
Original arrangements of
Velvet Underground
for Flute and Strings
The Presidio Ensemble is a musical collaborative comprised of five
outstanding young musicians with a wide range of international
performance experience. The group performs to critical acclaim
throughout the bay area and offers programs of complex yet accessible
repertoire, with a focus on new music.
The Presidio Ensemble are:
Amelia Lukas - flute
Deborah Katz - violin
David Ryther - violin
Victor Lowrie - viola
Kathryn Thompson - cello
www.presidioensemble.com
Program:
Black Angels, George Crumb - electric string quartet
Serenities 1 & 2, Aaron Copeland - flute and string trio
Venus In Furs, Velvet Underground - flute and string quartet
Maqamat, Oedeon Partos - flute and string quartet

"Love and Beauty in Turbulent Times"
Karen Clark, contralto
Myron McPherson, piano
in recital
Contralto, Karen Clark, and pianist, Myron McPherson,
present a recital of lieder and chanson by Brahms, Mahler,
Fauré, Debussy, and Ravel. The range and versatility of Ms.
Clark's career is highlighted on this program which includes
Ravel's Melodies Hebraiques, Mahler's Rückert Lieder, songs of
Cole Porter, and an exciting premiere of composer Jeff Langley
and lyricist Amanda McTigue's Garden Club,
Artist Bios
Karen Clark has received international acclaim for her
performances on prestigious festivals and concert series around
the globe. Her repertoire spans the centuries to include medieval
and contemporary music. This season she is heard in recital
in Northern California singing lieder and chansons of Brahms,
Mahler, Debussy, and Fauré; a premiere of Princeton composer,
Moshe Budmor's The Song of Songs; Mozart's Vespers and Missa
Brevis in Sonoma; and music of the Beatles at the Berkeley
Jazz School. Ms. Clark has appeared as soloist with the Joshua
Rifkin Bach Ensemble, the Boston Camerata, Ensemble Sequentia,
the Newberry Consort, New York Early Music, Pomerium Musices,
and the Waverly Consort. She has recorded music of John Dowland on
the Erato label, music of Roy Whelden on New Albion and is also
heard on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Dorian, Musica Omnia, MHS,
and Focus labels. Karen holds degrees from the Indiana University
School of Music where she began her study of early music with
Thomas Binkley and opera with Virginia Zeani. She has taught in
the music departments of Princeton University and Swarthmore
College and is currently a Lecturer in Voice at Sonoma State
University. A practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method(r), Karen
presents workshops for singers and instrumentalists throughout
the U.S.
Pianist, Myron McPherson, is respected worldwide in the
roles of soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, distinguished
singing teacher, and scholar and enjoys a career spanning five
decades. Particularly well-known for his collaborations with
leading composers and conductors, including Stravinsky, Sessions,
Messiaen, Boulez, Rorem, and Maxwell-Davies, Mr. McPherson's
Aspen Festival performance of Ives' Concord Sonata was hailed
as definitive. Mr. McPherson was staff pianist at the Julliard
School for over two decades adn pianist of the Julliard Ensemble
for ten years. This season Mr. McPherson performs on concert and
recital series throughout the U.S. and Europe, including Bulgaria,
Italy, and Canada.

The Toids : CD Release Party
For the last 10 years The Toids (San Francisco) have been
working on creating a blend of the folk musics of Eastern Europe while
maintaining a sensibility with roots in new music, jazz, songwriting,
and improvisation. The result is a rich tapestry of idioms that while
at times seem familiar, the end result is both hardhitting and heart
touching. Presenting new music with a finger on the pulse of traditional
Balkan folk music, the Toids give a performance both rousing and
introspective, danceable and serene.
The evening will consist of two sets by the Toids, first a concert
set - then a dance set if there is interest in dancing! Come join us
to celebrate their latest CD release,"Unblocked Ears".
The Toids are:
Ryan Francesconi : Tambura, Bouzouki, Guitar, Kaval
Dan Cantrell : Accordion, Vocals, Musical Saw
Tobias Roberson : Darbuka, Tupan
Lila Sklar : Violin
Check out The Toids

CD Release Party for DAY IN DAY OUT:
Jenny Ferris Sings Johnny Mercer
Jenny Ferris and the band have previously performed
lyricist Johnny Mercer’s songs at the Community Music
Center in San Francisco, Cathi Walkup’s Bird’s
Nest loft jazz venue, and Anna’s Jazz Island in
Berkeley. From the first presentation of this material
it was clear that a Johnny Mercer CD was on the horizon,
and now that project has been completed.
There are fifteen songs on DAY IN DAY OUT,
beginning with “Too Marvelous for Words” and
ending with the poignant World War II ballad, “My
Shining Hour.” The songs are loosely arranged to
represent a day’s unfolding, and include “Moon
River”, “Laura”, “ Come Rain
or Come Shine”, a unique and possibly irreverent
“Satin Doll”, and a late-night bluesy rendition
of “One for My Baby”. Composers featured are
Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Henry Mancini and Marian
MacPartland among others. Most of the songs are standards
(with a few surprises), but they are presented in fresh
and engaging musical settings, thanks to the arranging
talents of guitarist Tony Corman and fine musicianship of
the dedicated players. Anyone who has heard and liked this
material in concert is guaranteed to love DAY IN DAY OUT.
This music is fun to play and, more importantly, fun to
listen to.
Artist Bios
Jenny Ferris has been a professional jazz singer in
the Bay Area for a 25 years, and released a criticially
well-received album in 1985, NOT SO LONG AGO, featuring
some of the best musiciains around at that time including
saxophonist Chuck Clark, pianist Bryce Rohde, bassist Perry
Thoorsell and drummer Dave Meade. After a period of relative
musical inactivity, she is back in musical business, thanks
to the efforts of a half dozen enthusiastic musical cohorts
and to Johnny Mercer himself, who created such a wonderful
treasury of 20th Century popular music.
Tony Corman, in his former life as a saxophonist,
has appeared or recorded with the Full Faith and
Credit Big Band, Triceratops, Three Tenors No Opera,
Celia Malheiros, The Contemporary Jazz Orchestra,
and Foster Brooks, among many others. In his present
incarnation as guitarist, he plays with Jenny Ferris.
Tony Corman co-produced DAY IN DAY OUT and arranged many
of its songs.
Laura Klein, pianist and composer, has been on
the Bay Area jazz scene for twenty years since moving here
from Boston, where she studied at Berklee. She has played
in a wide variety of groups, including her own trio, big
bands, and accompanying many vocalists. Laura recorded
with Triceratops, and has appeared at Yoshi's, KCSM's Jazz
on the Hill, the SF Jazz Festival, and with John Dankworth
and the San Francisco Symphony Pops.
Carol De Arment has played jazz bass in the Bay Area for
many years, and has performed with vocalist Jenny Ferris,
pianist Laura Klein, and guitarist Tony Corman throughout
her career. Although primarily a jazz player, Carol is
also actively involved with two classical groups in the
East Bay: the OaklandCivic Orchestra, and the Community
Women'sOrchestra.
Rich Lesnick grew up in Southern California. In the '60s
Rich moved east and eventually found his way into New York's
premier Brazilian jazz ensemble, Thiago de Mello and Amazon,
where he had the opportunity to play with Claudio Roditi,
Marcos Silva, Mike Formanek, Harvey Weinapel, Dick Oatts,
Paquito d'Rivera, and Dom um Ramao.Since moving to the Bay
Area in 1986, Rich has played with the Bill Bell Septet,
played lead alto in several Bay Area big bands, co-led the
Gene Gilbeaux Swing Orchestra (with Marty Wehner), worked
with numerous local musical-theatre groups and he also
appears periodically with his wife, singer Jenny Ferris.
Tom Hassett shares drumming responsibilities with Bryan
Bowman for Day In Day Out, and has appeared in a variety
of jazz settings and venues in the Bay Area over the last
20-plus years, to a great extent with players he admires
(including Jenny, whom he has accompanied since about
1986). He enjoys a twelve-year association with The Lost
Trio, a sax-bass-drums unit, and has lately been doing
more studio projects.

Maya Kronfeld Jazz Trio
Rhythm-driven pianist Maya Kronfeld plays modern, blues-inflected
jazz arrangements. Having studied under Susan Muscarella, Maya
went on to perform at Lincoln Center with the SFJAZZ All-Star
High School Ensemble in 2002 where she was awarded the Verizon
Scholarship for Music. She performed in the Monterey Jazz
Festival in 2003. Today Maya can be heard working with many
of the Bay Area’s jazz greats.
Rounding out the trio is bassist Ravi Abcarian, who has performed
with Chico Freeman, Smiley Winters and Edwin Kelly. Drummer
Michael Spencer has performed with John Handy, Joshua Redman
and J. Spencer.

Indian Intersection: New Folk Directions
GOJOGO combines the rhythms of India with the lyricism
of violin and bass on an unforgetable evening of music at the
Hillside Club. Sharing the stage on Friday is MADRONE TREE,
a drum and piano duo featuring sonorous vocal harmonies.
www.gojogo.com

Takashi Kawabata
Mr. Kawabata began piano lessons at the age of three with his
mother and later studied with Ms. Kikuko Kurose. At the fourth
year in the university in Japan, where he majored in English,
he was selected as an exchange student to San Francisco
State University and studied film making and classical piano
performance. Since 2003, he has focused on music and studied
piano with Roger Woodward, and chamber music with Alexander
String Quartet.
In 2003, Mr. Kawabata was a semi-finalist at the 2nd Ignacio
Cervantes International Piano Competition in Cuba. This past
year, he placed 7th in the 1st International Piano Competition
in Panama City . In the summer of the last three years, he was
a participant in the highly acclaimed Yehudi Menuhin Chamber
Music Seminar and studied with Jeremy Menuhin, Toby Appel,
Jupiter Trio, and Cypress String Quartet.
Mr. Kawabata currently holds a Bachelor of Arts in English
from the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and a Master of
Music in classical piano performance at San Francisco State
University.
John Stowell
John Stowell began his successful career with guitar
lessons in his native Connecticut from guitarist Linc Chamberlind,
and from John Mehegan, pianist and respected jazz educator at
the Julliard School of Music and Yale University. Several years
later he met noted bassist David Friesen in NYC and launched a
critically acclaimed touring and recording associate that lasted
7 years, included 6 albums, and perfomances in Europe, Canada,
USA and Australia. During that time, John moved to Oregon
where he met renowned flutist Paul Horn. This association led
to an invitation for Paul Horn, John Stowell, David Friesen and
Paul's son, Robin, to perform in the Soviet Union. It was the
first time in 40 years that American jazz musicians had been
invited to play public perfomances in Russia, paving the way
for many others to follow. In the summer of 1993 John returned
to Russia, playing in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kursk. His two
sold-out performances in Kursk maybe the first appearances there
by an American jazz musician. In the last ten years John has
pursued a solo career which includes a dizzying touring and
teaching schedule around the world. Audiences have delighted
in duo concerts by Paul Horn and John Stowell, as well as
John's accompaniment of vocalists or other artists in small
ensembles. In June of 1991, John served as assistant director
and performer in Oregon Public Broadcasting's PDX JAZZ SUMMIT,
a 9 week jazz special, televised in the fall of 2001.
John will be accompanied by Mike Zilber on saxophones,
Peter Bashay on bass and Byan Bowman on drums.
Michael Zilber, whom jazz legend Dave Liebman calls
“one of the best composers and players around anywhere,
period!” was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. He
moved to Boston in his late teens and to New York City in his
early twenties. He has performed and/or recorded with Dizzy
Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, Liebman, Miroslav Vitous, Bob Berg,
Eddie Henderson, Fareed Haque, Geoff Keezer, Donald Harrison,
John Handy, Dave Douglas, Rachel Z, James Genus, Rodney Holmes,
Narada Michael Walden and Barry Finnerty, among many others.

Plays Monk Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg,
Devon Hoff and Rob Suddith play the music of Thelonius Monk
Since landing in San Francisco in 1992, Scott
Amendola has been nominated for a Grammy with the
band T.J. Kirk, recorded three records with Charlie Hunter
for Blue Note, toured the world and appeared on national
television with The Charlie Hunter Quartet, formed his
own inventive, house-packing quintet, and has recorded or
performed with dozens of musicians, including Bill Frisell,
John Zorn, Tony Furtado, Noe Venable and Jacky Terrasson,
among many others. Amendola's inspiration stems from
such stylistic influences as African music, jazz, blues,
spirituals, rock, and the avant garde. Scott has never
been satisfied with just being a masterful drummer. He
has spent his career pushing music in new directions; most
notably with his latest project: The Scott Amendola Band,
for which the bandleader composes and arranges all the
music. The self-titled debut CD features Jenny Scheinman
on violin, guitarist Dave Mac Nab, bassist Todd Sickafoose,
and Eric Crystal on reeds. Scott’s music ranges from
hard-hitting grooves to lush ballads, and from his original
compositions to covers by such artists as Jimi Hendrix,
Fela, and Nick Drake. Ben Goldberg
grew up in Denver, Colorado. He received his undergraduate
music degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz
and a Master of Arts in Composition from Mills College.
He was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo,
and studied with Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano.
Ben’s group New Klezmer Trio took a slightly
different view
of Jewish music. Their CD, Masks and Faces, was listed as
one of the ten best recordings of 1992 by Cadence magazine,
which called it "great free improvisation." Masks
and Faces and Melt Zonk Rewire, as well as the group's third
CD, Short for Something, are on the Tzadik label. Ben's
other recordings include two records by Junk Genius (with
John Schott, Trevor Dunn, and Kenny Wollesen), Here by Now
(Music and Arts), What Comes Before (Tzadik), Eight Phrases
for Jefferson Rubin (Victo), and Twelve Minor (Avant).
As a bassist and bandleader, Devin Hoff
has played thousands of shows, including everything from
benefits to punk clubs to major jazz festivals throughout
North America, Europe, and India, as well as contributing
to hundreds of recording, television and radio projects.
He has played regularly with the likes of Vijay Iyer,
Nels Cline, Graham Connah, Ben Goldberg, Howard Wiley,
Carla Kihlstedt, Scott Amendola, Hugh Ragin, and Carla
Bozulich. Currently one-half of Good For Cows
(with drummer Ches Smith), one-third of the Nels Cline
Singers, and one-fourth of the Devin Hoff Committee,
he is also working on a record of solo bass music due
out in the spring of 2003. New York tenor man
Rob Sudduth has played in just about every jazz,
soul, rock and pop configuration imaginable, leading up to
his current regular gig with Huey Lewis & The News. He
continues to pursue a variety of jazz projects on the side,
though, including his own release Just One Of Those Things
taking a new look at the Great American Songbook through
the filter of Francis Albert Sinatra.

Mike Zilber/Susan Muscarella Group
Michael Zilber, whom jazz legend Dave Liebman
calls “one of the best composers and players around
anywhere, period!” was born and raised in Vancouver,
Canada. He moved to Boston in his late teens and to New
York City in his early twenties. He has performed and/or
recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, Liebman,
Miroslav Vitous, Bob Berg, Eddie Henderson, Fareed Haque,
Geoff Keezer, Donald Harrison, John Handy, Dave Douglas,
Rachel Z, James Genus, Rodney Holmes, Narada Michael Walden
and Barry Finnerty, among many others.
Jazz pianist, composer/arranger, recording artist and
educator, Susan Muscarella, was born in Oakland,
CA. She began playing the piano when she was 8. Her first
piano teacher improvised for the silent films so was very
supportive of her interest in jazz. Susan has performed
at major jazz clubs and festivals throughout the Bay Area
and has appeared on Marian McPartland's program Piano Jazz
on NPR.
Former director of the University of California Jazz
Ensembles program from 1984-89, Susan is currently
the Executive Director of the Jazzschool in Berkeley,
California, and in her spare time, freelances as a jazz
pianist. Her most important jazz influences are Bill Evans,
Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett.
She will be accompanied by Mike Zilber on saxophones,
John Shifflet on bass and Tim Bulkley on Drums.

Sheldon Brown Group
Sheldon Brown - Tenor/Soprano Sax, Clarinet
Composer and woodwind multi-instrumentalist Sheldon Brown
has been active in the Bay Area creative music scene for
over 20 years. He formed the Sheldon Brown Group in 1993
to perform his original compositions, and in 1996 released
the CD Shifting Currents. Sheldon Brown Group has performed
numerous times at Yoshi's Nitespot, and appeared in the
1999 Jazz in The City concert series, sponsored by the
San Francisco Jazz Festival.
Brown tours internationally (most recently with pianist
Omar Sosa) to world-renowned venues such as the North Sea
Jazz Festival, Moers Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival,
Jazz d'Or, Toronto Jazz Festival and the Spoleto Festival,
and has performed in concert venues in Paris, Berlin,
Casablanca, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Istanbul. He is featured
on Omar Sosa's CDs Prietos, Bembon, Spirit of the Roots
and Free Roots and on Ian Dogole's CDs Ionospheres and
Night Harvest.
Brown is a member of San Francisco's Club Foot Orchestra,
for whom he has composed scores for Film Roman's cartoon
series The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat (which aired on
CBS) and silent films such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis,
Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. and Cops, G. W. Pabst's
Pandora's Box and Robert Wiene's Hands of Orlac. Club Foot
has performed at New York's Knitting Factory, Walter Reade
Theater, at Lincoln Center and the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington, D.C. Brown performed in Anthony Braxton's
Composition No. 132 at Grace Cathedral as part of the 1986
San Francisco Jazz Festival.
He is currently performing with Hemispheres (which
features Ian Dogle, Bill Douglass and Paul McCandless),
Clarinet Thing (led by Beth Custer), Realistic Orcestra
(led by Adam Theis) and the Mitch Marcus Quintet + 13. He
currently teaches composition at the Jazzschool in Berkeley,
California.
Jeff Massanari - Guitar After studying performance
and composition at Boston’s Berklee College of Music,
Jeff moved to California and quickly became one of the
most in-demand guitarists. Jeff has performed with all
of the finest Bay Area musicians including Paula West,
The Johnny Nocturne Band, Mark Inouye, The Murasaki
Ensemble, Swing Fever and Wally Schnalle and has played
internationally in Italy, Sweden, Japan and Guam.
Jeff also has four recordings under his own name. The
latest,”For the Music”, can be heard on KCSM,
and all have received great reviews including praise from
guitarists Mike Stern and Eric Johnson. Jeff is also
an accomplished and dedicated teacher and has taught
at Bruce Forman’s Jazzmaster series, Jazzcamp
West, U.C. Berkeley, The Jazzschool, and The Blue Bear
Music School. For more information check out Jeff’s
website, www.jeffmassanari.com
Darren Johnston - Trumpet Darren, originally
from Ontario, Canada, has been performing in the Bay
Area for four years in styles of music ranging from jazz,
blues and salsa to new music, He haas performed/recorded
with Adam Lane's "Full Throttle Orchestra", the
legendary Herbie Lewis, Jeff Chan, the Amandalla Poets,
Jelly Roll and his own projects - the United Brass Worker's
Front an the Darren Johnston Trio, among others.
Jonathan Alford - Piano Jonathan studied
classical piano at the University of Wisconsin and privately
with Julian White and Dorothy Taubman. He has given recitals
at Amherst College, Mills College, Sonoma State University
and with the Tassajara Symphony.
Jonathan's recording and performing associations
include Pete Escovedo, John Santos, Bobby Hutcherson,
Elaine Lucia, Carlos Santana, Denise Perrier, Chocolate
Armenteros, Orestes Vilato, Machete Ensemble, Mazacote,
Peter Apfelbaum, Josh Jones, Los Compas, Jenna Mamina,
Ray Obiedo and Maria Marquez.
Michael Wilcox - Electric Bass Michael has
performed with Richie Cole, the Fifth Dimension, Jerry
Lee Lewis, the Oakland Eastbay Symphony, Eddie Duran,
Jules Broussard, Tom Coster and Larry Schneider. He was an
Adjunct Faculty member in the Jazz Department at San Jose
State University for five years (1989-1994), and currently
teaches at the Jazzschool in Berkeley.
Alan Hall - Drums
Alan has played and/or recorded with: bassists Stuart
Hamm, Brian Torff and Kai Eckhardt; guitarists Larry
Coryell, Mick Goodrick and Joyce Cooling; saxophonists
Ernie Watts, Paul McCandless, Bob Mintzer, John Handy,
Jerry Bergonzi and Eddie Harris; trumpeter Bobby Shew;
pianists Art Lande, Billy Childs, Tom Coster, Kit
Walker and Smith Dobson; and vocalists Mark Murphy
and Rebecca Parris.

Scott Hill / Fragments
Roberta Piket - piano
Eric Clark - violin
Scott Hill - woodwinds
Scott Hill was recently selected by the late
Steve Lacy to participate as an associate artist in the
May 2004 residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts
in Florida. Scott recently returned to France in support
of his latest CD release "Narrow Streets" -
recorded in Paris, March 2002. In August 2003, he was
commissioned to score a play by once banned Iranian author
Sharnush Parsipour. Scott completed his debut independent
release Steps in 2000 recorded in the Bay Area and includes
drummer Scott Amendola, bassist John Shifflett, and a special
guest appearance from Rob Burger . Scott has also appeared
with Persian folk musician Aldoush Alpanian on his highly
acclaimed debut release "The Child Within" (XDOT25)
in 1992 and recorded with the electric fusion power trio Three
Bean Salad on their release in 1994, "Legumity"
(XDOT25). Scott studied jazz improvisation and theory
under Stan Kenton alumnus and Fulbright scholar Ray Brown
(trumpeter and arranger). Scott holds a bachelors degree
in Music from the University of California at Santa Cruz
and currently resides in Oakland, California.

Stone-Zimmermann Duo
Iris Stone - violin
Eva-Maria Zimmermann - piano
The Stone-Zimmermann Duo has been captivating audiences
with their blend of superb musicianship, ravishing sound
and profound interpretations. Both musicians are originally
from Europe and share a common musical approach. Their strong
individual musical personalities have created performances
that have been described as, "capturing the essence of
each composer and communicating it with enormous technical and
emotional skill." Sharing their passion for
classical and contemporary masterpieces, the Duo programs
in an innovative manner that enthralls audiences of all
ages. They compliment their performances with introductions
that include enlightening background information on the
works being performed. The Stone-Zimmermann Duo also enjoys
collaborating with a select group of exciting artists to
perform music written for larger ensembles such as trios,
quartets and quintets.

Balkan Cabaret
Balkan Cabaret brings the passion and poetry of traditional
ballads and favorite old standards from the cafés
and cabarets of Belgrade, Sofia and Sarajevo and other
Balkan cities from long before the influence of rock and
roll. Their performance spans Sevdalinka ballads from
Bosnia, Starigradski from Bulgaria, and old favorites of
many generations from Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia. There
are songs for sitting and listening while enjoying drink and
conversation with old friends, and there are high energy
favorites that inspire you to dance. Whether on your feet
or sitting back, you are taken to a time when feelings,
reflection and community were not so overwhelmed by the
rush of technology.
Balkan Cabaret has consistently performed to sold out
venues in the Puget Sound region since their formation in
Seattle in May of 2001. Their recently released CD, Balkan
Cabaret - Nostalgic Café Songs from the Balkans,
has received critical acclaim and airplay here and in the
Balkans. They were enthusiastically welcomed at the 2002 San
Francisco Kolo Festival. In 2003 they successfully toured
Northern California, selling out most venues. For 2004,
tours of Oregon and the Midwest are planned.
Vocalist Mary Sherhart has an outstanding reputation in
the Balkan music scene as a performer, teacher, choral
director and producer. She is joined by musicians and
vocalists well established in the Balkan music scene:
Joe Finn, fiddle and clarinet, Michael Lawson, accordion
and vocals, Steve Ramsey, bugarija, guitar, tambura and
vocals, and Rich Thomas, bass and vocals.
For more information about Balkan Cabaret, go
online to www.balkancabaret.com

Karashay
Chirgilchin & Stephen Kent
Top Tuvan Throat Singers Meet Globally Renowned Didjeridu Master
Few musical folk styles
have caught the western public imagination in the
last decade so much as the amazing throat singing of
Tuva. With its unique blend of Central Asian roots
music and extraordinary vocal techniques it has opened
the consciousness of contemporary world to 'Cowboy Music
from the Wild East'. Now, in Karashay, for the first
time Tuvan throat singers combine with the sound of
one of the worlds other great ancient traditions, the
Australian Aboriginal Didjeridu [in the hands of one of the
worlds' contemporary masters, Stephen Kent] and produce
a completely new, yet deeply familiar combination. Karashay
means black tea in the Tuvan language. The point about black
tea is that although wonderful and invigorating on it's
own, you can add many other flavors to the mix to create
tasty variations. Combining the earthy flavors of Siberia
and Australia, Karashay produces a sublime musical blend
that has primed the taste buds of audiences in Europe
and North America and left them thirsty for more.
CHIRGILCHIN
CHIRGILCHIN are the current champions of the Tuvan
national throat
singing competitions held annually in Kyzyl [Capital of
Tuva]. Chirgilchin means either mirage or miracle in the
Tuvan language. In 1996 Alexander Bapa, also the founder and
producer of Tuvan Throat Singing group Huun Huur Tu,
gathered the cream of the younger generation of Tuvan
musicians and formed Chirgilchin. One of the group's more
extraordinary features is the appearance of a Female
Throat Singer, which is still quite uncommon in Tuva and
has never before been heard in the USA. All Chirgilchin's
songs are in the Tuvan language and the group plays
instruments such as the Doshpuluur - a kind of lute with
two strings, the Igil - a bowed fiddle with two strings,
and the Dungur - a rattle drum used by Tuvan Shamans in
their ceremonies.
Igor Koshkendey, Chirgilchin's
featured soloist, is one of the finest throat singers
from Tuva. He sings six styles of throat singing including
the unique Oidupaa style, which has been used by only
two singers - Oidupaa and Koshkendey. Igor Koshkendey is
the winner of The Grand Prize in the International
Competition of Throat Singing, Kyzyl, [Tuva] 1998, winner
of The Grand Prize of the International Voices Singing
Competition in Llangollen (Wales) in 2000, and the
winner of the International Competition in Kyzyl
(Tuva) June 2002. Chirgilchin have toured extensively in
Europe and have made 3 previous tours in the USA. Their 2
CD’s to date are ‘The Wolf and the Kid’
[Shanachie] and‘ Aryskan’s Wind’
[Pure Nature Music Company].
STEPHEN KENT
Pioneering didjeridu virtuoso Stephen Kent has done more
than any other musician to bring the ancient Aboriginal
sound into a contemporary context. “ I want to
capture the essence and potential of the didjeridu and
to put it on the musical map as a serious instrument
with incredible versatility,” says the composer
and multi-instrumentalist. During a twenty-year career
with the didjeridu, Kent has developed an approach that is
unmistakably his own, exploring a remarkable range of
playing styles in diverse musical genres. Along the way
he has amassed a catalogue of over a dozen critically
acclaimed CD’s, including four solo releases and
many others with his group projects Trance Mission,
Beasts of Paradise and Lights In A Fat City.

Sheli Nan / Elaine Kreston
Levocative musique moderne: The harmonies of today
composed for early and contemporary instruments.
Sheli Nan - early and contemporary keyboards
Autris Paige - baritone voice
Elaine Kreston - cello
These dynamic musicians will premiere Shelis newest
composition for cello and voice entitled Johanns
Hidden Hollow. Sheli and Autris will perform
Journey The Song Cycle , published in
2004,and all three performers will bring us the haunting
The Last Gesture premiered in 2003. Nan's
music is published by Peter Ballinger - PRB Productions
of Albany, Ca. She has been invited to perform in Cuba,
Spain, Mexico and Argentina.Elaine Kreston has appeared in
recital halls through-out the United States and Europe . Her
reviews always speak of the soul that comes through her
playing. Autris Paige sang with the prestigious Metropolitan
Opera Chorus in New York City before moving here to the
Bay Area. His rich cultured voice is a great addition
to the piano and cello. This is a trio unique to the
Bay Area, with music composed in the Bay Area, by three
musicians that have chosen and made the Bay Area their
home. For more information about the music and to learn
more about the artists please visit the following websites:
www.shelinan.com
www.elainekreston.com

The Crafty Foxes forge timeless
acoustic music that is a mélange of folk/pop
melodicism and Latin, funk and African rhythms. By combining
expertly-crafted songs, emotive soulful vocal harmonies
and virtuostic improvisational skills, the band transcends
musical boundaries and creates a completely unique and
exciting musical experience. The group features Sam
Bevan on upright bass, piano and vocals, Gawain Mathews
on Guitar, Mary Pitchford on fiddle and Andy Korn on
percussion. Their debut CD features 9 original compositions
and two reintrepretations of folk classics "Darlin'
Corey" and "Go Down Old Hannah", as well as
guest appearances by David Grisman and Joe Craven.

Jazz Organ Trio
Scott Amendola - drums
Wil Blades - organ
Will Bernard - guitar
This trio's international recording and touring artists have
performed with The Charlie Hunter Group, John Lee Hooker,
Lonnie Smith, Motherbug and numerous others.
Since landing in San Francisco in 1992, Scott Amendola
has been nominated for a Grammy with the band T.J. Kirk,
recorded three records with Charlie Hunter for Blue Note,
toured the world and appeared on national television with
The Charlie Hunter Quartet, formed his own inventive,
house-packing quintet, and has recorded or performed
with dozens of musicians, including Bill Frisell, John
Zorn, Tony Furtado, Noe Venable and Jacky Terrasson,
among many others. Amendola's inspiration stems from
such stylistic influences as African music, jazz, blues,
spirituals, rock, and the avant garde. Scott has never
been satisfied with just being a masterful drummer. He
has spent his career pushing music in new directions; most
notably with his latest project: The Scott Amendola Band,
for which the bandleader composes and arranges all the
music. The self-titled debut CD features Jenny Scheinman on
violin, guitarist Dave Mac Nab, bassist Todd Sickafoose,
and Eric Crystal on reeds. Scotts music ranges from
hard-hitting grooves to lush ballads, and from his original
compositions to covers by such artists as Jimi Hendrix,
Fela, and Nick Drake.
www.scottamedola.com
www.willbernard.com
www.willblades.com

Rita Sahai
Rita Sahai was born in Allahabad, India. At age 9, she
became a disciple of Pandit Rama Shankar Mishra. When she
moved to the US, she became a disciple of Maestro Ali Akbar
Khan, who, impressed with her talent, gave her the title
"Jewel of Music". Rita, an acclaimed performer
and composer, tours extensively throughout the US, England,
Canada and India. She has performed on Cds by Grammy Award
winner Bela Fleck, and with the Alonzo King dance company.
She has many of her own CDs of Indian classical music, which
have been considered for Grammy Awards as well. Rita teaches
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a professor
of Indian Music at UC Davis, and was a guest lecturer
at UC Berkeley. www.ritasahai.com

Kitka
About Kitka
Now approaching its 25th Anniversary season, KITKA was founded
in 1979 as a group of amateur singers from diverse ethnic
and musical backgrounds who met regularly to share their
passion for the stunning dissonances, asymmetric rhythms,
intricate ornamentation, lush harmonies, and resonant strength
of Eastern European women's vocal music. Since then, KITKA
has blossomed into a refined professional ensemble, earning
international renown for its seamless blend of uniquely
expressive voices and its spellbinding performances of
traditional and contemporary Balkan and Slavic songs. Through
a busy itinerary of live performances, recording projects,
educational programs, and broadcast appearances, KITKA has
exposed millions worldwide to the haunting beauty and emotive
power of its distinctive repertoire.

Alam Khan
Alam A. Khan, twenty-two
year old son of Swara Samrat Ali Akbar Khan, has been
studying sarode with his father since he was seven. At his
first performance, he accompanied his father at a recital
in Portland, Oregon and received blessings from Swami
Chetanananda. His first public performance was in 1998 at
the Spirit of India Festival that celebrated the Ali Akbar
College of Music's 30th Anniversary in America.
In 1999, Alam accompanied his father in India at the Jodhpur
Palace for the King and Royal Family, the prestigious Dover
Lane Festival in Calcutta, as well as at several full-length
performances in the United States. In 2001, Alam and his
father completed a rigorous world tour where they performed
in Europe and India. Alam accompanied his father in 2002-2003
on a 3 month tour of Europe and India where they performed to
sold-out audiences. He also received a prestigious Individual
Artists Grant from the Marin Arts Council in June, 2003. Alam
continues to accompany his esteemed father in concerts as well
as establish himself as a solo artist. He currently teaches
at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA.

Sun Quartet
Ian Swensen - Violin
Anna Presler - Violin
Anna Kruger - Viola
Andrew Luchansky - Cello
Ian Swenseni is one of the very few musicians to
have been awarded top prize in both the International Violin
Competition and the International Chamber Music Competition
(as first violinist of the Meliora String Quartet) of
the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation; he received the awards
consecutively in 1984 and 1985. Since then he has performed as
soloist and chamber artist in many prestigious concert halls,
including Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Symphony Hall
in Boston, and at the Library of Congress in Washington,
D.C. He has also performed with the Spoleto, Santa Fe,
Aspen, Marlboro, and Chamber Music West festivals, among
others. Swensen studied at the Juilliard School with Dorothy
DeLay and at the Eastman School with Donald Weilerstein,
and has taught at the Longy School at Cambridge, Florida
State University, and Oberlin Conservatory. His recordings
can be found on the Telarc, Mercury, and Musical Heritage
labels.
Anna Presler is a member of the New Century Chamber
Orchestra, where she frequently serves as soloist and
Associate Concertmaster. She is also a member of the
Left Coast Ensemble's Onyx Quartet, and a former member
of Alternate Currents. As a member of the Sun Quartet,
Ms. Presler serves on the faculty of Sacramento State
University. She has participated in programs at the Banff Art
Center, the International Music Seminar at Cornwall, and the
Tanglewood Music Center. She is a graduate of Yale University
and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
As founding violist of the renowned Lark Quartet, Anna
Kruger toured extensively for 13 years throughout the
United States and Europe, to Asia, Australia and New Zealand,
Mexico, Canada, and Russia. Among many competition prizes
awarded the Lark were the Gold Medal in the 1991 Shostakovitch
International String Quartet Competition and the 1990 Naumburg
Chamber Music Award. Highlights of Ms. Kruger's
seasons with the Lark include performances at the Lockenhaus
Festival in Austria at the invitation of Gidon Kremer, the
Beethoven Festival at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, (under the
direction of Sviatoslav Richter), Lyon's Musicades Festival
in France, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Northern
Germany, and Mexico's Festival de Musica de Camera. Major
centers where she has performed include NY's Lincoln Center,
the National Gallery and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC,
St. Paul's Ordway Theater, San Francisco's Herbst Theater,
and in the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles,
Houston, Honolulu, Chicago, Atlanta, and Indianapolis. She
has concertized abroad in the major cities of London, Paris,
Basel, Stockholm, Munich, Hamburg, Vienna, St. Petersburg
and Moscow.
Ms. Kruger has recorded a series of CD's with the Lark Quartet
for Arabesque Recordings, including works by Borodin, Elgar,
Handel, Schickele, Schnittke, Schoenberg, Schumann, Spohr,
and Zemlinsky. She has also recorded works for Decca ,
New World, CRI, and Point record labels.
Ms. Kruger received her Bachelor's Degree with High
Distinction from Indiana University and her Master's Degree
from the Manhattan School of Music. Her major teachers have
included Abraham Skernick, Karen Tuttle, James Buswell,
Burton Kaplan, and George Neikrug.
Andrew Luchansky earned a Bachelor of Music in cello
performance from the New England Conservatory of Music,
and a Master of Music from State University of New York
at Stony Brook. In addition, he studied chamber music with
members of the Juilliard and Guarneri Quartets, as well as the
Beaux Arts Trio. Prior to joining the CSUS faculty in 1993,
Mr. Luchansky served as Professor of Cello at the Florida
State University School of Music, and also as Principal
Cellist with the Tallahassee Symphony. Before joining the
FSU faculty, Mr. Luchansky spent ten years in New York
City, where he was a frequent performer on the stages of
Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall. He
has performed in nearly every other major U.S. city, as well
as in Europe. In addition to teaching at CSUS, Mr. Luchansky
also coaches chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory
and has recorded for the Sony Classical label. Mr. Luchansky
has presented Master Classes at The University Of Florida,
Colgate University, The San Francisco Conservatory of
Music, Princeton University, and The University of Southern
Florida. An active chamber musician, Mr. Luchansky is on the
faculty of California Summer Music at Pebble Beach and is
a regular Guest Artist at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber
Music. This past summer Mr. Luchansky was a guest artist at
the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Italy.

Voices Lesbian Chorus Ensemble
ABOUT VOICES LESBIAN CHORAL ENSEMBLE Founded in 1988,
Voices strives as an organization to reflect the diversity
within the lesbian community and is dedicated to social
change that overcomes oppression in all its forms. Voices
is a member of the Sister Singers Network, and of GALA, the
Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses. Voices'
first CD, Everything Possible, was released in the spring
of 2002 and will be available for sale at the event. It is
also available for order online at www.lesbian.org/voices,
and at Boadecia's Books in Kensington.

Debopriyo Sarkar
Debopriyo Sarkar is a talented young tabla player from
Kolkata and a promising present-day artist. He has been
performing in the classical Indian music scene for many
years, accompanying many great artists, as well as an avid
experimenter into many forms of music. Born in Jalpuiguri,
North Bengal in 1971, Debopriyo has displayed an enchanting
love of music since his early infant days. Debopriyo is
a disciple of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee. Since 1997,
he has been performing in the international arena, playing
many concerts in the U.S.A., Japan, India, the Middle East,
Canada and Europe.Debopriyo has made collaborations with
various artists in other fields of music, including folk,
light classical, jazz, films, and his own drum/bass groove
creations. Debopriyo lives and teaches in the San Francisco
Bay Area and performs throughout the world. He possesses
an excellent temperament for accompaniment with his clear,
sweet tone and intuitive melodic responses. His aesthetic
balance between sensitive tonality and rhythmic power creates
moods of deep and pure musical celebration. Debopriyo's
devoted and unique playing offers a new and vibrant energy
to the classical tradition of Indian Music.

Riffat Sultana
Riffat Sultana and Party
Riffat Sultana is the daughter of Ustad Salamat
Ali Khan, who is universally recognized as one of the
greatest classical Pakistani/Indian singers of the last
century. Their family traces back their musical lineage
800 years to Mian Tansen, the finest court musician of
the great Moghul Emperor Akbar. Riffat sings different
genres of traditional Pakistani/Indian music, including:
classical, Sufi, Qawwali, Ghazal, Geet and Thumri. She will
be accompanied by Shiraz Ali Khan (disciple of Ustad Salamat
Ali Khan) on Guitar and Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi (disciple of
Ustad Tari Khan) on Tabla.
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