Newly Added Collaborations with Canadian Brass, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Soloists Highlight SFCM and Opus 3 Artists’ Growing Alliance

Building on its fall lineup, the partners will also bring Avi Avital, Patricia Racette, Aaron Diehl, Benjamin Beilman, and other prominent instrumentalists to campus.

From the San Francisco Conservatory of Music:

Nearly two years into their unprecedented alliance, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Opus 3 Artists welcome the community to experience the most robust set of programs yet to present world-class artists in residences, performances, and the development of new works alongside students of exceptional potential.

In addition to the previously announced events included in SFCM’s fall season, the conservatory and the management company will partner this spring to bring luminaries Canadian Brass, Academy of St Martin in the Fields with mandolinist Avi Avital, operatic soprano Patricia Racette, pianist Aaron Diehl and violinist Benjamin Beilman to campus.

In October 2020, SFCM acquired Opus 3 Artists. The alliance created educational opportunities for students to better understand the industry and to collaborate with innovators on stage and in the classroom. It also gave members of Opus 3’s roster access to conservatory resources to workshop and produce new music.

Last semester, among other projects, director, creative producer, and Opus 3 Artist James Darrah worked with students in the Opera and Musical Theatre program to reimagine Mozart’s centuries-old opera La Clemenza di Tito utilizing live cameras and projection technology.

“Since the beginning of our alliance with SFCM, we have looked forward to creating opportunities for artists on our roster to engage with students and communities in a consequential way,” said Opus 3 Artists Managing Director Robert Berretta. “This season brings the most in-depth collaborations to date, a welcome development in our partnership as we emerge from such a challenging time.”

Details about upcoming collaborations are below.

Tamara Mumford and the SFCM Orchestra
September 24, 2022 | 7:30pm PT Hume Concert Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
Opus 3 Artist and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford, called “revelatory” by The New York Times, will join the SFCM Orchestra for its first concert of the year. The orchestra, led by SFCM Music Director Edwin Outwater, will perform Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. The performance will also feature members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the SFCM Conservatory Chorus.

Celebrating Sérgio Assad
Sérgio and Clarice Assad: guitar, voice, piano
November 5, 2022 | 7:30pm PT St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco
Guitar Masterclass with Sérgio Assad November 10, 2022 | 7:30pm PT Cha Chi Ming Recital Hall, Bowes Center
Faculty Artist Series: Marc Teicholz featuring works for guitar and string quartet by Sérgio Assad. Collaborators include: Jennifer Choi and Polina Sedukh – violin; Jonathan Vinocour – viola; Angela Lee – cello

November 14, 2022 | 7:30pm PT Sol Joseph Recital Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
Guitar Department Recital including student performances of works by Sérgio Assad
November 16, 2022 | 7:30pm PT Sol Joseph Recital Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
Sérgio Assad 70th Birthday Celebration featuring SFCM Guitarists

November 19, 2022 | 7:30pm PT Hume Concert Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
Long-time Conservatory collaborator and guitar legend Sérgio Assad will be in residency at SFCM this November. His time on campus will include a masterclass open to the public.  “As a Latin American classical guitarist, my two strongest influences were Leo Brouwer and Sérgio Assad … Pieces like ‘Menino,’ ‘Farewell,’ ‘Aquarelle,’ the portraits, and more resonated with my heart in a way that other composers couldn’t,” said Juan Samacá, a second-year master’s student. “His music is a perfect balance between innovation and Latin tradition and actually, I firmly believe that he is our most important living composer for guitar.” Samacá will work with Assad on the piece “Sandy’s Portrait.” “It is for me a dream to play it for him,” he said. “I think it is an invaluable experience working with the composer, as you learn details that no one else could ever give to you.”

Assad turns 70 in December, and the conservatory’s guitar department will play host to a birthday celebration for him featuring ensembles and soloists presenting his music, including SFCM college and pre-college students. As part of the program, the SFCM Guitar Ensemble, guitarist and Department Chair David Tanenbaum, and cellist and master’s student Kyle Stachnik will perform Assad’s The Walls.

In October 2021, a recording of The Walls was released starring Yo-Yo Ma, who is also represented by Opus 3 Artists, and featuring the entire SFCM collegiate guitar faculty. It presents musical representations of famous walls—the Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall, the Berlin Wall, the West Bank Wall—in lament of human division. On November 5, father and daughter duo Clarice and Sérgio Assad will perform Brazilian jazz vocals, samba, bossa nova, piano and guitar in an Omni Foundation concert at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.  Taken together, the events will act as a festival of one of the standard-bearers of guitar innovation, ingenuity, and expression.

Climate (in)Action: A Meta4 + TAC Collaboration
November 11, 2022 | 7:30pm PT Hume Concert Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
This fall, internationally renowned Finnish string quartet Meta4 and members of SFCM’s Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) program will perform a program of works inspired by nature and Nordic folk tunes, accompanied with visual design by TAC students. The program will also feature the premiere of pieces by TAC students for string quartet and electronics. A panel discussion and Q&A will follow with Meta4 and TAC students and faculty. The convenings continue TAC’s practice of engaging with climate-themed music and musicians across genres to raise awareness of global warming, empathy for sustainability, and action to preserve the planet.

Canadian Brass Residency at SFCM
February 23, 2023 | 7:30pm PT Hume Concert Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
“The storied Canadian Brass brings new audiences to the tradition of brass chamber music in ways unlike no other,” said SFCM President (and tuba player) David Stull. “This collaboration promises excitement for all.”
Canadian Brass’ residency will culminate in a side-by-side concert with SFCM students. The ensemble’s hallmark spontaneity, virtuosity, and fun will infuse masterclasses and rehearsals throughout their week-long post.
“The world’s most loved brass quintet” joined the Opus 3 Artists roster in May 2022. Its celebrated trombonist, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, is an alumnus of SFCM.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields featuring Avi Avital
March 10, 2023 | Time TBD Barbro Osher Recital Hall, Bowes Center
Invited guests only. The Academy’s program will include works with mandolinist Avi Avital and with students, with whom the chamber orchestra will teach earlier in the day.

Though it perhaps goes without saying, the group is one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields was formed from a group of leading London musicians and gave its first performance in its namesake church in November 1959. Today, the Academy is led by Music Director and virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell. Avital was the first mandolin soloist to be nominated for a classical GRAMMY Award.

Patricia Racette
March 11, 2023 | 7:30pm PT March 12, 2023 | 2:00pm PT Hume Concert Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
“We’ve run out of superlatives,” SFist.com said about soprano and stage director Patricia Racette. She has appeared in the most acclaimed opera houses in the world and will be in residence at SFCM in February and March. Racette will work closely with Donato Cabrera, music director of the California Symphony and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, who will conduct the opera. During her residency, Racette will lead masterclasses and will collaborate with SFCM Opera and Musical Theatre students. A signature project will be SFCM’s spring production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Consul. The Consul, an opera in three acts, was Menotti’s first full-length opera. It focuses on the plight of political refugees. The opera was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1950.

Aaron Diehl
April 28, 2023 | 7:30pm PT Hume Concert Hall, Ann Getty Center for Education
Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl’s appetite for expansion afforded him associations with Wynton Marsalis, Benny Golson, Philip Glass, Cecile McLorin Salvant and other enduring figures. His approach reflects varied ancestral lineages and cultural expressions. His approach reflects varied ancestral lineages and cultural expressions. That artistry will be deployed at SFCM, when Diehl will perform with the SFCM Orchestra, led by Music Director Edwin Ouwater, to close the school’s orchestra season. During his residency with SFCM, Diehl will also work with students from the conservatory’s Roots, Jazz, and American Music (RJAM) program, as well as students from the piano program.

Benjamin Beilman
May 2, 2023 | 7:30pm PT Barbro Osher Recital Hall, Bowes Center
In 2021, SFCM launched Chamber Music Tuesdays, a monthly series where chamber music majors perform with world-renowned guest artists and SFCM faculty members in the conservatory’s intimate rooftop recital space overlooking San Francisco’s City Hall. This special event will feature internationally renowned violinist Benjamin Beilman, who will spend the week prior teaching and rehearsing with students. At the performance, Beilman will premiere a solo work by Bay Area-native Gabriella Smith. Many of Smith’s works address the climate crisis. She provides listeners with an emotional connection to the natural world.