2018 cultural events

This page lists 48 cultural events I attended in 2018. Movies are listed on my films page, not here. The program index page displays thumbnails of all the printed program images. Cities are in California, except as noted.

Highlights of 2018 to date:

Noe Valley Chamber Music's wonderful gala with Jake Heggie and Frederica von Stade, fun fun fun!
Tejendra Majumdar and Swapan Chaudhuri at AACM: I've heard Swapanji play countless times over many decades, but this night was very special, truly another level of inspired tabla playing.
Countertenor Reginald Mobley's breathtaking vocals in Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus with PBO. Wow! On the same program, two Bach cantatas with one voice per chorus part, a gloriously transparent sound.

Disappointment:

Beethoven's Choral Fantasy always seems like a mess to me; even the wonderful PBO Chorus could not rescue it. Enough already!

Lowlights:

We hated everything about Kate Hammill's stage adaptation of Sense and Sensibilty at OSF. First and foremost, why adapt a novel (albeit a great one) for the stage rather than presenting a work written for the stage?
The Threepenny Opera at SFCM missed the boat in almost every respect: the production had few good ideas, the singers mostly didn't get it, and the musicians were not up the task. It's a difficult work in many different ways (too much uninspired dialog!), but sadly this was a very poor effort.

I started keeping event data in the format used by this page in 2010, so data from 2010 to date is accurate. I started keeping appointment calendar data in .txt format in August 2005. I later extracted 2005-2009 event data ex post facto, so data for 2005 to 2009 is less complete and a bit less accurate. I have older pocket calendars and hard copies of event programs going back to 1963, but I have not yet scanned programs for years before 2010 or entered event data for most years before 2005.

Click on a heading below to sort the list accordingly. Click on a Program link to see the printed program for an event. Enter a search string (e.g., "Mahler", "Berkeley", "piano") below to filter the output.

Date	Category	Description	Performers	Venue	City		Works
01/07/18 @ 14:00	Chamber	Chamber Music and Poetry Salon		private	San Francisco	Program	Glass, Terri: Poems Josheff: Dream Spaces & Recurring Nightmares Ehrlich: Poems Reynolds: Latin Carnival Reynolds: Five Preludes Reynolds: Jardin Cubano Reynolds: Tangria Blotter: Poems
01/11/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Emanuel Ax, piano	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3 Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14 Schoenberg: Piano Concerto Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
01/18/18 @ 20:00	Theater	The Birthday Party	ACT	Geary	San Francisco	Program	Pinter: The Birthday Party
01/21/18 @ 16:00	Chamber	Noe Valley Chamber Music	Joshua Trio	Noe Valley Ministry	San Francisco	Program
02/04/18 @ 16:00	Chamber	SF Early Music Society	Agave Baroque Reginald Mobley, countertenor	Church of the Advent	San Francisco	Program
02/05/18 @ 19:30	Chamber	Earplay	Earplay	Wilsey	San Francisco	Program	Bennett: Small Art Bedrossian: I'm nobody! Who are you? Grime: Three Whistler Miniatures Festinger: The Coming of Age
02/08/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Herbert Blomstedt, conductor Garrick Ohlsson, piano	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Stenhammar: Symphony No. 2 Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 6 'Emperor'
02/24/18 @ 20:00	Opera	West Edge Opera	West Edge Opera	IOOF Hall	Berkeley	Program	Deaconoff: The Last Tycoon Saxon: 452 Jamestown Place London: Dynamo Wold: She Who Is Alive Rosen: Death of a Playboy
02/25/18 @ 16:00	Chamber	Noe Valley Chamber Music	Brian Thorsett & friends	Noe Valley Ministry	San Francisco	Program
03/04/18 @ 16:00	Chamber	SF Early Music Society	Les Délices	Church of the Advent	San Francisco	Program	Philidor: Sinfonia 1 Martin: Sonata I Blaver: Sonata Seconda Rameau: Troisième Concert Rameau: Extraits Guignon: Les Sauvages Philidor: Sinfonia 5
03/08/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Edward Gardner, conductor Simon Trpĉeski, piano	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Tippett: Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (arr. Grofé) Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
03/08/18 @ 20:00	Concert	Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra	Richard Egarr, conductor/organ	Herbst	San Francisco	Program	Corelli: Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 10 Muffat: Sonata No. 5 Händel: Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 4 Händel: Organ Concerto No. 15 Corelli: Concert Grosso Op. 6 No. 2 Händel: Concert Grosso Op. 6 No. 1
03/19/18 @ 19:30	Chamber	Earplay	Mary Chun, conductor	Atrium	San Francisco	Program	Dashow: Soundings in Pure Duration n.4 Hynninen: Glow within Ivanova: Saggitarius Godsil: Aeropittura Festinger: Kleinen doch emsigen
04/08/18 @ 16:00	Chamber	SF Early Music Society	Wildcat Viols	Church of the Advent	San Francisco	Program	Purcell: Fantazias Locke: Suites for viols
04/22/18 @ 18:00	Chamber	Noe Valley Chamber Music	Jake Heggie, composer/piano Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano	Noe Valley Ministry	San Francisco	Program
04/26/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Christian Reif, conductor Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, piano	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Wagner: Sigefried's Rhine Journey from Götterdämmerung Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 Holst: The Planets
04/27/18 @ 20:00	Concert	Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra	Nicholas McGegan, conductor	Herbst	San Francisco	Program	Beethoven: Mass in C Cherubini: Chant sur la mort de Joseph Haydn Beethoven: Fantasia 'Choral Fantasy'
04/29/18 @ 19:00	Theater	Father Comes Home from the Wars	ACT	Geary	San Francisco	Program	Parks: Father Comes Home from the Wars
04/30/18 @ 19:30	Chamber	Earplay	Earplay	Herbst	San Francisco	Program	Winges: Night-Voiced Yu: Pnema Ortiz: and all the phonies go mad with joy Erçetin: Resonances (b): Tella Festinger: The Way Things Go
05/10/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Stéphane Denève, conductor Gautier Capuçon, cello	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Ibert: Escales Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 Saint-Saëns: The Swan Connesson: E chairo nella valle il fiume appare Respighi: Pines of Rome
05/20/18 @ 16:00	Chamber	Noe Valley Chamber Music	Telegraph Quartet	Noe Valley Ministry	San Francisco	Program	Mozart: String Quartet No. 21 Sirota: Wave Upon Wave Ravel: String Quartet
05/28/18 @ 15:30	Chamber	Groupmuse	FIU Quartet Karen Heather, piano	Private	San Francisco		Bach: Sarabandes from Cello Suites 1-4 Schumann: Piano Quintet
06/06/18 @ 15:00	Opera	Das Rheingold	San Francisco Opera	Opera House	San Francisco	Program	Wagner: Das Rheingold
06/07/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Susanna Mäkkki, conductor Nikolaj Znaider, violin	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Saariaho: Laterna Magica Scriabin: Poem of Ecstasy
06/09/18 @ 19:30	Chamber	Climate Music	Telegraph Quartet	Noe Valley Ministry	San Francisco	Program	Festinger: Flight of Icarus
07/05/18 @ 19:15	Sports	SF Giants baseball	Cardinals vs. Giants	AT&T Park	San Francisco
07/13/18 @ 21:00	Indian	Sufi vocal recital	Sukhawat Ali Khan, vocals	Bird & Beckett	San Francisco
07/29/18 @ 12:05	Sports	SF Giants baseball	Brewers vs. Giants	AT&T Park	San Francisco
07/31/18 @ 18:00	Rehearsal	The Rake's Progress	Merola Opera	SFCM	San Francisco	Program	Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress
10/05/18 @ 20:00	Concert	Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra	Nicholas McGegan, conductor	Herbst	San Francisco	Program	Mozart: Litaniae Laurentanae Mozart: Exsultate, Jubilate Mozart: Mass No. 15 'Coronation'
10/11/18 @ 19:30	Ballet	Alonzo King LINES	Kronos Quartet	YBCA	San Francisco	Program	King: Handel King: Common Ground
10/13/18 @ 20:00	Concert	SF Composers Chamber Orchestra	Mark Alburger, conductor Martha Stoddard, conductor	St. Mark's	San Francisco	Program	Walsh: Three Dances Bernstein, Harry: Quartetto Amabile Ness: Contrafacts Stardust: Home Becheri: War Poems Wold: She Who Is Alive
10/14/18 @ 16:00	Recital	Noe Valley Chamber Music	Anderson & Roe Piano Duo	Noe Valley Ministry	San Francisco	Program	Brahms: Viariations on a Theme by Haydn Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Part 1 Gluck: Ballet from Orphée et Eurydice Brahms: Hungarian Dance No.5 Adams: Hallelujah Junction Anderson/Roe: Hallelujah Variations Lennon/McCartney: Let It Be
10/18/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor Javier Perianes, piano	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Ravel: Alborada del gracioso Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3 Debussy: Ibéria Ravel: Bolero
10/19/18 @ 20:00	Theater	graveyard shift	San Francisco Playhouse	Creativity Theater	San Francisco	Program	Tuttle: graveyard shift
10/23/18 @ 13:30	Theater	Othello	Oregon Shakespeare Festival	Bowmer	Ashland OR	Program	Shakespeare: Othello
10/23/18 @ 20:00	Theater	Sense and Sensibility	Oregon Shakespeare Festival	Bowmer	Ashland OR	Program	Hamill: Sense and Sensibility
10/24/18 @ 13:30	Theater	Snow in Midsummer	Oregon Shakespeare Festival	Bowmer	Ashland OR	Program	Cowhig: Snow in Midsummer
10/24/18 @ 20:00	Theater	Henry V	Oregon Shakespeare Festival	Thomas	Ashland OR	Program	Shakespeare: Henry V
10/25/18 @ 20:00	Theater	The Way the Mountain Moved	Oregon Shakespeare Festival	Thomas	Ashland OR	Program	Goodwin: The Way the Mountain Moved
10/27/18 @ 19:30	Indian	Vocal/sitar recital	Manasi Majumdar, vocal Tejendra Majumdar, sitar Swapan Chaudhuri, tabla	AACM	San Rafael	Program
11/08/18 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Jakub Hrusa, conductor Karen Gomyo, violin	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Shostakovich: Violin Concerto Borodin: Symphony No. 2 Bartók: Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin
11/17/18 @ 17:30	Recital	Cello/piano duo	John Provine, piano Stephanie Lai, cello	Private	San Francisco		Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 3 Franck: Cello Sonata
11/28/18 @ 19:00	Chamber	Thalea String Quartet	Thalea String Quartet	Private	San Francisco		Haydn: String Quartet Op. 20, No. 3 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3
12/02/18 @ 16:00	Chamber	Noe Valley Chamber Music	Decoda	Noe Valley Ministry	San Francisco	Program
12/06/18 @ 20:00	Theater	The Threepenny Opera	SFCM Musical Theater Ensemble	SFCM Recital Hall	San Francisco	Program	Weill: The Threepenny Opera
12/07/18 @ 20:00	Concert	Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra	Patrick Dupré Quigley, conductor Reginald Mobley, countertenor	Herbst	San Francisco	Program	Monteverdi: Confitebor tibi Domine Bach: Cantata No. 61 Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus Purcell: The Frost Scene from King Arthur Bach: Cantata No. 140
12/31/18 @ 16:00	Concert	American Bach Soloists	Jeffrey Thomas, conductor	Herbst	San Francisco	Program	Rameau: Overture Gluck: Arias Vivaldi: Overtures Händel: Arias Scarlatti, A.: Sinfonia Vivaldi: Arias from Rinaldo