It’s so much fun to play with a big chorus!! Masterworks Chorale presents “Jubilate Deo” this weekend, June 11 and 12, 2022. We will perform right here in San Mateo! I will be playing the flute, alto flute, and piccolo for this wonderful piece. To purchase tickets, Masterworks Chorale
Starting on May 20, 2022, West Bay Opera presents “Pique Dame”, or “The Queen of Spades”. I will be playing the gorgeous Principal Flute part for this lavish opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. West Bay Opera performs at the Lucy Stern Theater in Palo Alto and is a gem of an opera company, supported by legions of community benefactors. In Russian, with English subtitles.
On April 16 2022, we open West Side Story at Opera San Jose. This is a first for us! It will be absolutely epic. For tickets, www.operasj.org
On March 26 and 27, we perform a wonderful concert at Symphony San Jose! Among other gorgeous pieces, we will present Respighi’s Feste Romane. This piece has a killer piccolo part and I am truly loving putting it together. Here is the amazing fourth movement. Feste Romane
My husband and son were on this set with me! Here we are outside the stage door.
CARMEN!! The most popular opera of all time….and for good reason. Our Carmen, sung by Nikola Printz, identifies in their Twitter bio as a “queer, trans, trapeze-swinging-them-fatale.” Not to be missed. We open on February 12, 2022 – back in the gorgeous California Theater! www.operasj.org
Here is a beautiful performance of the Entr’acte flute solo, by Emmanual Pahud. Pahud plays Carmen
Now we have officially moved indoors! What joy. The annual Gala fundraiser – entirely written by the fabulously talented Lamplighters! Sunday October 17, 2021, at the lovely Herbst Theater in San Francisco.
August, 2021: Welcome back to live music!!
Opening on February 15 2020, and NOT a good Valentine’s outing, Verdi’s masterpiece Il Trovatore. This opera has such a complicated plot, I am not going to attempt to explain it but rather move on to other aspects of its greatness. For one thing, it is truly a hit parade of great songs! And the way the singers voices are used! Luciano Pavarotti once remarked that this opera can be performed by any company; all you need are the best soprano, alto, tenor and bass in the world. Listen to a sampling of music from this epic work. Il Trovatore
Just in time for the holidays, Hansel and Gretel has come to town. We open on Saturday, November 16 2019. This is a beautiful and fun opera for the entire family. Kids are especially invited! Watch a wonderful performance! Hansel and Gretel with the Vienna Philharmonic
Opening September 14 2019, Die Fledermaus, or The Revenge of the Bat! This hilarious opera was written by Johann Strauss, “The Waltz King”. Listen to the famous overture! Fledermaus
On August 3 2019, “We Sail the Ocean Blue” on HMS Pinafore with Lamplighters Music Theatre. This is Gilbert and Sullivan’s most beloved comic opera, and not to be missed! At Performing Arts Centers in Walnut Creek, San Francisco, Livermore and Mountain View. Watch a complete performance of this most beloved operetta. HMS Pinafore
Opening on May 24 2019, It’s Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi at West Bay Opera. This is a hilarious but also moving and sensual opera, Verdi’s last. Here are some highlights from the article in wikipedia: By 1889 Verdi had been an opera composer for more than fifty years. He had written 27 operas, of which only one was a comedy.His fellow composer Rossini commented that he admired Verdi greatly, but thought him incapable of writing a comedy. Verdi disagreed and said that he longed to write another light-hearted opera, but nobody would give him the chance. He commented, “After having relentlessly massacred so many heroes and heroines, I have at last the right to laugh a little.” He confided his ambition to the librettist of Otello, Arrigo Boito. Boito said nothing at the time, but he secretly began work on a libretto based on The Merry Wives of Windsor with additional material taken from Henry IV, parts 1 and 2.
Verdi accepted the need to trim Shakespeare’s plot to keep the opera within an acceptable length. He was sorry, nonetheless, to see the loss of Falstaff’s second humiliation, dressed up as the Wise Woman of Brentford to escape from Ford. He wrote of his desire to do justice to Shakespeare: “To sketch the characters in a few strokes, to weave the plot, to extract all the juice from that enormous Shakespearian orange”.
Watch one of the funniest scenes, where the Mistress Quickly comes to set the trap.
Coming to the California Theater in San Jose, Madame Butterfly. We open on April 13. This opera is sad but indescribably beautiful. After all these years, I still cry when I play it! Listen to “Un belle di, vedremo”.
One good day, we will see arising a strand of smoke
Over the far horizon on the sea
And then the ship appears
And then the ship is white
It enters into the port, it rumbles its salute.
I don’t go down to meet him, not I.
I stay upon the edge of the hill
And I wait a long time
but I do not grow weary of the long wait.
And leaving from the crowded city,
A man, a little speck
Climbing the hill.
Who is it? Who is it?
And as he arrives
What will he say? What will he say?
He will call Butterfly from the distance
I without answering
Stay hidden
A little to tease him,
A little as to not die.
At the first meeting,
And then a little troubled
He will call, he will call
“Little one, dear wife
Blossom of orange”
The names he called me at his last coming.
All this will happen,
I promise you this
Hold back your fears –
I with secure faith wait for him.
For tickets, Opera San Jose
On March 23 and 24, Masterworks Chorale will present the magnificent Ein Deutsches Requiem by Johannes Brahms. This is a towering work and to play the gorgeous flute part is an honor. Listen to the lovely fourth movement, “How Lovely are Thy Dwelling Places”.
O Lord of Hosts!
My soul requires and yearns for
the courts of the Lord;
My body and soul rejoice
in the living God.
Opening March 21, The Lamplighters will present Trial by Jury but Gilbert and Sullivan. Hilarious and wonderfully satirical. At the Mountain View Center for the Arts, Walnut CPA and Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Lamplighters tickets
Moby Dick on stage! Need we say more…this magnificent opera opens on Saturday, February 9 at the California Theater in San Jose. Watch a short peek into the recent SF Opera production. Moby Dick sneak peak
For tickets to our show, OperaSanJose Box Office
On November 17 2018, Opera San Jose’s Pagliacci comes to the California Theater. This opera is famous for the sad lament of Canio, “Veste la Giubba” (put on the costume).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hxonfpfuTY
Listen to the wonderful prologue, in which Tonio the clown reminds the audience that actors have feelings too, and this show will be about real people. Fun piccolo part!
Opening September 15 2018, Mozart’s hilarious Abduction From the Seraglio. This opera was inspired by a contemporary interest in the exotic culture of the Ottoman Empire, a nation which had only recently ceased to be a military threat to Austria. Mozart’s opera includes a Westernized version of Turkish music, based very loosely on the Turkish Janissary band music. He used the piccolo in such a fun way, part of the Turkish band. Listen to the wonderful overture, where no flutes play, ONLY the piccolo!
July 2018, I will be performing with San Francisco Opera Merola productions offer Mozart’s “Il Re Pastore” and Igor Stravinski’s “Rake’s Progress“.
Watch a hilarious scene from Rake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6e4Fba8uJQ
May, 2018. Santa Cruz Symphony will present the final concert of their 60th season. The magnificent Mahler Symphony #2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHsFIv8VA7w
Watch this presentation on PBS about this epic symphony :
https://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/121173057/mahlers-apocalyptic-second-symphony
Opening on April 14 2018, Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata, or “la Dame Aux Camelias”. At the California Theater in San Jose. This opera has it all: wonderful songs, dancing, love, betrayal and reconciliation. And such fun to play! Tickets at www.operasj.org.
Here is the stunning overture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEzEa_LUy84
On March 24 and 25 2018, another fun program with the Santa Cruz Symphony. We will present the overture to Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro“, then a world premiere by our director Danny Stewart entitled “Social Media“, followed by several other not-to-be-missed masterpieces. Here is a wonderful performance of the magical overture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvyA2t8A2uk
This weekend, March 17 and 18 2018, Masterworks Chorale will present “The Armed Man“, a mass for peace by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. This piece was premiered in 2000. In addition to extracts from the Ordinary of the Mass, the text incorporates words from other religious and historical sources, including the Islamic call to prayer, the Bible (e.g. the Psalms and Revelation), and the Mahabharata. Writers whose words appear in the work include Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Sankichi Toge, who survived the Hiroshima bombing but died some years later of leukaemia.
For tickets, please go to http://www.masterworks.org/
On February 10, 2018, Opera San Jose presents Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman!
They promise this will be their most lavish production, EVER! Not to be missed. This is such a FUN opera to play! Here is a beautiful video of the overture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirxO95WKq8
Saturday and Sunday January 27 and 28, 2018 – it’s the magnificent Scheherazade, with the Santa Cruz Symphony!
The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales, told seriatim, for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely. Here is a fun performance of this magnificent piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4w4_W30aQ
tickets at https://santacruzsymphony.org/
December 16, 2017: Opening tonight, Cinderella by Alma Deutscher! Alma is all of twelve years old and has written this opera plus a violin concerto AND a piano concerto, both of which she performs herself. What an amazing young woman. Watch a documentary about her on 60 Minutes: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/alma-deutscher/
Our production will be the U.S. premiere. A few tickets are still available for the performance on Friday, December 22. www.OperaSJ.org
Cinderella will be streamed on free cable soon. More details later!
Through October 22, West Bay Opera will present Norma, Bellini’s masterpiece of bel canto tragedy. At the Lucy Stern Theater in Palo Alto. http://www.westbayopera.org/
Listen to Norma’s famous aria, “Casta diva”. The flute introduces the melody before the soprano sings. One of the most divine moments in opera!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBNO-NZ59Bs
Just in time to honor Cassini’s final days, On October 7 and 8, 2017, Santa Cruz Symphony will present Gustav Holst’s magnificent Orchestral Suite, “The Planets“. I am so excited to be a part of this production! Listen to “Jupiter” performed by James Levine and the Chicago Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo
Opening on September 9, 2017, I will be performing with Opera San Jose in Mozart’s lively and hilarious opera, Cosi Fan Tutte. Listen to the magnificent overture: cosi overture
for tickets, www.operasj.org
This wonderful month of July, 2017, the San Francisco Opera Merola company will present their summer festival, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the War Memorial Opera House. http://merola.org/home
Savitri, by Gustav Holst, deals with themes of mortality and love. A tear jerker and stunning experience. Watch a performance starring Janet Baker, with the English Chamber Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5meFq1hxfD
Then, for something completely different, we will present Rossini’s frothy La Cenerentola.
I can’t believe my good fortune to get to play the Verdi Requiem twice, in two months! This time was with the Santa Cruz Symphony, playing the piccolo part. What an amazing role the piccolo plays; I didn’t really realize it last March when I was two seats over, playing those to-die-for flute solos! And the music critic liked it too; he very kindly mentioned me by name.
http://www.peninsulareviews.com/2017/05/07/santa-cruz-symphony-verdis-requiem/
Opening April 15, 2017, it is Puccini’s La Boheme. On my top five list of favorite operas, many a happy couple has gotten engaged at a performance of this incredibly romantic story.
Verdi’s Requiem is coming. On March 25 and 26, Masterworks Chorale will present this magnificent piece at Canada College in Redwood City. This is my new favorite flute solo part! Listen to the Vienna Philharmonic, with Joan Sutherland, soprano, Marilyn Horne, contralto, Luciano Pavarotti, tenor, and Martti Talvela, bass.
For tickets, http://www.masterworks.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_y0K8oWvM
Tonight, February 11 2017, we open Silent Night, by Kevin Puts. This opera was written only five years ago and immediately won a Pulitzer prize. It tells the true story of the Christmas day during World War 2, when the war stopped. This will be the west coast premiere! Here is the excellent review: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/review-silent-night-opera-gets-stirring-west-cast-premiere-in-san-jose/
OperaSJ.org for tickets.
Here comes Bugs Bunny! Bugs Barber of Seville
Actually, we will be doing the inspiration for lots of laughs from Walt Disney, “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini. 
Opera San Jose at the California Theater, opening on November 12, 2016. Listen to the masterpiece overture, theme to Bugs’ wonderful scene. Overture Barber of Seville
The Sound of Music is coming to town! I will be the flutist for this traveling Broadway production, at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose, November 8 through 13, 2016.
See the fun promotional video. Sound of Music video
For tickets, Sound of Music tickets
On October 1 and 2, 2016, I will be performing with Santa Cruz Symphony in a wonderful program, featuring Shostakovich 5th symphony. This has been called the greatest symphony of the 20th century. A gorgeous, heartbreaking work. At the Civic Center. Listen to the magnificent finale with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. Shostakovich 5
Opening September 10, 2016, Opera San Jose will present “Lucia de Lammermoor”. A beautiful but doomed heroine in a Scottish castle! One young theater goer said:
“Lucia’s voice cut through literally everything else in a 50-yard radius and made my head vibrate all the way back in the most distant lower seats. The show had excellent props, costumes and lighting. The flute solo (which Lucia was kind enough to accompany) was absolutely magnificent. In fact, the entire flute section was fabulous and was one of the few sections that could rival the lead singers’ decibels. Overall this was a pleasant experience and real eye-opener for my lady, who was picturing the woman with the horned helmet and braided pigtails on our way in and commenting on how cool the blood was on the way out. We’ll be back for many more shows from OSJ.” 
For tickets: Opera San Jose
Through August 28, 2016, The Lamplighters will present our hilarious “The New Mikado“. My personal favorite of their wonderful collaboration! This one is a real sparkler, and funnier than ever. Lamplighters tickets
Listen to my favorite song from this show. Not what they are singing below, though, haha! Different part of the show! Three Little Maids from School
This June and July, 2016, it’s the San Francisco Merola opera program. Marvelous young opera singers performing the classics. An orchestra of old professionals 🙂 Sometimes there might be a llama,
But there are always really pretty costumes.
Listen to the piccolo solo in the second act of The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky: (that is me in our production) Rakes Progress Act 2
Here’s the link: San Francisco Opera Merola Production
On Wednesday, May 18, we will perform the magnificent Saint John Passion, by Bach, In the breathtaking Stanford Memorial Church.
Listen to my favorite part to play in this piece, the aria “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” (I follow Thee also), for flute and soprano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJzh1S_eu8M
for tickets, Stanford tickets
This weekend, May 6 and 7, we perform Beethoven’s 9th symphony with Santa Cruz Symphony. Also on the program is Esa-Pekka Salonen’s fascinating “NYX”. This will be a dramatic and beautiful concert! For tickets, http://santacruzsymphony.org/
Actually, the picture above is the Vienna Philharmonic playing Beethoven’s 9th. But we will look just like that! To watch this incredible symphony, check out the Chicago Symphony performance of last year. At ONE HOUR into the concert, the piccolo player finally gets to play, and it is worth the wait!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOjHhS5MtvA
April 18, 2016. We just finished opening weekend of “A Streetcar Named Desire” at Opera San Jose. Music by Andre Previn. Four more performances! This opera is compelling and dramatic. Not for the faint of heart, but worth the effort! The orchestra is onstage, and almost part of the action.
Schola Cantorum will present Beethoven’s Mass in C and the Lord Nelson Mass, March 20 at 3pm, Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. This will be a gorgeous afternoon of music!
On March 19, come sing along for Frederick’s leap year birthday! It’s the Lamplighter’s annual Pirates of Penzance bash, also at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts, 8pm.
for tickets, lamplighters
Three new productions starting this weekend of February 12! Tonight, Ruddigore, the comic operetta of Gilbert and Sullivan. We will perform this show in Walnut Creek, San Francisco (where we are making the cast recording), and Mountain View.
Tomorrow night February 13, we open with Carmen at Opera San Jose. I wish everyone could see this epic work, but unfortunately we do not have enough seats even with six performances. It is sold out!
On Sunday, for Valentines Day, a romantic evening with the Fremont Symphony. Ravel’s Bolero, and many more wonderful works. http://fremontsymphony.org/
Coming up, Mozart’s masterpiece, The Marriage of Figaro” At the gorgeous and historic California Theater in San Jose. This is probably the silliest, yet the most sublimely beautiful of all Mozart operas! OperaSanJose
This weekend, October 24 and 25, we will be performing music of Bach and Mozart with Masterworks Chorale at Carlmont high school. In the Bach b minor mass, the flute is featured prominently in the Domine Deus. That will be me! http://www.masterworks.org
Here is a wonderful performance of this movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWMn7PkOFjY
On September 12, we open Tosca with Opera San Jose. Puccini’s epic tale of love and revenge! Listen to Luciano Pavarotti sing Mario Cavaradossi’s sad final letter to Tosca, from his prison cell.
Opening on July 31, HMS Pinafore with Lamplighters Music Theatre! Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular show, and for good reason. We will perform it in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Mountain View and Livermore. Runs through August 23.
Here is the wonderful overture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5wEeUhsRnM
On July 23 and 25, it’s Puccini’s hilarious opera buffa, Gianni Schicchi at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Listen to the famous aria, “
O Mio Babbino Caro” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6bSrGbak1g
Reading the will……….nobody is happy!
This Saturday, July 11, Opera in the Park with the wonderful Merola Opera singers. Picnic begins at 10:30, when we start our rehearsal on the stage at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco. Concert begins at 2pm.
On June 6, Darth Vader comes to town! As well as Indiana Jones, E.T., Harry Potter, and other characters from great movies scored by the legendary John Williams. Pops with Santa Cruz Symphony, 8pm!
Opening on April 18, Mozart’s Masterpiece, “Die Zauberflöte” (The Magic Flute). This is considered by many to be his greatest work. Plus, it is hilariously funny!
For one week only, March 3 through 8, Cinderella comes to town. This is a Broadway national tour. http://broadwaysanjose.com/cinderella/
Where Angels Fear to Tread, a new opera based on the novel by E.M. Forster, opens at the California Theater on February 7. This will be a world premiere and an epic production!
Coming up: Italian Girl in Algiers, by Giochino Rossini. This is a verrrry silly opera, and a ton of fun! Opening on November 7. www.operasj.org
Wicked was AMAZING. Here was my setup: flute, alto flute, piccolo, soprano recorder, and last but not least, penny whistle.
And here was me!
Opening August 1, Pirates of Penzance! Lamplighters Music Theatre. http://lamplighters.org
On August 27, we open in San Jose with the Broadway tour of Wicked. Not to be missed!
Opening on September 6, it will be Rigoletto at Opera San Jose. Verdi’s tragic opera of the jester who loved his only daughter. Information and tickets at OperaSanJose
On July 17 and 19, it was San Francisco Opera, summer music program. A concert, semi staged, free in the park on Saturday the 19th, and inside a beautiful theater in the evening on the 17th.
Back in April, Mozart’s epic opera DON GIOVANNI at Opera San Jose. Considered to be Mozart’s most perfect opera! OperaSanJose
On March 22 and 23, it was Carl Orff’s masterpiece CARMINA BURANA, at Hillsdale High School. Carl Orff conceived Carmina Burana as a fully-staged production including not only a full chorus and soloists and a very large orchestra, but also scenery, costumes, and dancers.
In February, 2014, it was the epic story of Madame Butterfly, in Puccini’s masterpiece. Opera San Jose, at the California Theater in San Jose.
more information and tickets at OperaSanJose
In December, it was Nutcracker!
As always, I played flute and piccolo for all performances of this wonderful holiday show, at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose.
In November, it was Evita, the national tour! At the Center for the Performing Arts, in San Jose.
Also in November, Hansel and Gretel at Opera San Jose.
Whew, busy month! We also performed “Elijah”, by Felix Mendelssohn, one of the great masterpieces of the repertoire for chorus and orchestra, with Masterworks Chorale.
It’s so much fun to play with a big chorus!! Masterworks Chorale presents “Jubilate Deo” this weekend, June 11 and 12, 2022. We will perform right here in San Mateo! I will be playing the flute, alto flute, and piccolo for this wonderful piece. To purchase tickets, Masterworks Chorale
Starting on May 20, 2022, West Bay Opera presents “Pique Dame”, or “The Queen of Spades”. I will be playing the gorgeous Principal Flute part for this lavish opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. West Bay Opera performs at the Lucy Stern Theater in Palo Alto and is a gem of an opera company, supported by legions of community benefactors. In Russian, with English subtitles.
On April 16 2022, we open West Side Story at Opera San Jose. This is a first for us! It will be absolutely epic. For tickets, www.operasj.org
On March 26 and 27, we perform a wonderful concert at Symphony San Jose! Among other gorgeous pieces, we will present Respighi’s Feste Romane. This piece has a killer piccolo part and I am truly loving putting it together. Here is the amazing fourth movement. Feste Romane
My husband and son were on this set with me! Here we are outside the stage door.
CARMEN!! The most popular opera of all time….and for good reason. Our Carmen, sung by Nikola Printz, identifies in their Twitter bio as a “queer, trans, trapeze-swinging-them-fatale.” Not to be missed. We open on February 12, 2022 – back in the gorgeous California Theater! www.operasj.org
Here is a beautiful performance of the Entr’acte flute solo, by Emmanual Pahud. Pahud plays Carmen
Now we have officially moved indoors! What joy. The annual Gala fundraiser – entirely written by the fabulously talented Lamplighters! Sunday October 17, 2021, at the lovely Herbst Theater in San Francisco.
August, 2021: Welcome back to live music!!
Opening on February 15 2020, and NOT a good Valentine’s outing, Verdi’s masterpiece Il Trovatore. This opera has such a complicated plot, I am not going to attempt to explain it but rather move on to other aspects of its greatness. For one thing, it is truly a hit parade of great songs! And the way the singers voices are used! Luciano Pavarotti once remarked that this opera can be performed by any company; all you need are the best soprano, alto, tenor and bass in the world. Listen to a sampling of music from this epic work. Il Trovatore
Just in time for the holidays, Hansel and Gretel has come to town. We open on Saturday, November 16 2019. This is a beautiful and fun opera for the entire family. Kids are especially invited! Watch a wonderful performance! Hansel and Gretel with the Vienna Philharmonic
Opening September 14 2019, Die Fledermaus, or The Revenge of the Bat! This hilarious opera was written by Johann Strauss, “The Waltz King”. Listen to the famous overture! Fledermaus
On August 3 2019, “We Sail the Ocean Blue” on HMS Pinafore with Lamplighters Music Theatre. This is Gilbert and Sullivan’s most beloved comic opera, and not to be missed! At Performing Arts Centers in Walnut Creek, San Francisco, Livermore and Mountain View. Watch a complete performance of this most beloved operetta. HMS Pinafore
Opening on May 24 2019, It’s Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi at West Bay Opera. This is a hilarious but also moving and sensual opera, Verdi’s last. Here are some highlights from the article in wikipedia: By 1889 Verdi had been an opera composer for more than fifty years. He had written 27 operas, of which only one was a comedy.His fellow composer Rossini commented that he admired Verdi greatly, but thought him incapable of writing a comedy. Verdi disagreed and said that he longed to write another light-hearted opera, but nobody would give him the chance. He commented, “After having relentlessly massacred so many heroes and heroines, I have at last the right to laugh a little.” He confided his ambition to the librettist of Otello, Arrigo Boito. Boito said nothing at the time, but he secretly began work on a libretto based on The Merry Wives of Windsor with additional material taken from Henry IV, parts 1 and 2.
Verdi accepted the need to trim Shakespeare’s plot to keep the opera within an acceptable length. He was sorry, nonetheless, to see the loss of Falstaff’s second humiliation, dressed up as the Wise Woman of Brentford to escape from Ford. He wrote of his desire to do justice to Shakespeare: “To sketch the characters in a few strokes, to weave the plot, to extract all the juice from that enormous Shakespearian orange”.
Watch one of the funniest scenes, where the Mistress Quickly comes to set the trap.
Coming to the California Theater in San Jose, Madame Butterfly. We open on April 13. This opera is sad but indescribably beautiful. After all these years, I still cry when I play it! Listen to “Un belle di, vedremo”.
One good day, we will see arising a strand of smoke
Over the far horizon on the sea
And then the ship appears
And then the ship is white
It enters into the port, it rumbles its salute.
I don’t go down to meet him, not I.
I stay upon the edge of the hill
And I wait a long time
but I do not grow weary of the long wait.
And leaving from the crowded city,
A man, a little speck
Climbing the hill.
Who is it? Who is it?
And as he arrives
What will he say? What will he say?
He will call Butterfly from the distance
I without answering
Stay hidden
A little to tease him,
A little as to not die.
At the first meeting,
And then a little troubled
He will call, he will call
“Little one, dear wife
Blossom of orange”
The names he called me at his last coming.
All this will happen,
I promise you this
Hold back your fears –
I with secure faith wait for him.
For tickets, Opera San Jose
On March 23 and 24, Masterworks Chorale will present the magnificent Ein Deutsches Requiem by Johannes Brahms. This is a towering work and to play the gorgeous flute part is an honor. Listen to the lovely fourth movement, “How Lovely are Thy Dwelling Places”.
O Lord of Hosts!
My soul requires and yearns for
the courts of the Lord;
My body and soul rejoice
in the living God.
Opening March 21, The Lamplighters will present Trial by Jury but Gilbert and Sullivan. Hilarious and wonderfully satirical. At the Mountain View Center for the Arts, Walnut CPA and Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Lamplighters tickets
Moby Dick on stage! Need we say more…this magnificent opera opens on Saturday, February 9 at the California Theater in San Jose. Watch a short peek into the recent SF Opera production. Moby Dick sneak peak
For tickets to our show, OperaSanJose Box Office
On November 17 2018, Opera San Jose’s Pagliacci comes to the California Theater. This opera is famous for the sad lament of Canio, “Veste la Giubba” (put on the costume).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hxonfpfuTY
Listen to the wonderful prologue, in which Tonio the clown reminds the audience that actors have feelings too, and this show will be about real people. Fun piccolo part!
Opening September 15 2018, Mozart’s hilarious Abduction From the Seraglio. This opera was inspired by a contemporary interest in the exotic culture of the Ottoman Empire, a nation which had only recently ceased to be a military threat to Austria. Mozart’s opera includes a Westernized version of Turkish music, based very loosely on the Turkish Janissary band music. He used the piccolo in such a fun way, part of the Turkish band. Listen to the wonderful overture, where no flutes play, ONLY the piccolo!
July 2018, I will be performing with San Francisco Opera Merola productions offer Mozart’s “Il Re Pastore” and Igor Stravinski’s “Rake’s Progress“.
Watch a hilarious scene from Rake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6e4Fba8uJQ
May, 2018. Santa Cruz Symphony will present the final concert of their 60th season. The magnificent Mahler Symphony #2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHsFIv8VA7w
Watch this presentation on PBS about this epic symphony :
https://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/121173057/mahlers-apocalyptic-second-symphony
Opening on April 14 2018, Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata, or “la Dame Aux Camelias”. At the California Theater in San Jose. This opera has it all: wonderful songs, dancing, love, betrayal and reconciliation. And such fun to play! Tickets at www.operasj.org.
Here is the stunning overture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEzEa_LUy84
On March 24 and 25 2018, another fun program with the Santa Cruz Symphony. We will present the overture to Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro“, then a world premiere by our director Danny Stewart entitled “Social Media“, followed by several other not-to-be-missed masterpieces. Here is a wonderful performance of the magical overture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvyA2t8A2uk
This weekend, March 17 and 18 2018, Masterworks Chorale will present “The Armed Man“, a mass for peace by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. This piece was premiered in 2000. In addition to extracts from the Ordinary of the Mass, the text incorporates words from other religious and historical sources, including the Islamic call to prayer, the Bible (e.g. the Psalms and Revelation), and the Mahabharata. Writers whose words appear in the work include Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Sankichi Toge, who survived the Hiroshima bombing but died some years later of leukaemia.
For tickets, please go to http://www.masterworks.org/
On February 10, 2018, Opera San Jose presents Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman!
They promise this will be their most lavish production, EVER! Not to be missed. This is such a FUN opera to play! Here is a beautiful video of the overture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirxO95WKq8
Saturday and Sunday January 27 and 28, 2018 – it’s the magnificent Scheherazade, with the Santa Cruz Symphony!
The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales, told seriatim, for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely. Here is a fun performance of this magnificent piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4w4_W30aQ
tickets at https://santacruzsymphony.org/
December 16, 2017: Opening tonight, Cinderella by Alma Deutscher! Alma is all of twelve years old and has written this opera plus a violin concerto AND a piano concerto, both of which she performs herself. What an amazing young woman. Watch a documentary about her on 60 Minutes: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/alma-deutscher/
Our production will be the U.S. premiere. A few tickets are still available for the performance on Friday, December 22. www.OperaSJ.org
Cinderella will be streamed on free cable soon. More details later!
Through October 22, West Bay Opera will present Norma, Bellini’s masterpiece of bel canto tragedy. At the Lucy Stern Theater in Palo Alto. http://www.westbayopera.org/
Listen to Norma’s famous aria, “Casta diva”. The flute introduces the melody before the soprano sings. One of the most divine moments in opera!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBNO-NZ59Bs
Just in time to honor Cassini’s final days, On October 7 and 8, 2017, Santa Cruz Symphony will present Gustav Holst’s magnificent Orchestral Suite, “The Planets“. I am so excited to be a part of this production! Listen to “Jupiter” performed by James Levine and the Chicago Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo
Opening on September 9, 2017, I will be performing with Opera San Jose in Mozart’s lively and hilarious opera, Cosi Fan Tutte. Listen to the magnificent overture: cosi overture
for tickets, www.operasj.org
This wonderful month of July, 2017, the San Francisco Opera Merola company will present their summer festival, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the War Memorial Opera House. http://merola.org/home
Savitri, by Gustav Holst, deals with themes of mortality and love. A tear jerker and stunning experience. Watch a performance starring Janet Baker, with the English Chamber Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5meFq1hxfD
Then, for something completely different, we will present Rossini’s frothy La Cenerentola.
I can’t believe my good fortune to get to play the Verdi Requiem twice, in two months! This time was with the Santa Cruz Symphony, playing the piccolo part. What an amazing role the piccolo plays; I didn’t really realize it last March when I was two seats over, playing those to-die-for flute solos! And the music critic liked it too; he very kindly mentioned me by name.
http://www.peninsulareviews.com/2017/05/07/santa-cruz-symphony-verdis-requiem/
Opening April 15, 2017, it is Puccini’s La Boheme. On my top five list of favorite operas, many a happy couple has gotten engaged at a performance of this incredibly romantic story.
Verdi’s Requiem is coming. On March 25 and 26, Masterworks Chorale will present this magnificent piece at Canada College in Redwood City. This is my new favorite flute solo part! Listen to the Vienna Philharmonic, with Joan Sutherland, soprano, Marilyn Horne, contralto, Luciano Pavarotti, tenor, and Martti Talvela, bass.
For tickets, http://www.masterworks.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_y0K8oWvM
Tonight, February 11 2017, we open Silent Night, by Kevin Puts. This opera was written only five years ago and immediately won a Pulitzer prize. It tells the true story of the Christmas day during World War 2, when the war stopped. This will be the west coast premiere! Here is the excellent review: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/review-silent-night-opera-gets-stirring-west-cast-premiere-in-san-jose/
OperaSJ.org for tickets.
Here comes Bugs Bunny! Bugs Barber of Seville
Actually, we will be doing the inspiration for lots of laughs from Walt Disney, “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini. Opera San Jose at the California Theater, opening on November 12, 2016. Listen to the masterpiece overture, theme to Bugs’ wonderful scene. Overture Barber of Seville
The Sound of Music is coming to town! I will be the flutist for this traveling Broadway production, at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose, November 8 through 13, 2016.
See the fun promotional video. Sound of Music video
For tickets, Sound of Music tickets
On October 1 and 2, 2016, I will be performing with Santa Cruz Symphony in a wonderful program, featuring Shostakovich 5th symphony. This has been called the greatest symphony of the 20th century. A gorgeous, heartbreaking work. At the Civic Center. Listen to the magnificent finale with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. Shostakovich 5
Opening September 10, 2016, Opera San Jose will present “Lucia de Lammermoor”. A beautiful but doomed heroine in a Scottish castle! One young theater goer said:
“Lucia’s voice cut through literally everything else in a 50-yard radius and made my head vibrate all the way back in the most distant lower seats. The show had excellent props, costumes and lighting. The flute solo (which Lucia was kind enough to accompany) was absolutely magnificent. In fact, the entire flute section was fabulous and was one of the few sections that could rival the lead singers’ decibels. Overall this was a pleasant experience and real eye-opener for my lady, who was picturing the woman with the horned helmet and braided pigtails on our way in and commenting on how cool the blood was on the way out. We’ll be back for many more shows from OSJ.”
For tickets: Opera San Jose
Through August 28, 2016, The Lamplighters will present our hilarious “The New Mikado“. My personal favorite of their wonderful collaboration! This one is a real sparkler, and funnier than ever. Lamplighters tickets
Listen to my favorite song from this show. Not what they are singing below, though, haha! Different part of the show! Three Little Maids from School
This June and July, 2016, it’s the San Francisco Merola opera program. Marvelous young opera singers performing the classics. An orchestra of old professionals 🙂 Sometimes there might be a llama,
But there are always really pretty costumes.
Listen to the piccolo solo in the second act of The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky: (that is me in our production) Rakes Progress Act 2
Here’s the link: San Francisco Opera Merola Production
On Wednesday, May 18, we will perform the magnificent Saint John Passion, by Bach, In the breathtaking Stanford Memorial Church.
Listen to my favorite part to play in this piece, the aria “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” (I follow Thee also), for flute and soprano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJzh1S_eu8M
for tickets, Stanford tickets
This weekend, May 6 and 7, we perform Beethoven’s 9th symphony with Santa Cruz Symphony. Also on the program is Esa-Pekka Salonen’s fascinating “NYX”. This will be a dramatic and beautiful concert! For tickets, http://santacruzsymphony.org/
Actually, the picture above is the Vienna Philharmonic playing Beethoven’s 9th. But we will look just like that! To watch this incredible symphony, check out the Chicago Symphony performance of last year. At ONE HOUR into the concert, the piccolo player finally gets to play, and it is worth the wait!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOjHhS5MtvA
April 18, 2016. We just finished opening weekend of “A Streetcar Named Desire” at Opera San Jose. Music by Andre Previn. Four more performances! This opera is compelling and dramatic. Not for the faint of heart, but worth the effort! The orchestra is onstage, and almost part of the action.
Schola Cantorum will present Beethoven’s Mass in C and the Lord Nelson Mass, March 20 at 3pm, Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. This will be a gorgeous afternoon of music!
On March 19, come sing along for Frederick’s leap year birthday! It’s the Lamplighter’s annual Pirates of Penzance bash, also at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts, 8pm.
for tickets, lamplighters
Three new productions starting this weekend of February 12! Tonight, Ruddigore, the comic operetta of Gilbert and Sullivan. We will perform this show in Walnut Creek, San Francisco (where we are making the cast recording), and Mountain View.
Tomorrow night February 13, we open with Carmen at Opera San Jose. I wish everyone could see this epic work, but unfortunately we do not have enough seats even with six performances. It is sold out!
On Sunday, for Valentines Day, a romantic evening with the Fremont Symphony. Ravel’s Bolero, and many more wonderful works. http://fremontsymphony.org/
Coming up, Mozart’s masterpiece, The Marriage of Figaro” At the gorgeous and historic California Theater in San Jose. This is probably the silliest, yet the most sublimely beautiful of all Mozart operas! OperaSanJose
This weekend, October 24 and 25, we will be performing music of Bach and Mozart with Masterworks Chorale at Carlmont high school. In the Bach b minor mass, the flute is featured prominently in the Domine Deus. That will be me! http://www.masterworks.org
Here is a wonderful performance of this movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWMn7PkOFjY
On September 12, we open Tosca with Opera San Jose. Puccini’s epic tale of love and revenge! Listen to Luciano Pavarotti sing Mario Cavaradossi’s sad final letter to Tosca, from his prison cell.
Opening on July 31, HMS Pinafore with Lamplighters Music Theatre! Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular show, and for good reason. We will perform it in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Mountain View and Livermore. Runs through August 23.
Here is the wonderful overture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5wEeUhsRnM
On July 23 and 25, it’s Puccini’s hilarious opera buffa, Gianni Schicchi at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Listen to the famous aria, “
O Mio Babbino Caro” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6bSrGbak1g
Reading the will……….nobody is happy!
This Saturday, July 11, Opera in the Park with the wonderful Merola Opera singers. Picnic begins at 10:30, when we start our rehearsal on the stage at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco. Concert begins at 2pm.
On June 6, Darth Vader comes to town! As well as Indiana Jones, E.T., Harry Potter, and other characters from great movies scored by the legendary John Williams. Pops with Santa Cruz Symphony, 8pm!
Opening on April 18, Mozart’s Masterpiece, “Die Zauberflöte” (The Magic Flute). This is considered by many to be his greatest work. Plus, it is hilariously funny!
For one week only, March 3 through 8, Cinderella comes to town. This is a Broadway national tour. http://broadwaysanjose.com/cinderella/
Where Angels Fear to Tread, a new opera based on the novel by E.M. Forster, opens at the California Theater on February 7. This will be a world premiere and an epic production!
Coming up: Italian Girl in Algiers, by Giochino Rossini. This is a verrrry silly opera, and a ton of fun! Opening on November 7. www.operasj.org
Wicked was AMAZING. Here was my setup: flute, alto flute, piccolo, soprano recorder, and last but not least, penny whistle.
And here was me!
Opening August 1, Pirates of Penzance! Lamplighters Music Theatre. http://lamplighters.org
On August 27, we open in San Jose with the Broadway tour of Wicked. Not to be missed!
Opening on September 6, it will be Rigoletto at Opera San Jose. Verdi’s tragic opera of the jester who loved his only daughter. Information and tickets at OperaSanJose
On July 17 and 19, it was San Francisco Opera, summer music program. A concert, semi staged, free in the park on Saturday the 19th, and inside a beautiful theater in the evening on the 17th.
Back in April, Mozart’s epic opera DON GIOVANNI at Opera San Jose. Considered to be Mozart’s most perfect opera! OperaSanJose
On March 22 and 23, it was Carl Orff’s masterpiece CARMINA BURANA, at Hillsdale High School. Carl Orff conceived Carmina Burana as a fully-staged production including not only a full chorus and soloists and a very large orchestra, but also scenery, costumes, and dancers.
In February, 2014, it was the epic story of Madame Butterfly, in Puccini’s masterpiece. Opera San Jose, at the California Theater in San Jose.
more information and tickets at OperaSanJose
In December, it was Nutcracker!
As always, I played flute and piccolo for all performances of this wonderful holiday show, at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose.
In November, it was Evita, the national tour! At the Center for the Performing Arts, in San Jose.
Also in November, Hansel and Gretel at Opera San Jose.
Whew, busy month! We also performed “Elijah”, by Felix Mendelssohn, one of the great masterpieces of the repertoire for chorus and orchestra, with Masterworks Chorale.