Courses
To register, complete and return the Registration Form (link at left).
200: Who's Afraid of Opera?
201: Alexander Technique
202: Jazz Piano
203: Singing German Songs and Arias
204: Performance Workshop for Singers
205: Intermediate Musicianship
206: Class Piano I and II
207: Music Appreciation: An Overview of Western Music History
208: Cello Ensembles
209: Italian Literature
210: The Psychology of Performance
200: WHO'S AFRAID OF OPERA?
Clifford "Kip" Cranna
Starting April 6
Mondays, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
4 classes, $175
It's Grand. It's Glorious. It's larger than Life. It's Opera.
· Curious about opera but don't know where to get started?
· Know a little about opera but want to know more?
· Love opera but would like better background knowledge?
Join San Francisco Opera's Director of Musical Administration Kip Cranna, a noted Bay Area music appreciation speaker, as he offers an insider's look at the world of opera, and brings some clarity to the confusion that often prevents real enjoyment of this glorious art form.
Using video and audio examples, the class will focus on listening skills to help you increase your enjoyment of opera in performance. No previous opera experience or knowledge necessary, just come prepared to listen, watch, ask questions and enjoy.
We'll discuss such basic topics as:
· How did it all get started? And why?
· Define terms
· What to listen for
· What comes first: words or music?
· Appreciating styles: Italian, French, German, English
and (yes!) American opera
· Understanding voices: how to tell a good singer
from a great one
· Form and Function: insights into how operas
are shaped dramatically
Kip Cranna received an undergraduate degree in choral conducting at the University of North Dakota and a Ph.D. in musicology at Stanford University. He is Director of Musical Administration for San Francisco Opera, where he has been a staff member since 1979. He oversees scheduling and rehearsals, and acts as liaison with conductors and directors. Dr. Cranna also actively coordinates the commissioning and development of new works. He was recently awarded the San Francisco Opera Medal, the Company's highest honor.
201: ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
Robert Britton
Starting March 2
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
6 classes, $220
The Alexander Technique is helpful for musicians who wish to play with more coordination and freedom. Understanding the subtleties of how the head, torso, breath, and limbs relate to each other enables us to make music at our full potential of power and expression. Unconscious habits of movement can lead to excess muscle tensions, which can lead to pain and injury as well as dampening the free flow of communication with the audience. In this class, we will enjoyably explore how to use our muscles, joints, and awareness to bring the entire body into an efficient relationship with instruments and the voice.
Robert Britton graduated as an Alexander Technique teacher in 1978. In addition to his private practice in San Francisco and Marin County, he has taught the Alexander Technique to musicians at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1984. He served as chairman of the American Society for the Alexander Technique from 1997 to 1999. He has helped train Alexander Technique teachers since 1989, and teaches at the Alexander Educational Center in Berkeley He regularly teaches in Berlin at the Ausbildungszentrum für F.M. Alexander-Technik Berlin, as well as contributing to the well being of the international Alexander Technique Affiliated Societies, and the Annual Members Meeting of the Affiliated Societies. He is also a faculty member of the Bay Area Summer Opera Training Institute (BASOTI).
202: JAZZ PIANO
Tim Price
Starting February 3
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
8 classes, $295
Jazz Piano Class is designed for pianists who are interested in learning how to play jazz. Students learn popular jazz melodies and build simple and effective accompaniments from chord symbols. Common jazz chord progressions and melodic clichés are presented by the instructor in an easy to understand way, giving students a jump start on their rewarding journey into jazz improvisation. In the SFCM Keyboard Lab, each student is provided their own keyboard and headphones to use in this hands-on class. Students proceed at their own pace, receiving one-on-one instruction that is shaped to match their interests and level of ability. Essential jazz listening lists and recommended books give students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of jazz, both as a player and as a listener. A custom play-a-long CD is provided to give students the opportunity to learn tunes at home while playing with a drummer and bass player anytime!
Tim Price is a freelance woodwind and keyboard performer. He has performed with many artists including James Moody, Gary Foster, Bill Yeager, Kim Richmond, Eddie Marshall, Dmitri Metheny and John Tchichai. His group, The Tim Price Jazz Orchestra performs his original compositions and arrangements in the Bay Area.
203: SINGING GERMAN SONGS AND ARIAS
Anja Strauss
Starting February 9
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
8 classes, $295
The class will meet on February 9, 16, 23; March 2, 9, 23, 30 & April 6
This class - taught by native German singer Anja Strauss- serves as a hands-on approach to the preparation of German songs and arias. The class will meet weekly and each participant will present selections of their choice. Repertoire may be suggested by the instructor upon student's request. Students are expected to prepare assigned song selections on their own, and all songs will be performed and discussed in class. This class will conclude with a public recital.
Covered topics will include:
· International Phonetic Alphabet
· German Diction
· Tools for translation/interpretation of German poetry and text
· Musical interpretation and execution
· The singer-pianist relationship
· Breaking down the formal barrier between
performer and audience
Prerequisites: Open to intermediate/advanced singers; max 10 students
Anja Strauss holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Musikhochschule Luebeck (M.M.), Germany. She is active as an opera, concert, and lied performer. Appearances include Carnegie's Weill Hall and Lincoln Center, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Fremont Symphony, Mozart Society CA, festivals in San Antonio, TX, Madison,WI, Olympic Music Festival WA; opera performances with Sacramento Opera, San Francisco Lyric, Lamplighters Theater, Pacific Repertory Opera, Pocket Opera, Stockton Opera, and German opera companies of Luebeck, Kiel, Potsdam and Detmold. She has worked as a German diction coach at the 2008 San Francisco Opera's Merola program and offers German, Italian, French, and Spanish diction.
204: PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP FOR SINGERS
Anja Strauss
Starting February 11
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
8 classes, $295
The class will meet on: February 11, 18, 25; March 4, 11, 25 & April 1, 8
This class will provide a safe environment for singers of all levels to enhance their performance skills. The class will meet weekly and each participant will present selections of their choice. Students are encouraged to critique each other. We will then work on improving stage presence, such as introducing yourself and your repertoire, physical presentation and getting into character.
Covered topics will include:
· Stage presence (introductions, bowing, etc.)
· Body language and acting tools (How to get into character)
· Musical interpretation and execution
· Breaking down the formal barrier between
performer and audience
· Auditioning
· Video-taped performance with viewing session and discussion
Prerequisites: Open to singers of all levels; max. 10 students
Anja Strauss holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Musikhochschule Luebeck (M.M.), Germany. She is active as an opera, concert, and lied performer. Appearances include Carnegie's Weill Hall and Lincoln Center, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Fremont Symphony, Mozart Society CA, festivals in San Antonio, TX, Madison,WI, Olympic Music Festival WA; opera performances with Sacramento Opera, San Francisco Lyric, Lamplighters Theater, Pacific Repertory Opera, Pocket Opera, Stockton Opera, and German opera companies of Luebeck, Kiel, Potsdam and Detmold. She has worked as a German diction coach at the 2008 San Francisco Opera's Merola program and offers German, Italian, French, and Spanish diction.
205: INTERMEDIATE MUSICIANSHIP
June Bonacich
Starting January 21
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
10 classes, $320
This is the second semester of a beginning course. Prerequisite: knowledge of treble and bass clef notes, basic rhythm, and a cursory knowledge of major scales and key signatures. We will start with a review of Major scales, key signatures and Primary triads, and then move on to minor keys, harmonic progressions, analysis, dictation, and harmonizing melodies.
June Bonacich received the Kris Getz Award for Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She teaches musicianship and composition in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Preparatory Division, is on the faculty of the Walden School, and was formerly on the San Francisco Boy's Chorus faculty. She received a B.A. from Cal State Sonoma and holds a M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
206: CLASS PIANO I AND II
Jacqueline Chew
Starting February 4
Wednesdays (no class 3/25)
Piano I - . 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Piano II -7:30-9:00 p.m
13 classes, $350
These classes approach playing the piano through understanding music theory with emphasis on sight-reading, transposition and rhythm. Piano I begins with music notation (rhythm and intervals). In conjunction with playing simple classical pieces, students learn major scales, relative and parallel minor scales and chords (tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant). Piano II explores these same subjects in greater depth, while adding seventh chords, practice techniques, ensemble, and analysis of students' repertoire.
Jacqueline Chew, known for her performances of Olivier Messiaen's music, has released a double-CD entitled Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus.
In preparation for this work, she coached with French pianist Roger Muraro as well as Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, for whom the piece was written. MSR Classics recently released her Sweet Irrational Worship: The Niles-Merton Songs
, recorded with baritone Chad Runyon. In addition to solo and chamber music concerts, Ms. Chew performed, toured, and recorded as pianist in the Women's Philharmonic from 1990-2004. She received degrees from the State University of New York, Binghamton and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and pursued private studies with Leonard Shure in Boston. Ms. Chew also teaches at the University of California at Berkeley.
207: MUSIC APPRECIATION: AN OVERVIEW OF WESTERN MUSIC HISTORY
Richard Roper
Starting January 25 (no class 2/15)
Sundays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
8 classes, $300
Join us on a journey which covers the major periods of Western music history. From Pythagoras to the present, this course takes you by the hand through the landmark achievements of our musical culture. See how the ancient Greeks have influenced Western musical thought in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Observe the emergence of opera and concert instrumental music during the baroque and classical eras. Empathize with the need for individual expression of the romantic artist. Appreciate the impact that world events have had on the history of music. Open your ears toward recent trends in music composition by discovering the work of today's composers. This series of lectures will provide an overview of our Western musical heritage. They will invite you to explore beyond the realm of your familiar musical territory.
Richard Roper holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Yale School of Music and the University of Maryland. Dr. Roper has served on the faculty of the University of Maine, and currently teaches at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, the Preparatory and Extension Divisions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and California State University Stanislaus. As a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, he spent a year studying trumpet in Paris, and also studied and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood Institute and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. In addition to teaching, he stays busy performing with many of the ensembles in Northern California.
208: CELLO ENSEMBLES
Barbara Wirth
Intermediate:
Starting January 31
Alternate Saturdays, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
9 classes, $270
Advanced:
Starting February 2
Alternate Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
9 classes, $270
Student ensembles will perform works recorded by notable groups including the Berlin Philharmonic Cellos, the Yale Cellos and the London Cello Sound. Students should have good intonation and rhythm and be comfortable with thumb position as well as bass, tenor and treble clefs.
Barbara Wirth received a B.M. from Northwestern University and a M.M. from Indiana University. She studied with Janos Starker and Pierre Fournier. She has been a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and has played for the San Francisco Symphony, Ballet, and Theater Orchestras. Ms. Wirth has taught cello for the Northwestern University Preparatory Department, Eastern Kentucky University, Louisville Academy of Music, Dominican College, San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco and is currently a member of the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
209: ITALIAN LITERATURE
Brian Neilson
Starting January 14
Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
15 classes, $415
In this course, conducted entirely in Italian, we will read and discuss Giorgio Bassani's moving and tragic novel of a Jewish family in Fascist Italy,
Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini.
Brian Neilson has taught at the Istituto Americano in Florence, the University of California, and, for over twenty years, in the Collegiate Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He received the George Sarlo Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Conservatory for the 2005-2006 academic year.
210: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE
Dana Fonteneau
Starting January 21
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
8 classes, $320
Have you ever struggled with performance anxiety? Ever felt that no matter how hard you practice, your thoughts and nerves undermine you at the very moment you want to do your best?
The Psychology of Performance is an experiential journey from performance anxiety to performance empowerment. This class explores the psychological aspects of performing - from mental preparation and visualization to successful practice techniques and audition preparation. The class is a mind/body tool kit that will identify and positively affect old habits that can sabotage performance and help you become the most successful performer you can be.
Class enrollment is limited to active performers and teachers, with the expectation of active participation.
Dana Fonteneau has the distinction of being equally fluent in the performing and fine arts. She has both an M.M. in Chamber Music performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is an active performer, teacher and healer. She is an associate MFTi at the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy, as well as a Reiki Master and Somato-Respiratory-Integration Wellness Educator. She brings her diverse background together to work with private clients to empower their performance in auditions and competitions. She is principal cellist of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and founding member of the Round Top String Quartet, California Piano Quartet and the Raven String Trio. She has collaborated with such artists as Robert Mann, Joel Krosnick, Donald Wallerstein and Gilbert Kalish. She currently serves on the faculty of the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions, teaching cello and chamber music.
