Adult Extension Division
Spring Semester 2012 Course Listings
To register, complete and return the Registration Form (link at left).
» Singing German Songs and Arias - starts February 13
» Performance Workshop for Singers - starts February 15
» Recreational Singing - starts February 27
» Music Appreciation: An Overview of Western Music History - starts January 29
» Alexander Technique - starts March 26
» Jazz Piano - starts February 7
» Intermediate Musicianship - starts February 8
» Class Piano I and II - starts February 1
» Cello Ensemble - Intermediate starts January 21, Advanced starts January 24
» Italian Literature - starts January 11
» American Mavericks - starts February 7
SINGING GERMAN SONGS AND ARIAS
Anja Strauss
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 13
Room 207
10 classes, $440
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 request. Students are expected to prepare assigned song selections on their own, and all songs will be performed and discussed in class. The class will conclude with a public recital on April 21, 2012, in the Recital Hall. An accompanist will be provided.
Course topics include:
Number of students: 10 maximum
PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP FOR SINGERS
Anja Strauss
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 15
Room 323
10 classes, $440
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. An accompanist will be provided. This class will conclude with a public recital on April 21, 2012, in the Recital Hall.
Course topics include:
Number of students: 10 maximum
Anja Strauss holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Musikhochschule Luebeck, Germany, and is active as an opera, concert and lied performer. She has appeared at Carnegie's Weill Hall and Lincoln Center, with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Fremont Symphony, Mozart Society of California and at festivals in San Antonio and Madison as well as the Olympic Music Festival. Opera performances include Sacramento Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Lamplighters Theatre, Pacific Repertory Opera, Pocket Opera, Stockton Opera and the German opera companies of Luebeck, Kiel, Potsdam and Detmold, as well as collaborations with conductors such as Kent Nagano. She has worked repeatedly as a German diction coach at the San Francisco Opera.
RECREATIONAL SINGING
Helen Dilworth
Mondays, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Starting February 27
Room 201
4 classes, $130
"Since singing is so good a thing, I'd like all people to learn to sing." That's ancient and current wisdom from composer William Byrd. Singing is fun, healthy and educational. In this basic and primarily community singing class, special attention will be available for skill building in pitch, rhythm and expression, as well as breath control, range extension and projection.
Dr. Helen Dilworth is a distinguished teacher, administrator and soprano accomplished in a broad range of musical styles. She delights in helping singers to develop their voices and performance skills. Winner of the San Francisco Opera's Merola, Metropolitan Saunderson and Graz Mastersinger awards, "Dr. Diva" has taught at San Francisco State University, Jazz Camp, Gospel Workshops, professional conferences and community colleges. She has toured in America, China, Japan and Puerto Rico. Her students perform pop, classical, opera, Broadway, folk, religious and many other types of music. She is on the voice faculty of the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions.
MUSIC APPRECIATION: An Overview of Western Musical History
Richard Roper
Sundays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting January 29
Room 207
8 classes, $315
Join us on a journey which covers the major periods of Western music history. From Pythagoras to Philip Glass, this course takes you 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. This series of lectures will provide an overview of our Western musical heritage, inviting you to explore beyond the realm of your familiar musical territory.
Richard Roper Richard Roper holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Yale School of Music and the University of Maryland. He has been a faculty member at the University of Maine and currently teaches in the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and at California State University-Stanislaus. As a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar he spent a year studying trumpet in Paris, and he has also studied and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood Institute and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. In addition to teaching, he stays busy performing with many Northern California ensembles.
ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
Robert Britton
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting March 26
Room 207
6 classes, $230
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. He is also actively involved in the international Alexander Technique Affiliated Societies and contributes to its Annual Members Meeting of the Affiliated Societies. In addition, he is a faculty member of the Bay Area Summer Opera Training Institute.
INTERMEDIATE MUSICIANSHIP
June Bonacich
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 8
Room 201
10 classes, $330
A continuation of Beginning Musicianship, this course covers the following musical elements:
June Bonacich received the Kris Getz Award for Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She teaches musicianship and composition in the Conservatory's Preparatory Division and was formerly on the San Francisco Boys Chorus faculty. She received a B.A. from Sonoma State University and holds an M.M. from the Conservatory.
CLASS PIANO I and II
Jacqueline Chew
Wednesdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Piano II
Wednesdays, 7:30-9:00 p.m. Piano I
Starting February 1
Room C01
13 classes, $430
These classes approach playing the piano through an understanding of 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 subdominant). 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, Chew performed, toured and recorded as pianist in the Women's Philharmonic from 1990 to 2004. She received degrees from the State University of New York–Binghamton and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and studied privately with Leonard Shure in Boston. Chew also teaches at the University of California–Berkeley.
CELLO ENSEMBLE
Barbara Wirth
Intermediate and Advanced
Saturdays, every other week, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Starting January 21
Room 207
9 classes, $280
Advanced
Tuesdays, every other week, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting January 24
Room 104
9 classes, $280
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 an M.M. from Indiana University, studying with Janos Starker and Pierre Fournier. She has been a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and has played with the San Francisco Symphony, Ballet and Theater orchestras. Wirth has taught cello for the Northwestern University Preparatory Department, Eastern Kentucky University, Louisville Academy of Music, Dominican College, San Francisco State University and the University of San Francisco, and she is currently a member of the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
ITALIAN LITERATURE
Brian Neilson
Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Starting January 11
Room 207
15 classes, $430
In this course, conducted entirely in Italian, the class will read and discuss a novel of the instructor's choice. Please email the instructor for title at biciuomo@aol.com.
Brian Neilson has taught at the Istituto Americano in Florence, the University of California and, for more than 20 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.
AMERICAN MAVERICKS
Susan Key
Tuesdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Starting February 7
Room 101
4 classes, $165
This class will focus on the music to be performed in the San Francisco Symphony's American Mavericks festival, March 8-18. In addition to exploring the historical and cultural contexts that shaped the music, we will pay special attention to how the maverick composers have experimented with new sources of musical sound, new ways of expressing American identity and new modes of listening and performing. Special guest artists from the San Francisco Symphony will join us for an "insider" perspective on the challenges and rewards of this repertoire. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the music and the processes of composition and realization that are required for this repertoire. Class materials will include selected readings, recordings and online resources. Each class will include close listening of selected works. Students will receive a discount on tickets to the Mavericks festival.
Susan Key is Special Projects Director at the San Francisco Symphony, where she works on a variety of public and media-based initiatives. After 11 years of high school teaching, she earned a Ph.D. in musicology and taught at the College of William and Mary and Stanford University. She has spoken and published on a broad range of topics in American music, including Stephen Foster, Aaron Copland and early radio. She has served on the boards of the Society for American Music and the Los Angeles Public Library and has developed educational programs for the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Her current passion is playing old-time fiddle.
» Singing German Songs and Arias - starts February 13
» Performance Workshop for Singers - starts February 15
» Recreational Singing - starts February 27
» Music Appreciation: An Overview of Western Music History - starts January 29
» Alexander Technique - starts March 26
» Jazz Piano - starts February 7
» Intermediate Musicianship - starts February 8
» Class Piano I and II - starts February 1
» Cello Ensemble - Intermediate starts January 21, Advanced starts January 24
» Italian Literature - starts January 11
» American Mavericks - starts February 7
SINGING GERMAN SONGS AND ARIAS
Anja Strauss
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 13
Room 207
10 classes, $440
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 request. Students are expected to prepare assigned song selections on their own, and all songs will be performed and discussed in class. The class will conclude with a public recital on April 21, 2012, in the Recital Hall. An accompanist will be provided.
Course topics include:
- International Phonetic Alphabet
- German diction
- Tools for translation/interpretation of German language poetry and texts
- Musical interpretation and execution
- Breaking down the formal barrier between performer and audience
Number of students: 10 maximum
PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP FOR SINGERS
Anja Strauss
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 15
Room 323
10 classes, $440
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. An accompanist will be provided. This class will conclude with a public recital on April 21, 2012, in the Recital Hall.
Course topics 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
- Videotaped performance with viewing session and discussion
Number of students: 10 maximum
Anja Strauss holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Musikhochschule Luebeck, Germany, and is active as an opera, concert and lied performer. She has appeared at Carnegie's Weill Hall and Lincoln Center, with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Fremont Symphony, Mozart Society of California and at festivals in San Antonio and Madison as well as the Olympic Music Festival. Opera performances include Sacramento Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Lamplighters Theatre, Pacific Repertory Opera, Pocket Opera, Stockton Opera and the German opera companies of Luebeck, Kiel, Potsdam and Detmold, as well as collaborations with conductors such as Kent Nagano. She has worked repeatedly as a German diction coach at the San Francisco Opera.
RECREATIONAL SINGING
Helen Dilworth
Mondays, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Starting February 27
Room 201
4 classes, $130
"Since singing is so good a thing, I'd like all people to learn to sing." That's ancient and current wisdom from composer William Byrd. Singing is fun, healthy and educational. In this basic and primarily community singing class, special attention will be available for skill building in pitch, rhythm and expression, as well as breath control, range extension and projection.
Dr. Helen Dilworth is a distinguished teacher, administrator and soprano accomplished in a broad range of musical styles. She delights in helping singers to develop their voices and performance skills. Winner of the San Francisco Opera's Merola, Metropolitan Saunderson and Graz Mastersinger awards, "Dr. Diva" has taught at San Francisco State University, Jazz Camp, Gospel Workshops, professional conferences and community colleges. She has toured in America, China, Japan and Puerto Rico. Her students perform pop, classical, opera, Broadway, folk, religious and many other types of music. She is on the voice faculty of the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions.
MUSIC APPRECIATION: An Overview of Western Musical History
Richard Roper
Sundays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting January 29
Room 207
8 classes, $315
Join us on a journey which covers the major periods of Western music history. From Pythagoras to Philip Glass, this course takes you 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. This series of lectures will provide an overview of our Western musical heritage, inviting you to explore beyond the realm of your familiar musical territory.
Richard Roper Richard Roper holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Yale School of Music and the University of Maryland. He has been a faculty member at the University of Maine and currently teaches in the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and at California State University-Stanislaus. As a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar he spent a year studying trumpet in Paris, and he has also studied and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood Institute and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. In addition to teaching, he stays busy performing with many Northern California ensembles.
ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
Robert Britton
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting March 26
Room 207
6 classes, $230
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. He is also actively involved in the international Alexander Technique Affiliated Societies and contributes to its Annual Members Meeting of the Affiliated Societies. In addition, he is a faculty member of the Bay Area Summer Opera Training Institute.
JAZZ PIANO
Tim Price
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Starting February 7
Keyboard Lab
8 classes, $305
If you love jazz, can play the piano, read the treble clef, know something about scales and key signatures, and are interested in learning how to create your own versions of songs, it's time for you to begin the rewarding journey into jazz improvisation! You will encounter some of the many wonderful songs played in jazz, listen to recordings of the great jazz pianists and develop your own versions of songs using the easy-to-understand tools that Tim provides. A play-a-long CD is provided to give you the opportunity to learn tunes at home while playing with a drummer and bass player anytime! Lessons are shaped to match YOUR level of ability.
Tim Price is a freelance woodwind and keyboard performer and has taught music at San Francisco University High School for 24 years. 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.
INTERMEDIATE MUSICIANSHIP
June Bonacich
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 8
Room 201
10 classes, $330
A continuation of Beginning Musicianship, this course covers the following musical elements:
- Basic music theory
- Aural and visual recognition of scales, keys, triads and simple intervals within the context of major and minor tonality
- Harmonization of melodies
- Sight-singing drills, a dictation of simple diatonic melodies and elementary rhythmic patterns and meter
June Bonacich received the Kris Getz Award for Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She teaches musicianship and composition in the Conservatory's Preparatory Division and was formerly on the San Francisco Boys Chorus faculty. She received a B.A. from Sonoma State University and holds an M.M. from the Conservatory.
CLASS PIANO I and II
Jacqueline Chew
Wednesdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Piano II
Wednesdays, 7:30-9:00 p.m. Piano I
Starting February 1
Room C01
13 classes, $430
These classes approach playing the piano through an understanding of 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 subdominant). 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, Chew performed, toured and recorded as pianist in the Women's Philharmonic from 1990 to 2004. She received degrees from the State University of New York–Binghamton and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and studied privately with Leonard Shure in Boston. Chew also teaches at the University of California–Berkeley.
CELLO ENSEMBLE
Barbara Wirth
Intermediate and Advanced
Saturdays, every other week, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Starting January 21
Room 207
9 classes, $280
Advanced
Tuesdays, every other week, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting January 24
Room 104
9 classes, $280
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 an M.M. from Indiana University, studying with Janos Starker and Pierre Fournier. She has been a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and has played with the San Francisco Symphony, Ballet and Theater orchestras. Wirth has taught cello for the Northwestern University Preparatory Department, Eastern Kentucky University, Louisville Academy of Music, Dominican College, San Francisco State University and the University of San Francisco, and she is currently a member of the Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
ITALIAN LITERATURE
Brian Neilson
Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Starting January 11
Room 207
15 classes, $430
In this course, conducted entirely in Italian, the class will read and discuss a novel of the instructor's choice. Please email the instructor for title at biciuomo@aol.com.
Brian Neilson has taught at the Istituto Americano in Florence, the University of California and, for more than 20 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.
AMERICAN MAVERICKS
Susan Key
Tuesdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Starting February 7
Room 101
4 classes, $165
This class will focus on the music to be performed in the San Francisco Symphony's American Mavericks festival, March 8-18. In addition to exploring the historical and cultural contexts that shaped the music, we will pay special attention to how the maverick composers have experimented with new sources of musical sound, new ways of expressing American identity and new modes of listening and performing. Special guest artists from the San Francisco Symphony will join us for an "insider" perspective on the challenges and rewards of this repertoire. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the music and the processes of composition and realization that are required for this repertoire. Class materials will include selected readings, recordings and online resources. Each class will include close listening of selected works. Students will receive a discount on tickets to the Mavericks festival.
Susan Key is Special Projects Director at the San Francisco Symphony, where she works on a variety of public and media-based initiatives. After 11 years of high school teaching, she earned a Ph.D. in musicology and taught at the College of William and Mary and Stanford University. She has spoken and published on a broad range of topics in American music, including Stephen Foster, Aaron Copland and early radio. She has served on the boards of the Society for American Music and the Los Angeles Public Library and has developed educational programs for the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Her current passion is playing old-time fiddle.
