September 11, 2002

By Becky O'Malley

WE'RE SURROUNDED BY "classical" music of all kinds these days, most of it vapid or trivialized. Call to make a dentist appointment and you'll hear a two-minute snippet of a Mozart flute concerto while you're on hold. Beatles songs are played symphonically by a hundred strings in drugstores. Radio music is increasingly homogenized, but a small spectrum of classical hits is still available during commute hours. CDs make it possible to hear the most highly touted performances of the last 50 years in your bedroom.

And of course, if you can afford it, you can even hear live performances by major divas like Rénee Fleming, who jet around re-creating important opera roles in every world-class city and see top-tier conductors like Michael Tilson Thomas leading well-known symphony orchestras. But what if you can't afford many trips to see the San Francisco Opera or the San Francisco Symphony? Is it CDs or nothing?

I hope not. My friend Kathleen Burch remembers going to see Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex by the Oakland Symphony with the late Calvin Simmons conducting. "It started with practically no sound at all," she said, "the entire string section playing so pianissimo that we couldn't hear them at all, but we could definitely feel the sound." Simmons, a rare and authentic genius, died young, without many recordings, so memories like Kathleen's are his most important legacy.

Live classical music is available, free or cheap, all over the Bay Area. Older professional musicians, some still waiting for their big break, and others members of major orchestras, can be heard in solo, trio, or quartet recitals at affordable prices. Young performers, too, are eager for an audience. Michael Morgan, who conducts the Oakland Symphony and also conducts the Oakland Youth Orchestra as a labor of love, says, "There is an excitement in listening to young people discover that they can tackle challenging and exacting music."

Hearing big sound close-up in small, quirky venues can be especially thrilling, in a way that the manufactured acoustics of Davies Hall or the distant sound from the balcony seats at the Opera House will never be. There are several subsidized series in interesting buildings, such as the St. Patrick's Church noon concerts in San Francisco.

Yet the big guys do sometimes offer bargains. Students can hear the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra for 10 bucks, and many other groups offer discounts for students and seniors, who can get half-price tickets at the San Francisco Ballet. MTT, the great man himself, conducts the San Francisco Symphony's Music for Families matinees. Even the S.F. Opera has standing room for an energetic few.

And there are many excellent second-tier ensembles – orchestras, choruses, opera companies – made up of professional-caliber musicians who still need day jobs to survive. Community-based groups of high-end nonprofessionals (sometimes unfairly labeled "just amateurs") contribute many fine performances. (One of the most exciting musical experiences I've ever had was listening to 2,500 massed voices from community choirs from all over Britain singing Verdi's Requiem in London's Royal Albert Hall. No professional performance, no matter how expensive, can afford 2,500 singers.)

Finally, almost the only way to hear the whole genre loosely described as "new" or "contemporary" music is outside the major halls. Unconventional music is most at home in unconventional (and usually low-cost) spaces. Sometimes this stuff sets your teeth on edge, but more often, when it's good, it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck in a very pleasurable way. Free and cheap performances are a good way to find out if you can go beyond baroque. What follows is a selection of opportunities to do so; for complete concert series' schedules call or check the Web sites.

Sept. 11

Memorial concerts are scheduled all around the world today, with several in San Francisco.

San Francisco Symphony free concert Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the symphony and special guest violinist Joshua Bell. 6 p.m., Yerba Buena Gardens, Fourth St. at Mission, S.F. Free. (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org.

'September 11 Remembered' The San Francisco Choral Society performs Morton Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna. 8 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin, S.F. Free. (415) 566-8425, www.sfchoral.org.

Sept. 20

'Mozart and More' Chamber music from original performance luminaries and members of Philharmonia Baroque. Mills College's terrific free concerts, both traditional and avant-garde, compensate for the difficulty of getting there without a car. 8 p.m., Mills College Concert Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakl. Free. (510) 430-2296, www.mills.edu/ACAD_INFO/MUS/CONCERTS/mus.curcal.html.

Sept. 22

Sachiko Kato The pianist plays Bach, Brahms, and Berg as part of the low-cost Old First Concerts series, held in a great setting. 4 p.m., Old First Church, 1751 Sacramento, S.F. $6-$12. (415) 474-1608, www.oldfirstconcerts.org.

Sept. 25

Citywinds Hear works by Barber and Ligeti as part of the weekly Noontime Concerts series. 12:30 p.m., St. Patrick's Church, 756 Mission, S.F. $5 donation. (415) 777-3211, www.noontimeconcerts.org. (Also first and third Tuesdays, A.P. Giannini Auditorium, Bank of America Center, 555 California, S.F.)

Oct. 2

New Creative Music for Electro-Acoustic Quintet Guitarist John Schott, saxophonist Larry Ochs, trumpeter David Bithel, percussionist Ches Smith, and Matt Wright on electronics perform. UC Berkeley offers free noon concerts every Wednesday and some Fridays. 12:15, Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, Bancroft and College, Berk. (510) 642-4864, ls.berkeley.edu/dept/music/noon.html.

Oct. 18-Nov. 3

Candide Goat Hall Productions stages Leonard Bernstein's opera in a former Potrero Hill church that's been converted to a cabaret and often hosts contemporary productions. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m., Goat Hall, 400 Missouri, S.F. Call for price. (415) 289-6877, www.goathall.org.

Oct. 20

Bimbetta Early music meets cabaret style with this group, described as "the hip girl group of period performance" by the Portland Oregonian. San Francisco State University's Morrison Artists Series presents a number other free concerts throughout the year. 3 p.m., McKenna Theatre, San Francisco State University, 19th Ave. and Holloway, S.F. Free. (415) 338-2467, www.sfsu.edu/~music/events.htm.

Nov. 1

San Francisco Classical Guitar Society The renowned Spanish guitarist-composer Jose Luis Merlin performs. The society hosts a concert the first Friday of every month. 8 p.m., First United Lutheran Church, 6555 Geary, S.F. $5-$10. (415) 731-7336, www.sfcgs.org.

Nov. 3

Community Women's Orchestra The orchestra – founded 18 years ago with six members and now grown to nearly 40 players, whose day jobs range from carpenter to music teacher to doctor – plays Debussy's Petite Suite, Schubert's Symphony No. 9, and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's Overture. 4 p.m., Malcom X School, 1731 Prince, Berk. $3-$5 donation. (510) 653-1616.

Nov. 17

Christòpheren Nomura and the Alexander String Quartet family matinee Nomura, described in the latest New Yorker as "combining visceral emotion with a scrupulous technique," demonstrates the theme-and-variation technique used by classical composers throughout the ages, from the Elizabethan era to the 21st century. Children of all ages are welcome and fidgeting is allowed. 2 p.m., Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, S.F. $14, $6 children. (415) 392-4400, www.performances.org.

Oakland Youth Orchestra and Oakland Symphony The groups perform a fall concert conducted by Michael Morgan. 3 p.m., Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 International Blvd., Oakl. $8-$12. (510) 832-7710, www.oyo.org.

Nov. 24

Del Sol Quartet As part of the Noe Valley Chamber Music series, the group performs Mozart's Clarinet Quartet and other works with clarinetist Laura Carmichael in a warm, casual environment. 4 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez, S.F. $12, $8 students. (415) 648-5236, www.nvcm.org.

Dec. 16

San Francisco Conservatory of Music Guitar Ensemble David Tanenbaum, Lawrence Ferrara, and Mark Teicholz give a free performance. 8 p.m., San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Hellmann Hall, 1201 Ortega, S.F. Free. (415) 759-3475, www.sfcm.edu.

Dec. 22

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra The supergroup with lots of energy plays Mozart's Mass in C Minor and Vivaldi's Trumpet Concerto. 4 p.m. (also Dec. 14 and Dec. 21, 8 p.m.), St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison, Berk. Free. (510) 964-0665, www.bcco.org.

Research assistance provided by Cecily Graburn.

The Web's classical calendars

The best site, with fine reviews by working musicians, founded and still monitored by veteran critic Robert Commanday, is www.sfcv.org.

For a handy pull-down listing of free events go to www.sfarts.org.