* San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (SFCMP) is among 27 recipients of a 2013 James Irvine Foundation Exploring Engagement Fund grant. This funding initiative is a keystone component of The James Irvine Foundation’s work to promote engagement in the arts for all Californians. SFCMP has been awarded $50,000, payable over two years for a series of large-scale public music performances by ethnically diverse musicians of all levels who will perform at nontraditional arts venues in San Francisco.
* For most of his 41 years with the San Francisco Symphony, every time I see SFS Assistant Concertmaster Mark Volkert (which is quite often, given the length of the seasons), I ask him for an update on his work as a composer, and usually get the answer that this longest-serving member of the orchestra is too busy playing music to compose. Then on Thursday, in the intermission of the great Stravinsky concert: Bingo! Volkert says he has finished a bass concerto, written for SFS principal bassist Scott Pingel. When will it be performed? Stand by.
* I saw something amazing at the second weekend of the Ethnic Dance Festival: Transitioning from a performance by La Tania Baile Flamenco to one by Vishwa Shanthi Dance Academy came this: La Tania and Vishwa Shanthi Artistic Director Shreelata Suresh in a floor-stomping "dance-off" of their respective genres, flamenco against Bharatanatyam, styles so different and yet sharing something essential in common, with the performance ending with the blending of the two.
- Jamie Barton, winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World contest on Sunday, was originally cast in San Francisco Opera's Oct. 25 Verdi Requiem, with Leah Crocetto, Michael Fabiano, and Vitalij Kowaljow. At the same time, she was signed by the Met to cover Adalgisa in the October Norma performances there. When some wise heads at the Met gave her the Oct. 24 and 28 performances, she cancelled here, understandably enough. So, for the time being, we are missing out on the Singer of the World. Ex-Merolina Daniella Mack was among finalists.