Besides an impressive lineup for the 2013-2014 season, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music also beckons with scores of free concerts, and a $15-$20 price range for others. There is just no way to match that, nothing close to it.
Among highlights of the season: The school's Opera Program forms a partnership with Portland Opera to produce Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco; the Conservatory Orchestra, under its new music director, Scott Sandmeier, opens its season Sept. 28-29, with an award-winning work by student composer Justin Ralls; the San Francisco-Shanghai International Chamber Music Festival returns to the Conservatory on March 13-14; and Nicole Paiement's New Music Ensemble welcomes Tobias Picker, whose Dolores Claiborne premieres at San Francisco Opera this fall.
As a center for the study of historical performances, the Conservatory features a comprehensive early-music season, with concerts that showcase its complete collection of period instruments.
The Conservatory Baroque Ensemble, co-directed by Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed, performs a concert version of Handel’s Serse in March, and Nicholas McGegan lectures in January on "Baroque Opera: an Exotic and Irrational Entertainment."
On Nov. 14, the Conservatory celebrates the acquisition of a newly-built French harpsichord with a recital featuring Jamason at the keyboard and Reed on viola da gamba. Vocal works by Monteverdi, the annual Baroque Concerto competition, and master classes by trumpeter John Thiessen, countertenor Ian Howell, baroque violinist Robert Mealy, and conductor Jeffrey Thomas round out the season.
For details of the season, see the Conservatory's online, downloadable calendar. Good luck searching and finding — it's not easy. Wish the school's online information had the inviting simplicity and functionality of calendars of the Opera, Symphony, and many others, including many organizations with a fraction of the Conservatory's budget.