Add to that mix the sometimes-daunting challenge of discovering an appropriate live classical music performance for children. Can the kids sit through an entire concert? Will the music engage them? Finally, the cost of tickets needs to be considered.
In the end, we tend not to take many musical chances with our children. We may make an annual trek during the holiday season to a performance of The Nutcracker, or perhaps take in a recital by one of the many fine musicians who specialize in bringing accessible music to young audiences.
If you’re seeking such a family music experience, you might consider arriving with your favorite young people at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11 a.m. to hear the Katona Twins, a classical guitar duo of amazing virtuosity. Along with baritone Christòpheren Nomura, the Katonas will offer an interactive, hour-long recital of music that’s sure to delight you and your children — all for a price that’s comparable to taking the family to the movies.
For the past two years, Peter and Zoltán Katona have been resident artists of San Francisco Performances, the presenter of the family matinee concert, while Nomura is an alumnus of the same program. As resident artists, the musicians spend several weeks each year performing and working directly with students in public schools around the Bay Area.
While the Katona Twins and Christòpheren Nomura are artists of the first degree, with worldwide performances, rave reviews, and prizes to their credit, their work with students enables them to meaningfully communicate their love of music to young people.
“The concert will be informal,” said Peter Katona recently during a phone interview from England. “We will talk a bit about the music and answer questions from the audience during the program. When we work in the schools, we often play for children who have never heard live music before. It’s wonderful to involve them with music.”
The Hungarian-born twins have been playing guitar, together and solo, since they were 10, performing at Carnegie Hall, the Purcell Room of London’s Royal Festival Hall, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, and dozens of other famous venues in Asia, Europe, and North America. Their CD releases include music by Scarlatti, Handel, Rodrigo, and Albéniz, as well as pieces by Piazzolla, Granados, de Falla, and Mozart.
Nomura made his professional operatic debut in the boys choir of the San Francisco Opera at age 6, performed his first solo role in Die Zauberflöte at age 11, and continues to perform in traditional and contemporary operatic roles in Europe, Asia, and North America. The American-born singer was the first-place winner in the International Vocal Competition Mozarteum in Salzburg, and a recipient of a Fulbright grant to pursue musical studies and performance in Germany.
At Herbst, the Katonas and Nomura will perform separately at first, then share in a performance of Manuel de Falla’s Seven Spanish Folksongs, which was originally composed for piano and mezzo-soprano.
“I’m excited to hear the piece with two guitars and a baritone,” said Peter Katona. “It will definitely be different.”
Their San Francisco performance will be the Katona Twins’ final engagement before participating in “Night of the Proms,” a series of no fewer than 40 concerts spanning two months across Europe and Scandinavia that combines rock bands and classical music. The event is the largest annual organized indoor event on the continent.
“We will play in 17 enormous venues, and the organizers are expecting a total audience of 400,000,” said Peter Katona. “We will reach audiences that have never heard of us before. It’s a very unusual and extravagant opportunity.”