Something For Everybody

Sunday's gray skies and icy wind marked the planet's tilt toward winter but, inside San Francisco's Temple Emanu-El, the Bay Area's first "Chamber Music Day—Live + Free" created an oasis of warmth as 16 local chamber groups performed for those who were brave — and wise — enough to venture out in the cold. The day was bountiful in sound, and the audience was treated to a diverse and expansive series of performances, from cascades of notes in Beethoven's Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 5, played by Martha and Monica; to Dvořák's expressive and vigorous Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, performed by S.F. Piano Quartet; to the shifting, fragmented, improvisatory soundscapes of SFSound; and just about everything else in between. The program was intelligently arranged, placing the wide variety of ensemble work in an order that was both refreshing and illuminating.

Held in the temple's Meyer Sanctuary Stage, a tastefully elegant, high-ceilinged room, the concert benefited from the hall's superb acoustics, which emphasized the instruments' warmth while maintaining the clarity of each note. The bimah was converted into a stage with night-blue velvet curtains that exquisitely framed each ensemble. Each group's music sounded luminous and jewel-like in that setting. Even happier for the audience, the pews were comfortable, allowing listeners to disappear into the moment and remain entirely attentive to the music.

Chamber Music Day, a seven-hour event that organizers hope will become an annual festival, was fostered by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music (SFFCM), a 10-year-old organization that has as its mission making chamber music a vital part of the Bay Area's cultural life. The organization does that in three ways: acting as financial affiliates for chamber music groups, creating educational and audience-outreach opportunities, and providing a comprehensive informational Web site, www.sffcm.org (which contains a complete list of Sunday's performers, presenters, and sponsors).

Inspired by a Music Festival

Part of SFFCM's audience outreach, Chamber Music Day is the brainchild of Executive Director Dominique Pelletey. An articulate and sincere aficionado of chamber music, Pelletey was born in France and spent much of his youth in Amsterdam, working in arts organizations. During a recent trip to France, he attended the Fête de la Musique, a music festival that began in his native country under Minister of Culture Jack Lang and has since spread to over 100 cities around the globe. Inspired, Pelletey returned to the Bay Area to propose a free music festival to the SFFCM board, and the idea was snapped up by Board President Susan Bates. A violist for the S.F. Ballet Orchestra and a faculty member at the S.F. Conservatory of Music, Bates is particularly well-positioned to bring about an event that requires organizing not only musicians but also their presenters. One of the problems, Pelletey recalls, is that good Bay Area musicians, despite their number, are booked far in advance. By the time SFFCM had decided to go ahead with the project, many ensembles had made their commitments for the year. "Then we had to go to the presenters and ask if the musicians could play," continues Pelletey, "and play for free, on this Sunday." The musicians and the presenters alike were enthusiastic, however. Everyone saw the event as an opportunity to reach audiences they might not otherwise have access to. The idea behind seven hours of half-hour performances was that people could come and go as they pleased. The casual nature of the event and its sheer pleasantness encouraged that. The event began at 3 p.m., and by 7 p.m. over 300 people had made their way to the temple. They were of all ages and interests, some coming from as far as Marin County.

Family-Friendly Event

Families were everywhere during the afternoon, some bringing their children to the hour-long concert offered jointly by the Picasso Quartet and Quinteto Latino. One young man confided to me that he preferred "the adult concert." I could dig it: As a kid, I never liked sitting at the kids' table on Thanksgiving. In the main concert hall, children padded up and down the central aisle in their tiny shoes, dragging along their gooey pieces of bread or their tinier siblings. Only once, during the half-hour dinner break, did one toddler feel moved to vocalize. The babies were splendid.

Sitting at the tables around the temple lobby, the presenters were happy, too. "I think it's a brilliant idea; it's a wonderful thing," said Heather Katz of Berkeley Chamber Performances. "Many of the performers here have been on our programs. It's sort of like old-home week. It's a very large cross-section of the musical things that go on here." Did the event meet the organizers' expectations? "Oh yes," beams Susan Bates, "it's exceeded my expectations." "Well, if you organize concerts, you always want more people to come," says Pelletey. "That's why I'd like to do it next year at Yerba Buena [Center for the Arts]." Pelletey would like to have the event more centrally located and closer to public transportation, with more stages and the possibility of music outside in the gardens. Perhaps it could even move throughout the city, like a progressive dinner. He would also like to include other art forms. Oh yes, and educational events, as well, so that there would be more outreach to an even wider audience. His list goes on, seeming to expand as he speaks. "Of course, I'm just dreaming now," he claims. But for people like Bates and Pelletey, who use every idea presented to them as fodder for their imaginations, and who act on those imaginings, making dreams real seems inevitable.