We invite you to join us for our Noon Concert Series held every Wednesday at Noon. Concerts last approximately an hour and we present many talented Bay Area performers in an intimate setting.
Wednesday, October 14 at Noon
Patrick Smith (Guitar) and Jessie Nucho (Flute)
PROGRAM
Claude Debussy – Le fille aux cheveaux de lin
Claude Debussy – Syrinx for solo flute
Maurice Ravel – Pièce en forme de Habanera
Toru Takemitsu – In the Woods (1995)
I. Wainscot Pond
II. Rosedale
III. Muir Woods
Toru Takemitsu – Air for Solo Flute (1995)
Toru Takemitsu – Toward the Sea (1981)
I. The Night
II. Moby Dick
III. Cape Cod
Toshio Hosokawa – Two Japanese Folk Songs (2003)
I. Kuroda-Bushi
II. Itsuki No Komori-Uta
An avid chamber musician and proponent of new music, San Francisco flutist Jessie Nucho is passionate about sharing her love of music through performing and teaching. Well versed in both the traditional and contemporary repertoire, Jessie is an adventurous performer, combining all styles of music in innovative ways. In recognition of her dynamic stage presence, she received Carnegie Mellon University’s 2010 Harry G. Archer award for excellence in performance. Jessie recently performed at the Berkeley Arts Festival and the Hot Air Music Festival. She has appeared as a guest soloist with the Carnegie Mellon University Baroque Ensemble as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Percussion Ensemble. Jessie has premiered more than fifty pieces and continues to commission new works from Bay Area composers. Jessie enjoys frequent collaborations with musicians from the Bay Area and throughout the country. Most recently, she was a guest performer with the San Francisco-based new music ensemble Wild Rumpus as part of the Legion of Honor Listening Series. Jessie regularly appears with the Fog City Guitar Duo and will be joining them for their upcoming cross-country tour. In 2012, she won the Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Auditions as a member of the Hugo Trio, performing with harpist Natalie Severson and violist Alex Hettinga. Off the stage, Jessie is devoted to her work as flute teacher and chamber music coach. She is a member of the outreach ensemble Prevailing Winds, performing and coaching flute sectionals and chamber music groups at Bay Area high schools. Jessie was co-producer and artist liaison for the 2015 Hot Air Music Festival, showcasing ensembles from the Bay Area. Jessie holds a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Tim Day of the San Francisco Symphony. Previous instructors include Alberto Almarza and Jeanne Baxtresser at Carnegie Mellon University.
Patrick Connor Smith is a classical guitarist based in San Francisco, CA. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Clare Callahan, and a masters degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Tanenbaum. Patrick has performed throughout the United States and abroad as a soloist, in chamber settings, and as a member of Fog City Guitar Duo. A frequent performer of new music, he has given more than a dozen premieres, including featured performances at the 2015 Hot Air Music Festival in San Francisco and the 2015 Electronic Music Week in Shanghai. Patrick has played in master classes with many renowned guitarists, such as Oscar Ghiglia, Pavel Steidl, David Russell, Marcin Dylla, Kazuhito Yamashita, and Manuel Barrueco. He is currently pursuing a Professional Studies Diploma at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying Guitar and Lute with David Tanenbaum and Richard Savino, respectively.
Some of our past performers have been:
Born in Naples, Italy, guitarist Roberto Borbone began his studies in classical guitar at the age of nine. He completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the Conservatory San Pietro a Majella Summa Cum Laude where he studied with Maurizio Villa and went on to complete his Master of Music degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with the honor of Magna Cum Laude from the studio of Antigoni Goni. Mr. Borbone’s passion for classical guitar led him to perform as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and Asia. These performances include the Musical World Tour (China, 2013), Guitar Music from Europe and South America (Italy, 2013), and The Italian Portrait (Belgium, 2014), where he was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. He also participated in the workshop Homage to Tuhu with Maurizio Villa on the complete works for guitar by Heitor Villa-Lobos (Naples, Italy, 2008), and The Eighth Edition of the Volterra Project 2014 Summer Guitar Institute (Volterra, Italy, 2014).
Mr. Borbone has been awarded First Place in the 14th National Music Competition “Flegreo” and First Place in the National Competition “Napolinova” (Naples, Italy, 2007) in the chamber music category and won Second Place in the first edition of the National Guitar Competition “Città di Forio d’Ischia” (Ischia, Italy, 2005). He has performed in Masterclasses held by world renowned guitarists including Oscar Ghiglia, Konrad Ragossnig, Sharon Isbin, Marcin Dylla, Gaëlle Solal, Roland Dyens, Margarita Escarpa, Nuccio D’Angelo, The Beijing Guitar Duo and Denis Azabagic. Roberto Borbone has recently pursued his Professional Studies Diploma in Instrumental Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Sergio Assad.
Taija Warbelow, originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, is the violist in the Bay Area based Friction Quartet. She studied at the Juilliard Pre-College with Toby Appel and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Jodi Levitz. Though bios are a necessary part of being a performer, she feels they are impersonal and would prefer for audiences to get to know her through her playing and by talking to her after the performance.
Bassist Eugene Theriault is a born and raised San Francisco native. He graduated with a B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory and an M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory, where he studied with Scott Haigh and Steve Tramontozzi, respectively. The performance of new music has been a part of his life since high school and he continues to be a strong supporter of contemporary music, performing most recently with the San Francisco Conservatory’s New Music Ensemble, Opera Parallele, and the Berkeley Symphony. He currently works as a freelance performer and teacher in the Bay Area, and enjoys playing a wide range of musics.
