Juene 6th Classical Noon Concert featuring Farallon Quintet
Rob Patterson, clarinet
Hrabba Atladottir, violin
Matthew Oshida, violin
Elizabeth Prior, viola
Evgeny Tonkha, cello
Farallon Quintet, founded in 2012, is a dynamic San Francisco Bay Area ensemble and the only professional chamber music group focused exclusively on the repertoire for clarinet quintet—string quartet plus clarinet. As champions of the clarinet quintet genre, the group’s mission is to build awareness around this lesser known yet artistically significant musical form. In addition to playing the classics, the quintet seeks to perform rarely heard works, innovative arrangements, and new music by living composers. With 600+ existing clarinet quintets to choose from, the ensemble offers diverse and engaging programs to the general public.
The group is made up of leading Bay Area musicians who are principal players in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, as well as the symphonies of Santa Rosa, Marin, Berkeley, Fremont, Modesto, and Sacramento. Collectively, its members are graduates of the Curtis Institute, Cleveland Institute, Rice University, Indiana University, and the Hochschule für Music in Freiberg, Germany. Individually, they have studied chamber music with the Juilliard, Cleveland, Guarneri, Emerson, Vermeer, Takacs, Arditti, Muir, Cavani, American, and Amadeus Quartets and have performed in chamber music settings with the Emerson Quartet, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Chen Xi, and Yuja Wang.
As a quintet, the group released their debut album entitled “Farallon Quintet Originals,” have been ensemble-in-residence at Old First Concerts, and received grants from San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music and the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition. Their previous seasons consisted of 50+ performances throughout Northern California, sextet collaborations with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, and several new music commissions. To date, the ensemble has commissioned and premiered new works by Chad Cannon, Durwynne Hsieh, Jay Sydeman, Jose Gonzalez Granero, Emily Onderdonk, and Peter Josheff.
The group takes its name from the Farallon Islands, located off the coast of San Francisco. In addition to being a landmark location close to where the players live and work, its meaning—“pillar” or “steep rock” in Spanish—indicates the group’s vision to become an important “pillar” or “rock” in classical music by exposing audiences to the relatively unknown yet substantial clarinet quintet repertoire. The Farallon Islands also represent the group’s inspiration, which is founded in the simplicity and beauty of nature. In fact, the group is known to intersperse rehearsals with hikes in the mountains and road trips—all with the intent to discover the natural beauties of Northern California.
For performer bios, click here.
Wednesday Noon Concerts
As part of our ongoing mission to use the transformative power of the arts to inspire and enrich our community, we have opened our doors for the past three years, every Wednesday at noon, and presented concerts performed by talented musicians that are free of charge to the public. These complimentary performances offer listeners the opportunity to discover the beauty of music in an intimate accessible setting, while providing the community with cultural enrichment and exposure to talented performers.
Concerts are in a one-hour format and performances take place in the intimate Tivoli or Crescendo where both audience and musicians can sit in vibrant, close proximity. Musicians often stay after the performance to informally speak about the program and their upcoming concerts.
