Saturday, September 5: String, Skin & Breath is a global ensemble blending ancient traditions with contemporary expression through spontaneous, deeply collaborative performance. Drawing from Persian and North African modes, chamber music, global folk traditions, and jazz improvisation, the group moves fluidly between original compositions, reimagined songs, and in-the-moment creation. The concert is archived on YouTube HERE.

April 26: Cancelled due to weather
Transdisciplinary artist Judit Navratil and musician Anne Rainwater present ATtension - Growing Roots and other compasses, a site-specific work in Albany, CA. In a time of rapid change and overwhelming noise, ATtension invites you to pause, root yourself in place, and reconnect with what makes a home. This performance art show in Judit’s backyard brings together the Redwood Tree, the rhythmic pulse of BART, and the gentle stream, weaving a soundscape that balances the contrasts of movement and stillness, nature and urban life, inner and outer worlds. You are invited to sit with a process of the palimpsest—to let go of what no longer serves you, to see your surroundings in a fresh light and allow your attention to move freely.

February 8: Rebecca Roudman of Dirty Cello and her duo partner Jason Eckl entertained us with an evening of fun and inventive works for cello, voice and guitar! The show is archived HERE.

January: Guitarist Bowen Zheng presented an evening of guitar solos. The show is archived online HERE.

November: Piano students from the studios of Paul Agricola and Anne Rainwater as well as a few other piano friends presented an afternoon of Classical and Romantic works on a beautiful Steinway grand at Studio Fourth Street, 1569 4th St. in San Rafael! The YouTube live link is archived HERE.

October: Visiting Connecticut pianist Tamila Azadaliyeva and local pianist Tessa McClary shared 2 sets of solo works, including pieces by Mompou, Debussy, Schumann-Liszt and Chopin. The YouTube live link is archived HERE.

September: Oregon pianist Stephen Lewis presented an evening of the solo piano works by Webern, Berg and Schoenberg, with detailed commentary about each work. The concert is archived HERE.

June: Anne Rainwater will perform a solo piano recital featuring works by George Gershwin, Julia Perry, Claude Debussy, Ric Louchard (a local Bay Area composer), Scott Wollschleger and Maurice Ravel. The concert is archived HERE.

May: Join us for an evening of solo piano music by Bay Area pianist Sandra Simich. Sandra will play Debussy’s La Cathédrale Engloutie, Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 54, and Brahms’s Op. 116.

April: Born in Novosibirsk, Russia and raised in Israel, Classical guitarist Yuri Liberzon has been recognized for his impressive technical ability and musicality. He presents an evening of guitar solos. The concert is archived HERE.

March: Join us for a special afternoon of adult piano students from the studios of Anne Rainwater, Paul Agricola, and John Metz. The concert is archived HERE.

January: Soprano Julia Bae and pianist Paul Schrage present an evening of vocal works by Schumann, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky. The evening is archived HERE.

November: Composer, pianist, and improviser Ric Louchard will be joined by vocalist, composer, and improviser Sarah Grace Graves in an evening of solos, duets, improvisations including a new piece by Ric Louchard about Ariadne and Dionysus. The concert is archived HERE.

October: Flutist Meerenai Shim is one half of the innovative flute and percussion duo, A/B Duo, and a member of the award-winning contemporary flute ensemble, Areon Flutes. She will perform a mix of electroacoustic works and acoustic solo flute compositions by living composers, including Flight of the Bleeper Bird for flute and Gameboy by Matthew Joseph Payne, and Vermont Counterpoint by Steve Reich. The evening is archived HERE.

September: The theme of this month’s Salon is Water and Flow. Poet and painter Roy Doughty presents some of his latest material. Pianist and host Anne Rainwater presents an entirely water-themed set, including works by Margaret Bonds, Tania Léon, and Claude Debussy. She will also be joined by her ARc duET partner, Emily Tian, for some 4-hands by Camille Saint-Saëns and Chick Corea. The concert is archived HERE.

March: Local Berkeley vocalist and composer Sarah Grace Graves will perform her program Circular Song: an evening of hushed, recursive music, featuring works by Joan La Barbara, Erin Gee, Giacinto Scelsi/Michiko Hirayama, John Cage and herself. The concert is archived HERE.

February: Mat Muntz is a composer, bassist, and experimental bagpiper. Since 2018, Mat has pioneered an experimental practice on the obscure and distinctive Croatian bagpipe known as primorski meh. In celebration of the release of his album Phantom Islands, Mat will present a program of solo music for primorski meh, featuring new compositions, improvisations, experimental preparations, and deconstructed folk repertoire. The evening is archived HERE.

January: Pianist Anne Rainwater presents a short program called Winter Reflections: Looking Forward and Back, featuring works by Scott Wollschleger, Wolfang Rihm, and Claude Debussy. This will be followed by a Q & A with 2 former Salon participants: clarinetist Mara Plotkin and composer Matt Hough, who will reflect on how music and their careers have changed since performing on the Salon Series over 5 years ago.

May: Termed "a prominent guitarist" by the New York Times, David RogersFuses classical, jazz, and world music into beautiful, expressive and virtuosic performances. The concert is archived HERE.

April: Jessie Nucho’s program is called Day to Night and features a selection of comfort music for solo flute that progresses from sunrise to evening to deep sleep. Music by Ursula Kwong-Brown, Katherine Hoover, Valerie Coleman, Allison Loggins-Hull, Elainie Lillios, and a world premiere by Anita Chandavarkar.

March: Violinist Mijung Kim and pianist Anne Rainwater presented a duo program with works by Brahms, Kreisler and others.

February: Flutist Victoria “Tori” Hauk, originally from San Diego, has been performing and teaching in the Bay Area since 2013. Tori writes: This program comes out of a time spent in reflection and hibernation. As a musician, I welcomed the time to refresh my view on performance and also struggled with my identity outside of being a performing musician. Each piece contributed, and is contributing, to the healing and growth I’ve experienced as not just a musician, but more simply, a human. The program features pieces by living composers Tan Mizi, Ahmed Al Abaca, and Allison Loggins-Hull among others.

November: Pianist Emily Tian and saxophonist Claire Phillips will each share a few works, including pieces by Chick Corea, Tigran Hamasyan, Oliver Nelson, Bill Dobbins and William Grant Still. The concert is archived HERE.

October: Founded in 2015, Sl(e)ight Ensemble is a group of composer/performers focused on the realization of new music in the San Francisco Bay Area. Featuring Erika Oba (flute), Stephanie Neumann (saxophones), and Jacob Lane (piano), their program Of California Ecology, will feature compositions inspired by nature in California, and will include new works by Julie Herndon, ensemble members, and the winner of their 2020 call for scores, Kian Ravaei. The evening is archived HERE.

September: Violinist Caitlin McSherry and pianist Anne Rainwater present an evening of Romantic violin and piano duos, featuring works by Amy Beach, Fritz Kriesler, Henryk Wieniawski and others. The concert is archived HERE.

May: Nicola Waldron is a writer whose recent work focuses on linking word to practices of mindfulness and deep consciousness. She’ll read some poems and short prose pieces from her latest manuscript. Pour yourself a cup of tea, and find a comfortable, quiet space to listen along HERE.

April: California composer Anne Hege presents new works, composed for her tape machine, a live-looping instrument, created to accompany artist book Water, Calling by book artist Camden Richards and printmaker Deborah Sibony. Anne will weave together live and pre-recorded excerpts of the soundtrack with an online preview of the book. Through a live conversation with collaborator Camden Richards, they will discuss the power of water in its beautiful and complex interplay in our lives. The evening is archived HERE.

March: Bay Area-based pianist Anne Rainwater played some short and sweet piano solos that touched upon humor, childhood, and memory via the composers Frédéric Chopin, Sergei Prokofiev, Aaron Copland, George Walker, Domenico Scarlatti and David Lang. The evening is archived HERE.

February (cancelled due to illness):
Praised by the New York Times for her “crystalline performances, gestural expressiveness, and careful attention to color”, and by the Boston Globe for her “effortless incisiveness”, award-winning Canadian pianist Katherine Dowling performs across North America and Europe as a soloist and in all manner of chamber configurations.

January: New York-based composer Jude Traxler performed the second set of songs from his one-act, post-apocalyptic opera, CPU. The evening is archived HERE.

December: Composer and performer Jude Traxler will present a solo set of song selections from his opera, CPU. The concert is archived HERE.

November: Constance Koo, an Oakland-based harpist, presented a unique program including Baroque transcriptions for the harp. Her concert is archived HERE.

October: Writer Lindsay Merbaum read from her forthcoming feminist horror novel The Gold Persimmon and showed us her recipe for the Gold Persimmon, a signature cocktail named for the book’s deliciously mysterious hotel, featuring hibiscus, bourbon, mezcal, and Earl Grey. Follow her on Instagram @pickyourpotions. The evening is archived HERE.

September: Tenor Alex Taite shared a portion of his one-man show focusing on the development of the Negro Spiritual, its evolution within, and its influence on American music. The concert is archived HERE.

August: Violinist Dan Flanagan and pianist Miles Graber presented short violin and piano pieces by August birthday composers, including Claude Debussy, Lili Boulanger, Georges Enescu, Amy Beach, Albert Spalding, Dan Flanagan, Fritz Gearhart, and Clarence Cameron White. The concert is archived HERE.

May: Flutist Jessie Nucho presented a solo set on bass flute, alto flute, and C flute! Composers include Cornelius Boots, C.P.E. Bach, Emma Logan, Shiva Feshareki, Katherine Hoover, and Julie Barwick. The YouTube link is archived HERE.

May: The Vernon Salon Series presented its first live stream show in coordination with musicians Lewis Patzner, Ariel Wang, Corey Mike, Anne Rainwater, Glenda Bates, Derek Sup, and Jacob Hansen-Joseph. The show is archived HERE.

January: Trombonist Will Lang visited from New York and played a solo set, featuring composers Reiko Füting, Jason Eckardt, Anne Hege, Alex Temple, Arvo Pärt and original compositions.

December: Pianist Simon Karakulidi is an omnivorous pianist, born in Russia and educated in the United States. He performs David Lang's piano cycle Memory Pieces, written to commemorate friends of his who left this world earlier than they should have.

November: It’s the third annual Bring Your Favorite Artwork Salon! We’ll share music, books, poetry, videos, and more.

September: Local musicians Steve Heckman (saxophone) and Matt Clark (piano) performed compositions by Thelonious Monk, Leonard Bernstein, Harold Arlen, plus original compositions. They have recorded multiple albums together and have over 20 years experience of playing together. View their concert HERE.

August: Pianist Anne Rainwater and mixed-media artist Victoria Welling present their performance art piece Unladylike. Drawing from elements of ritual, the “cult of domesticity,” and societal expectations of women, both of the past and present, Anne and Victoria invite viewers to explore their own beliefs about women and their roles in private and public spheres. See HERE for some video highlights.

June: Folias Duo presented a program of all original classical music for flute and guitar influenced by Argentine tango, Astor Piazzolla, and South American folk. Watch the concert online HERE.

May: Michael Jones is a percussionist based in San Diego whose work focuses on experimental music and the avant garde. The Basketweave Elegies (2018) is a new work for vibraphone by composer Peter Garland, based on the sculptures of the late San Francisco-based artist Ruth Asawa. 

April: Oakland-based Robert Nance presented Inwards, a set of pieces for solo electric guitar heavily reliant on improvisation and inner reflection.

March: Zwischenspiel, a German word meaning both interplay and interlude, is a meditative program, features new and old music paired with photographs from 2 continents. Zwischenspiel features pianists Rachel Breen and Kelsey Walsh, both Bay Area natives, who have found a new home in Germany. Works featured include J.S. Bach’s Contrapunctus 1 (from The Art Of The Fugue) and David Lang’s Orpheus Over and Under.

February: d’PaJo is an eclectic ensemble that focuses on their mutual love and appreciation for a myriad of musical styles – gypsy jazz, jazz standards, great American songbook, and any other music that speaks to them. Guitarist Patrick Anseth and Violinist Justin Ouellet have been active in both the California & New England music scenes.

January: San Francisco harpist Meredith Clark performed a set of solo works by harpist and composer Carlos Salzedo (1885-1961).

December: CD release party and holiday gathering! I’ll be officially unveiling my Goldberg Variations CD. Please come and join the celebration!

November: It was the second annual Bring Your Favorite Artwork Salon! We shared music, books, poetry, videos, and more.

October:Trio Étrange (Corey Mike, violin, Lewis Patzner, cello, and Anne Rainwater, piano) performed the early Brahms Piano Trio, Op. 8, as well as a movement from a new trio composed by Lewis Patzner.

September: Vocalist Melinda Becker and pianist Anne Rainwater performed Voy Solo – 20th Century Poetic Narratives, a song set that spans different cultures and languages, including Cuatro Canciones Andinas by Gabriela Lena Frank, Trois Chansons de Bilitis by Claude Debussy, and the Hermit Songs by Samuel Barber.

August: Vocalist/composer Anne Hege and trombonist/composer Jen Baker performed works created from their inaugural MAMA residency that explore the connection between listening, movement, improvisation, and instrument building. Using extended techniques and new technologies, Anne and Jen presented new works for voice, trombone, tape machine (analog live looper), and smartphones. They also discussed their compositions and strategies for supporting creativity and artistic excellence while parenting young children.

June: Oakland-based pianist Kate Campbell played solo works by Molly Joyce, Caroline Shaw, David Lang, LJ White, and Don Byron.

May: Oakland-based pianist Emily Tian performed works by Leslie La Barre and Nikolai Kapustin.

April: San Francisco-based Siroko Duo (Victoria Hauk and Jessie Nucho, flutes) performed works by Jane Rigler, Izabel Austin, Nadine Dyskant-Miller, Alexandre Lunsqui, and Brett Austin Eastman.

March: The Tiny Lady Trio (Sophie Huet, clarinet, Erin Wang, cello, and Elena Akopova, piano) performed Beethoven and Muczynski.

February: Boston-based ensemble Transient Canvas (bass clarinet and marimba) presented some exciting new works by Joseph M. Colombo, Lainie Fefferman, Keith Kirchoff, Emily Koh, Crystal Pascucci, and Matthew Welch.

December: Renegade Duo is Jon Mendle, guitarist and Melinda Becker, mezzo soprano. Utilizing both historical and modern instruments, they performed a contemporary set by California-based composer Gary Eister, obscure songs by 19th century guitar composers Salvador Castro de Gistau and Karl Eulenstein, and a set by John Dowland.

November: The first annual Bring Your Favorite Artwork month! Guests brought any work of art they personally enjoyed, and we had a lively sharing session followed by a discussion.

October: Phonochrome Collective presented a timely, musical exploration of artistic and literary censorship. The show featured music inspired by banned literature, including Unsuk Chin’s Advice from a Caterpillar (from Alice in Wonderland), and music by banned composers.

September: Areon Flutes performed pieces they commissioned from composers Ryan Rey, Julie Barwick, Elainie Lillios, and Dan Becker.

June: It was Music Trivia Night at the Vernon Salon Series, hosted by the inimitable Ben Zucker!

May: Cellist Helen Newby performed pieces from her solo album that featured commissions
by David Bird, Danny Clay, Adam Hirsh, Kurt Isaacson, and Haley Shaw. Composer Ben Zucker presented a lecture-performance realizing his conceptual topography score that incorporates text, graphics, notations, and performance.

April: Musicians Amy Zanrosso and Alisa Rose played Prokofiev’s First Violin and Piano Sonata. Afterwards, artist Victoria Welling continued our discussion from February about women in the arts.

March: Vernon Street resident and cellist/composer Lewis Patzner performed originals and transcriptions for solo cello.

February: Flutist Jessie Nucho performed works with electronics and fixed media by Kaija Saariaho and Eve Beglarian, and writer Lindsay Merbaum gave a talk about her experiences as a writer and literary critic.

January: We heard from pianist James Stone, violist/composer Scott Rubin, and butoh dancer Shoshanna Greene. Click HERE for a video.

December: We heard from the [Switch~Ensemble], who performed works by Ben Isaacs, Chris Chandler, Max Murray, Matt Sargent, and Anthony Pateras.

November: Local musicians Mark Clifford and Crystal Pascucci performed some original duo pieces together, and Mark also discussed his compositional process.

October: Presentations included a performance of Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata by pianist Allegra Chapman and a talk by Little Opera’s founder, Erin Bregman.

September: Composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan and wine industry expert Jose Coronado gave talks on their work.

August: We heard from composer/guitarist Dr. Matthew Hough and vocalist/music theorist Meg Wilhoite, performing original compositions by Matthew.

July: Dr. Stephanie Patterson performed a set on bassoon, followed by Robert Nance, who presented about composer Kevin Volans.

June: We heard from contemporary pianist Shi-An Costello and Beckett scholar Dr. Emily Zubernis.

May: Caitlin McSherry, Monika Warchol, and Anne Rainwater performed horn trios by Johannes Brahms and Eric Ewazen, followed by John Cage’s Living Room Music and a presentation by local composer Danny Clay.

April: Liason Ensemble performed a Baroque set and Rachana Vajjhala, a musicologist from UC Berkeley who specializes in French ballet, spoke about Debussy’s Jeux.

March: Performers this month included guitarist Matt Linder, followed by Doug Machiz, Jessie Nucho, and Anne Rainwater performing George Crumb’s Voice of the Whale. Local illustrator Emily Dove Barton also read us her new book Wendell the Narwhal.

February: We heard the music of Robert Nance performed by Kevin Rogers, Abigail Nance, and the composer himself. We also heard poet Roy Doughty read some of his recent writings.

January: We heard from Mara Plotkin on bass clarinet and saw a collection of works by local mixed media artist Victoria Welling.