Anthony Tommasini in San Francisco

Here's an event well worth attending next Thursday night between Ring operas. Tommasini, NY Times head classical music critic and the author of a high-regarded biography of Virgil Thomson, will both play some of the composer's works and speak about them at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. At $20, it's a steal.  Details:

CONCERT AND TALK
The Poetry of Sound: The New York Times Music Critic Anthony Tommasini with
Bay Area Rainbow Symphony

Composer Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) was Gertrude Stein¹s closest music
collaborator, composing two operas to librettos by her, Four Saints in Three
Acts and The Mother of Us All. He also wrote ³musical portraits.² While
subjects sat silently before him, Thomson composed their musical portrait,
usually in one session.

In conjunction with the Museum¹s exhibition, Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five
Stories, Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic for The New York
Times and a Thomson scholar, performs a selection of these musical portraits
including those of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Tommasini also offers
his commentary on how Thomson¹s relatively simple music reflects and
resonates with Stein's hermetic writing. He is joined by members of Bay Area
Rainbow Symphony (BARS), who perform some of Thomson¹s works that feature
words by Stein and the music of Erik Satie, one of Thomson¹s major
influences.

DATE:
Thursday, June 16, 2011

TIME:
7 PM

WHERE:
Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street (between Third and Fourth streets)
San Francisco, CA 94103

INFORMATION/
PURCHASE:
www.thecjm.org <http://www.thecjm.org> , info@thecjm.org
info@thecjm.org>  or call 415.655.7800.

TICKETS:
$20 general; discounts for Museum members