{"id":501445,"date":"2026-10-19T21:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T21:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/501445\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T21:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T21:54:11","slug":"a-creative-free-for-all-at-sf-music-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/501445\/","title":{"rendered":"A creative free for all at SF Music Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

First the good news. After last year\u2019s experiment with a (flexible) $20 cover charge, SF Music Day<\/a> is once again free. The better news is that InterMusic SF<\/a>\u2019s 19th annual celebration of the Bay Area\u2019s overlapping creative music scenes returns to the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center with a stellar line up featuring nearly 100 of the region\u2019s most venturesome musicians.<\/p>\n

Running Sunday noon to 6 p.m., the cornucopian program features artists exploring chamber music, jazz, new music, bluegrass and various international musical permutations across three stages. A donation of $30 is requested, but there\u2019s no charge to attend. The price seems to be right.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already at 2,200 reservations, which is more than we\u2019ve ever had before at this point,\u201d said Crystal Pascucci-Clifford, the cellist who took over as InterMusic SF\u2019s executive director in 2023.<\/p>\n

Part of what makes SF Music Day such an effective showcase is that it\u2019s a synergistic expression of InterMusic SF\u2019s year-long work. Formerly known as SF Friends of Chamber Music, the San Francisco nonprofit took on a new moniker in 2017 to reflect its much wider musical scope. The organization has steadily expanded the resources it offers to musicians and ensembles, including fiscal sponsorship and grants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AAnne Sajdera Quintet \u2013 Photo by Fifi LaRue<\/p>\n

Classical percussionist Haruka Fujii\u2019s project focusing on contemporary chamber music from Japan, Nippon Kobo, the Filipina folk trio The Sampaguitas, and jazz pianist\/composer Anne Sajdera\u2019s Quintet are all 2026 grant recipients featured on Sunday. But it\u2019s not unusual for the relationship to flow the other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany times performing at SF Music Day is a catalyst to benefit from all the services we offer, career building, capacity building, one-on-one strategic counseling,\u201d Pascucci-Clifford said. \u201cWe\u2019re all about finding ways to support musicians building sustainable ensembles and practices. SF Music Day is a celebration of all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AJanet Cowperthwaite<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a celebration of one of the nation\u2019s most consequential artistic leaders. The festival\u2019s honoree is Janet Cowperthwaite, whose four-decade tenure as manager of Kronos Quartet oversaw and facilitated the ensemble\u2019s rise as one of the world\u2019s preeminent new music ensembles. Kronos\u2019s rising tide has shaped the Bay Area\u2019s creative ecosystem, providing a model for the kind of cross-genre collaboration that SF Music Day often showcases. Sunday\u2019s debut of the duo pairing San Francisco Contemporary Music Players pianist Monica Campbell with violist Hank Dutt, who spent nearly five decades in Kronos Quartet, marks the launch of another ensemble dedicated to introducing new music.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an arts administrator Janet is a superstar,\u201d Pascucci-Clifford said. \u201cWhat she\u2019s done for the city of San Francisco, putting us on the map for contemporary music, redefining the string quartet and what it could do, can\u2019t be overestimated. And personally, seeing a female leader in a role similar to mine is such an inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"APianist Monica Campbell and violist Hank Dutt: Dutt Campbell Duo. Photo by Bart Nagel<\/p>\n

InterMusic SF is also partnering with Jazz in the Neighborhood<\/a>, an organization dedicated to creating and promoting gigs that pay sustainable wages. It\u2019s the third year that the organization\u2019s JazzMobile<\/a> will be stationed outside the War Memorial with a combo playing throughout the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realized that it\u2019s also a jam session,\u201d Pascucci-Clifford said. \u201cLast year we started to see the stage musicians sitting in. We\u2019re encouraging community members to bring their horns and sit in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the number and diversity of acts on tap what makes SF Music Day such an adventure is that it\u2019s designed to allow for easy exploration. Come for the tenor saxophonist Raffi Garabedian\u2019s gorgeous emo-jazz but also check out the slimmed down 16-piece edition of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra<\/a>, one of several large ensembles on tap.<\/p>\n

Here are some other highly recommended SF Music Day sets.<\/p>\n

ROVA Saxophone Quartet<\/a>
Green Room, 2:15 p.m.
With its 50th anniversary in sight next year, ROVA keeps forging ahead. Featuring Jon Raskin on baritone saxophone, Larry Ochs on tenor saxophone, Steve Adams on alto and soprano saxophones and Bruce Ackley on soprano saxophone, this inveterately inventive group focuses on music from the new ESP-Disk release, \u201cThose Who\u2026\u201d a bracing set of rigorously designed material for collective improvisation. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Ian Carey & Wood Metal Plastic<\/a>
Taube Atrium, 2:15 p.m.
Jazz trumpeter and composer Ian Carey\u2019s Wood Metal Plastic is a fascinating hybrid featuring his detailed and often intricate music balancing horns, strings and protean rhythm section. With violinists Irene Sazer and Quinn Han, cellist Jessica Ivry, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, drummer Jason Levis and saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, the elemental ensemble can (and does) explore multiple directions.<\/p>\n

\"ASundra Manning Organ Quintet <\/p>\n

Sundra Manning<\/a>
Herbst Theatre, 4 p.m.
If the Bay Area is in the midst of a Hammond B3 renaissance<\/a>, Sundra Manning deserves some of the credit. She\u2019s a charismatic, soul-steeped force on the instrument, and her band features tenor sax powerhouse Howard Wiley, bassist Kevin Goldberg, drummer Darian Grey, and vocalist Omega Rae (who\u2019s been working lately with the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra).<\/p>\n

Trillian Welch<\/a>
Taub Atrium, 5 p.m.
Featuring Margaret Belton, Jill Rogers, and Meredith Edgar, Trillian Welch is a project that transforms the songs of Gillian Welch with sumptuous three-part harmonies, as each woman brings a distinctive approach to the material. They\u2019re accompanied by the top-notch Trillianaires, a guitar-forward quintet that brings the requisite torch and twang.<\/p>\n

Bulul\u00fa<\/a>
Herbst Theatre, 5 p.m.
Led by Venezuelan-born percussionist and vocalist Lali Mejia, Bulul\u00fa brings together a bevy of leading players from across the Bay Area Latin music, including bassist Ayla Davila, keyboardist Ruthie Dineen, drummer Omar Ledezma Jr, Puerto Rican cuatro expert Pedro Pastrana, Grace Guerrero on vocals and hand percussion, Dayron Calderon on trombone and vocals, and Puerto Rican vocalist Karla Lozada. With a far-ranging repertoire that encompasses salsa, cumbias, joropo, guarachas, bachatas, and calypsos, Bulul\u00fa brings a pan-American party.<\/p>\n