Join in-demand Bay Area composer-pianist Paul G. McCurdy for an evening of new compositions rooted in the expressive possibilities of music and the piano.  Flowing from pieces grounded in the classical tradition to those inspired by jazz and improvisation, the recital features music about human connection, deep introspection, and defiant joy in a time of chaos.  Don't miss what may be one of Paul's last performances in the Bay Area before moving to NYC!

Keezer and Margot have been touring, writing and recording together for several years, including their 2018 album On My Way to You (MarKeez). They bring their unique vision of the vocal and piano duet to concert stages worldwide, performing familiar jazz standards, beloved pop songs and vibrant original compositions, in a varied and intimate set.

Join longtime friends and musical collaborators pianist Hannah Mayer, bassist Aidan McCarthy, and drummer Jayla Hernández for an intimate performance featuring Hannah’s original compositions and arrangements of favorites ranging from showtunes to Brazilian popular music.

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“A first-call accompanist and collaborator for the vocal elite, and a conceptualist who's crafted smartly arranged musical love letters to everything from steampunk sci-fi to the City of Los Angeles as part of his ongoing Discovery Project, Nelson is a creative force to be reckoned with.” –Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

Melissa Lam, a talented cellist with the San Francisco Choral Society Orchestra, and Eric Tran, pianist-composer and teacher with an MM from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, present a performance featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff's Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19, and Felix Mendelssohn's Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58.

Night Music

Ten musicians from the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, along with longtime San Francisco Opera music staff member and pianist Robert Mollicone, take the stage at the piano store to perform intimate works by Claude Debussy, Astor Piazzolla, Eugene Bozza, George Frideric Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven and Maurice Ravel, among others.

Mads Tolling and John R. Burr met back in 2015, and in 2023 released their first album together, Ramblin’ on Blue Coast Records. The album features creative arrangements of songs from all corners of the music world, including Toto, Lennon/McCartney, Victor Young and John McLaughlin. Tunes from Ramblin’ will be part of the set list this evening, along with songs from the Great American Songbook and originals by John and Mads.

Howard Levy is a virtuoso pianist, harmonicist and composer, originally from New York, based in Chicago. Winner of two Grammy Awards, he has performed and recorded with a wide array of artists including Béla Fleck and The Flecktones, Paquito D’Rivera, Donald Fagen, and many more. He tours extensively as a solo artist, presenting an adventurous blend of original jazz piano compositions flavored with Latin and World Music. And of course, expect a few tunes where he plays piano and harmonica simultaneously.

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Lynne Arriale, piano
Alon Near, bass
Alon Benjamini, drums

Featuring protean pianist Myra Melford, galvanizing bassist Mark Dresser, and supremely musical drummer Matt Wilson, Trio M brings together three visionary jazz artists with extensive track records in adventurous ensembles. Unbound by piano trio conventions, the leaderless project erases distinctions between frontline and accompanist, requiring each player to shape the music’s flow as it unfolds. The resulting sounds can be fierce and beatific, playful and rigorous, earthy or abstract, extravagantly joyous or quietly introspective.

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California-born soprano Mary Ellen Callahan sings a collection of songs that includes her favorites, as well as a few she learned to love. She’ll talk about her international career as a recitalist and soloist, sorting the differences between performing a program curated by herself and being hired to sing pieces chosen by someone else. Followed by audience Q & A. Hosted by vocalist Sharmila G. Lash.

Sudamericanto’s unique brand of latin-american music combines Brazilian jazz with South and Central American folk rhythms, taking audiences along a journey through traditions from South America and the Caribbean with a Brazilian jazz twist. Featuring multi-faceted Puerto Rican vocalist/interpreter Madeleine Zayas and high caliber Bay Area musicians/educators coming together to play fresh compositions of Brazilian Jazz tunes, in addition to original arrangements of carefully selected Latin American classics from Argentina, Chile, Perú, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

Pianist Vince Guaraldi’s main claim to fame are his Charlie Brown/Peanuts compositions, but he was much more than that, excelling in various musical styles. Being his only student and later joining his two-piano quartet, Powder Keg, pianist Larry Vuckovich knows Guaraldi’s music firsthand. Presenting the true side of Vince Guaraldi, Larry plays some of Guaraldi’s favorite repertoire that spans various genres, with Kai Lyons (guitar), Doug Miller (bass), and Hector Lugo (Latin percussion).

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Hard bop pianist Benny Green – who has played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the Freddie Hubbard Quintet, and the Ray Brown Trio – returns to the piano store for an evening of solo piano that will include standards and originals.