Stroll down Valencia Street on a warm spring evening and you’re likely to find, within barely two blocks of one another, two variations on a theme: Mobile theater. One is Mr. Brandy in his van – the ex-Texan pianist lives and works out of a van draped in sparkly fabrics and oddball decorations, crammed in next to the piano he...
What would San Francisco sound like expressed in south Indian percussion? In a new work called “7 x 7” premiering at the Community Music Center on April 29, composer, percussionist and educator Rohan Krishnamurthy has given that concept a go. Krishnamurthy took field recordings from around San Francisco’s nature and neighborhoods, as well as conversations with San Francisco artists, and reinterpreted them in solo composition...
Regulars at Atlas Cafe might have seen the farewell note taped to the window from the collective of musicians who have played bluegrass music there for nearly 20 years. “Come on by for one more night of fun. Thanks for all the love and support over the years,” the note reads. Thursday, March 30 from 7 to 10 p.m. will...
Music samples in this story are played and recorded by Matt Rupert from a theme and variations called Aubada composed by Suad Bushnaq. Inside a music center called “Little Mission Studio” on a semi-industrial block of Hampshire Street, proprietors Claire Plumb and Matt Rupert are exploring big themes. Their upcoming concert series, UnRest, takes direct aim at the narratives of...
Returning to 24th Street this Saturday is Paseo Artistico – a free art crawl that will enliven the 24th Street corridor from Valencia Street to Potrero Avenue with song, art and film. Activities for the event will kick off at 11 a.m. at the Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center. In celebration of Women’s History Month, participants are invited to embark on a bilingual, guided mural...
A family of engineers made it abundantly clear what Stephen Gibson should be when he grew up, and for years, he worked in tech as a computer programmer and project manager. But when the most recent of those jobs came to an end, Gibson took the plunge and tried to make it as a musician – inspired in part by...
“Frak,” the hip hop moniker of Alex Fraknoi, grew up in the Mission and has seen it change – particularly when he returns on visits from Southern California, where he’s studying writing and media studies. That change inspired a rap song and music video set in the Mission, in which Frak walks the neighborhood hidden behind a fixed plastic emoji...
The Community Music Center celebrated its 95th anniversary on Sunday with a “Field Day at CMC,” reference to its founder, Gertrude Field. Hundreds of performers, students, and listeners crowded its auditorium to enjoy a five-hour marathon of back-to-back performances from musicians of all ages. Guests also enjoyed refreshments, an “instrument petting zoo,” and a room filled with documents, photos and films from...
Think you know the Mission and its history? You might discover something new at the Brava Center for Theater and the Arts when El Son de la Misión re-opens for a two-night on Friday, Nov. 11. The show is a musical and theatrical exploration and expression of the history of the Mission, with a particular focus on activism through the...
Over the course of nearly a decade, Mission District music teacher Martha Rodriguez Salazar helped Latino song and tradition find a permanent home at the San Francisco Symphony. Now in its ninth year, the Symphony’s annual Día de los Muertos concert will again return to Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday October 5. As curator of the festival and music advisor...
Local band Soltron will play at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts this Friday to mark the release of its self-titled album celebrating the Mission District’s culture and exploring themes of gentrification and displacement. Soltron began as a trio of drummers in 2014 after percussionist Anthony Sierra went to Cuba, where his father is from, to study the batá,...
On every second Sunday of the month, the 14 blocks along 24th Street between Valencia Street and Potrero Avenue come to life with music, art, poetry and cultural activities in a day-long art crawl called Paseo Artístico. A collaboration between Calle 24 and a string of other organizations, the free, all-ages event is a new project that launched in early...
For the 37th year, Carnaval will kick off on the corner of 24th and Bryant streets this Saturday and for two days transform parts of Harrison Street into a multi-block party, while a colorful procession of drummers, dancers, and themed floats snaking up 24th street and along Mission Street, will immerse the neighborhood in various aspects of Latin American culture. With...
In its 95 years, the San Francisco Community Music Center on Capp Street has weathered its fair share of changing times. Now, the center has commissioned an original music and dance performance called “El Son de la Misión,” to explore the neighborhood’s shifting culture and the transformations among local artistic movements – as well as to celebrate the center’s 95th...
Yet another business in the Mission District is about to close its doors for good. The cash register at Julio’s Música * Regalos will ring up its final transaction sometime in early March, after the store’s 22-year stint in operation. Now, Julio Villacorta, 52, must start boxing up his many T-shirts, accessories, Latin American albums and other wares as he...
