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Kronos Quartet: The legendary San Francisco quartet comes to Rancho Nicasio

Jane Vick

Jul 20, 2022

Kronos Quartet: The legendary San Francisco quartet comes to Rancho Nicasio

Kronos Quartet, a staple of the San Francisco music scene since 1978, is returning to Rancho Nicasio on Sunday, July 24 for the venue’s BBQ on the Lawn series. The night promises to be clement, with plentiful brews flowing freely and eclectic music emanating from the Kronos Quartet’s strings.

Kronos Quartet is decidedly not the traditional string quartet experience. Those concerned about a sleepy performance featuring snoring seatmates need not worry. Not only is Rancho Nicasio a lively and refreshing outdoor venue; the group is known for taking audiences along for an often unexpected, always exciting, classical thrill ride. According to its website, the quartet exists “to create, perform and promote music from a global perspective that responds to the world we share and expand the understanding of music’s role as a powerful force in society.”

Think of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” which for those unfamiliar features live cannon fire, chimes and brass fanfare, for a general sense—minus the cannons—of Kronos’ adventurous, explorative and invigorating productions. This musical institution, including a nonprofit branch dedicated to developing the musical capacities of future generation artists and listeners, honors the profundity of music that only music can convey.

Kronos Quartet was first founded in 1973 in Seattle, WA, by violinist David Harrington and moved to its now home of San Francisco in 1978. Made up of four members, the quartet currently consists of Harrington on violin, John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola and Sunny Yang—the newest member—on cello.

The group has performed worldwide, recorded over 40 albums and is considered by many to be the most famous contemporary classical music group in the world. Their repertoire is expansive, with over 1,000 pieces commissioned over their nearly 50 years of performing. The group plays a strikingly diverse range of music, from work by minimalist composers such as John Adams, Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass, to pieces composed for them by Frank Zappa, to adaptations of works by Prince and Sigur Ros.

Kronos Quartet has performed alongside Allen Ginsberg, Björk, the National, Tom Waits and David Bowie. They have received over 40 musical awards, including two Grammy awards, the Polar Music Prize, the 2018 WOMEX Artist Award, and the Rolf Schock Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize, among others. They are constantly revolutionizing the quartet music experience and pushing the boundaries of classical music. The quartet tours five months of each year, appearing in the world’s most prestigious music venues,

The Kronos Performing Arts Association gives back to the music community in myriad ways, both in the Bay Area and internationally. Photo by Lenny Gonzalez.

Says founder Harrington of the group’s ethos, “I’ve always wanted the string quartet to be vital, and energetic, and alive, and cool, and not afraid to kick ass and be absolutely beautiful and ugly if it has to be. But it has to be expressive of life. To tell the story with grace and humor and depth. And to tell the whole story, if possible.”

Along with their illustrious and lengthy career transforming the landscape of classical music, their nonprofit arm, the Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), has also built and sustained programs mentoring emerging musicians and composers, both in the United States and abroad.

“There are certain experiences in life that set the bar higher,” says Harrington. “One of them for me was when in 1974 Rostislav Dubinsky, the Borodin Quartet’s first violinist, spent three hours going over with me every question I had about Shostakovich’s 8th Quartet. This lesson set the bar for me as to what an elder musician ought to do for a younger musician. Each member of Kronos has received this kind of generous guidance from many people over the years. We have been given a wealth of spirit and knowledge that we hope to share.”

In 2015, Kronos Quartet and KPAA, which manages all aspects of the Kronos Quartet, launched 50 For the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire. This project is commissioning and freely distributing 50 new works for string quartets, designed specifically to educate and train new to mid-career string musicians and quartets. These commissioned pieces of music play many roles, including being used as remixable samples in KPAA’s collaboration with Sunset Youth Services, which supports young music producers, engineers and hip-hop artists. These remixes will be released by Sunset Youth Services’ in-house record label, Upstar Records.

Their ongoing dedication to keeping the story of classical music alive, contemporary and valuable to the community has made Kronos Quartet a musical institution and a gem in the crown of the Bay Area arts scene.

Check out Kronos Quartet this Sunday, July 24 at Rancho Nicasio, playing a set including works by Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Mazz Swift, Peni Candra Rini, Philip Glass and Michael Gordon.

For information and tickets to BBQ on the Lawn, visit www.ranchonicasio.com. More information about the quartet can be found at www.kronosquartet.org.

Culture Crush—New Yorker Cartoons and Wine, Jazz and Art, and More

Jane Vick

Jul 20, 2022

Culture Crush—New Yorker Cartoons and Wine, Jazz and Art, and More

Sonoma

Cartoons + Wine

What better a combination than wine and cartoons? For those with a creative inkling and a love of wine, join New Yorker cartoonist, author and filmmaker Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell at the La Prenda Tasting Room for Cartooning Classes. Fitzgerald’s debut memoir, Murder Book, has been nominated as the best non-fiction mystery novel in this year’s Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, and she has illustrated books like Feminist Fight Club and Are You My Uber? Her second memoir, The Joy of Snacking, is scheduled to come to bookstores in 2023. Though she resides in New York, Fitzgerald is a Sonoma-born artist, and is looking forward to bringing her cartooning gifts to her hometown. Join Fitzgerald at the La Prenda Tasting Room, 535 1st St W, Sonoma, on Thursday, July 21 at 6:30pm, or Thursday, Aug. 25 at 6:30pm. $50, including supplies and a glass of La Prenda wine. www.laprendawines.com

Sonoma

Jazz and Art

Yet another great combination—art and jazz! Join the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (SVMA) for Jazzin’ It Up at ArtNight, a lively night of music, food, art and cocktails, inspired by the museum’s current exhibition, “Dancing with Charlie: Bay Area Art from the Campbell Collection.” Featuring music from A Band for All Seasons—a group formed specifically for this occasion—including Roy Blumenfeld, Jef Labes, Richard Olsen, Joni Maxx, Paul Robinson and Paul Smith. Take a trip through the evolution of jazz during Charlie Campbell’s lifetime, including the Charleston, Lindy Hop, Swing and the jazz sounds of North Beach. Enjoy the art, have a drink and shake a leg! This event is held at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, 551 Broadway, Sonoma, from 6pm-9pm. $35 SVMA members, $40 for non-members. One cocktail is included with admission. Reservations are required. www.svma.org

Petaluma

Rivertown Revival

This Petaluma staple returns for 2022. Come celebrate the slough at Rivertown Revival!

Food, art and drinks for all are guaranteed. And this year, to make up for lost time, Rivertown Revival is offering even more.This year’s festivities include two days packed with $5 weddings, curios, and performances by Sean Hayes, La Gente, The Musers and many more. There will be a family area for all ages, including crafts and dancing, and a quiet area for tired little ones. Proceeds from the Rivertown Revival benefit Friends of the Petaluma River, a local non-profit dedicated to educating the community about the Petaluma River and its watershed. Throughout the year, the nonprofit hosts river cleanups, free boating programs, nature camps for kids, environmental education courses, community celebrations and much more. Rivertown Revival is held at 100 E D St, Petaluma. July 23-24. 11am-7pm. Tickets from $5-$40. www.rivertownrevival.com

San Rafael

Married, Single, Mingle!

Looking for something new to do this weekend? Head over to Ounces Outdoors for Married, Single, Mingle! Join a group of strangers waiting to be friends at the outdoor beer garden for light snacks, mixer games that make mingling easy and all kinds of opportunities. The event is co-sponsored by The Society of Single Professionals, the world’s largest nonprofit singles organization, and benefits the Seva Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing and treating blindness. Ounces Outdoors, which opened this summer, is dog friendly, and features craft beer, cider, wine and bocce courts. Come check out a new venue, try a new beer and make a new friend. Dressy casual attire is suggested for this event, held on Sunday, July 24 at Ounces Outdoors, 5800 Northgate Dr, San Rafael. From 3pm-5pm. Tickets $10. www.stayhappening.com

—Jane Vick

New Mental Health Distress Hotline Launches Nationwide

Will Carruthers

Jul 20, 2022

New Mental Health Distress Hotline Launches Nationwide

Over the weekend, the federal government launched a new, easy-to-remember phone number for people seeking mental health support as part of an effort to improve the government’s crisis support services.

The new number, 988, was created following the passage of federal legislation in 2020. The hope is that the new system will prove more memorable than the 10-digit suicide prevention numbers which have been used until now.

The change comes in response to at least two factors: increasing rates of suicide and mental health crises, and efforts in some parts of the country to split requests for mental health assistance from the conventional emergency service providers, primarily police and fire departments.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide rates increased 30% between 2000 and 2018. In 2020, suicide was the second leading cause of death among Americans aged 10-14 and 25-34.

Between April and June 2021, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline answered 89% of the 66,343 calls it received from Californians. However, calls to the new line may increase significantly as Americans learn about the system and some 911 calls are diverted.

A December 2021 appropriations report from the Department of Health and Human Services projects that nationwide call volume “is expected to increase to 7.6 million by the end of the first full year of 988 implementation in July 2023, more than a two-fold increase over 2020 volume.”

Of course, the new number is just the start of improving mental health services. It remains to be seen whether California will have the resources to effectively respond to an increase in requests for services.

In Sonoma County, the switch follows another recent change in local responses to mental health services. Following the Black Lives Matters protests in 2020, Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Sonoma County have launched mental health crisis teams who respond to certain 911 calls instead of police.

While it’s in the early stages, the pivot makes a lot of sense, since interaction with police can prove fatal for a person experiencing a mental health crisis. In 2015, a report by the Treatment Advocacy Center found that people with untreated mental illnesses were 16 times more likely to be killed in an encounter with police than a member of the general population.

Santa Rosa Council Raise Moves a Step Closer to November Ballot

Katy St. Clair

Jul 20, 2022

Santa Rosa Council Raise Moves a Step Closer to November Ballot

The possibility of the Santa Rosa City Council receiving a pay boost passed its first hurdle on Tuesday, July 12, as the body voted 5-2 to draft a resolution calling for a compensation increase to be placed on the November ballot.

The resolution will then go before the city council again for approval.

After much discussion and debate, the council decided on going with the recommendation from a city charter review committee to ask voters to approve raises based on the area median income for a household of three.

The mayor would receive the full amount, or $101,500, and council members would receive two-thirds of that, at $66,990. If enacted, the new pay structure would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Currently, the mayor receives $14,400 annually and the council members receive $9,600 annually.

The Santa Rosa proposal was inspired by Berkeley’s Measure JJ, a ballot item passed in 2020 which ties council members’ compensation to the median income in Alameda County. The measure was approved with support from nearly 65% of Berkeley voters.

A few council members pointed out that such a drastic jump might not go over well with the voting public. Council member John Sawyer noted that people are “shocked” when they learn how little he makes, but added that hearing about a $100,000 salary would be “equally as shocking.”

“Too rich for my blood,” he said, as one of two council members voting no on the motion to draft the resolution. “I don’t know how one would defend $100,000.”

Many compromises were considered. Mayor Chris Rogers suggested that council members make 50% of what county supervisors make, which is $161,000. That would give the mayor roughly $80,000 and council members around $53,000.

Council member Dianna MacDonald, who also voted no on the draft resolution, suggested using Sonoma County household income numbers pulled from the “extremely low” to “very low” range, or 50 and 30% of the median income. That would be $53,500 for the mayor in the very low range and $32,100 in the extremely low range, with council members receiving two-thirds of that amount. She saw these options as more “palatable” to the community.

City Attorney Sue Gallagher agreed that the council could use different metrics from the income averages, such as instead of going with the median income of a family of three, the council could do the median for a household of one. Or, the council could use low- to very low-income numbers instead of the median.

Council member Natalie Rogers voted for the committee’s recommendation. She explained why she thinks the proposed compensation is important.

“It allows for the council to be diverse; it allows for different people from different walks of life,” Rogers said.

The current pay makes it hard for people to serve without being penalized in other parts of their life, she added.

The charter review committee had recommended the raises to “enable a greater diversity of membership,” such as people with young families, those with lower paying occupations and those without an independent means of wealth.

Among the council members who voted yes on the draft resolution, many said that the charter review committee put in a lot of the legwork to reach the recommendation and that the council should heed their findings. Vice Mayor Eddie Alvarez said the council should listen to the committee and then let the voters decide.

The draft resolution will return to the council at the next council meeting on July 26.

Axial Tilt brings Grateful Dead tunes to Rohnert Park

Daedalus Howell

Jul 20, 2022

Axial Tilt brings Grateful Dead tunes to Rohnert Park

Leaning into a lyric that some Grateful Dead fans may find useful during this protracted “unprecedented moment,” “Through this world of trouble we must love one another.”

The line is from “My Sisters and Brothers,” which might be among the lineup performed over two days as part of Axial Tilt, an all-star Grateful Dead celebration coming to SoMo Village in Rohnert Park this weekend.

The upcoming event is a reprise of sorts for Axial Tilt—the first took place in 2015 during New Orleans-based Jazz Fest and was timed to celebrate the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary as a band. Mounted by impresario Mitch Stein’s Poolside Productions, this iteration of the event is the first to transpire in the Bay Area—birthplace of the Dead.

“The Grateful Dead and their fans are the embodiment of ‘community,’” says Stein of the band’s enduring legacy in the Bay Area and beyond. “Regarding the musicality inherent in any Grateful Dead show and, in our Deadheads’ lingo—and reference to a lyric from [the song] ‘The Music Never Stopped’—the music really does play the band with the Grateful Dead.”

The two-day musical event consists of one acoustic set and two electric sets, culminating in five hours of live Grateful Dead music, with nary a song repeated either night. The band is comprised of names long-associated in the extended Grateful Dead family, including guitarist Stu Allen (Phil Lesh & Friends, Stu Allen & Mars Hotel), guitarist Rob Eaton (Dark Star Orchestra), vocalist Lisa Mackey (Dark Star Orchestra), bassist Stephen Ramirez (CRYPTICAL, Zen Tricksters), drummer Jay Lane (RatDog, Wolf Brothers, Primus) and percussionist Wally Ingram (Bob Weir + Phil Lesh Duo). Stein, himself a veteran keyboardist for CRYPTICAL and Gatorators, will also perform.

As for the band the aforementioned musicians are celebrating, Stein attributes the Grateful Dead’s enduring legacy to a variety of factors.

“I can’t think of another collection of musicians—let alone one that performed more than 2,300 concerts over 50 years, and who continue to perform in various configurations to this day—whose symbiotic relationship with their fans is as much of the experience as the notes being played,” says Stein. He also attributes the fact that the original Grateful Dead allowed, if not encouraged, their fans to record their live concerts and share the copies of the material, which spread their music “farther and wider than anything the record company could have done.”

Going “viral” in an analogue age was no mean feat pre-Internet. These days, however, notions of virality come fraught with Covid considerations. Stein and his collaborators are prepared.

“This is not a political issue for us,” says Stein, who is steadfastly clear-eyed about the pandemic. “Covid is still very much around, and while those of us involved with Axial Tilt are thrilled to be able to get back to doing what we love to do—and are specifically doing it outdoors—we can only do so with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that every single person in attendance is as protected as they can be.”

Proof of vaccination (including at least a single booster) is required, and masks are not mandated but are encouraged.

Axial Tilt commences 5:30pm, July 23 and 24, SOMO Village Redwood Grove, 1100 Valley House Drive, Rohnert Park. For more information and tickets, visit dhowl.com/axialtilt.