Music

Artists are listed in alphabetical order

Climate Music Project

USA - CLIMATE (2016)

Date and Time: Sat May 3, 7:30pm
Duration: 90 mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 933 Treat Ave.
Venue: Monkey Brains

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Composed by Erik Ian Walker as music to be modulated by existing and predicted climate data, the sound is dramatically altered as the timeline goes into the future. From 1800 to 2300, the video timeline and animated graphics illustrate this sweeping and powerful collision of music and climate data.

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Conspiracy of Venus 

USA - Sun May 4, 2:00pm

Date and Time: Sun May 4, 2:00pm
Duration: 60 minutes w/out intermission. 
Location:  544 Capp St
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Conspiracy of Venus performs music of Leonard Cohen, PJ Harvey, and more, with dance and choreography by Bethany Mitchell, and choral arrangements by Joyce Todd McBride, director.

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Dee Spencer Trio with Michelle Jacques & Students

Women in Jazz & World Music Graduation Concert

Date and Time: Fri May 2, 7:00pm
Duration: 90 mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 544 Capp St.
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Free / By Donation

The culmination of SFIAF’s free vocal training course for 15 – 24 year olds led by Dr. Dee Spencer with Mistress of Choirs Michelle Jacques.

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Dee Spencer & Jason Brock 

USA - Celebrating Mother’s Day with a Queer American Songbook

Date and Time: Sun May 11, 7:30pm
Duration: 105 mins with intermission. 
Location: 170 Valencia St.
Venue: The Chan Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

The 2025 Festival concludes in an uncharacteristically wholesome manner – celebrating Mother’s Day in the company of two of the nation’s greatest authorities on show tunes as they bring an LGBTQ+ perspective to the Great American Songbook.

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Ensemble for These Times 

USA - Mujeres ahora

Date and Time: Fri May 9, 7:30pm
Duration: 70 mins with intermission 
Location: 544 Capp St
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Award-winning contemporary music group Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) celebrates works by 21st century Latina composers Gabriela Lena Frank, Tania León, Carla Lucero, Claudia Montero, Angélica Negrón, and Gabriela Ortiz. Performed by Nanette McGuinness, soprano, Margaret Halbig, piano, Lylia Guion, violin, and Vanessa Ruotolo, cello. Pre-concert talk with Carla Lucero.

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Eryen Korath y Neblinas del Pacífico 

Colombia / USA - Mangroves and Marimba (2025, World Premiere)

Date and Time: Sat May 10, 8:30pm
Duration: 90 mins mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 544 Capp St.
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Eryen Korath Ortiz Garcés (Buenaventura, Colombia) and Neblinas del Pacífico (La Mission, San Francisco) present a sound fabric of marimba de chonta music from the Afro-Colombian Pacific: music of rivers and mangroves, of polyrhythms and harmonies, of spirituality and everyday life, of ancestors and tradition, of celebration and resistance.

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Francis Wong 

USA - Wong Wei’s Gamble (work-in-progress)

Date and Time: Sun May 4 3:00pm. 60 mins. w/out intermission. 
Location: 933 Treat Ave
Venue: Monkey Brains

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

The story of Francis Wong’s grandfather, Wong Wei — a professional jockey and business manager whose "gamble" was to open a racecourse in Japanese occupied Tianjin during World War II. Wong Wei’s Gamble was presented as a suite of music at SFIAF in 2015. Ten years later Francis Wong is turning the work into an opera.

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JazzFrancisco 

USA - Sat May 3, 6:00pm

Date and Time: Sat May 3, 6:00pm
Duration: 60 mins w/out intermission
Location: 3340A 18th
Venue: Barbara Berkeley Studio

Ticket Information:Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Guitarist Jackson Moran and clarinetist Nathaniel Vincent will be performing a set comprised of Jazz standards played in the style of Django Reinhardt. They will also be performing some original pieces drawing inspiration from Reinhardt's style of playing.

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Karma Roulette Quartet 

USA - Slinky Proverb (2024, California Premiere)

Date and Time: Sun May 4, 7:00pm
Duration: 105 mins with Intermission. 
Location: 2698 Folsom St
Venue: Red Poppy Art House

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Slinky Proverb is the title of one of two new works by Michael Smolens that will be performed as part of this evening length concert. Slinky Proverb combines West-African groove with bluesy, contemporary jazz and 20th century classical-influenced melodies. The second new composition is titled Abakim featuring the kalimba that progresses into a jazz waltz.

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Malpica

USA - Abanico Coffee Roasters

Date and Time: Sat May 10, 7:30pm
Duration: 60 mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 2121 Mission St.
Venue: Abanico Coffee Roasters

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Malpica is a one-man band who blends modern looping techniques with the vibrant rhythms of Latin America. Creating live percussion, basslines, backing guitars, and vocal harmonies, he delivers a dynamic solo performance. Fusing traditional syncopation with innovative production, Malpica offers a captivating soundscape that bridges tradition and technology.

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Melody of China with Ali Akbar College of Music Ensemble 

USA - Mystic Harmonies (2025, World Premiere)

Date and Time: Sun May 11, 2:00pm
Duration: 75 mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 544 Capp St
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Evoking fond memories of their last shared concert at SFIAF 2017, Melody of China performs in collaboration with Indian tabla virtuoso Swapan Chaudhuri. The concert program will include repertoire from minority ethnic groups in China as well as the world premiere of a new work for mixed ensemble featuring Chinese and Indian trained musicians.

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Moe Staiano Ensemble 

USA - Music for Eight Guitars (The Parting Gift)

Date and Time: Fri May 2 7:30pm
Duration: 30mins. 
Location: 933 Treat Ave
Venue: Monkey Brains

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Composer and percussionist, Moe Staiano continues to explore works for electric guitar ensembles with his third composition--an experimental exploration of tonal interplay and contrasting rhythms for eight electric guitars, bass, drums and percussion.

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Motion 

USA - Circlesinging Event

Date and Time: Saturday May 3, 4:30pm
Duration: 90 mins w/out intermission.
Location: 544 Capp St
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Bobby McFerrin's group, MOTION present a circle singing event. Through improvisation, MOTION will spontaneously create music that promotes community, harmony, health and joy. This is an interactive event where the audience will participate in the experience so come free your voice with Tammi Brown, Bryan Dyer, Destani Wolf and David Worm.

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Moving Van Trio

Enter Country of Artist Origin - Flight Risk (2025, World Premiere)

Date and Time: Thu May 8, 8:00pm
Duration: 60 mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 3527 20th St.
Venue: Finger Snaps Media Arts

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Moving Van will present an intimate night of music performing a low-volume, heartfelt set, bringing deep grooves and soulful melodies in a warm, stripped-down setting. This special performance features the premiere of the new composition, Flight Risk.

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Music in-Takht 

USA - Nile Vibes: Ancient Roots, Modern Grooves

Date and Time: Sun May 4, 6:30pm
Duration: 105 minutes with intermission. 
Location: 544 Capp St
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Dive into the enchanting world of Egyptian instrumental music with Music in-Takht, the Bay Area’s premier Egyptian heritage ensemble! Journey through the sounds of Egyptian classical music to modern contemporary Egyptian grooves in a night of mesmerizing melodies.

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The No-Mads 

USA - Guilty Pleasures and Hip Hits
Music of 20th-Century American and European Pop Culture

Date and Time: Fri May 9, 7:00pm
Duration: 70 mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 3527 20th St.
Venue: Finger Snaps Media Arts

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

An invitation to celebrate music’s reign in the 20th-century pop culture of Europe and the Americas! Jazz, TV and film themes, rock, French waltzes, Italian folk songs, Bossa Nova, and more are on The No-Mads’ instrumental program to bring a smile with once-familiar songs that maybe you’ve forgotten that you know and love.

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Prasant Radhakrishnan Trio 

USA 

Date and Time: Fri May 9 8:00pm.
Duration: 60 mins
Shared Bill: Siddique Ahmed. 
Location: 933 Treat Ave
Venue: Monkey Brains

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28



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Robert Lopez Ensemble featuring Jorge Alabê 

USA - Ogum Onirê (2025, World Premiere)

Date and Time: Sat May 3, 8:30pm
Duration: 50 mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 544 Capp St, SF, CA 9410
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Ogum Onirê is a suite of ancestral music originating from the Candomblé religion. These practices, enduring the Transatlantic slave trade and centuries of religious intolerance are a staple of Brazilian culture. This work adds chamber music instrumentation to traditional Candomblé ensemble featuring the prominent educator and master drummer Jorge Alabê.

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Romano & Ophir Duo 

USA - Classical & Latin American Interpretations

Date and Time: Saturday, May 3, 2:00 PM
Duration: 70 mins w/out intermission.
Location: 3340 A 18th St.
Venue: Barbara Berkeley Studio

Ticket Information: $20 - $28

Works from the Baroque era to the present day reimagined with harp, clarinet and flute, offering a fresh new look at classical music, and interwoven with the dynamic flare of Amelia’s original compositions inspired by Latin American rhythms and folk traditions.

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Sameer Gupta 

USA - Jupiter (2024)

Date and Time: Sun May 11, 4:00pm
Duration: 75 minutes mins w/out intermission. 
Location: 933 Treat Ave
Venue: Monkey Brains

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Jupiter is a shoegaze inspired free jazz experiment with visions of Indian classical music and universal consciousness joining epic improvisational journeys set across a luscious landscape of long-sample warping and shimmering dynamics. The piece sets a luminous tone through its interstellar raga-inspired improvisations woven throughout a cosmic drone landscape.

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Siddique Ahmed 

Date and Time: Fri May 9 8:00pm
Duration: 60 mins
Shared Bill:Prasant Radhakrishnan. 
Location: 933 Treat Ave
Venue: Monkey Brains

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28



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Sumi Lee - Ramiro Boero Duo 

USA - New Sounds in Tango: A Concert of Contemporary Tango Music (2024)

Date and Time: Saturday, May 10, 4:30 PM
Duration: 70 mins w/out intermission.
Location: 544 Capp St
Venue: Community Music Center

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Sumi Lee and Ramiro Boero present “New Sounds in Tango,” exploring contemporary tango music.

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Teresa Tam, Obadiah Díaz Wrynla, Basma Edrees 

USA - Bach, Tango & Beyond

Date and Time: Sun May 11, 4:30pm
Duration: 105 mins with intermission. 
Location: 2698 Folsom St.
Venue: Red Poppy Art House

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Teresa, Obadiah, and Basma unite with diverse musical histories to present a dynamic blend of traditions. Rooted in tango, their repertoire spans Bach to Piazzolla, Disney to Mandopop. Showcasing violin, voice, and bandoneón, their performances highlight expertise, cultural influences, and a shared exchange that resonates deeply with audiences and themselves.

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Valerie Troutt Trio 

USA - Loopy Church

Date and Time: Sat May 3, 6:30pm
Duration: 45min w/out intermission. 
Location: 3527 20th St
Venue: Fingersnaps Media Arts

Ticket Information: Early Bird: $20: Advance: $25; Door: $28

Valerie Troutt presents "Loopy Church," a captivating performance that blends soulful melodies with innovative looping techniques. Utilizing a loop pedal, live percussion, guitar, and backing vocals, Valerie creates a rich, layered sound that resonates deeply.

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San Francisco International Arts Festival
Phone Number: 415-399-9554 | Email: [email protected]
1471 Guerrero Street, #3 San Francisco, CA 94110

 

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