Past Seasons

Season 28: Méditations

A boy plays a guitar in a dreamy forest landscape.

After a two-year “covid hiatus,” we were looking forward to performing “live” again. The season’s concert theme was “Meditations.” The orchestra performed pieces that inspire relaxation, concentration, and joy, including music from:

The Arpeggione Sonata by Franz Schubert
Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
Chaconne by Gustav Holst
Meditation (from Thais) by Jules Massenet
The Faery Queen by Henry Purcell

Season 27: Wind

SF Mandolin Orchestra "Wind" Spring 2019. Cherry blossoms in background with wind blowing flower petals and music notes.

Music is in the air, as they say. So was only fitting that this Spring, San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra’s program theme was “Wind,” a celebration of wind- and air-themed compositions.

“Wind” and music go together. Music, after all, is created by the movement of air, an invisible breeze that blows between performer and audience. It comes from wind chimes and Aeolian harps. It comes from wind instruments of all kinds. And it comes from mandolins and guitars, whose strings send vibration through in air, create their own special magic.

Our program included:

Vivaldi’s Primavera (“Spring”) from The Four Seasons, featuring Achille Bocus, mandolin soloist.
Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2, BWV 1067 (excerpts), featuring Susan Pursey, flute soloist, and Air on a G String, BWV 1068.
Mozart’s Symphony #29, KV. 201 (in which the orchestra will be joined by wind instrument players).
Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances

Season 26: Grand Tour

SF Mandolin Orchestra - Grand Tour - Fall 2018 season

Three hundred years ago European men and women of means took “The Grand Tour” of the continent in search of art, culture, and learning.

Our fall 2018 program took audiences on a “Grand Tour” featuring orchestral works from Germany, Spain, Italy, and other countries representing the heart of European culture. Our musical journey included:

Violin Concerto in A Minor by J.S. Bach, featuring our music director Achille Bocus as mandolin soloist
Notturno in Sol by Italian composer Giuseppe Martucci
March from the opera Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
Excerpts from Joaquín Rodrigo’s guitar concerto Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre, featuring soloist Nicholas Martin
…and much more.

Season 25: American Counterpoint

coun·ter·point ˈ(koun(t)ərˌpoint/)Complimentary ideas, arguments, or themes that illuminate each other when encountered side by side, especially in music.

Contrast is at the heart of great music. Fast and slow, loud and soft, tension and release, the “counterpoint” of voices—all are prominent in all genres of world music.
American composers in particular use contrast prominently in a variety of unique musical genres. That’s why the theme of our 25 season was “American Counterpoint.” We explored a variety American music and contrasted it to J.S. Bach’s “Art of Fugue,” one of the most famous works of counterpoint by one of the most popular European composers.

Season 24: Young at Heart

We presented our Fall 2017 concerts at three locations: San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Piedmont. Our theme, “Young At Heart,” was a celebration of youth and a wistful look back at our own. We featured works with a youth connection, including: The Toy Symphony by Joseph Haydn or Leopold Mozart; The Concerto Grosso in G-minor by Arcangelo Corelli, better known as “The Christmas Concerto”; Kinderszenen, Op.15 (“Scenes from Childhood”) by Robert Schumann; and Elegia e Tarantella by Giovanni Bottesini, featuring our music director, Achille Bocus, on solo mandolin.

Season 23: Stabat Mater

The San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra performed Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s stunning Stabat Mater in two Bay Area concerts April 8 and 9. Stabat Mater is scored for orchestra and two voices. The Orchestra was joined by two renowned Bay area singers: soprano Susan Gundunas and alto Twila Ehmcke. The concerts also featured Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

Season 22: Reflections

We recently celebrated our tenth birthday! Our Fall 2016 season “Reflections” was one for reflecting on a decade of beautiful music, and considering a future full of potential. Achille Bocus conducted the orchestra in a joyous revisiting of many of the pieces from past programs that our audiences have enjoyed, including selections from Dvořák’s Symphony for the New World, Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Calace’s Serenata Gaia, and Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals.

Season 21: Celebration

For our ten-year anniversary season, the theme was “Celebration”. Our repertoire included the full Mozart 29th Symphony, and music from Altieri, and Vivaldi in honor of the occasion.

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Season 20: Dance!

Achille Bocus conducts us in music for, or inspired by, dance. Our dance repertoire ranges from the elegant (such as Mozart’s Minuet from the 29th Symphony and Respighi’s Antiche Danze et Arie) to the boisterous (Calace’s Bolero, Holst’s Dargason, and Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances). We’ll also include Debussy’s Mazurka, Anitra’s Dance from Grieg’s Peer Gynt, and, taking a looser interpretation of our theme, Vivaldi’s L’Autunno from the Four Seasons, which depicts a scene of drunken revelry and, to be sure, much dancing.

Season 19: Fauna

We’ll bring you songs of animals, both real and imagined, from tortoises and camels to armadillo tanks and firebirds. We’ll play selections from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Saint-Saëns’s Carnaval des Animaux, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Primavera, because it’s spring!).

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Season 18: New World (August to December 2014)

Celebrating our conductor’s move to America from Italy, our repertoire will focus on the New World (America) and on new worlds in general. We’ll play, among others, Calace’s Pavana, Bruce Graybill’s Walnut Valley Suite, Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and the first movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony.

Conductor: Achille Bocus, concertmaster: Corey Johnson

Pavana in D major Op. 54 (Orchestra a Plettro) ~ Raffaele Calace (1863-1934)
Andante from Sonata II in A minor for solo violin, BWV 1003 ~ J.S. Bach (1720) / arr. Achille Bocus
First movement (Adagio – Allegro Molto) from New World Symphony ~ Antonin Dvorak (1893) / arr. Achille Bocus
Fanfare for the Common Man ~ Aaron Copland (1942) / arr. Achille Bocus, soloists Corey Johnson, John Pursey (electric mandolin), Alan Duncan (electric octave mandolin), Ryan Mitra (electric guitar), David Albright (electric mandocello)
Walnut Valley Suite ~ Bruce Graybill (1997)
- 1. The Wake
- 2. The Procession
- 3. Ritual Dance
They Didn’t Believe Me ~ Jerome David Kern (1914) / arr. Achille Bocus
Mr Sandman ~ Pat Ballard (1954) / arr. Tony Kaye
Oblivion ~ Astor Piazzolla (1982) / arr. Achille Bocus, soloist Achille Bocus (mandolin)
Maple Leaf Rag ~ Scott Joplin (1899) / arr. Achille Bocus

Season 17: Spirit (January to April 2014)

In this special program, the Orchestra will perform Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, with contralto singer, Twila Ehmcke. Stabat Mater is the musical setting for a medieval poem on the thoughts of Mary as she watched her son Jesus dying on the cross. It’s a very moving work with words and music that express an array of emotions through distress, profound love, and resignation. In some ways similar to another Baroque piece, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (performed by SFMO during Easter of 2010 and 2011), Vivaldi’s version is shorter and requires only an alto. We pair this piece with Bach’s Kunst der Fuge, the uninstrumented and incomplete work from the final decade of Bach’s life. The contrapuntal lines lend themselves to the precise articulation of mandolins. We round out the program with the romantic, sweeping lines of Martucci’s Nocturne and the elegance of Schubert’s “Menuetto” from Symphony No. 5.

Conductor: Achille Bocus, concertmaster: Corey Johnson

Stabat Mater ~ A. Vivaldi (1727) / arr. Achille Bocus, soloist Twila Ehmcke, contralto
Kunst der Fuge ~ J. S. Bach (1740s) / arr. Achille Bocus
Nocturne ~ G. Martucci (1891) / arr. Achille Bocus
“Menuetto” from Symphony No. 5 ~ F. Schubert (1816) / arr. Achille Bocus

Season 16: Passion (August to December 2013)

Conductor: Nicola Swinburne Bocus

October – November Repertoire (with links to our SF concert audio and video):

Prelude to First Music from The Fairy-Queen ~ Henry Purcell (1692) WATCH
Por una Cabeza ~ C. Gardel (1935)/arr. Tony Kaye WATCH
A Time for Us (Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet) ~ Nino Rota (1968) WATCH
Bolero ~ Rafaelle Calace (1863-1934) WATCH
Elegia ~ Rafaelle Calace (1863-1934) WATCH

The Path of His Beloved from Rakastava (The Lover) ~ J. Sibelius (1893)/arr. Nicola Swinburne WATCH
Danse Macabre ~ Camille Saint-Saëns (1874)/arr. Tony Kaye WATCH
Libertango ~ A. Piazzolla (1974)/arr. Tony Kaye WATCH
Chaconne from The Fairy-Queen ~ Henry Purcell (1692) WATCH

December Repertoire (for December 6 & 7):

Selections* from The Fairy-Queen ~ Henry Purcell (1692)
- Prelude to First Music
- Jig
- Rondeau
- Entry Dance
- A Thousand Ways We’ll Find
- Fairy Dance
Por una Cabeza ~ C. Gardel (1935)/arr. Tony Kaye
A Time for Us (Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet) ~ Nino Rota (1968)
Mister Sandman ~ Pat Ballard (1954)/arr. Tony Kaye
Bolero ~ Rafaelle Calace (1863-1934)
Libertango ~ A. Piazzolla (1974)/arr. Tony Kaye

Season 15: Season of Dreams (February to May 2013)

Conductor: Nicola Swinburne Bocus, Concertmaster: Tony Kaye.

Selections* from The Fairy-Queen ~ Henry Purcell (1692) (Viola da Gamba, Julie Jeffrey)
- Prelude to First Music
- Jig
- Rondeau
- If Love’s a Sweet Passion (with Soprano, Christina Schiffner Santschi)
- Entry Dance
- See, Even Night Herself Is Here (with Soprano)
- A Thousand Ways We’ll Find
- Chaconne
- Sing While We Trip It Upon the Green (with Soprano)
Berceuse from The Dolly Suite Op. 56 No. 1 ~ Gabriel Faure (1893-96)/Arr. Tony Kaye
Reverie ~ Claude Debussy (1890)/arr. Tony Kaye
Sogno (Opus 31) ~ Rafaelle Calace (~1900)/Arr. Achille Bocus
Danse Macabre ~ Camille Saint-Saëns (1874)/arr. Tony Kaye
Mister Sandman ~ Pat Ballard (1954)/Arr. Tony Kaye

Season 14: Fire (August to November 2012)

Conductor: Achille Bocus, Concertmaster: Tony Kaye.

Romanian Folk Dances ~ Béla Bartók (1915)/arr. Achille Bocus. Soloist: Tony Kaye (mandolin)
- I Jocul Cu Bata
- II Brâul
- III Pe Loc
- IV Buciumeana
- V Poarga Romaneasca
- VI Maruntel Belenyes
- VII Maruntel Nyagra
Españoleta y Fanfare de la Cabellería de Nápoles from Fantasia para un Gentilhombre ~ Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999)/arr. Achille Bocus. Soloist: Sam Gutterman (guitar) WATCH
Music for the Royal Fireworks ~ George Frideric Handel (1749)
- Ouverture WATCH
- Bourrée WATCH
- La Paix
- La Réjouissance
- Menuet I
- Menuet II
Addio Milano (Ciao CRAL) ~ Achille Bocus (2008)
Zortzico ~ Isaac Albéniz (1887)/arr. Tony Kaye
Intermezzo ~ Rafaelle Calace (1863-1934)
Ritual Fire Dance ~ Manuel De Falla (~1920)/arr. Tony Kaye WATCH
The Firebird (Finale from Tableau II) ~ Igor Stravinsky (1919)/arr. Achille Bocus WATCH

Season 13: Celebration by the Bridge (January to June 2012)

Conductor: Achille Bocus, Concertmaster: Nicola Swinburne Bocus. Featuring the three winning compositions our New Music Competition Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Golden Gate Bridge.

Chrysopylae Reflections ~ James Kellaris (2012) WATCH
Golden Gate Drive ~ Ivan Bozicevic (2012) WATCH
Steel Harp ~ Gerald Willis (2012) WATCH
Fanfare for the Common Man ~ Aaron Copland (1942)/played on electric mandolins and guitars/arr. Achille Bocus. Soloists: Matt Zoerb, Achille Bocus, Alan Duncan (electric mandolin/octave mandolin); Kevin Evans, Sam Gutterman (electric guitars) WATCH
Transit Aetas, Aria XVII(17)b from Oratorium Juditha Triumphans ~ Antonio Vivaldi (1716)/Soloists Twila Ehmcke, contralto and Nicola Swinburne Bocus (Mandolin) WATCH
Piano Suites ~ Erik Satie (1913)/arr. Achille Bocus. Narrator: Angela Neff.
Enfantillages Pittoresques (Children’s Stuff)
- I. Petit prelude a la journee (Start of the Day)
- II. Berceuse (Lullaby)
- III. Marche du Grand Escalier (March up the Long Staircase)
Menus Propos Enfantins (Children’s Menu)
- I. Le Chant Guerrier du Roi des Haricots (War Cry of the King of Beans)
- II. Ce Que Dit la petite Princesse des Tulipes (What the Little Tulip Princess Says)
- III. Valse du Chocolat aux Amandes (Waltz of the Chocolate Almonds)
Peccadilles Importunes (Unfortunate Offences)
- I. Etre jaloux de son camarade qui a une grosse tete (Being Jealous of your Friend who has a Big Head)
- II. Lui manger sa tartine (Eating Your Friend’s Sandwich)
- III. Profiter de ce qu’il a des cors aux pieds pour lui prendre son cerceau (Taking Advantage of the Corns on his Feet to grab his Hoop)
Mazurka ~ Claude Debussy (1890)
Bolero ~ Rafaelle Calace (~1900)
Tarantella ~ Rafaelle Calace (~1900)

Season 12: Stabat Mater (March to April 2012)

Conductor: Achille Bocus, Concertmaster: Nicola Swinburne Bocus. See below under Season 10.

Season 11: Winter (August to November 2011)

Conductor: Nicola Swinburne Bocus, Concertmaster: Achille Bocus.

Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Opus 46 ~ E. Grieg (1867)
- I. Morning Mood
- II. Aase’s Death
- III. Anitra’s Dance WATCH
- IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King
Winter Concerto ~ A. Vivaldi (1678-1741)/A. Bocus soloist
- I. Allegro Non Molto WATCH
- II. Largo WATCH
- III. Allegro WATCH
Rakastava (The Lover) ~ J. Sibelius (1893)
- I. The Lover
- II. The Path of His Beloved
- III. Good Evening!…Farewell!
Romance in C, Op. 42 ~ J. Sibelius (1903) WATCH
Happy Birthday Bill Monroe ~ D. Grisman (1982)/D. Grisman soloist WATCH
Ironed and Confused

Season 10: Stabat Mater (Easter 2011)

Conductor: Achille Bocus, Concertmaster: Nicola Swinburne Bocus.

Stabat Mater ~ G.B. Pergolesi (1736)
- 1. Stabat mater dolorosa WATCH
- 2. Cujus animam gementem
- 3. O quam tristis et afflicta
- 4. Quae moerebat et dolebat
- 5. Quis est homo qui non fleret
- 6. Vidit suum dulcem natum
- 7. Eja, Mater, fons amoris
- 8. Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
- 9. Sancta Mater, istud agas WATCH
- 10. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem
- 11. Inflammatus et accensus
- 12. Quando corpus morietur

Recordings with Susan Gundunas (Soprano) and Twila Ehmcke (Alto).

Season 9: Air (Fall 2010)

Conductor: Achille Bocus, Concertmaster: Sarah Bell.

I Talk to the Wind ~ Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield (from King Crimson 1969), Sean Gugler and Loren Cheng soloists
Addio Milano (Ciao CRAL) ~ A. Bocus (2008)
Sechs Kinderstücke (Six pieces for Children) ~ F. Mendelssohn (1842)
Concerto Grosso No. 8 (fatto per la notte di Natale) ~ A. Corelli (1712), Sarah Bell, Nicola Swinburne, Sam Gutterman soloists
Air from Orchestral Suite III in D ~ J.S. Bach (1729-1736?)

Season 8: The British Invasion (Spring 2010)

Conductor: Nicola Swinburne Bocus/Achille Bocus, Concertmaster: Sarah Bell.

Tarkus (Selection from Album) ~ Keith Emerson (of Emerson, Lake and Palmer)
Dancing with the Moonlit Knight ~ Genesis
Selling England by the Pound ~ Genesis
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ~ The Beatles
The Dargason (Finale from St. Paul’s Suite, Op. 9, No. 2) ~ G. Holst (1912)
German Dances (8 of 16) and 2 Schottische (Op. 33) ~ F. Schubert (1823-24)