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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260926T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260926T150000
DTSTAMP:20260819T015856
CREATED:20260508T221026Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T011632Z
UID:57466-1790427600-1790434800@wagnersf.org
SUMMARY:Wagner and Clam Fritters - a Talk by Joseph Horowitz
DESCRIPTION:When Anton Seidl – once the most charismatic personality in American classical music — led the American premiere of Tristan und Isolde at the Met in 1886\, women “stood on their chairs and screamed.” In summertime\, he led Wagner concerts fourteen times a week at Coney Island (parodied in the press as “Wagner and clam fritters”). What was going on? How does Wagnerism change our picture of the “Gilded Age”? Why does it matter today?”\n\n\n\n\nIMPORTANT NOTE: DUE TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE JEWISH HOLIDAY OF SUKHOT OUR REGULAR MEETING PLACE AT THE JCC IS NOT AVAILABLE ON THIS DATE SO INSTEAD THIS IN-PERSON MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH ON CATHEDRAL HILL AT THE CORNER OF FRANKLIN & GEARY STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO. \nJoin us for a fascinating talk by Joseph Horowitz\, the noted author of “Wagner Nights”\, his invaluable history of the early years of Wagnerism in America. He has now covered the same era\, not as a scholarly work\, but in “The Disciple”\, a novel derived from his years of research and deep attachment to the charismatic Seidl and the larger-than-life figures of this era. \nJoseph Horowitz is an award-winning author\, concert producer\, film-maker\, broadcaster\, and pianist/composer. He is one of the most prominent and widely published writers on topics in American music. As an orchestral administrator and advisor\, he has been a pioneering force in the development of thematic programming and new concert formats. \nAs an author\, Horowitz’s recent books have included a novel\, “The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York”\, “The Propaganda of Freedom: JFK\, Shostakovich\, Stravinsky\, and the Cold War“\, “Dvorak’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music”  which was published in tandem with a series of documentary films produced for Naxos that led to an ongoing series of 50-minute “More than Music” documentaries on NPR. Horowitz’s other books mainly deal with the history of classical music in the United States. “Understanding Toscanini: How He Became an American Culture-God and Helped Create a New Audience for Old Music”\, “Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall”\, “Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts”. \nBeyond his publications he served as Executive Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic in the 1990s\, pioneering humanities-infused public programming (“Dvorak and America\,” “The Russian Stravinsky\,” “American Transcendentalists\,” etc.) and later working as curator of the Pacific Symphony’s annual American Composers Festival\, the Winter Festival for the New Jersey Symphony\, and as co-founder and Executive Director of Washington DC’s PostClassical Ensemble. As director\, he has overseen festivals celebrating the Charles Ives Sesquicentenary in 2024\, as well as festivals exploring Black classical music and the international impact of American jazz. \nHe has been an advisor to Naxos’s “American Classics” series\, producing CDs featuring never before recorded works as well as DVD versions of the films “Redes\,” “The City\,” “The River\,” and “The Plow that Broke the Plains”. ​Post-Covid\, Horowitz has also become active as a composer and performer. His works include a bass trombone concertino\, “Mahlerei”. A song cycle “Einsamkeit” (also with bass trombonist David Taylor) adapts songs by Mahler and Schubert was premiered with dancers. More recently\, Taylor and Horowitz have begun performing their version of Schubert’s Winterreise\, including a concert at Bargemusic (Brooklyn\, NY). As a vocal accompanist\, Horowitz frequently performs with tenor George Shirley and the baritone Sidney Outlaw. His Hiawatha Melodrama (in collaboration with Michael Beckerman) has been widely programmed and has been recorded by Naxos. \nA New York Times music critic (1976–80)\, he is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation\, the NEH (twice)\, NYU\, Columbia University\, and CUNY and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by DePauw University. He has taught at the New England Conservatory\, Colorado College\, the Mannes School\, the Manhattan School of Music\, and SUNY-Purchase. \nMore information on his biography and links to his blog and the NPR documentaries are available https://www.josephhorowitz.com/
URL:https://wagnersf.org/events/wagner-and-clam-fritters-a-lecture-by-joseph-horowitz/
LOCATION:First Unitarian Universalist Church\, 1187 Franklin St.\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94109\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261017T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261017T143000
DTSTAMP:20260819T015856
CREATED:20260123T204903Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T010802Z
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SUMMARY:The TRANSformation of Mime a Zoom talk with Holden Madagame
DESCRIPTION:Holden Madagame recently performed the role of Mime in Das Rheingold and Siegfried with Regents Opera (London\, UK) where his performance so impressed Wagner Society President\, Andy Rombakis\, that he decided to invite Holden to share his experience with us. Holden is an American tenor and University of Michigan School of Music\, Theatre\, and Dance alumni. He studied with bass-baritone Stephen West as a mezzo soprano\, and currently lives in Germany. They are Odawa and a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Peshawbetown\, Michigan. \nHolden is a passionate trans activist forging the way for trans-identified artists to work openly in opera and classical music. He has built a robust resume in traditional operatic repertoire while also being driven to create and perform new works. One such project was the collaboration with Kerstin Steeb at Kampnagel in Hamburg for IT’S A MASS in 2023. Holden’s goal is to disrupt the opera industry not only through his identity as a queer\, transgender\, Indigenous artist but also through the innovative content of his performances. Holden’s artistic accomplishments include performing in the workshop premiere of Good Country in Austin\, Texas\, where he sang one of the first operatic roles written specifically for a transgender voice\, marking a deeply fulfilling artistic milestone. \nHis artistic persona is deeply tied to movement and the pursuit of optimum performance\, as is often talked about in sports psychology. Holden seeks to connect this experience of optimum performance with the healing and somatic experience of an ‘embodied voice’. A recent project representing this is Ninishkaadiz: I am angry\, a project presented as part of Hogfish’s artistic residency in Portland\, Maine centered around his research on rage and the embodied voice. \nHis more traditional achievements include winning the Kammeroper Rheinsberg Competition in both 2021 and 2022\, where he performed the roles of Hexe in Hänsel und Gretel and Zirkusdirektor in Die verkaufte Braut as well as the aforementioned Ring Cycle in London.
URL:https://wagnersf.org/events/the-transformation-of-mime-a-zoom-talk-with-holden-madagame/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261114T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261114T150000
DTSTAMP:20260819T015856
CREATED:20260709T192538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260709T195320Z
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SUMMARY:How Elsa Showed Wagner the Way to Siegfried - A Zoom Lecture with Paul Heise
DESCRIPTION:Paul Heise’s zoom talk “How Elsa Showed Wagner the Way to Siegfried” is an update of his article of the same name originally published in the May\, 1995 issue of Wagner\, the peer-reviewed journal of The Wagner Society (London\, UK). Its subject is how Wagner’s last traditional opera Lohengrin paved the way for Wagner’s revolutionary music-drama The Ring of the Nibelung\, both conceptually and allegorically. It promises to be a fascinating lecture. \nMr. Heise is a lifelong Wagnerite\, having had his first taste upon hearing the Forest Murmurs from Siegfried on the radio at 18. He has devoted his life to creating a “global interpretation” of the Ring. As such\, he proposes that the entirety of the Ring‘s music\, libretto\, and dramatic structure can be construed in extraordinary detail within one universal frame of reference. Further\, Heise proposes that Wagner’s other canonical operas and music-dramas\, from The Flying Dutchman through Parsifal\, can be fruitfully construed in light of the coherent world-view which he maintains gives the Ring its conceptual and artistic coherence. \nBOOKS BY PAUL HEISE AVAILABLE FROM ACADEMICA PRESS: \nPrequel to The Ring of the Nibelung: How Wagner’s Three Canonical Operas (The Flying Dutchman\, Tannhäuser”\, and Lohengrin) Paved the Way to his Mature Music Dramas (Academica Press\, 2026: 470 pages) \nThe Wound That Will Never Heal: An Allegorical Interpretation of  Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung (Academica Press\, 2021:  592 pages) \nWagner’s Mature Music-Dramas (Tristan and Isolde\, The Mastersingers  of Nuremberg\, and Parsifal) in Light of their Allegorical Relationship to The Ring of the Nibelung (Academica Press\, 2025: 639 pages) \nThe hardback edition of each of these three books can be obtained for $59.95 per book by asking for the author’s discount of 40% at orders@academicapress.com.  Add $5.00 for domestic\, and $10.00 for international\, shipping costs. Furthermore\, the paperback edition of The Wound That Will Never Heal can be obtained for $40.00 from orders@academicapress.com. Mr. Heise believes that these three books are the most comprehensive studies of Wagner’s librettos\, his employment of musical motifs to enhance their meaning\, and the secondary documentary evidence offered by Wagner’s mentors Ludwig Feuerbach and Arthur Schopenhauer\, as well as Wagner’s own commentary on his artworks\, in the literature. Each book concludes with detailed guides to the musical motifs of each of Wagner’s seven artworks discussed in them. Mr. Heise expects to update his website www.wagnerheim.com by making the sound files and musical notation for all of the numbered musical motifs listed in these seven motif guides accessible for visitors to hear later this summer. \nNOTE THAT THIS LECTURE WILL BE RECORDED AND POSTED ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL. IN ADDITION A TRANSCRIPT OF THIS LECTURE WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE AFTER THE TALK.  \n 
URL:https://wagnersf.org/events/how-elsa-showed-wagner-the-way-to-siegfried-a-zoom-lecture-with-paul-heise/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261206T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261206T140000
DTSTAMP:20260819T015856
CREATED:20260429T011633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260429T011633Z
UID:57459-1796554800-1796565600@wagnersf.org
SUMMARY:SAVE THE DATE! 2026 Cosima Wagner Holiday Celebration Brunch
DESCRIPTION:Join us for the 2026 edition of our traditional “Cosima Party”. Our Events Committee is still working out the final details of this year’s edition\, but it promises to be yet another memorable event in a long tradition. These holiday celebrations bring together local Wagnerians to enjoy the camaraderie of our shared of passion while enjoying the wonderful food and ambience of the Crystal Lounge at the Marine’s Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco. It’s always a highlight of the season. More details will be announced as they are finalized. Stay tuned! \nPhoto Credit: Niels Noordhoek
URL:https://wagnersf.org/events/save-the-date-2026-cosima-wagner-holiday-celebration-brunch/
LOCATION:Marines’ Memorial Club and Hotel\, 609 Sutter Street\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94102\, United States
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