Dino Enrique Piacentini’s gorgeously written “Invasion of the Daffodils” sucks in the reader like the carnivorous waters surrounding its fact-meets-fantasy island setting. Lavishly and lustily lyrical, it’s a coming out and coming of age story tinged with pain, hyper realistic wit, and no shortage of compassionately cruel insight. It cuts and cures in equal measure. It’s difficult to characterize and impossible to put down. I devoured it in one sitting. If it was a movie, “Daffodils” would be “The Summer of ‘42” meets “Pan’s Labyrinth” with a side of “Call Me By Your Name.” Mesmerizingly original.
— David Eugene Perry, award winning author of “Upon This Rock”
20 November 2024, San Francisco: The annual SF Civic Center Plaza Tree Lighting and Toy Giveaway on December 4 is a free community event in Civic Center Plaza across from an illuminated City Hall.
The night of festive entertainment includes the story of Boswick the Clown finding joy in the holiday season through performances by the San Francisco Boys Choir, singer Doris Bumpus, magician Josh Farenbaugh, and actors Shaneen Black, Katie Baritell and Gregg Geoffrey; led by Boxcar Theatre’s Artistic Director Nick A. Olivero. The event also includes “snow” flurries and the man-of-the-hour: Santa!
Another Planet Entertainment and the San Francisco Police Department, with the Civic Center Community Benefit District, will lead a toy giveaway for the first 500 children 12 and under. There will also be holiday-themed activities with SF Etsy in the Makers Village such as ornament making and a Santa letter writing station, while the San Francisco Public Library will lead a book giveaway. Bites from an Off the Grid food truck will be available for purchase, along with kettle corn and a full bar of seasonal favorites from Rye on the Road.
This is a not to be missed holiday kick-off event for San Francisco families! Those who are not walking to the event are encouraged to take BART/Muni or park in the Civic Center Garage. Those accompanying a child to the toy giveaway, book giveaway and the Maker Village DIY holiday activities, should plan to arrive early so as to not miss the start of performances.
The event will begin promptly at 4 p.m. The Civic Center Plaza’s 50-foot, freshly-cut noble fir will be illuminated by Mayor London Breed at 5:30 p.m.
For more information, please visit: https://sfciviccenter.org/event/civic-center-plaza-holiday-tree-lighting-2024/ To see a short video of what to expect: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCUsJ3EpUBO/
This event is sponsored by: Another Planet Entertainment, City and County of San Francisco, Civic Center Community Benefit District, Cordia, Redwood Credit Union, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, and the San Francisco Police Department.
New Books Reveal Shocking Details of the ‘Portuguese Dreyfus’ as Granddaughter Demands €50 Million and Confronts Government Antisemitism
18 November 2024 – Porto, Portugal: In France, Émile Zola famously penned “J’Accuse” calling out the infamously antisemitic “Dreyfus Case.” Now, two pillars of Porto’s Jewish Community — widely considered the strongest in Europe in cultural terms — have leveled similar and timely accusations in two new books.
“The Portuguese Dreyfus Case: A Scandal from 1937 Heard in the European Court of Human Rights in 2024,” alongside “The Plan: Jewish Life Threatened in Europe” uncover the systemic antisemitism that has plagued Portugal and Europe, exemplified by the 1937 persecution of Captain Arthur Carlos de Barros Basto and the 2022 persecution against his granddaughter, Isabel Barros Lopes, and the entire Jewish community he founded in the city of Oporto a century ago.
Often called the “Portuguese Dreyfus”, Captain Barros Basto was unjustly dismissed from the Portuguese army in 1937 for circumcising his young students who were descendants of forcibly-converted Jews in the 15th century. The case against Basto, although ultimately dismissed, began with anonymous letters that tried to besmirch his reputation with fake allegations of inappropriate sexual relations with young men. All of this took place during the early years of the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal.
Basto’s granddaughter, 71-year-old economist Isabel Barros Lopes, has been campaigning for decades for his posthumous reinstatement. She is Vice Presidente of the Oporto Jewish community whose first President was Basto. The Community, the strongest in Portugal, is now seeking €50 million in compensation from the Portuguese state, due to a new anti-Jewish persecution based again on slanderous anonymous letters in 2022 which targeted the organization itself and Barros Lopes.
Barros Lopes and the Jewish Community of Porto are calling out what they see as hate against the Jewish community on the part of the government headed by former Prime Minister António Costa. Costa resigned as Prime Minister of Portugal in November of 2023 amid a corruption investigation. He will be heading to Brussels this December — in just over two weeks — to take his seat as president of the European Counsel, the institution which sets the political priorities and policy directions of the European Union.
“Costa’s inactions about my grandfather and the recent action of his government against me and our Jewish community are rooted in deeply ingrained hate against the Jewish success” said Barros Lopes. “We already sent both cases to the European Court of Human Rights to hold the government accountable and the State. This isn’t just about my grandfather; it’s about the systemic prejudice that still thrives in Portugal today.”
In turn, Gabriel Senderowicz, the president of the Jewish Community of Porto, echoed her concerns.
“The refusal of Costa’s government to reinstate Captain Barros Basto and the political persecution against our Jewish community – using the political press and anonymous letters from convicts – speak volumes about Costa’s priorities and his government,” said Senderowicz. “The assumption that corruption exists when a Jewish community prospers, is very much based on and anchored in old antisemitic tropes which historically plagued Portugal.”
In March 2022, incited by unverified anonymous complaint, Lisbon police invaded the home of Isabel Barros Basto, and likewise raided Porto’s historic synagogue looking for proof of financial malfeasance and corruption.
“According to the warrants presented by the police, they were looking for ‘bags of money. “However, the only bags of money every found were those found in November 2023 in the office of then Prime Minister Costa’s own chief of staff,” says Senderowicz, alluding to the scandal which brought down Costa’s government.
Adding to the urgency, “The Plan: Jewish Life Threatened in Europe” contextualizes Captain Barros Basto’s plight within a broader history of antisemitism across Europe. The book highlights how a modern government continued to use legal and political tools to undermine a strong Jewish community.
“The war against the Jewish success isn’t just a relic of the past,” said Senderowiz. “Books like The Plan make it clear that the struggle for justice and equality is far from over. The Soviets annihilated the strongest Jewish communities with the same methods. The less relevant communities were kept alive to show tourists that there was no antisemitism. The result was the death of Judaism in the USSR.”
Despite parliamentary and military recommendations in 2012 and 2013 to reinstate Barros Basto as a colonel, the Portuguese government continues to delay. The campaign by Barros Lopes and Senderowicz, coupled with the Jewish Community of Porto’s advocacy, aims to not only restore the honor of the now deceased Portuguese officer, but also confront systemic prejudice and demand accountability.
“The Portuguese Dreyfus Case and The Plan are essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the ongoing challenges facing Jewish communities in Europe and the legacy of historical injustices,” Senderowicz sums up.
The Jewish Community of Porto works to promote Jewish religion and culture, to preserve Jewish heritage, combat antisemitism, and advocate for justice in Portugal and Europe. Through cultural, legal, and educational initiatives, the community seeks to honor the legacy of individuals like Captain Barros Basto and safeguard the future of Jewish life.
Acclaimed Spanish Pianist Isabel Dobarro Releases First Solo Album: Kaleidoscope
Album is Dedicated to the Great Women Composers of our Time
Artist and Activist has performed in the United States (Carnegie Hall), Spain, Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, Argentina, Italy, and Portugal
14 November 2024 – New York: Isabel Dobarro (www.isabeldobarro.com), one of the most internationally promising Spanish pianists of her generation, has released her first solo album, Kaleidoscope (Naxos-Grand Piano). The album became available last month. The 32-year-old Galician pianist and activist has curated a unique repertoire made up entirely of works by the great women composers of our time in a sonic journey that spans artists from the United States, Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Kaleidoscope celebrates unity in diversity through the universal language of music, with works by female composers from all over the world, creating a true sound kaleidoscope of diverse aesthetics and perspectives. The album is available in stores worldwide and online at:
“With Kaleidoscope I want to celebrate unity in diversity through composers from every continent, different cultures, generations, and musical traditions brought together by music,” says Dobarro. “Kaleidoscopeexplores the deepest spectrums of my musical journey, a journey whose paths have been deeply influenced by my discovery of the works of women composers. For different reasons, I deeply admire each of the composers selected to grace this album, and it was both a thrill and a delight to perform their works. Each composition has profoundly affected me as a player, a person, and as a woman.”
In Kaleidcoscope, Dobarro performs works by internationally acclaimed artists, including Gabriela Ortiz, resident composer at New York’s Carnegie Hall; Tania León, Pulitzer Prize winner and Carnegie Hall’s composer-in-residence; Julia Wolfe, Pulitzer Prize winner; Caroline Shaw, Grammy and Pulitzer winner; and Yoko Kanno, a renowned composer of jazz, anime, and video game music in Japan. The works are inspired by a wide range of sources: “Hana Wa Saku” is a national anthem in Japan created in honor of earthquake victims, “Tumbao” has clear Cuban roots, and “Alalá das Paisaxe Verticais” draws from Galician folklore.
“This album is a kaleidoscope of contemporary music styles and various prisms through which to understand current creation,” Dobarro continues. “Kaleidoscope highlights the importance of women composers, who have been marginalized in history and in today’s programs.”
One of the leading classical pianists of her generation, Dobarro has been awarded numerous prizes at international competitions quickly establishing her reputation as an artist who looks for improving society through her craft. Her performances of the Spanish repertoire (both historic and contemporary) have been highly praised by critics and audiences.She has performed in the United States, Spain, Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, Argentina, Italy, and Portugal including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Rachmaninoff Hall at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Casina Pio IV in Vatican City, Balassi Center in Brussels, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid.
Dobarro is especially noted for her work in recovering compositions by women, premiering in Spain the quartets of Louise Héritte Viardot and the Piano Concerto in G Major by Marianna Martínez. She undertakes multiple projects that aim to link the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the arts. Recently named a ‘Woman to Watch in Culture’ by The Association Mujeres a Seguir. She has won the Executivas de Galicia Award, was a finalist in the Future Women in Classical Music in London, and holds a doctorate from New York University. Dobarro studied at Harvard University, IE University, Manhattan School of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. Dobarro is a professor at the Katarina Gurska Higher Center, President of the European Music Center in Spain, and a visiting professor at the London Performing Academy of Music (UK). She performs regularly with National Music Award winner and RTVE Orchestra concertmaster Miguel Borrego, guitarist José María Gallardo del Rey, and also with her husband, flautist Rubén Torres Melero.
Dobarro holds a doctorate from New York University, where she began teaching at age 19 as an Adjunct Instructor. Her studies include a Professional Studies Degree from Manhattan School of Music, a Master’s from NYU, and a degree from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. She also holds a Law degree from UNED, has studied law at NYU SPS, sustainability at SDG Academy, International Relations at Harvard University, and business at Harvard Business School HBX. She completed a leadership course at Cambridge University and a dual master’s in law and bilingual legal advisory at IE Law School. Dobarro divides her time between Madrid and New York City.
Liner Notes for Kaleidoscope by Manuel Garcia-Orozco
Classical music is undergoing seismic shifts and embracing diversity in all its forms by expanding its repertoires, approaches, and canonic constructions. As a classical piano album, Isabel Dobarro’s transportative Kaleidoscope proposes a multicultural music interchange among women composers from distant continents, cultures, and traditions. As performed by Dobarro, each artist’s repertoire reflects a wealth of piano works that should inspire pianists and audiences alike while challenging and reverting the historical neglect of women in the classical genre.
From the Greek kalos (beautiful), eidos (form), and scopio (to observe), Kaleidoscope refracts metaphors for possibility as its correlate instrument of leisure and mirrors refracts light to create colorful, spectacular shapes of inspiring symmetry. Similarly, this piano album expressively refracts musical soundscapes via wide-ranging cultural influences. Each kaleidoscopic gesture of Dobarro’s virtuosic touch reveals new hues and patterns in each of the contributing composers’ works.
Fed by Dobarro’s advocacy for gender equity and sustainability, her oxygenating musical approach to each piece unveils a unique synthesis connected to the profound and sensitive ontological views, emotions, and compositional styles of global women. The contributed repertoire compels as a testament to the composers’ brilliance in expanding the piano’s musical boundaries, leaving a distinctive, lasting imprint on the classical genre.
Grammy-nominee Dobrinka Tabakova (Bulgaria) contributes “Nocturne” in her characteristic evocative compositional style once lauded as “exciting and deeply moving” by the Washington Times. Composed in 2008, Tabakova’s contemplative piece explores textural colors through a repetitive motif, with the left hand introducing a poignant melody during the middle section that intensely contrasts with the action of the right hand. Programmed at major venues across Europe and the United States, the Bulgarian’s oeuvre has delighted audiences at the San Francisco Ballet, BBC Proms, Davos Summer Festival, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, and more.
“Estudio 3” by virtuoso composer Gabriela Ortiz (Mexico) strikes a bold contrast to Tabakova’s left-right delicacy. Drawing on Ligeti, Ortiz presents an impassioned continuum demanding of a tour-de-force performance from pianist Dobarro. The score calls for a “Latin feel” within very technically challenging textures, which Dobarro masterfully reaches, marking her virtuosic apogee. Ortiz is recognized as one of today’s most notable composers, having been recently appointed Carnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair for 2024–2025. Her reputable works, performed by major orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, affirm Ortiz’s prominence in the contemporary music scene.
Nkeiru Okoye’s (USA) African Sketches weaves the composer’s Nigerian roots into each element of the suite. Its second movement, “Dusk,” honors Okoye’s first musical mentor through a meditative sonority of exceptional ambiance that explodes the piano’s resonance throughout its registers. Dobarro’s delicate performance here affirms the movement independently of the suite while extending the tradition of African piano music thriving most prominently in Nigeria and Ghana. As a preeminent artist of African descent, Okoye is the first recipient of the International Florence Price Society Award for Composition and a distinguished Guggenheim Fellow.
“Improvisation” by Suad Bushnaq (Jordan) roots in the Arab system of melodic modes known as “maqam.” Arpeggios ebb and flow between both hands, contrasting colors and exploring registers amid a nuanced Middle Eastern atmosphere. To Bushnaq’s score offering a performer interpretive freedom in dynamics and tempo, Dobarro coaxes delicate well-articulated fingerings to underscore the piece’s improvisational essence. Bushnaq stands as a seminal composer of classical and film music, with the BBC praising her compositions as “reflective and touching”—a testament to her ability to evoke deep emotions through nuanced musical narratives.
Yoko Kanno (Japan) composed “Hana Wa Saku” (Flowers Will Bloom) after the horrifying tsunami and earthquake that struck Japan in 2011. Since its creation, this work has symbolized resilience and hope amidst catastrophe. The composer, widely regarded for her masterful versatility and contributions to film and videogame music, creates a sectional work where two contrasting themes, one lyrical and one hymnal, coexist to foster hope, and Dobarro’s treatment does just that.
Pulitzer winner and Kennedy Honors recipient Tania León (Cuba) exhibits a masterful blend of her Latin heritage and contemporary language with “Tumbao,” a composition title also representing the basic rhythmic motif in Afro-Cuban popular music, as harnessed by Dobarro prominently on the left hand withlively bursts in contrast, sharpness, and brilliance. León’s composition, activism, and pedagogy have established her as another leading figure in the contemporary musical landscape as well as a composer-in-residence for prestigious orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. León was appointed Carnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair for the 2023–2024 season.
“Blue Ocean” by prominent pedagogue and composer Carolyn Morris (Australia) pertains to the educational volume Australian Women Composers’ Piano Anthology. Vol. III published by Wirripang and conjures Morris’ childhood along her home country’s Great Ocean Road. Morris crafts a long-sustained melody over a constant flow of arpeggios that in Dobarro’s hands presents a perpetual process of transformation, perhaps epitomizing the highs and lows of the composer growing up beside the rhythmic dance of ocean waves.
Karen Tanaka (Japan) andher “Water Dance III” gracefully evoke water amid her compositional creativity, which unfolds in classic ABA structure. Its first and third sections, characterized by rapid arpeggios imbuing the piece with an ethereal lightness that mirrors the multifaceted hues and fluidity of water, while its middle section contrasts that lightness with the piano’s lower register, casting a darker, more dramatic tone reminiscent of the ocean’s hidden depths, which Dobarro tastefully articulates. Tanaka’s extensive musical versatility has been performed by venerable orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, and the NHK Symphony, among others.
“Buenos Aires, Despierta y Sueña” resonates as a heartfelt tribute to the Argentinian city by the prominent late composer Claudia Montero (Argentina), the winner of four Latin Grammy Awards who positioned herself as a seminal figure in Latin America. The piece conjures a nostalgic melody that elegantly hovers above an arpeggiated accompaniment. This minimalistic yet emotive structure allows Dobarro a vast breadth of romantic freedom to reinterpret its evocative musical cosmos, keeping the piece poignant and potent while honoring Montero’s enduring legacy.
Renowned for her Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Genius Grant, Julia Wolfe (USA) presents a fascinating compositional perspective with “Earring.” As Wolfe reflects, “Earring, like much of my music, appears deceptively simple at first glance. However, once the fingers engage, the complexities unfold.” The primary challenge here for a pianist, which Dobarro brilliantly meets then transcends, lies in the hands’ distinct independence: the right hand must persistently articulate a samba-like rhythm at the piano’s zenith while the left drifts in a dream-like state. Wolfe is esteemed as one of the most influential composers of our era, and her imprint has been felt in music scenes across continents.
“Gustave Le Gray,” composed by Grammy and Pulitzer Prize recipient Caroline Shaw (USA), captivates as a deep dive into intriguing sonic techniques. Deploying fragmentation and repetition, the piece pays homage to photographer Gustave Le Gray and his contemporary, the composer Fréderic Chopin. Shaw meticulously assembles each component of a musical puzzle to form Chopin’s Mazurka op.17 no.4, expressed at the composition’s center. Hereafter, the work undergoes a deconstruction into contrasting tonal landscapes that traverse the spectrum of human sentiment. Considered one of the most influential composers of her era, Shaw shines in both the classical domain and as a rap and pop-music producer.
Kaleidoscope concludes with “Alalá das Paisaxes Verticais” (Alalá of Vertical Landscapes) by composer Carme Rodríguez (Spain). Dedicated to Isabel Dobarro herself, this programmatic piece epitomizes the coast of Galicia, birthplace of both original composer and first performer. Rooted in the traditional Alalá, a Galician melismatic solo chant, the piece weaves a rich tapestry of dynamic, formal, and textural contrasts derived from Galician traditional music. The piece’s dedicatee brings this evocative musical homage to life as only she could.
