Reviews

"GRAZYNA BACEWICZ GETS FULL IMMERSION TREATMENT IN BRILLIANT SF FESTIVAL"
“Over the course of three chamber concerts at Noe Valley Ministry on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18 and 19, the festival’s artistic directors — pianist Allegra Chapman and cellist Laura Gaynon — ensured that the full sweep of this artist’s legacy came fully and effectively into focus. They brought together an assemblage of first-rate performers to play not only a rich sampling of Bacewicz’s own music, but also music by her influences, contemporaries and followers to situate her career in a broader historical context.”
 —Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, October 20, 2019

“BARD MUSIC WEST CHAMPIONS THE GRAZYNA BACEWICZ LEGACY”
”By revealing that Bacewicz’s work is playful and mysterious, inspiring and unique, Bard Music West certainly helped to demonstrate her importance and resonance. But the festival’s exuberant, dedicated staff are also ensuring that Bard Music West forges a legacy of its own. Not unlike Bacewicz’s idiosyncratic musical voice, this festival defies pretentious norms so prevalent in modern performance practice. As surely as my laptop now proudly displays the sticker they gave me of Bacewicz, I look forward to returning to hear Bard Music West’s 2020 offering.”
 —Jessica Balik, San Francisco Classical Voice, October 27, 2019

“CELEBRATING A NEGLECTED COMPOSER”
“Chapman and Gaynon begin to right that wrong by entrusting talented young musicians and colleagues to breathe new life into a vivid sampling of Bacewicz's wealth of overlooked masterworks.”
 —Philip Campbell, Bay Area Reporter, October 22, 2019

"HENRY COWELL, MAN & WORK, CELEBRATED"
“There was so much on offer in the Festival, including the world premiere of a new dance work…music by other adventurous composers from John Cage to George Crumb, and a fascinating and all-too-brief talk by Cowell biographer and pianist Joel Sachs. Many highly talented and fresh young artists created a nonstop array of attractive performances in three jam-packed programs.”

“...amazingly comprehensive and intelligently programmed celebration of a great American’s life.” 
 —Phil Campbell, Bay Area Reporter, April 11, 2018

"THE WORLD OF HENRY COWELL AT BARD MUSIC WEST, CONCERT 2"
“Bard Music West…is one of the most exciting new developments on the Bay Area music scene in a long while. I can’t wait to see what they do next.”
—Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center Blog, April 13, 2018

"HENRY COWELL'S NEW WORLD IS STILL VERY MUCH WITH US"
"...artistic directors Allegra Chapman and Laura Gaynon carefully curated a program that traced Henry Cowell's life and legacy."
—Joe Cadagin, San Francisco Classical Voice, April 10, 2018

"THE DIZZYING WORLD OF GYÖRGY LIGETI"
“a rich inaugural season”
“transcendent”
—Rebecca Wishnia, San Francisco Classical Voice, March 21, 2017

Previews

THE REST IS NOISE
Blog mention by Alex Ross, music critic of The New Yorker.

“50 YEARS AFTER HER DEATH, COMPOSER GRAZYNA BACEWICZ IS READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP”
Joshua Kosman’s impassioned article about Grażyna Bacewicz, the classical music canon, and Bard Music West. "…there is a larger task still to be undertaken – to start poking holes in the moribund canon of classical music so that a multitude of new and original voices can finally be heard.” —Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

PREVIEW IN THE BAY AREA REPORTER FOR THE WORLD OF GRAZYNA BACEWICZ
“Two Bay Area institutions, well-established Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) and youthfully ambitious Bard Music West (BMW), are ready to light some musical bonfires in October.” —Phillip Campbell, Bay Area Reporter

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 2019 FALL ARTS PREVIEW
Bard Music West’s upcoming festival “The World of Grażyna Bacewicz” is featured alongside major Bay Area arts organizations.

“PIANIST PREVIEWS BACEWICZ FESTIVAL”
"One of the welcome musical developments that is starting to feel more possible, at least during moments of optimism, is a resurgence of interest in the work of the Polish modernist Grazyna Bacewicz, who died in 1969 just shy of her 60th birthday. Her music is sinewy, expressive and inventive, and although we don’t get to hear much of it in concert, that seems to be changing. Come October, Bard Music West will devote a two-day festival to Bacewicz…”
 —Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle