tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36612518208842753132024-03-12T19:13:08.170-07:00San Francisco Public Library Art, Music and Recreation CenterWhere we share information about our department's collections, exhibits, classes and other resources.San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.comBlogger551125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-60920201148678272062024-02-27T12:40:00.000-08:002024-03-03T15:05:21.249-08:00Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive - Search for Early FM Radio in San FranciscoThe Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive is an exciting new database that we are offering to our public. It contains millions of scanned pages from dozens of major publication in the entertainment business including Billboard, Spin, Vibe, Musician, Trouser Press, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and Film Journal.To try out the new database we did a search for KALW, the call letters of the the San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-37087400321471199122024-02-12T17:43:00.000-08:002024-02-12T17:44:20.899-08:00The Modern Jazz Quartetimage source: San Francisco Chronicle October 5, 1954The Modern Jazz Quartet first appeared in San Francisco on October 4, 1954 at the Blackhawk nightclub, 200 Hyde Street. Esteemed San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic, Ralph Gleason, wrote about their appearance:The Modern Jazz Quartet ... represents the new approach to jazz. Schooled musicians, jazz men, too, they have brought forethought, San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-947144878674128492023-11-28T19:14:00.000-08:002023-11-28T19:17:34.203-08:00John Carl Warnecke and Associates Buildings in San Francisco (1950s-1960s)Picketers in front the Lane Bryant store in 1957, source: San Francisco Historical Photograph CollectionThe earliest evidence of John Carl Warnecke and Associates work in San Francisco dates from the mid-1950s at 55 Geary Street, the former Lane Bryant store. A San Francisco Chronicle article credits him with work on the exterior, although this work is difficult to detect today. The present San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-88478000248783346992023-10-23T14:45:00.000-07:002023-10-23T14:45:28.926-07:00 New Audio and Video Performing Arts Databases at the San Francisco Public LibraryWe are happy to able to expand our Streaming Music and Streaming Movies & TV offerings with some new databases from Alexander Street Press.Qwest TV Collection features full-length clips produced for Qwest TV, a network formed by jazz legend Quincy Jones. It is an eclectic collection of video performances from many genres.L.A. Theatre Works is a nonprofit whose work is distributed to public San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-6588650455511579012023-10-10T19:12:00.001-07:002023-11-28T19:20:36.020-08:00John Carl Warnecke (1919-2010)John Carl Warnecke (photo by Don Steffen in Newsweek October 2, 1967)The Market Street Joint Venture Architects that re-envisioned and rebuilt San Francisco's Market Street in the 1960s and 1970s consisted of three firms: Mario J. Ciampi & Associates, Lawrence Halprin & Associates and John Carl Warnecke & Associates. John Carl Warnecke was a great power in his field. At thatSan Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-74202941653652654572023-08-17T14:55:00.005-07:002023-08-21T09:06:56.203-07:00United Nations Plaza Fountain - A Troubled Life source: "Question Man - What is a San Francisco Eyesore?" San Francisco Chronicle January 14, 1980The fountain at the United Nations plaza is cement. Tons of cement are not pretty. (Jannette Anderson, 1980).Construction of the fountain had not yet begun when United Nations Plaza was dedicated in June 1975, the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Charter Conference in San Francisco. San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-55044473628717898392023-08-01T15:14:00.001-07:002023-08-01T18:46:55.553-07:00United Nations Plaza Fountain - A Troubled Birth
Fulton and Market, Aug 1964. Source: Open SF HistoryEarlier entry: United Nations Plaza Fountain Introduction (June 22, 2023)The United Nations Plaza Fountain has its origins in the early 1960s with a grander redesign strategy for Market Street. The Market Street Development Project, a group of businessmen working with the San Francisco Planning and Urban Renewal Association (SPUR), San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-43213311822593435252023-07-05T15:57:00.004-07:002023-07-05T15:57:28.164-07:00The Top Circulating Books in Art, Music & Recreation Center, 2022-2023I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Simon & Schuster, 2022).Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner (Alfred A. Knopf, 2021).What Shall I Wear?: The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion by Claire McCardell (Abrams Image, 2022).We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu (William Morrow, 2022).Piano Masterworks for Teaching and Performance: A San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-41756923328756451792023-06-22T17:17:00.004-07:002023-08-17T17:05:44.646-07:00United Nations Plaza Fountain IntroductionLawrence Halprin (1916-2009) was a legendary creative figure who lived and worked in the Bay Area. He was first and foremost a landscape architect, however, he also employed his talents in the fields of city planning, the visual arts and filmmaking.United Nations Plaza Fountain, photographed by Charles A. Birnbaum, 2005 (source: The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
Halprin's United Nations San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-31037122100650195582023-06-15T17:05:00.002-07:002023-06-15T17:05:45.319-07:00Make Music Day June 21, 2023Last year for Make Music Day 2022, the San Francisco Public Library featured a trio of San Francisco Symphony musicians -- cellist Amos Yang, bassist Charles Chandler, and violist Katie Kadarauch. This coming Wednesday we are happy to welcome back 2Low - the duet of Amos Yang and Charles Chandler, performing from 4 to 5 PM in the Main Library's atrium. Earlier in the day, from 12 noon San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-1416536954593581392023-06-07T15:30:00.000-07:002023-06-07T15:30:28.414-07:00Local Talent at the San Francisco Opera: Amerigo FredianiAmerigo Frediani (image source: San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection)Amerigo Frediani was another local artist who performed many smaller roles during the San Francisco Opera's early years. Born on January 2, 1898 in Lucca, Italy, his family emigrated to the United States in 1907 and settled in Sonoma County. He graduated from Healdsburg High School in 1914 and UC Berkeley in 1918San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-28164826688781318032023-05-03T16:50:00.002-07:002023-05-03T16:56:40.310-07:00Local Talent at the San Francisco Opera - Albert GilletteLike Flossita Badger, Albert Gillette (Albert J. Gillette, Jr.) was a local vocalist who helped fill out the cast during the early days of the San Francisco Opera, performing in a dozen roles during their first two seasons. Born in Salem, Oregon in 1896, he grew up in nearby Eugene. According to the 1913 Eugene High School yearbook (in Ancestry.com), he was a vocal standout in the school's San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-7353276844091976082023-03-19T14:49:00.001-07:002023-03-19T14:49:47.350-07:00Local Talent at the San Francisco Opera: Flossita Badgersource: San Francisco Opera Company. Annual season, 1925-1926During the early seasons of the San Francisco Opera, the company hired internationally known stars for lead parts. Smaller, yet important, roles were handled by Bay Area talent. Flossita Badger sang in a handful of these parts between 1923 and 1934.Born in Vermont in 1899, Flossita Badger grew up in California’s Central Valley. SheSan Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-5362609175882465042023-03-07T19:09:00.002-08:002023-03-07T19:12:04.747-08:00Most requested Art, Music & Recreation Center books (Dewey 700s) - March 2023It's not surprising to see our list topped with a celebrity autobiography like Love, Pamela by actress Pamela Anderson. Rock star autobiographies also popular with U-2 front man Bono's Surrender and Los Angeles punk rocker King Congo Powers' Some New Kind of Kick. Another popular book in this category is A Heart that Works, actor-comedian Rob Delany's memoir of losing a young San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-32421454806243457472023-02-23T13:19:00.003-08:002023-02-23T13:22:39.318-08:00George Stinson - San Francisco's Singing Cop (pt. 2)George Stinson--As A "Cop" -- Was Discovered by Gaetano Merolaimage source: San Francisco Call-Bulletin October 21, 1939previous entry: "George Stinson: The San Francisco Opera's Singing Cop, pt. 2" (February 14, 2023)George Stinson and his family returned to New York on May 25, 1939 aboard the ocean liner Conte Di Savoia. After nearly a year and a half of operatic lessons in Italy he was San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-14957992278072822682023-02-15T16:32:00.001-08:002023-02-15T16:32:38.787-08:00Presentation: Chip Lord and the Long Goodbye to the AutomobileVirtual Library - Zoom ProgramWednesday, 2/22/202312:00 - 1:30REGISTER HEREArtist Chip Lord chronicles his life-long involvement with the automobile from childhood fascination to the central material of art making with the group Ant Farm and beyond. Ant Farm (1968 – 1978) made Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, Texas, 1974) and Media Burn (San Francisco, 1975) during the first decade of video and San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-15160212628023354452023-02-14T18:03:00.008-08:002023-02-23T13:21:17.229-08:00George Stinson - The San Francisco Opera's "Singing Cop" (pt. 1)The sensationalist October 1, 1937 frontpage headline in William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Examiner read: "Span Traffic Officer Held Operatic Fine: Tenor May Write Own Ticket to Fame." In 1935, Gaetano Merola discovered a local barber's daughter, Josephine Tumminia, who he helped to train and cast in leading roles. A few years later his new discovery was George Stinson, an officer withSan Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-61759233679942729562023-02-07T10:49:00.000-08:002023-02-07T10:49:15.314-08:00Presentation: Celebrating Nina SimoneTuesday, 2/14/202312:00 - 1:30Virtual Library - ZOOMAuthor and music historian Richie Unterberger celebrates singer, songwriter and pianist, Nina Simone. One of the most eclectic artists of the mid-twentieth century, Simone blended soul, jazz and pop with both romance and biting social commentary. This event will feature uncommon film clips with performances of some of her greatest songs, San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-89693770408292024382022-12-27T18:27:00.002-08:002023-02-23T13:20:57.118-08:00 "Housewife" Josephine Wiper Returns to the San Francisco Opera StageThe Art, Music and Recreation Center presents the Exhibit "Bring The Opera to The People and The People to The Opera" from September 10, 2022 through January 12, 2023Previous blog entries:"Josephine Tumminia and the San Francisco Opera" (December 12, 2022)
"Josephine Tumminia's Famed Goes National, then International" (December 19, 2022)
"Armando Agnini and The San Francisco Opera Stage" (San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-77651261909337087082022-12-19T17:15:00.000-08:002022-12-19T17:17:20.913-08:00Josephine Tumminia's Fame Goes National, Then InternationalFour years ago a little girl from North Beach, who had never set foot on a stage or a concert platform sang an audition for Maestro Gaetano Merola of the San Francisco Opera Company. This week that same little girl, whose name is Josephine Tumminia, will make her debut in New York as the latest star to be added to the roster of the Metropolitan Opera Company. (San Francisco Chronicle 1940)Opera San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-84710062414943152122022-12-12T09:47:00.005-08:002022-12-12T09:48:27.841-08:00Josephine Tumminia and the San Francisco OperaAutographed portrait inscribed "To Jessica Fredricks, in sincere appreciation of your interest in my career, Josephine Tumminia." Fredricks was head of the Music Department at the San Francisco Public Library (image source: San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection)Each season General Director Gaetano Merola found places for resident artists in important roles. Several have come up San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-1671609935852777212022-11-16T09:57:00.001-08:002022-11-16T09:58:10.385-08:00Armando Agnini and The San Francisco Opera Stagesource: San Francisco Opera Company. Scenery and décor are essential elements for staging grand opera and the San Francisco Opera benefited greatly from Merola’s recruiting of his nephew, Armando Agnini, to fill that role here. Agnini, who also worked with the Metropolitan Opera, was the first stage and technical director for the San Francisco Opera Company. He designed most of the San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-28493287282566177842022-10-31T17:55:00.001-07:002022-10-31T17:55:44.631-07:00Merola Organizes San Franciscans To Present Outdoor Opera on The PeninsulaVisit our exhibit Bringing The Opera To The People and The People To The Opera on display in the Steve Silver Beach Blanket Babylon Music Center on the 4th floor of the Main Library through January 15, 2023.
Merola's advertisement in the Pacific Coast Musical Review, April 1, 1922Once he received financial backing and the space to present outdoor opera in 1922, Gaetano Merola had to marshal the San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-83063377642215880912022-10-13T11:37:00.004-07:002022-10-13T11:40:07.539-07:00The Big Game, North Beach and The San Francisco OperaThe earliest seeds of the San Francisco Opera Company were planted in two places: the City's North Beach neighborhood and in Palo Alto at the "Big Game" between Stanford and California on November 19, 1921 – the inaugural football match at the newly constructed Stanford Stadium.
Several sources state that Gaetano Merola first visited San Francisco before the earthquake in 1906 as the accompanist San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661251820884275313.post-8792552827391494332022-10-04T12:07:00.000-07:002022-10-04T12:07:44.230-07:00Presentation: James BrownA talk and slideshow by Richie UnterbergerTuesday, October 11, 202212 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.Virtual Library - ZOOMAuthor and music historian Richie Unterberger presents a program celebrating the music of James Brown, one of the all-time great soul singers and charismatic live performers. The event will focus on his prime from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, including performances of classics like “San Francisco Public Library, Art, Music and Recreation Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03319898670900622441noreply@blogger.com0