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This weekend brings fresh perspectives on music, with a choral festival where you can take part in improvised “circle singing;” musician Allan Harris melding jazz and poetry; pianist Ben Cosgrove playing surrounded by artworks at The Foster; and violinist Chad Hoopes premiering a new work inspired by the Bay Area’s views in a concert for Music@Menlo. Plus, the city of Palo Alto hosts a festival celebrating international cultures.
New Music for Treble Voices Festival
The Peninsula Women’s Chorus is hosting a day of events sure to hit a high note. The 11th annual New Music for Treble Voices Festival celebrates the vocal talents of treble singers — that is, those who sing in the higher register. This year’s festival focuses on vocal improvisation, with guest choirs Musae from San Francisco, the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir and Vox Musica from Sacramento joining the PWC, along with guest singers Bryan Dyer, Ashling Cole and David Worm, who are all members of the vocal ensembles MOTION and SoVoSó. The public can lend their voices to this event as well, with a circle singing workshop in the afternoon, highlighting collaborative improvisation in which singers, typically standing in a circle, follow the improvised vocalizations of a leader. Following the workshop will be a concert of contemporary choral repertoire, featuring the PWC premiere of two movements from “What Place is This?” by the chorus’ composer-in-residence, Amy X. Neuburg. The concert includes a solo set by Dyer, Cole and Worm, who will also close the concert with a circle singing session for all to join in.
March 29, 2 p.m. (circle singing workshop), 2:30 p.m. (concert), at First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto. $25 general admission; $10 young audiences. pwchorus.org/concert/nmftv2025.
Ben Cosgrove at The Foster
The Foster is hosting an event that proves that pairings aren’t just for dining out, though these performances do offer a special treat of their own: art and music together. Concerts on March 28 and 29 will pair the watercolors on display at the museum with the music of traveling composer and pianist Ben Cosgrove. His original instrumental works draw inspiration from landscapes and the environment, according to his website, so it’s fitting that audiences will get to hear his music while surrounded by Tony Foster’s plein air works in the exhibition, “Sacred Places: Watercolour Diaries from the American Southwest Journey.” In fact, the Boston Globe described Cosgrove as a “sonic plein-air painter.” Each of the concerts will feature a largely unique program.
March 28, 7 p.m., and March 29, 4 p.m., at The Foster, 940 Commercial St., Palo Alto. Tickets are $20; advance purchase required. thefoster.org/ben-cosgrove.
Allan Harris: Poetry of Jazz
New York-based vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and bandleader Allan Harris already speaks volumes through his music, engaging listeners with his warmth and musical artistry in a wide-ranging repertoire that spans classic and contemporary jazz, standards and his own compositions. And now poetry, from sonnets by Shakespeare to the words of Langston Hughes and other writers of the Harlem Renaissance, is the inspiration behind Harris’ performance at Meyhouse Palo Alto, which will blend swinging jazz and insightful verse. Harris performs with Freddie Bryant on guitar, Larry Vuckovich on piano, Sylvia Cuenca on drums and Doug Miller on bass.
March 28-29, shows at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., at Meyhouse Palo Alto, 640 Emerson St, Palo Alto. $50. meyhousejazz.com.
Around the World in a Day Festival
Go traveling without a passport this weekend when the city of Palo Alto holds a festival celebrating the traditions of cultures from around the world. Visitors can check out booths from community and cultural organizations and enjoy performances and exhibits that highlight an international array of cultures.
March 29, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Free admission. cityofpaloalto.org.
Chad Hoopes at Music@Menlo
The Bay Area’s beautiful views are translated into music in Benjamin Scheer’s piano quartet “These Shrouded Hills,” a work inspired by the region’s natural beauty. The new commission was written for violinist Chad Hoopes, who presents the work in its world premiere in a spring concert at Music@Menlo. He will be joined by a trio of alumni from the Music@Menlo program: pianist Mika Sasaki; cellist Cheng “Allen” Liang and violist Laura Liu. Hoopes first made a name as the first prize winner in the Young Artists Division of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and also received the Lincoln Center’s Avery Fischer Career Grant, fellow recipients of which include Hilary Hahn and Joshua Bell. He has performed with leading orchestras throughout the U.S. and internationally, according to his website. The Music@Menlo program will also feature Dvorak’s Piano Quartet no. 2 in E-flat major and Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor.
March 29, 4 p.m., at the Spieker Center for the Arts, 50 Valparaiso Ave., Atherton. $35-$70. musicatmenlo.org.
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