Enjoy an outstanding program of songs and arias that feature the voice of the cello, the warm and deep member of the string family. The program will feature Spanish folk songs by Manuel de Falla, lush romantic works by Antonin Dvorak and Amy Beach, and impressionistic French harmonies of Claude Debussy and Francis Poulenc.
Camerata Sospiro Ensemble:
Deborah Rosengaus, mezzo soprano
James Jaffe, cello
Ian Scarfe, piano
Deborah Martínez Rosengaus is a versatile mezzo soprano, having studied opera, theater, music and dance. She is known for her exciting, high-energy performances and for creating memorable and endearing characters. With a uniquely flexible voice, as comfortable in Verdi as it is in Rossini, she has delighted audiences around the world with her rich timbre and sparkling coloratura.
Ms. Rosengaus has toured internationally with a variety of musical ensembles in concert halls such as: Santori Hall in Tokyo, The Center for Performing Arts in Beijing with the People's Liberation Army Orchestra, Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She has given recitals in Mexico City and across the United States, giving voice to her research into the lesser-known art songs of great classical composers.
This April she covered the role of Paula in the Bay Area premiere of the opera in Spanish,
Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catan for Opera San Jose, with additional concert performances around the Bay Area. Ms. Rosengaus received critical acclaim for her interpretation of leading lady Jo in Mark Adamo's
Little Women. With Ars Minerva, she has re-premiered four operas that haven't been seen since their performances back in the Baroque Era. In 2018 she was nominated for a Theater Bay Area Award for the role of Ruth in
Pirates of Penzance.
Other favorite opera credits include
Cendrillon, Die Fledermaus, Hansel and Gretel, Candide, The Consul, Griffelkin by the late great Lucas Foss and West Coast premiere of the new opera
Miss Lonelyhearts. With full orchestras she has performed Handel's
Messiah and
Brockes Passion, Durufle's
Requiem and a variety of Handel operas with Pocket Opera of San Francisco. In the summer of 2008, she created the role of Principessa Louling under the baton of Bruno Riggacci in the world premiere of his one-act opera
Dodici personaggi in cerca di voce.
Ms. Rosengaus is the recipient of several awards including the Schoenfeld Award from the Holt Memorial Scholarship Competition and first place in the Pacific Musical Society Competition made famous by its first winner, violinist Yehudi Menuhin. She holds a master's degree in music from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with international opera diva Mignon Dunn. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Ms. Rosengaus performed in Masterclasses with Karen Morrow and Luana Devol and is also a featured vocalist on several independent film soundtracks.
Cellist
James Jaffe lives in San Francisco. He has performed solos with the National Repertory Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland and the Stockton Symphony. He has played chamber music at the Robert Mann String Quartet Seminar in Manhattan, at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music, at a dive bar in Canada, on top of a mountain in Aspen, for a sold-out crowd at San Francisco's first Massivemuse and many times as a guest at the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Jaffe co-founded Wave Chamber Collective, which brings chamber musicians into dynamic new relationships with poets, artists and scientists, and became a prescribed fire practitioner through his work with the Fire and Music Project, a new initiative creating performances to inspire a shift in Californians' relationship with fire. He is the founder of Festival Rolland, a summer chamber music festival in France which has hosted musicians and music-loving adventurers. He is also the founding cellist of Sierra Quartet.
The son of a musicologist and an orchestral conductor, Mr. Jaffe began his lifelong journey with music by listening to ensembles conducted by his father and absorbing his mother's joy at the power of music and nature. He began piano lessons at the age of five and cello lessons at the age of nine, and before graduating high school he had won local concerto competitions at the Sacramento Youth Symphony, the Diablo Symphony Orchestra and the Peninsula Symphony.
Ian Scarfe enjoys a wide-ranging career as a concert pianist, an organizer of large-scale musical happenings and as an advocate for the arts. He is the founder and director of the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, founded in 2011, and balances his dedicated regional work in Northern California with an international career. He holds degrees in musical performance from Willamette University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has done years of postgraduate work at both institutions.
Mr. Scarfe's career as a performer is bolstered by his thoughtful, humorous and charismatic stage presence. He enjoys sharing the history of the music being performed, giving specific listening guides about it, and generally acting as both a performer and a musical tour guide.
He has enjoyed teaching residencies as guest faculty, lecturer and performer at numerous universities and conservatories. Mr. Scarfe has been the host for concerts at orchestra halls, jazz clubs and private homes, and has been the narrator for several children's concerts, including
Peter and the Wolf', Babar the Elephant, and Rudyard Kipling's
Just So Stories. His professional sports career featured five years as the San Francisco 49ers' starting pianist, where he spent game days performing in the Stadium Club Restaurant at Candlestick Park.
Mr. Scarfe's upcoming year includes a tour in Europe, New York, Washington DC, Florida and Bloomington, Indiana; a regular position in Carmel giving pre-concert talks for Chamber Music Monterey Bay; and a Halloween gig in Portland, Oregon, accompanying the silent film
Dracula with an original score by Philip Glass. He lives in the Presidio of San Francisco with his wife and two cats. He produces a video series available to patrons called
In the Practice Room with Ian. Visit his website at
www.ianscarfe.com to learn more.
Senior Programs are made possible in part by generous contributions from the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund and the John R. Schwabacher Family, as well as many other individual donors. We are grateful for their generous support.
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
1:00–2:00 PM | Doors open at 12:30 PM
The Nourish Cafe by Tony Caters on campus is open for lunch before the concert. Linger after the concert for free snacks and beverages in the lobby.
Albert and Janet Schultz Cultural Arts Hall (Bldg. F)
$15 purchased online by March 10 | $25 after March 10 and at the door
Contact: Michelle Rosengaus |
[email protected]