Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble
...performs Depeche Mode's Violator album in its entirety at Eagle Tavern tomorrow night. My 14-year-old self would find that more awesome only if Jordan Catalano was featured on the cello. (No disrespect meant to Adam Young, who actually plays the cello - and is certain to do a much better job than Jordan Catalano.) Playing the album live from start to finish, the ensemble (led, as one might expect, by classical composer Jack Curtis Dubowsky) blends violin, trombone, and the aforementioned cello with synthesizer and drums. And a hefty dose of awesome.
Eagle Tavern, 398 12th St. June 3, 9 p.m. Tickets are $6 at the door.
Chanticleer
Based in San Francisco, Chanticleer is - according to The New Yorker - "the world's reigning male chorus." If you have any interest in the musical tastes of English monarchs as sung by a choir of angelic male voices, consider your calendar booked for their concert at Mission Dolores on Saturday. Lending their pure sound to 16th and 17th Century composers like Fayrfax, Tye, Tallis, and Gibbons, Chanticleer is following the playlist laid out by Stuart and Tudor royals who sought God's favor through music. Even if you couldn't care less about the heavenly aspirations of sovereigns of the British Isles, the concert features Chanticleer's usual gorgeous pitch.
Mission Dolores, 3321 16th Street. June 5th at 8 p.m. Tickets are $44 at www.chanticleer.org.
Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts Rites of Spring
Based on grim pagan rituals, Stravinsky's Rites of Spring was the cable that jump-started 20th century music. Every music fan should hear this seminal addition to the classical - not to mention Disney - canon. (Rites of Spring featured heavily in Fantasia.) Performed by the San Francisco Symphony and pianist Yuja Wang - who plays with "a superhuman keyboard technique with an artistic eloquence that is second to none" (San Francisco Chronicle) - this briskly intense piece is joined by Ravel's Concerto.
Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave. June 17-19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15-130 at (415) 864-6000.
