Celebrating Spring

Franz Schubert: An die Musik, arr. cello and piano

Claude Debussy: Rêverie, arr. cello and piano

Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel (cello and piano)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky: “March” and “April” from The Seasons (solo piano)

J.S. Bach: Minuets from Cello Suite No. 1

Gabriel Fauré: Sicilienne, arr. cello and piano

Robert Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2 (solo piano)

Camille Saint-Saëns: The Swan

Derek Tam, who is in demand as a conductor and historical keyboardist, performs regularly in the Bay Area and elsewhere. He is the executive director of the San Francisco Early Music Society, a major advocate for early music in the United States, and the artistic director of the biennial Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, an internationally renowned celebration of early music.

Praised for his “deft” conducting (San Francisco Chronicle​), Tam appears frequently with choral and orchestral ensembles. In addition, Tam is a specialist on historical keyboards and has been called “a master of [the harpsichord]” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and “the fortepianist of the beguiling fingers” (Bloomington Herald-Times). Recent concerto appearances include performances with Elevate Ensemble, Modesto Symphony, Chamber Music Silicon Valley, and the Hong Kong Early Music Society.

In addition to performing as a soloist, Tam is a founding member and harpsichordist (and occasional conductor) for MUSA, a San Francisco-based Baroque chamber ensemble. His fortepiano trio, the Costanoan Trio, performed at the 2018 Early Music America Emerging Artists Showcase. He has performed with leading period ensembles such as Voices of Music and Musica Pacifica and served as principal keyboardist for most of the professional symphonies in Northern and Central California.

Tam is currently the Director of Music at First Church Berkeley (First Congregational), a major East Bay classical music performance venue. In this role, he also produces Resonance, the church’s critically lauded performance series. He is also deeply involved with community music-making, recently having served as the artistic director of the Vallejo Choral Society, the oldest community choir in California, and the Berkeley Bach Cantata Group, a reading ensemble.

Tam is the most recent past president of the board of Early Music America, a national organization dedicated to strengthening historical performance.
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Tam is a registered tax professional with the State of California. He is a graduate of Yale University.

Erik Andersen, newly arrived in the Bay Area, is a graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music at the City University of New York where he completed studies in modern cello under the direction of Marcy Rosen and additional studies under Iris Jortner, Marta Bedkowska, and in historical performance with Lisa Terry. Today, he is equally at home on the modern and baroque cello and viola da gamba; he performs with the San Francisco-based ensemble HIP Forum. He is an ardent performer and educator eager to bring wonderful music to everyone.