The Farallon Quintet kicks off classical music series

The Sonoma Classical Music Society announces its 11th season of providing live classical music to audiences in Sonoma, the Sonoma Valley, and beyond.

The Society was formed in 2004 with the mission of sponsoring a series of classical music concerts in Sonoma of the highest professional quality.

The concerts in the coming year includes:

• The Farallon Quintet makes its Sonoma debut with a 3 p.m. concert, Sunday, Jan. 18, at Vintage House senior center. The quintet was founded in 2012 and is the only professional chamber music group in the Bay Area focused exclusively on the clarinet quintet – string quartet plus clarinet repertoire. The quintet is composed of leading Bay Area musicians, Natalie Parker on clarinet; Dan Flanagan and Matthew Oshida on violins, Elizabeth Prior on viola, and Jonah Kim on cello, who are principal players in such orchestras as the San Francisco Ballet. Santa Rosa Symphony, Marin Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Fremont Symphony, and Sacramento Philharmonic. Among the works they perform will be the great “Clarinet Quintet in B flat major,” by Carl Maria Von Weber.

• Musica Pacifica returns to Sonoma after an eight-year absence. Composed of musicians from Philharmonia Baroque. Music Pacifica is one of the nation’s premier Renaissance and Baroque ensembles. For this special concert, they will have 11 musicians and will perform, among other works, Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto #4” and Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto #5, “arguably the world’s first keyboard concerto. The concert will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, at Vintage House.

• The Italian Saxophone Quartet returns to Sonoma with its madcap blend of classical, crossover, film, and Italian favorites. Its 2012 appearance was a hit, and the 2015 appearance is likely to sell out. The concert will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at Vintage House.

• On Sunday, May 11, at 3 p.m., The Alexander String Quarter returns once again to perform in Sonoma. The Alexanders have performed for the Sonoma Classical Music Society seven times in the past 11 years, and they are a continuing favorite among Sonoma audiences who would like to have them back every year. One of the premier string quartets in the world, the Alexanders will perform a program of both Romantic and Modern works, including Beethoven and Shostakovich. The concert will be held at the Jacuzzi Family Winery, 24724 Arnold Drive.

An application for membership in the Sonoma Classical Music Society may be obtained at, sonomaclassical.org.