Win 2 Tickets for Deck the Hall at the San Francisco Symphony!

Yes, even reindeer! Photo by the SF Symphony

Drum roll and get your musical ears please. I am happy to announce that one lucky Frog Mom reader will win 2 tickets to attend Deck the Hall on Sunday December 4, 2011! If you have never been, Deck the Hall is one of the most beloved holiday traditions of the San Francisco Symphony and an amazing experience for families. After an hour-long show that blends music, dance and stage performances, kids and adults alike mingle in the lobby where craft tables, cookies and refreshments await them. Kids can even get to meet favorite holiday characters!

Crafts. Photo by SF Symphony

The first time we took our girls to Deck the Hall, they were respectively 1 and 3 years old. Though the 1 year old clearly didn't get to participate much, she kept silent during the music part and clapped with me at the end. My 3 year old, on the other hand, was in awe. All these kids dressed to the nines, the festive atmosphere, the tall decorated trees in the lobby, the cool crafts after the concert - she didn't want to leave, ever.

That year we enjoyed a particularly charming reading of "Twas The Night Before Christmas" with puppets and we cracked up at the holiday songs by the Beach Blanket Babylon cast - ah, the dancing Christmas trees! It was my kids' first "classical music" experience and a fun one to boot. As you can guess, I loved it.

Very high five. Photo by SF Symphony

Now it's my pleasure to be able to offer this amazing experience to my readers. I'll add that the show sells out every year so these tickets that I got are extra precious tickets. Plus, they're upper orchestra tickets (value $72), a fantastic seating section where kids can enjoy the show fully right in front of the orchestra and stage.

How do you win?
Share your favorite holiday music in the comments below this post and "Like" the Facebook page of the San Francisco Symphony. Please do not comment anonymously otherwise I'll never be able to contact you. Elementary, my dear Watson. Tell your friends and get them to participate - if they comment on Frog Mom giving your name, you double your chances!

Deadline: Sunday November 27, 2011, 11.59pm PST.

I'll pick a winner using a random system on Monday November 28, 2011, giving the lucky person just enough time to plan for a incredible Sunday December 4th with their special little person. Keep a weather eye on the Frog Mom Facebook Page as it's where I'll announce the winner on Monday morning.

Good luck everyone and for the record, my favorite holiday song is "White Christmas" with a glass of champagne!

Mountain Winery Summer Series: Rufus and Martha Wainwright

During the first song-set of his concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Rufus Wainwright requested that spectactors do not applaud until he had left the stage, his departure being part of the piece too. "All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu" was an hour-long tribute to his recently deceased mother on a backdrop of eye close-up visuals by artist Douglas Gordon. Weird visuals, these giant eyelids opening and closing slowly. the music was appropriately dark and broody. Rufus' voice expressed grief and emotion, the piano's keys seemed like his fingers' natural extensions.

Resisting the urge to clap, spectactors sat silent. Not a whisper was heard. Only the loud chirping away of crickets violated the singer-songwriter's wish. As I got up to find the restrooms, I paused to listen. A coyote was howling in the night. What kind of concert theater offers that kind of experience?

The Mountain Winery has got itself a sweet deal above the Silicon Valley. Sweeping views, attached vineyards, state of the art amphitheater and sound system. Even seats are comfortable.

The Summer Series has attracted music legends such as BB King, Ray Charles, Billy Idol, Diana Ross (the oldies) but also the newer generation with The Crowded House, Natalie Merchant and Rufus Wainwright. In September Sheryl Crow will perform there and the only Northern California stop of A Prairie Home Companion's Summer Love Tour is tonight at - you guessed it - the Mountain Winery. How do they attract such big names?

It's still a puzzle to me because the ticket prices are not outrageous but I understand why people keep coming back despite slashing reviews on Yelp. Amongst the major complaints: the $20 parking charge, overpriced wine in plastic tumblers, bad food, the bottleneck exit of the parking lot and a nutty 10.30 pm lights-off policy that resulted in BB King being cut off in the middle of a song. 

None of those were terribly inspiring so my husband and I just had dinner before and met in Saratoga at a parking lot so we could avoid paying double parking fees.

Once you get over the sheer capitalism of it all, I'll say that it's pretty rare to listen to a world-class performer at an open air venue with views of the Silicon Valley. Add to that a tumbler of wine or beer under clear skies. At night the valley's a freakin' light show and looking down on Palo Alto through the shadows of the trees is downright magical. It's a bit like being on a window seat on a plane minus the bumpy ride.

The Romanesque winery building offers an old world feel while oversize Paul Masson wooden barrels flank the arched walls of the amphitheater and give it a rustic chic touch. Obviously the lighting system has been handed to serious professional hands as the venue looks straight out of a decorating magazine at night.

VIPs and donors get special privileges such as private patios, stage-side terraces and comfy couches for al fresco dining. You and I can spend top $ at the Grill/Bar, Chateau deck, Winery Bar or Marketplace Bistro - or dine before. 

In fact, the whole food and drink offering has been very well thought out with top-to-bottom branding. In addition to the four dining venues, people just walk around between Mountain Winery food and drink stalls peppering the grounds.

Business partnerships improve the basic wine offering. Coke is well-represented with its sodas and Dasani water bottles sold at $4 (while there are drinking fountains by the restrooms with better quality tap water) and Sierra Nevada and Blue Moon have big sign boards and a brewery-style bar for the non-wine drinking crowd. Once you have your tumbler in hand, you can head to your seat and drink while enjoying the concert. Each seat is equipped with a cupholder. That's the life.

I can see a downside to the amphitheater being such an open space though. Martha Wainwright - a very talented singer - was doing the first part of the show. Sadly for her, she was singing in front of a half-empty (at best) amphitheater. People were still trickling in, getting the lay of the land, buying their drinks, and many were watching the singer from the balconies that surround the stage. That's the lot of first parts, I know, but it must still be disheartening for a performer that the audience is so scattered

As Rufus Wainwright was closing his show, we literally jumped from our seats to rush to our car, so nervous we were about getting stuck in the parking lot. Just our luck, Martha was coming back on stage to sing with her brother. We paused on the access ramp, half-regretted our move and left.

As I mentioned, the Mountain Winery is located in Saratoga. If you don't live at the foot of the hills in one of the McMansions, you've got a good bit of driving to do to get back home. For people like us living near San Francisco, it's an hour's drive away. Too bad it ain't closer - but then it would be in the fog.

Brad Mehldau Trio

On June 6, 2008, the Brad Mehldau Trio played for the SF Jazz Festival at the Herbst Theatre. I was there with my friend Sue, childhood friend of the bass player Larry Grenadier. I'll be honest, I'm not a jazz fan. I was not even a Brad Mehldau (with or without trio) fan. I'm a fan of Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails and Marylin Manson. My only previous appearance at the SF Jazz Festival was for the Swedish piano trio E.S.T. five years ago and I fell asleep. Bad jazz record.

However, I have to say that listening to Brad Mehldau yesterday was one of the best musical experiences I've had in a long time. Not just listening but watching. Such feline movements on the keys, such hands independence, such a dynamic yet dreamlike touch, it was incredible. It was deep and moving, often entrancing with deceptively simple harmonies and perfectly coordinated bass and drums. It opened up new doors and I discovered how much I'd missed on. I let my mind wander away as I once did on Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert or some of Pat Metheny's music. Clearly, it was time to catch up on the new face of jazz!

The problem with jazz concerts is that there's no program. It's jazz. Freedom and improv. So thanks Brad for announcing the song titles as time flew by, but how can I find out about all the songs played? It's annoying when you love a melody and you would like to listen to it again but you're a jazz ignorant and you don't connect the dots.

Guess I should have been taking notes. Or I could wait until a new album comes out. Or I could write to Congress to vote mandatory programs at jazz concerts. The options are plentiful really.

After the concert, we joined the trio and their close group for drinks at Jardiniere. I had a great time discussing with Brad. Being a mediocre pianist myself, I certainly appreciate good piano. In Brad's case, one of today's most impressive and influential jazz piano there is. Even more, I love discussing about piano and music.

Brad told me about his daily morning Bach practice, his love for Brahms, his admiration for Messiaen, Chopin's innovation. I didn't realize that a jazz pianist could spend his days playing classical piano and somewhere it's comforting.

It's as comforting as knowing that Picasso could get to cubism after being an accomplished figurative painter, art form which he favored for his daily practice. It's as comforting as learning that Mondrian made his way to abstraction after years of stunning impressionist landscapes. So Brad Mehldau not only loves and plays classical music, but he writes about it.

An unlikely topic we shared experiences about was Holland. His wife Fleurine is Dutch and he of course knows a lot about Holland. Since I've had a very close Dutch friend in Bangkok, attempted to learn Dutch (can only read slowly) and spent a summer in Amsterdam, I have a weakness for things Dutch. Or rather, a piqued interest. So continued the conversation on Holland, broadened to Europe and back to music festivals.

But for all of Brad's incredible musical gift, for all the amazing places he visits, all of the famous musicians he plays with, I wouldn't trade my life with his. Yesterday San Francisco, today Los Angeles, tomorrow somewhere else. Unusual life but what a concert it was. Now I really wish there was a program.

Jingle Bells!

For our annual Christmas party and with the help of a few friends passionate about music, I am planning a fun musical program this year. Now that the children are older, they can handle playing a small musical part or acting a small piece if instructed properly.

At the SFMOMA, I found this wonderful set of musical hand bells. They cover an octave from low C to high C and each bell is a different note and color. I set up the children in a straight line and gave them each a bell. Then with a fairy wand, I had them ring their bell each in turn.

First we tried the C major scale, just to make sure they understood that when they shook the bell, they got a sound out of it. Then we started. Alex's favorite color is yellow and yellow happens to be the E in this set, a most important note if you are going to play "Jingle Bells". So we started. E E E, E E E, E G C D E. See how many Es there are? The children were amazed when they realized after a few notes that they were playing "Jingle Bells". It could work with just about any song that has no sharps and no flats. It's great. As Ruby (age 3.5) said at the end of the skit: "Let's do it again!"

We'll definitely do a few easy songs at the party so that every kid gets a turn. I got the idea at the show Siam Niramit in Bangkok. It's a live performing arts show about the traditions and culture of the ancient Siam. At the intermission, a funny guy steps on stage with seven people. He asks a volunteer from the audience. They each get a bamboo instrument that when shaken, produces a different note. Then, under direction of the funny guy, they proceed to play the song "Happy Birthday" and sure enough, it's the volunteer's birthday.

After the bells, we will enact a child-friendly version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", replacing verses like the "partridge in a pear tree" with something slightly more familiar to children's ears (teddy bears in a tree or spoons on the moon). With props, each child will have to step forward when the item is called for. Lisa is working on the lyrics. I'll post them as soon as they are finalized.

Next will be my favorite discovery of this year, a real pirate song dating back to the 16th century. It's "The Coasts of High Barbary" and Lisa and I found it in a music book of Victorian songs at the main library, my favorite hangout. For some reason (the Christmas pudding and the brandy butter might be to blame), Lisa and I just burst out laughing at the last verses when all the pirates drown and the sea becomes their coffin. I know, it's not funny. Actually, Sue did not think it was funny. But as Cath says, we think of pirates as cool people today but they were just blood-thirsty murderers. So no wonder pirate songs are on the darker side.

The last piece de resistance will be a Czech dance folk song that describes peasant dancers turning and whirling 'round when the snow is on the ground. There's even a quirky bit about "the gipsy weak and worn to whom we gave a coat all torn" (that's how you tell a genuine Czech folk song). Notwithstanding the gipsy bit, this song is lovely and, as instructed in the book "should be sung with dash and abandon" which we did. The children can then dance in a circle like "Ring around the rosie". With my friend Cath's extraordinary pianistic skills, it was quite a blast.