The 2009-2010 concert season is nearly upon us. I'll be writing program notes and giving pre-concert lectures for a variety of institutions, including the San Francisco Symphony. I'll update the information as soon as I have it.

Program Notes and Lectures

This forthcoming school year is my 32nd on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where I will be teaching a number of courses: Music Theory, Musicianship, Advanced Analysis, and Keyboard Harmony.

SFCM Classes

I have taught Music 27 - Introduction to Music for 20 years now for the Fall Freshman Program at the University of California, Berkeley. Again this fall I'm shepherding a group of undergraduates through the glories of the Western musical tradition.

Music 27 (UCB)

Although I no longer write for the San Francisco Examiner, I still maintain a personal blog on LiveJournal, called Free Composition. The blog covers a wide range of topics, even sometimes music, so check it out frequently.

Free Composition

On Inspiration


I haven't the faintest idea how my subconscious sends essay subjects floating up into view. One minute I'm appreciating a fragrant box of organic peaches at the farmer's market; a split second later I'm well into the lead paragraph for an article about the mating habits of retired orchestral contrabassoonists. All in all, I'd rather not know how the whole thing works; better to start (and subsequently abandon) an ill-gotten article about musicianly sex lives than to understand, and possibly rig, the whole inspiration process.

more quotations

About Scott Foglesong

Scott Foglesong is a pianist, musician, teacher, writer, cat-lover, music history devotée, occasional computer geek and sometime programmer. He has been on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1978; nowadays he serves as a department chair in addition to enjoying the honor of educating some of today's most promising young musicians. In 2008 he was named recipient of the Sarlo Family Foundation Award for excellence in teaching. He has taught Music 27 (Introduction to Music) for the Fall Freshman program at UC Berkeley since 1991, and is associated with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, both as a Contributing Writer and as an "Inside Music" lecturer for the Symphony's weekly subscription concerts. Professor Foglesong was formally educated at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the San Francisco Conservatory, but his informal education continues everywhere, without cease.

December 1 through 31

Lead article "Web of Music" runs for the month in Playbill at the SF Symphony.

Now available on the SF Symphony website.

January 7-10, 2010

George Benjamin's "Dance Figures" and "Jubilation" in Playbill at the SF Symphony.

Wednesday, January 13

Placement exams for new students: Musicianship, Theory, and Keyboard Skills at SFCM.

January 14-16

Messiaen's "Oiseaux exotiques" in Playbill at the SF Symphony.

Tuesday, January 19

Spring semester begins at SFCM.

Friday, January 29

Program notes (PDF) for Pavel Steidl, guitar, at the Herbst Theater. Courtesy of SF Performances.

February 10-13

Pre-concert lectures on Walton's Violin Concerto and Holst's "The Planets" at the SF Symphony.

All at Davies Symphony Hall except Feb. 11 at Flint Center, Cupertino.

February 24-26

Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 in Playbill at the SF Symphony.