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Sunset Piano and Gardens of Golden Gate Park Present
Flower Piano® 
September 8-12, 2023
San Francisco Botanical Garden
Golden Gate Park

Thank you, everybody! Flower Piano 2023 has officially wrapped. What a beautiful year it was!

 

Thank you to our lead sponsors for Flower Piano 2023: the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, The John and Marcia Goldman Foundation, Outside Lands Works, and the 5 Ryan Foundation. Thank you to our partners at Sunset Piano and all the musicians, performers, and community partners for sharing their art and making this unique, creative event possible. THANK YOU ALL for coming out and being part of our beloved Flower Piano!

 

Did you have a great time? Support Flower Piano and the Gardens by becoming a member or donating.

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Thank You to Our Flower Piano 2023 Sponsors! 

EVENT SPONSORS

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5 Ryan Foundation

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Sue Ann Levin Schiff

Jennifer Taylor

Ruth & Ken Wilcox

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Duchess CT / Cheryl Traverse

Dr. Joesph Barbaccia

San Francisco Garden Club

Zane Gresham & Carole Robinson    

FLOWER PIANO 2023 PROGRAM

The Lounge: Friday evening

The Lounge: Sunday midday

Thursday, September 7

 

Flower Piano Opening Night Special Event! 

Celebration Garden open 4pm-8pm, Performances 6pm - 8pm, Flower Piano Lounge | Pablo Estigarribia

Latin Grammy winner tango pianist, arranger, and composer

With Sumi Lee Quartet, opening

 

Special event ticket required - buy here >>

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Friday, September 8

 

10am - 12pm, Garden of Fragrance | Noe’s Garden

Interactive music to engage babies, young children, and grown-ups alike.

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Lunchtime Concert 

12pm -1pm, Great Meadow | Tom Jonesing

Rock and Pop Renovations, Remodeling, and Demolition

 

1pm - 2pm, Great Meadow | David Möschler Trio

Tribute to the Vince Guaraldi Trio

 

2pm - 5pm, Conifer Lawn | Beat Corner

Avante Garden Music and Poetry

Bay Area Poets hosted by Agneta Falk

Music by Mauro, Dean, Antony, and others.

 

2pm - 3pm, Garden of Fragrance | Paul Caccamo

The Broken Branches of Gonzo’s Starry Dream

 

3pm - 4pm, Garden of Fragrance | Kymry Esainko

Melancholy Moods to Soothe the Savage Skeptic

 

4pm - 5pm, Redwood Grove | Classical Revolution Trio

Classical Revolution Presents Beethoven and Piazzolla

 

4pm - 5:30pm, Great Meadow | Flower Piano Kick Off Sing-A-Long with Community Music Center featuring Clif Payne and Ken Little: R&B, soul, and Motown favorites 

 

5pm - 6pm, Redwood Grove | Jill Tracy

Mystical, Elegant, Dark, Cinematic, Haunting Sonic Spells

 

5pm - 6pm, Garden of Fragrance | Sixth Station Trio 

Studio Ghibli tribute featuring works by composers, Joe Hisaishi, Yuji Nomi, and Satoshi Takebe

 

4pm - 8pm, Flower Piano Lounge, Celebration Garden - Special Event Ticket Required

Set Time: 6pm - 7:30pm | Alex Conde

Jazz flamenco virtuoso pianist plays Albeniz, Monk, Powell and Originals

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All day, Fountain Plaza | Say Ya! Photobooth

Pop into the popular Say Ya! Photobooth and take a picture with friends or family to remember your time at Flower Piano 2023! Cost is $5 per session.

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Saturday, September 9

 

10am - 2pm, Flower Piano Lounge, Celebration Garden - Special Event Ticket Required

Set Time: 12pm - 1:30pm | Van-Anh Nguyen

Classical Reimagined and House Music Unplugged

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11am - 1:00 pm Library Terrace (starting point) | Rabbit Hole Theater Magical Scavenger Hunt

Find magical characters during a family-friendly scavenger hunt through the Garden

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11am - 3pm, Roaming throughout the Garden | Puppet Piano

Vanessa The Robot is a little animatronic puppet with big feelings who drives around on top of an old food delivery robot and performs a variety of angsty pop songs.

 

12pm - 1pm, All Pianos | Piano Extravaganza, Part One

 

Great Meadow | John Brothers Piano Company
All Original Music from Oakland

 

Ancient Plant Garden | Joshua Raoul Brody
Beatles Karaoke

 

Rhododendron Garden | Pedro Pastrana & Oskar Ly
Ecstatic Interpretations from the American/Carribean Songbook

 

Garden of Fragrance | Duo Piano Program, 12pm - 3pm


12pm - 1pm, Two Americans in Paris | Bolcom, Milhaud, and Gershwin

1pm - 2pm, Cahill, Myers Piano Duo | Music by Fujieda, Strayhorn/Ellington, and more

 

New Zealand Garden | Joe Mag
Entertainer from Martuni’s, SF : Pop, Show Tunes, and Sing-a-longs

 

South Africa Garden | Eric Shifrin
Smooth and Bouncy to Rough and Funky

California Native Plant Garden | Anne Sajdera

Soulful, Groove-based Jazz Standards and Originals

 

Redwood Grove | Caroluna with Ian Scarfe

Sublime Opera Arias and Art Songs

 

Conifer Lawn | Hadley McCarroll

Diversions &  Divergences: Musical Landscapes from Chopin to Carter

 

Moon Viewing Garden | TonaLaura Jazz Duo
Sparkling Mix of Jazz, Brazilian, & Original Music

 

Zellerbach Garden | Earth, Wind, and Flowers
Chamber Music of Various Styles!

 

2pm - 3pm, All Pianos | Piano Extravaganza, Part Two

 

Great Meadow | Alon Nechushtan Trio
From East to the West in Jazz

 

Ancient Plant Garden | Tango Brumoso

Traditional and Contemporary Tango Music

 

Rhododendron Garden | Craig Garfinkel
Radiohead Sing-a-long

 

Garden of Fragrance | Duo Piano Program, 2pm - 3pm

Susie Fong & Abbygayle Baker | Works by Ravel, Chaminade, Falls, & Sakamoto

 

New Zealand Garden | Saki Minamimoto, vocal, Omree Gal Oz, piano

Poetic Vocal Jazz with Effortless Delivery

 

South Africa Garden | Dawn Oberg

Songs of Love, Plant Life, and Current Events

 

California Native Plant Garden | Sandra Simich
Classical Piano

 

Redwood Grove | Tin Yi Chelsea Wong
Chains, Alchemy, and Liberation (Crumb, Beethoven)

 

Conifer Lawn | Ian Scarfe

Classical Masterpieces Inspired by the Natural World

 

Moon Viewing Garden | Eric Chase
Beethoven’s Late Piano Sonatas: Poetry Without Words

Zellerbach Garden | Esther Aeschbach
Scarlatti, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy

 

3pm - 4pm, Zellerbach Garden | Ronny Michael Greenberg, San Francisco Opera Pianist

SF Opera pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg performs vibrant and virtuosic piano arrangements of Grand Opera, paired with music that mirrors the beauty and intimacy of the gardens

 

4pm - 6pm, Fountain Plaza | Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra 

Viktor Ullman Piano Concerto

Featured Piano Soloist Allison Lovejoy

 

Friedrich Chopin, Piano Concerto No 1

Featured Piano Soloist Elektra Schmidt

 

Maurice Ravel, Piano Concerto in G

Featured Piano Soloist Kymry Esainko 

 

4pm - 6pm, Zellerbach | Ensemble SF

Classical piano quartet featuring Mozart and Johannes Brahms. 

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4pm - 6pm, Conifer Lawn | SF Symphony Musicians

SF Symphony musicians performing chamber music

 

4pm - 8pm, Flower Piano Lounge, Celebration Garden - Special Event Ticket Required

Set Time: 5:30pm - 7pm | Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers
Eight Piece Band : Swing, Blues, and New Orleans Music!

 

All day, Fountain Plaza | Say Ya! Photobooth

Pop into the popular Say Ya! Photobooth and take a picture with friends or family to remember your time at Flower Piano 2023! Cost is $5 per session.

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All day, Fountain Plaza | Haight Street Art Center

Come by the Haight Street Art Center and get a commemorative Flower Piano screen print, free to all patrons of Flower Piano Festival!

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Sunday, September 10

 

10am - 2pm, Flower Piano Lounge, Celebration Garden - Special Event Ticket Required

Set Time: 12pm - 1:30pm | The Orange Sunshine

Orange Sunshine Plays Milton Nascimento, Mulatu Astatke, Joao Donato, Hermeto Pascoal and others

 

11am - 1pm, Garden of Fragrance | Duo Piano Program

11am - 12pm, St. Larsen Duo | Meredith Monk, Maurice Ravel, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Benjamin Gribble

12pm - 1pm, Aristo Duo, Chia-Lin Yang & Vivian Ying Chen | Classical for Two Pianos

 

11am - 3pm, Roaming throughout the Garden | Puppet Piano

​Vanessa The Robot is a little animatronic puppet with big feelings who drives around on top of an old food delivery robot and performs a variety of angsty pop songs.

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11am - 6pm, Zellerbach Gardens, Featured Artists

11 am - 12pm, Van Anh - Nguyen | Ryuichi Sakamoto and Friends

12pm - 1pm, Tammy Hall | A Tribute to Burt Bacharach

1pm - 2pm, Kennedy Realnes | Avant Garde, Soundscape, Jazz, Ambient, Impressionistic

2pm - 3pm, Mariah Parker’s Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble | Improvisational Flights and Modal Jazz Journeys

3pm - 4pm, Allison Lovejoy | Allison Lovejoy Plays Liszt, Ravel, Gershwin, Boulanger, and Still

4pm - 5pm, Kev Choice Trio | Hip-Hop Rooted Jazz & Classical Pianist

5pm - 6pm, Lavay Smith and Chris Siebert | Swing, Blues, and New Orleans Music!

 

11am - 6pm, Great Meadow, Featured Artists

11am - 12pm, EnSPirits | Alternative R&B/Contemporary Jazz      

12pm - 1pm, Kash Killion and Killion’s Trillions | A Tribute to Sun Ra    

1pm - 2pm,  C and C Duo | C and C Performs Soulful Piano & Vocal Duet

2pm - 3pm,  Kevin Gerzevitz | Kevin Gerzevitz Trio Tribute to Burt Bacharach

3pm - 4pm, The Cottontails | Vintage Swing, Jazz/R&B

4pm - 5pm,   Mr Lucky & the Cocktail Party | That’s Entertainment!

5pm - 6pm,  Musica Cubana Quintet | Musica Cubana

 

1pm - 3pm, Redwood Grove | Little Mission Studio

Music from classical and contemporary composers for a family friendly performance. 

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3pm - 4pm, Garden of Fragrance | Sixth Station Trio 

Studio Ghibli tribute featuring works by composers, Joe Hisaishi, Yuji Nomi, and Satoshi Takebe

 

4pm - 6pm, Ancient Plant Garden| San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College

Youth 18 and under performing a range of modern and contemporary pieces.  

 

All day, Fountain Plaza | Say Ya! Photobooth

Pop into the popular Say Ya! Photobooth and take a picture with friends or family to remember your time at Flower Piano 2023! Cost is $5 per session.

​

All day, Fountain Plaza | Haight Street Art Center

Come by the Haight Street Art Center and get a commemorative Flower Piano screen print, free to all patrons of Flower Piano Festival!

​

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Monday, September 11

 

11am - 12pm, Redwood Grove | Penelope Keep & Special Guests

Classical/Jazz Fusion: Bach, Beethoven, Bonds, & Blues

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11am - 3pm, 9th Avenue in front of SF Botanical Garden  | San Francisco Public Library

San Francisco Public Library YouthMobile - Visit the SF Public Library’s one-and-only children’s bookmobile. Check out the onboard collection, pick up a free book to take home and keep, and catch a children’s storytime at 11:30am.

                     

12pm - 1pm,  Redwood Grove | Irina Omelchenko 

Classical, Rock and Roll, and Boogie Boogie

 

12pm -1pm, Garden of Fragrance | Danny Sullivan

A Bacharach Bacchanal Potpourri of Pianistic Panoramas

 

1pm - 2pm, Conifer Lawn | SF Jazz HS All Stars

A pre-professional training program for current Bay Area high school age jazz musicians.

 

1pm - 2pm, Garden of Fragrance | Marisa Winter, vocal & Elektra Schmidt, piano

Arias and Irreverent Stories

 

3pm - 6pm, Conifer Lawn | Beat Corner, Avante Garden Music and Poetry

Bay Area Poets hosted by Jessica Loos

Music by Mauro, Dean, Antony, and others.

 

Afternoon Concert

3pm - 4pm, Great Meadow | The Bernal Hill Players

Vibrant Music by Latin American Composers

 

4pm - 5pm, Great Meadow | Betty Roi Trio 

Authentic Parisien Chanteuse Sings Jazz and Cabaret

 

5pm - 6pm, Great Meadow | Charged Particles

Original Funky Latin Jazz with a Spark!

 

6pm - 7pm, Conifer Lawn | Free Key Choir
80 Voice Contemporary Choir from Oakland

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All day, Fountain Plaza | Say Ya! Photobooth

Pop into the popular Say Ya! Photobooth and take a picture with friends or family to remember your time at Flower Piano 2023! Cost is $5 per session.

 

​

Tuesday, September 12

 

12pm - 1pm, Zellerbach Garden | Mauro ffortissimo
Interpretations of Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Piazzolla and Villa Lobos 

 

1pm - 2pm, Zellerbach Garden | Elektra Schmidt & Lewis Patzner

Duos by Greek, French, Spanish, and Argentinian Composers

 

Lunchtime Concert 

12pm -1pm, Great Meadow | Rob Reich Trio

Crystalline Melodic Discoveries and Improvisational Flights

 

1pm - 2pm,  Great Meadow | Steve Abrams Trio

Hard Bop, Latin Jazz, Salsa, and Swing

 

2pm - 3pm, Celebration Garden | Caroline Dahl

Boogie Woogie Piano: Blended and Bunkum-Free 

 

2pm - 3pm, Conifer Lawn | Martin Luther McCoy

Martin Luther presents his distinct blend of jazz funk fusion accompanied by Robin Hodge Williams

 

3pm to 4pm, Celebration Garden | Kitten on the Keys

Unexpected Covers, Cabaret Originals, Nostalgic Flapper Rock

 

3pm - 4pm, Garden of Fragrance | Jaron Lanier & Colin Farish

Entangled Synchronicity While Surfing in a Global Musical Flux

 

4pm - 5pm, Garden of Fragrance | Colin Farish

Tribute to Keith Jarrett with Spontaneous Compositions

 

4pm - 5pm, Celebration Garden | Antony Ty

Songs from a Different Kind of Tension

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SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday

Thank You Community Partners! 

We look forward to seeing you at Flower Piano—here are some tips to have an enjoyable experience:

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Getting Here: 

  • Walking, biking, and public transit are strongly recommended

  • FREE valet bike parking will be provided on the weekend from 10am-6pm next to the Main Entrance to the Garden near 9th Avenue and Lincoln Way

  • Traffic and parking can be challenging, especially on the weekends—see our visit page for shuttle, parking, and other details

  • Pianos open at 10am but the Garden opens daily at 7:30am—you are welcome to come in to the Garden and get settled before the pianos open but please do not play the pianos before 10am

 

Program and Map: 

  • Large scale program signage available inside both entrances and Conifer Lawn

  • Map of piano locations available on the Flower Piano webpage and program signage posted in the Garden

 

Tickets: 

  • Please be prepared to show your member card or tickets and IDs when checking in with staff upon entry

  • Members, please enjoy expedited entry at the Main Gate via the member line—enter on the Library (south) side of the Entry Garden—thank you for your support!

  • If you need to buy tickets onsite please do so with staff at the permanent kiosk at either entrance

 

Food, Drink, Picnicking: 

  • No outside food and drink is allowed in the Flower Piano Lounge

  • Picnicking is encouraged 

  • Off the Grid will have food and drink available on the weekend at Fountain Plaza 

  • Outside food and drink are allowed—amazing local inner sunset food options are available right outside the Garden's Main Gate—reentry allowed—get a handstamp on your way out for reentry

  • Camping, folding, and similar chairs and coolers allowed

  • No tables or structures

 

COVID Protocol: 

  • If sick, have tested positive, or had a close contact with someone who has Covid please stay home

  • Masks recommended indoors such as restrooms, Library, and Bookstore 

 

Other Preparations: 

  • Layers, layers, layers - be prepared with clothes for all weather!

  • Sun protection - even in the fog, you can get burned - hats, sunblock, sunglasses all encouraged

  • Stay hydrated - water bottle refill stations are available at restrooms and Fountain Plaza

  • Comfortable, sturdy walking shoes - the Garden is 55 acres and pianos are spread throughout across various surfaces

  • We will share programming, and other dynamic updates as best as possible on our social media channels  

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Celebrate Flower Piano and Support this Magical Event! 

  • Consider making a donation of any size—all support is greatly appreciated—you can even Venmo us @GardensofGoldenGatePark!

  • Become a Gardens member and enjoy expedited entry at Flower Piano, guest privileges, Lounge discounts, and more! 

Know Before You Go

2022 Event Images

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