American violinist Gil Shaham is always a welcome guest in the Bay Area, whether he’s here to perform solo recitals or large-scale concertos; most recently, in February, he joined Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony in an exhilarating performance of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
This week, the Grammy Award-winning artist, also named Musical America’s “Instrumentalist of the Year,” returns to give two performances in a duo recital — one in Berkeley, one in Palo Alto — with his frequent duo partner, pianist Akira Eguchi.
The program demonstrates Shaham’s wide-ranging interests in the repertoire for his instrument; beginning with Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E Major for solo violin, he and Eguchi will traverse beloved works such as César Franck’s Sonata in A Major and Fritz Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro (In the Style of Pugnani). Two contemporary sonatas — Avner Dorman’s Sonata No. 3, “Nigunim,” and Scott Wheeler’s Sonata No. 2, “The Singing Turk” — complete the lineup, although music lovers can certainly expect the apparently tireless Shaham to return with a dazzling encore or two.
Details: 7:30 p.m. April 27 at Oshman Family JCC, Palo Alto; $90 JCC members; $100 general, $150 premium (includes post-concert reception with the artists; 650-223-8649, www.paloaltojcc.org; 8 p.m. April 29 at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $34-$86; 510-642-9988, calperformances.org.
