Welcome to the Burlingame Music Club
The Burlingame Music Club 2024-2025 season continues
On Monday, April 14th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, please come to The Burlingame Music Club April Meeting, which will be in Kloss Hall of the Congregational Church of San Mateo. We will enjoy performances by 5 student performers preparing for the BMC Young Musicians’ Competition in May 2025.
Also enjoy our April featured Professional Artists’ program:
From Copenhagen to Buenos Aires: A Folk Music Voyage
By Duo Islay
Mario Tsz-chun To, guitar, and Jessica Folson, violin
Come support our students and Professional Artists by taking part as audience members. Enjoy refreshments and visit with fellow music lovers after the programs. Please bring your friends, all members of the Public are our welcome guests!
Mario Tsz-chun To, guitar
Mario Tsz-chun To is an established guitarist-composer who has collaborated with esteemed international artists including Meng Su, Sergio Assad, David Tanenbaum and Hungarian conductor Gergely Madaras. Mario is currently a teaching faculty member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Pre-College) and the California Conservatory of Music.
As a solo guitarist, Mario was among some of the finest musicians in the bay area to be invited to perform in the Lying in State ceremony for the former mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein in 2023. He first achieved recognition by winning the Tarrega Malaysia International Guitar Festival Competition in 2017 and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Concerto Competition in 2021. Mario was also honored to perform at the renowned Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, courtesy of an invitation from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Mario’s artistry has been sought after internationally, with invitations to perform as a soloist by organizations such as the Hong Kong International Airport, the Asia Society, and the Royal Commonwealth Society. In 2020, the University of Hong Kong invited him to deliver a lecture on the music of Tōru Takemitsu.
As a composer, Mario was most recently commissioned by Meng Su to write The History of Knowledge for modern and historical plucked string ensemble, later arranged to be performed in a classical guitar ensemble. His creative works have earned him invitations to prestigious events, including a concert in Palo Alto, CA, hosted by The Peninsular Guitar Series in 2023, where he presented his original compositions and arrangements. In 2023, he served as a consortium judge for the esteemed Barlow Prize Competition held by the Brigham Young University.
In ensemble settings, Mario has demonstrated his exceptional collaborative skills as a recurring member of the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble and as the featured artist in the NOVA Ensemble Guitar Project in 2019. In 2024, he performed in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Series, playing both the the orbo and classical guitar. He has also showcased his versatility in orchestral playing with his participation in the world-premiere chamber opera “Beauty and Sadness” in 2019.
Mario’s achievements are underscored by his receipt of numerous scholarships, including the prestigious HSBC Hong Kong Scholarship, which he has been awarded three times, and the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme. He has also been honored with scholarships from the Society of APA and the Grantham Scholarship, among others.
During his master’s degree program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mario served as a teaching assistant, benefiting from full scholarships for guitar performance studies with Meng Su and composition studies with Sergio Assad. He is a graduate of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he received guidance from Meng Su and the Academy Director, Prof. Adrian Walter.
Jessica Folson, violin
Jessica Folson, violinist, is a freelance musician, teacher, and administrator in the Bay Area. Originally from North Dakota, she earned her bachelor’s degree at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and her master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Professor Simon James. An avid chamber musician, she is a member of the Bridge Chamber Music Collective, the Lazuli Quartet, and Duo Islay. Jessica enjoys a varied career, performing for weddings, recording sessions, collaborations between genres, musicals, Candlelight Concerts, and much more. Jessica frequently performs with orchestras around the Bay Area including the California Symphony, Vallejo Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Rogue Valley Symphony, and One Found Sound. Jessica maintains an expanding private violin studio and teaches at several different schools including Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory and Scherzo Music School. Jessica serves as the Education and Residency Coordinator for SF Performances.
Burlingame Music Club Monthly Meetings
Are held on the second Monday of each month, November through May, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.
Features performances by student performers
Features a performance by Professional Artist(s)
Our venue is: The Congregational Church of San Mateo, with ample free parking behind the church, accessible from Catalpa St.
Easy ADA access to Kloss Hall. Enter the church building via the ramp from the parking lot, then head straight down the hall to Kloss Hall.
Afterward, enjoy Refreshments together and meet the performing Artists.
Burlingame Music Club Meetings
Congregational Church of San Mateo
Kloss Hall, 2nd Mondays, 1-3 pm
225 Tilton Ave.
San Mateo, CA. 94401
Please tell and bring your friends. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend our meetings to support our student performers, Professional Artists, and enjoy an afternoon of music and friendship together.
Covid vaccinations, boosters, and masks are highly recommended and may be required depending on the current San Mateo County Public Health Department directives.
Feb ‘25 BMC meeting student performers with BMC President, from left to right - Josefina Swartz (cello), Karen Matsui (piano), Marcia Leonhardt (BMC President), Minjoon Jo (viola), Aaron Ma (violin)
Feb ‘25 BMC meeting student performer Peter Parra, piano
BMC 2024 Young Musicians’ Competition Winners Selected!
To view the 2024 winners, please click here.
Our Mission
The major purpose of BMC is to provide competitive performance opportunities in a warm and supportive environment for gifted young musicians.
Our Beginning
The Burlingame Music Club (BMC), was founded March 5, 1930 by local music teachers, and is recognized as a music lover’s gem on the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula.
What We Do
BMC monthly programs showcase performances by student musicians who are in competition for the BMC awards, and performances/demonstrations by guest artists who are typically professionals in their fields. In the Bay Area, we are fortunate to be able to tap into a highly diverse artistic community who expand our horizons and inspire us with performances often drawn from music from other parts of the world and representing a wide array of genres, styles and eras.
Join us every
2nd Monday, November through May
Enjoy our student performers. Help us celebrate their achievements!
Become a BMC Member!
Come join our monthly programs of rich performances by young musicians who ultimately compete to be the winners of BMC’s annual student musicians awards.
Membership info here