Consider this past month’s musical highlights: choral fireworks, chamber players sharing a world premiere, and the special treat of four-hand Debussy blazing with chromaticism. And ahead for April: a caffeinated evening of Bach.

On March 7, the UCSC Concert Choir showcased a seismic performance of Lou Harrison’s La Koro Sutra. With maestro Nathaniel Berman at the helm, percussion wizard William Winant led an all-star team of drum, pipe, cymbal and chime players on Harrison’s original, hand-made gamelan instruments. By the shimmering seventh and final movement of this east-west tone poem, we were all inside the Jeweled Web of Indra. An incredible sound from instruments and voices alike.

The March 16 performance by the Santa Cruz Chamber Players was everything one could want from a select ensemble of outstanding musicians that included violist Polly Malan, tenor Andrew Carter and concert master Chris Pratorius Gomez.

Plus it gave the packed audience one of those goosebump-producing surprises that can only happen during a live concert. A weapons-grade torrent of piano virtuosity from 24-year-old Kiko Torres Velasco had us all up on our feet after a soaring Beethoven sonata, and again when he unleashed an encore of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in B-Flat Major, Op. 23 No. 2

Velasco was joined by Pratorius Gomez on the keyboard for what remains my favorite piece of the afternoon: six songs by Debussy. Scored for four hands, these stunningly post-modern pieces worked their way through impressionism into that unique palette Debussy pioneered.

Kudos to Pratorius Gomez for brilliant programming, as well as keyboard chops with his new work, The Window Overlooking the Harbour. A dark setting for the dark poetry of Laurence Hope, the new piece harnessed Malan’s silken viola with the yearning pessimism of the vocal line. Key changes and cabaret textures held down the continuo piano line, with sudden flights up and through the other two instruments. Haunting music inflected with wit in the key of Kurt Weil emerged here and there in what feels like new territory for the Santa Cruz-based composer.

Caffeinated Cantata

This month Santa Cruz Opera Project offers a piquant charmer, J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata, The Immersive Experience, on two Sundays, April 20 and 27, plus a pay-what-you-can preview on Saturday, April 19. SCOP co-founder Lori Schulman will narrate this saucy little opera cabaret about a father’s irritation with his coffee-loving daughter.

Sheila Willey performs Bach’s caffeinated soprano role, partnered by baritone Edward Tavalin. The sprightly English adaptation provides plenty of audience engagement, including the irrepressible Diane Syrcle on…banjo! Cabrillo Stage’s Andrea Hart handles stage direction, Daniel Goldsmith directs music. Instrumentalists include Goldsmith on keyboard, Shannon D’Antonio on violin and Kristin Garbeff on cello. And stay tuned after the Cantata for some open-mic surprises.

Schulman’s potent vocals lit up the stage last week in an electrifying performance of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Christopher Cerrone’s The Pieces that Fall to Earth. Fresh from her bravura performance at the final Ensemble Monterey Chamber Orchestra concert, Lori Schulman explained the concept behind the bold new Opera Project.

“Santa Cruz Opera Project was born out of a spontaneous, passionate conversation between co-founder Jordan Best and me after an audition,” Schulman recalls. “We spent three hours in a parking lot, bonding over our shared love of music and belief that opera should be accessible, exciting and deeply connected to the community.”

The two were committed to presenting opera “in an untraditional way.” Santa Cruz’s deep coffee culture made Bach’s Coffee Cantata a perfect fit. “It’s lighthearted, playful and centers around something most of us can relate to—our love for coffee. The piece was likely first performed in a coffeehouse in Leipzig, Germany, at the Café Zimmermann, so performing it in a real coffee shop feels like a natural choice.”

The whole point of the two-year-old Opera Project was to show that classical music could thrive in nontraditional settings. Schulman believes that “opera is simply great storytelling through music and singing. We know that many people have reasons for thinking opera isn’t for them, whether it’s because they haven’t been exposed to it or because it’s often portrayed as stuffy. Our mission is to break down the barriers that can make opera feel intimidating or exclusive, and invite new audiences into the genre.”

The April performances in a wraparound coffeehouse setting is destined to appeal to opera virgins and veterans alike. Schulman says that attendees of the Opera Project not only enjoy the experience, “but they’re now considering seeing more opera in big venues.”

Schulman’s dream is “to continue offering intimate opera experiences, which means smaller audience capacities. So we’d love to extend the run of each production so that more people can come.”

Coffee Cantata will be performed at Mariposa Coffee Bar, 1010 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Tickets are $40; visit santacruzoperaproject.org

This is the second installment of Performance, my new column on Santa Cruz’s performing arts scene. Look for it the first Wednesday of each month. And talk to me: xt***@****io.com.