Center for New Music: August, 2016

As an “annex” to the Bleeding Edge articles, I feel it would be valuable to track the concert offerings at the Center for New Music (C4NM). In the past I tended to fold these into the Bleeding Edge announcements, but C4NM casts a broader net that often reaches back to roots in the past while also going boldly into the future. For those who do not already “know the drill,” C4NM is located at 55 Taylor Street, about half a block north of where Golden Gate Avenue meets Market Street. Tickets tend to be available only at the door. There are occasional events that set up a Web page for advance purchase, but none of them will be taking place this month. August will be a relatively quiet month but definitely not an uninteresting one. The scheduled concerts are as follows:

Tuesday, August 9, 8 p.m.: This will be the next installment in the sfSoundSalonSeries curated by Kyle Bruckmann. The title of the program will be Voices & Such, and it will offer an evening of unique approaches to the vocal repertoire. “& Such” refers to pianist Julie Barwick, who will be the only non-vocalist of the evening. She will accompany Lorin Benedict in a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opus 40 cello sonata in D minor with the cello part reworked for voice. From a point of phrasing, this is definitely a realistic undertaking; and the major challenge lies in Shostakovich’s exploitation of the wide pitch range of the cello. Prior to this performance, Benedict will perform a few improvised pieces with Ron Heglin; and Heglin will also improvise with Katt Atchley during the second half of the program. As is the case for all sfSoundSalonSeries concerts, general admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members, students, and the underemployed.

Sunday, August 21, 2 p.m.: Thomas Schultz has been working on the complete piano music of Arnold Schoenberg, compositions that he originally studied under the tutelage of Schoenberg’s long-time assistant in Los Angeles, Leonard Stein. The entire solo piano Schoenberg canon does not occupy a particularly long duration, and Pina Napolitano’s recording of this music runs only about 55 minutes in duration. As a result, Schultz will devote the remainder of his program to two composers with extensive knowledge of Schoenberg’s music, Frederic Rzewski and Hyo-shin Na. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.

Sunday, August 28, 8 p.m.: Composer Zachary James Watkins will curate a visit to C4NM by New York improvising vocalist Amirtha Kidambi. The two met in a bar in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood on the border between Brooklyn and Queens and discovered that they shared concern over the impact of gentrification on their respective home bases. This led to Kidambi preparing the program We Insist! Freedom Now!: Free Improvisations for Revolution. Her performance amounts to a continuation of her conversation with Watkins through the medium of free improvisation. Kidambi and Watkins will be joined by four local improvisers, percussionists Marshall Trammell and Nava Dunkelman, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, and Jeanie-Aprille Tang working with her own electronic gear. The improvisations will involve both the entire group and smaller formations. General admission will again be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.