Center for New Music: April, 2018

A fair number of concerts to be presented at the Center for New Music (C4NM) next month have now been listed on the Calendar Web page. This list is probably not complete. However, as has been the case in the past (and also the case for the Red Poppy Art House), this article can be easily updated, using my Facebook shadow site to get out the word about updates. C4NM is located at 55 Taylor Street, half a block north of the Golden Gate Theater, which is where Golden Gate Avenue meets Market Street. There will be some variation in admission charges for the events in April. All tickets may be purchased in advance through a Vendini event page. Hyperlinks to the appropriate Web pages will be attached to each of the dates in the following summary:

Thursday, April 5, 7 p.m.: For those not yet informed, SopraDuo is the new name of the duo that was originally called One Great City. The performers are guitarist Timothy Sherren and Alexandra Iranfar, who serves as both guitarist and vocalist. This event will be a release party to celebrate their first album under their new name. Entitled House of Dreams, the album will consist entirely of original music written for the duo. Contributing composers include Nicolas Lell Benavides, Eric Choate, Michael Kropf, Shahab Paranj, and Emma Logan, who will be curating the event. The evening will begin with a reception at which food and drink will be served, followed by performances of selections from the album at 7:30 p.m. General admission will be $25; but there will be an “early bird” rate of $15. There will also be a discounted rate of $20 for C4NM members.

Saturday, April 7, 7 p.m.: Kurt Rohde will curate a solo recital by guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan entitled ReImaginationS – Cage, Shende & Bach on Guitar. Last October Edition Peters published Larget-Caplan’s arrangements for guitar of five early and mid-career compositions by John Cage. These selections will constitute roughly half of Larget-Caplan’s program. The other half of the program is the result of his collaboration with Bowdoin College composer Vineet Shende. Shende’s Carnatic Preludes involved reimagining several of the preludes from Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier in a South Indian musical language. Larget-Caplan will pair his own realization of the original Bach prelude as a guitar solo with its corresponding selection in Carnatic Preludes. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.

Wednesday, April 11, 8 p.m.: Jason Thorpe Buchanan will curate a solo recital by Canadian percussionist Noam Bierstone. The program will consist of four compositions: Santiago Díez Fischer’s “one poetic switch” Pierluigi Bilione’s “Mani.Gonxha,” Anthony Tan’s “Pose IV: in situ,” and Vinko Globokar’s “?Corporel.” Over the course of the evening, Bierstone will perform on the piano, Tibetan bowls, and his own body. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.

Friday, April 13, 8 p.m.: Curator Logan will present the final installment of her Alone/Not Alone series. The program will be an evening of art, poetry, and music for solo voice and electronics. The vocalist will be Jill Morgan Brenner; and featured composers will include: Mary Jane Leach, Cecilia Ore, Kaija Saariaho, Kate Soper, and Nina C. Young. The theme of the event will be the resilience of the human spirit as viewed through the female experience. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members, seniors, and students.

Saturday, April 14, 7:30 p.m.: This program will present new music by composers Michael Rothkopf and Ric Louchard, who have been giving joint concerts of their music for over 40 years. Participating performers will be Monica Scott (cello), Diane Grubbe and Meerenai Shim (flutes), Ron Heglin (trombone and voice), Rachel Condry (clarinet), Daniel Magay (saxophones and flute), and John Worley (trumpet). There will also be a percussionist to be named at a later date. Rothkopf will present three pieces, one for computer, one for cello and computer and one for flute duo and computer. All five of Louchard’s pieces will be scored for a septet of piano, cello, drums, trombone, clarinet, saxophone and trumpet. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.

Sunday, April 15, 2 p.m.: Curator Julia Ogrydziak will continue her five-part HUSH Series with its third installment, “spring.” This will be a two-hour performance installation, which will be performed by the Long Tone Choir. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.

Thursday, April 19, 8 p.m.: Pianist and composer Monica Chew will work with soprano Jamie Lee to present a program entitled Ladies who Lieder. The featured composition on the program will be Chew’s song cycle An ordinary woman, based on texts by women poets. The program will also include the set of five songs by Richard Wagner usually known as the Wesendonck Lieder, named after Mathilde Wesendonck, who wrote the poems that Wagner set. They will also present the so-called Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss, which were only published after his death. Last, but certainly not least, they will offer Béla Bartók’s Opus 16, a set of five songs composed in 1916 that is seldom performed. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.

Saturday, April 21, 6 p.m.: Kurt Rohde will curate a visit from New York by TwoSense, the chamber duo of cellist Ashley Bathgate and pianist Lisa Moore. The title of their program will be Look Left Again, and it will consist entirely of commissioned works with a focus on Bay Areas composers. Amy Beth’s “Kirsten Spun” will receive its Bay Area premiere. The other three composers on the program will be Ryan Brown (“Three Ideas Sleep (Furiously)”), Paul Dresher (“Family Matters”), and Martin Bresnick (“Prayers Remain Forever”). General admission will be $20 with a $15 rate for C4NM members.

Sunday, April 29, 8 p.m.: The next installment of the permutations series will present the Hypercolor trio. This is an all-rhythm avant-jazz combo consisting of Lukas Ligeti on drums, Eyal Maoz on guitar, and James Ilgenfritz on electric bass. They are currently preparing to record a follow-up to their eponymous debut album, which was released in 2015 on John Zorn’s Tzadik label. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members.