Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Art-Song Showcase at SFCM Tonight

Pianist Kristin Pankonin (courtesy of SFCM)

Tonight the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) will host the annual Kristin Pankonin Art-Song Showcase Concert. Each fall student consortia, each comprised of a composer, a vocalist, and a collaborative pianist, submit proposals for new English-language art song cycles. The proposals—which include samples of previous works, the selected poem or text, and a vision for the full cycle—are vetted by SFCM faculty, with the assistance of outside judges. The winning consortium receives a cash prize, and then creates and rehearses the new piece. The result then receives its premiere at the annual Showcase Concert. Both the competition and the concert honor the memory of Pankonin, who was a long-time staff accompanist at SFCM.

The winning composer for this year is Nicholas Denton-Protsack; and the concert will present selections from his winning song cycle, Mountain Trails. He shares the award with lyric soprano Ashlyn Herd and pianist Xin Zhao. The full program for the evening will present a wide diversity of art songs by composers Samuel Barber, Matt Boehler, David Conte, David Garner, Gordon Getty, Jake Heggie, Richard Pearson Thomas, and Ben Yarmolinsky.

This performance will begin tonight, Wednesday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. It will take place in the SFCM Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. Like all student recital offerings, this concert will be free of charge; and reservations will not be required. The SFCM building is located at 50 Oak Street, between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni Station. Readers are encouraged to consult the Performance Calendar event page at the SFCM Web site for the most up-to-date information, including full details of the program to be performed.

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