Having already summarized the choices that will have to be made during the first weekend in April, I now see that a choice will also have to be made for the following Monday. As things currently stand, there are only two alternatives; and they are likely to appeal to significantly different tastes. Nevertheless, they overlap and therefore deserve to be considered side-by-side.
7:30 p.m., Taube Atrium Theater: The title of the second concert to be presented by Earplay in its 34th season entitled Desire and Idea will be Sound & Shadow. This time Tristan Murail, whose music is being performed in all three of the programs prepared for the season, will be represented by two compositions, both of which will be premieres. His 2006 “Les Ruines circulaires” (the circular ruins), scored for clarinet and violin, will receive its United States premiere. “Garrigue” (scrubland) was completed in 2008 and was scored for bass flute, viola, cello, and percussion. It will receive its West Coast premiere.
The program will also present the winning composition of the 2018 Aird Prize, “Here Come the Waterworks” by A. J. McCaffrey, scored for viola and piano. In addition, there will be a world premiere performance of a new work by Yu-Hsin Chang, composed on an Earplay commission. There will also be a world premiere performance of Claire Jordan’s solo piano composition “Feel” and the United States premiere of the 1994 string trio composed by Carola Bauckholt.
The Taube Atrium Theater is part of the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, which is located on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building at the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. General admission will be $25 with a $10 rate for students. There will also be a premium rate of $35 for preferred front-and-center seating. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through a Brown Paper Tickets event page. As always, there will be a preconcert talk, which usually involves both composers and performers, beginning in the performing space at 6:45 p.m. A reception will follow the performance.
8 p.m., Grace Cathedral: The San Francisco Early Music Society, in conjunction with Grace Cathedral, will present I Heard a Voice, a one-night-only performance by The Choir of New College Oxford. Under the direction of Robert Quinney, the choir will perform a program of Renaissance and Baroque music. They will be joined by two Oxford organ scholars, Charles Maxtone-Smith and Timothy Wakerell. They will perform solo organ compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and William Byrd.
Grace Cathedral is located at the top of Nob Hill at 1100 California Street. General admission will be $40 with preferred Plus seating for $48 and Premium seating for $56. Full-time students under the age of 30 with identification will be admitted at the Box Office for $15. All other tickets may be purchased in advance online through an Arts People event page. SFEMS members will get an automatic 15% discount.
