Hopefully, some readers will recall that this month will conclude with three performances of The Glance, a two-hour “laptopera” composed by Anne Hege during her four-month residency at the 836M Gallery, which is located at 836 Montgomery Street. The latest news from 836M was announced a little over a week ago involving the inauguration of its Young Artists Program. “Young” refers to those between the ages of eighteen and 25 that are interested in performance and/or visual arts, possibly with the intention of establishing a career. The program will begin by providing three platforms to introduce those artists to the general public.
One of them, fashion designer Ashlyn So, will use the space for an Open Studio between June 17 and July 1. The others will produce world premiere events. Each of these will be given two performances, all beginning at 7 p.m., the first in mid-June and the second at the end of July. Specifics for these productions are as follows:
Sophia West (from the 836M Web page for Young Artists Program: Summer 2026)
June 12 and 13: Choreographer Sophia West will partner with four dancers for a performance of two works. The second of these will be a world premiere entitled “Life Goes On.” She created the work in collaboration with Polina Bortok, Catherine Daguman, Julia Lafuente, and Erin Ritchie. This will be preceded by an adaptation of a recent work given its debut at City College of San Francisco.
July 24 and 25: PARTY is a full-length opera currently being developed by Artis, a collective of four of the students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ezekiel Sokoloff is a violinist, and both Peyton Dexter and Brayden Meng are composers. The remaining member of the group, Thomas Stenzel, was enrolled in the Technology and Applied Composition program. The narrative of the libretto explores what happens when dysfunctional psychology, such as mental illness, substance abuse, and identity crises, begins to “invade” intelligent technology.
There will be no charge for admission to both of these events. However, an advance RSVP will secure admission. These may be secured from separate hyperlinks for the performances in June and July.
