Aaron Gervais’ “Pharmacological Suite” will be Premiered with Choreography

Those who have been following the Mobius Trio of guitarists Robert Nance, Mason Fish, and Matthew Holmes-Linder know that, over the last two years, they have been involved with the development of Prescription Drug Nation, an evening-length work composed by Aaron Gervais. The score is a suite in six movements, each of which explores the effects and side effects of a pharmacological product that has made a serious impact on our society through its use, overuse, and abuse. San Francisco audiences received their first dose (so to speak) of this project at an Old First Concerts in March of 2015 when Mobius played the opening movement, “Adderall,” for the first time. This past December, there was a final preview event devoted to the last three movements of the suite, “Vicodin,” “Prozac,” and “Viagra.” (The drugs for the second and third movements are Ambien and Xanax, respectively.)

All six of these pieces will be played in their entirety next month. The three Mobius guitarists will be joined by three of the dancers in the Here Now Dance Collective, who will be performing choreography by the group’s founder Michelle Fletcher. Because many are likely to be more than a little curious as to just what will come out of this synthesis of dance and music, Gervais has prepared a preview video:

In addition, he has uploaded to YouTube videos of three of the movements being placed last June at the Center for New Music. Here is the one for Adderall:

Others may be found on Gervais' YouTube home page.

Prescription Drug Nation will be given four performances, three at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15 (the perfect music for Tax Day), and a matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 16. The program will run for 90 minutes with no intermission and no late seating. The venue will be the ODC Theater, which is located in the Mission at 3153 17th Street on the southwest corner of Shotwell Street. General admission will be $25 with a $15 rate for students and seniors. There is also an Arts Patron rate of $40 that provides preferred seating. Tickets for all four performances may be purchased, through hyperlinks, from a single event page created on the ODC Web site. Tickets will also be available at the box office before each performance.