SFCMP to Respond to the “Call” of Ives

The first San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (SFCMP) concert to be offered in the New Year will be the next installment of the in the LABORATORY series. These are programs that examine recent works from the past that push the boundaries of the concert experience. For the coming program that composition will be Charles Ives’ song “The Cage,” one of his more enigmatic creations.

Ted Hearne on the poster design for the next in the LABORATORY concert (from the SFCMP ticketing Web page)

The program as a whole, entitled Auto-Tuning Ives, will be structured around a call-and-response strategy. Composer Ted Hearne will provide the “call” with his own performance of “The Cage.” He will also be a respondent through the West Coast premiere of selections from his large-scale composition ‘The Cage’ Variations. These are scored for baritone voice accompanied by flute, clarinet (doubling on bass clarinet), percussion, piano, violin, and cello. The program will include five of the variations from Hearne’s collection. Other “responding” composers will be Ingram Marshall, Molly Joyce, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Bay Area native Timo Andres. The program will conclude with another Hearne composition, “By-By Huey.”

This program will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 18. The venue will be the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). The performances will include SFCM students, participating as part of SFCMP’s education and professional development series. As is the case with the season concerts, there will be a free How Music is Made program at 4 p.m., which will include an open dress rehearsal of Hearne’s variations followed by a composer talk hosted by Artistic Director Eric Dudley. There will also be the usual pre-concert discussion with performers beginning at 6:45 p.m. SFCM is located at 50 Oak Street, between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street and a short walk from the Van Ness Muni Station. General admission will be $35, with a $15 rate for students. Tickets may be purchased in advance online from an SFCMP event page.