Center for New Music: January, 2019

As was the case with Old First Concerts, events for both November and December were folded into “busy weekend (and beyond)” articles. However, as is also the case, in January we can return to examining events at the Center for New Music (C4NM) without worrying about choosing among conflicting options. Mind you, one of those events, the recital for the Ensemble for These Times (E4TT), has already been included as an option for Saturday, January 26; and, as of this writing, the total number of items posted for January is only three. As usual, however, I shall allow for the possibility of updating this Web page, using my Facebook shadow site to put out the word whenever such updates take place.

C4NM is located at 55 Taylor Street, half a block north of the Golden Gate Theater, which is where Golden Gate Avenue meets Market Street. All tickets may be purchased in advance through a Vendini event page. Hyperlinks to the appropriate Web pages will be attached to each of the dates in the following summary:

Saturday, January 5, 7 p.m.: The new year will begin with a showcase of artists represented by the Aerocade Music record label. This will be a four-set evening of new music and free improvisation. Composer Elizabeth A. Baker will perform selections from her recent release Quadrivium, including the West Coast premiere of “Sashay,” composed by Nathan Corder. Similarly, selections from the upcoming release Donut Robot! will be played by the Post-Haste Reed Duo of saxophonist Sean Fredenburg and bassoonist Javier Rodriguez. Meerenai Shim will give the world premiere of “This is How I Feel,” scored for flute and electronics by Elizabeth Bayer. Finally, contrabass flute virtuoso Ned McGowan, a “Friend of Aerocade” will be on hand while visiting from the Netherlands and will play a set of improvisations. Admission will be $20 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members.

Thursday, January 24, 7:30 p.m.: Kurt Rohde will curate a visit from the YinSho duo of Fay Kueen Wang and Brendon Randall-Myers. Both of them are composers, as well as performers, whose work takes in stark, sensual soundscapes, warped electronic rock, and surreal performance art. The program will consist primarily of original songs about dreams, nightmares, animals, objects, and aliens. They will begin with a long-form improvisation and conclude with a piece by composer Ethan Braun, currently based in Los Angeles. Admission will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members.

[added 1/4, 1 p.m.:

Friday, January 25, 7:30 p.m.: Blaine Todd will continue his Latitudes series, run jointly with Other Minds, into its fourth installment. It was conceived to explore “the liminal; space between serious avant-garde music and rock and roll.” The concert for this month will consist of two sets. The first set will be taken by Arrington de Dionyso, who takes the electrified rock style and re-purposes it for ritual trance. He will be followed by DunkelpeK, the duo of percussionist Nava Dunkelman and guitarist and pianist Jakob Pek.]

Saturday, January 26, 7:30 p.m.: This is the aforementioned E4TT concert for which admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members and $5 for students.