Thursday, June 27, 2019

Center for New Music: August, 2019

As is the case for next month, events scheduled for August at the Center for New Music (C4NM) have been, at least thus far, relatively sparse. Nevertheless, taking into account activities presented by American Bach Soloists, the Merola Opera Program, and West Edge Opera, August is going to be a busy month, particularly during the first half. It thus seems judicious to put out the word about those C4NM concerts that have been announced to date. As usual, any updates, will appear on this Web page; and, as usual, I shall my Facebook shadow site to put out the word when any such update appears.

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:

[added 7/6, 7:25 a.m.:

Thursday, August 1, 7:30 p.m.: The Founders’ Series will present what might be called a “Bleeding Edge All-Star” concert. The highly adventurous pianist Thollam McDonas will share the stage with the Rova Saxophone Quartet with Bruce Ackley on soprano, Steve Adams on alto, Larry Ochs on tenor, and Jon Raskin on baritone. The charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members.]

Wednesday, August 7, 7:30 p.m.: Woodwind innovator Cornelius Boots will present his Birthday Bash concert, celebrating 45 years on earth (sixteen of which have been in the Bay Area). Much of the program will involve solo performances on shakuhachi (a bamboo flute), including the bass version of the instrument, known as the taimu. Boots is also promising the premiere of a composition for what he calls a “proto-Taimu ensemble” with the participation of guest artists, including Kevin Chen, Chris Adkins, Stikman, and Nils Frykdahl. There are likely to be other performers, who will be subsequently announced. The charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members and students.

[added 7/6, 7:30 a.m.:

Thursday, August 8, 7:30 p.m.: This will be an evening of free improvisation shared by Ted Moore on electronics and Tom Weeks on saxophone; the charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members and students.]

[added 7/19, 3:35 p.m.:

Saturday, August 10, 8 p.m.: Jennifer Ellis will curate a visit from Mumbai by renowned tabla player Mukta Raste. She will present a program entitled Horizons of Tabla. Part of her performance will be accompanied by Bay Area harpist Jennifer Ellis. There will be no charge for admission to this concert.]

Sunday, August 11, 6 p.m.: The Bay Area Composer Group will present a solo guitar recital by Roberto Granados. The program will consist entirely of new pieces all written by composers based in the Bay Area. The charge will be $12 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members.

[added 7/18, 2:45 p.m.:

Friday, August 16, 7:30 p.m.: The August installment of Blaine Todd's Latitudes series will consist of two duo performances. The first brings the guitar of Marcia Bassett together with the violin of Samara Lubelski. They have been improvising as a duo since 2009. In the second set Kaori Suzuki and John Krausbauer will present music for voices, amplified strings, electronics, and bell percussion. General admission will be $15 with a $10 charge for C4NM members and $5 for students.]

Saturday, August 17, 8 p.m.: Charles Xavier, who works with experimental electronica, will present the latest results in “XBOOM,” his creative music project architected for improvisation based on both jazz and his electronic gear. Structure involves sound cycles that involve repetition or improvisation derived from live looping and digital effects. One of the sources he has explored has been Brad Mehldau’s album Taming of the Dragon.  For this performance, Xavier will supplement his electronic work with performances on drums. He will be joined by jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown III and Matt Montgomery on electric guitar and violin. General admission will be $15 with a $10 charge for C4NM members and $5 for students.

[added 7/11, 9:35 a.m.:

Sunday, August 18, 2 p.m.: Jeffrey Mosier & Friends will be a program of new chamber works by Jeffrey Mosier, Liam Herb, Bryan Lin and Matthew Slayton performed by local musicians. There will be no charge for admission. However, a donation of $5 is suggested.

Wednesday, August 28, 7 p.m.: The program Futures & Faults will be shared by composer-performers Matthew B. Creer and Adam Fong. Creer will present selections from his songbook of sound narratives entitled Legends of the Future. The narration of the texts is accompanied by contrapuntal video, which draws upon found footage and animations created by the composer. Cree will also give the premiere performance of “Tiffany,” which is part of his Pink Mirror series. Fong’s “Automated Fault Extraction” is part of an ongoing performance project exploring Chinese-American mining and migration. Inspired by seismic analysis, the piece requires two performers, one on electric bass and electronics, and the other on electronics only, to explore the nature of low-frequency harmonic interaction. Fong will also perform a solo work for bass and electronics entitled “Specific Gravity.” The charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members and students. However, those purchasing tickets at the door will be free to pay what they can.]

[added 7/19, 3:45 p.m.:

Thursday, August 29, 7:30 p.m.: C4NM will launch the Compton’s Cafeteria Series with a program entitled Trans Audibility. The location of C4NM is just down the block from the historic Compton’s Cafeteria where the first riot for gay and trans rights occurred in August of 1966. Through this series C4NM will be creating space for, and amplifying the voices of, trans, gender non-binary, gender fluid, and gender queer musicians. The first program will present two sets. Amanda Chaudhary’s set will consist of her live electronic improvisations. The other set will be taken by Cara Esten performing as multi-instrumentalist Rusty Sunsets. The charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members. There will be no charge for admission of members of the trans community.]

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