LCCE Announces 2019–2020 Season

The 2019–2020 season of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) will again run from October to June of next year. As was the case last season, there will be five programs; and, for the coming season, all San Francisco performances will be held in the Recital Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). All concerts will take place on Mondays at 7:30 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. As in the past, each concert will have its own thematic title. Details are as follows:

October 7, Changing and Unchanging Things: The title of this concert is taken from the title of an exhibit at the Asian Art Museum, which displays the work of two artists who explored intersections of Japanese and Western visual art. This exhibit inspired Karen Tanaka to compose “Wind Whisperer,” a trio for flute, viola, and harp, which will be given its world premiere performance. The program will conclude with the world premiere of “Sharaku Unframed,” a micro-opera by Hiroya Miura, whose scoring includes a shamisen, which will be played by Hidejiro Honjoh. The program will also present “Neo” by Dai Fujikura and an earlier trio for flute, viola, and harp by Claude Debussy, who had a strong interest in the Japanese culture.

November 4, Air From Other Planets: This title is taken from the beginning of a poem by Stefan George, which is sung at the beginning of the last of the four movements of Arnold Schoenberg’s Opus 10 (second) string quartet in F-sharp minor. Those wondering what a vocalist is doing in a string quartet should note that both the third and fourth movements set poems by George. The poem for the third movement is “Litany;” and it is about faltering faith. The title of the poem for the final movement is “Entrückung” (transport); and the opening line is “Ich fühle luft von anderem planeten” (I feel the air of another planet).

Schoenberg’s quartet will be coupled with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 465 quartet in C major, known as the “Dissonance” quartet. Mozart was one of Schoenberg’s favorite composers, and there is much to be learned from the many things that Schoenberg wrote about Mozart’s music. (Unless I am mistaken, one of Schoenberg’s sharpest insights was subsequently “rediscovered” by Anthony Tommasini, chief music critic for The New York Times.) The program will also include world premiere performances of two commissioned pieces, both of which feature the guitar. Jamie Leigh Sampson’s “Waving Goodbye” is scored for guitar, voice, and string quartet; and John Schott’s duet for guitar and viola has not yet been given a title.

February 3, French Sublime: Unless I am mistaken, the performance of Olivier Messiaen’s “Quatuor pour la fin du temps” (quartet for the end of time) will take place on the fifth anniversary (to the day) of the last LCCE performance in San Francisco of this composition, which has come to be recognized as one of the most significant works of the twentieth century. The piece was composed while Messiaen was imprisoned in Stalag VIII-A, a World War II Nazi prisoner-of-war camp in Görlitz, Germany (which is now the Polish city of Zgorzelec). Messiaen showed early sketches to fellow prisoner and clarinetist Henri Akoka; and the finished product would emerge as a quartet for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. As was the case in 2015, the clarinetist will be Jerome Simas.

The program will also present two earlier French compositions, one of which will be Debussy’s first clarinet rhapsody. The other will be a set of three pieces that Nadia Boulanger composed for cello and piano. The one work by a composer that is not French will be the world premiere of “One Wing,” which is Kurt Rohde’s reflection on the influences of Messiaen and his unconventional quartet.

March 9, Fairytale Pieces: The title of this program is taken from the title of Robert Schumann’s Opus 113 set of four pieces scored for piano and viola. In addition, storyteller Susan Strauss will appear as guest artist, narrating two tales for which Chris Castro created musical renditions, “Coyote Goes to the Sky” and “Birds of Fortune.” The program will then conclude with the world premiere of Carl Schimmel’s “Ladle Rat Rotten Hut,” my own first contact with Howard L. Chase’s extraordinary anthology of homonymic humor, Anguish Languish, which now enjoys collector’s-item status.

June 1, Living in Color: The title of this program is based on the winner of LCCE’s twentieth annual composition contest, “I prefer living in color” by Sarah Gibson. The first performance of this piece will be coupled with the world premiere of a new work for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and bass by Josiah Catalan, which has not yet been given a title. The program will also include Johannes Brahms’ Opus 78 (first) violin sonata in G major, known as the “Regensonate” (rain sonata). From the more recent repertoire, there will be two compositions by Elliott Carter, “Esprit rude/esprit doux,” a study of breath techniques score for flute and clarinet and the bass clarinet solo “Steep Steps.” Even more recent will be another composition by Fujikura, “Flicker,” Gabriella Smith’s “Anthrozoa,” and Veronika Krausas’ “cloisonne” for solo bass and film.

Subscriptions for the full season are currently available for $125 for general admission and $105 for seniors. This amounts to a savings of up to $25 per ticket if tickets are purchased individually. There is open seating for all concerts. Tickets may be purchased online through the Subscriptions Web page on the LCCE Web site. Subscriptions are also available for $50 for students and those under the age of 35. These apply to currently enrolled high school and college students. Single tickets will be sold at the door for $35 for general admission and $18 for those under the age of 35. A separate Web page with all of the necessary hyperlinks for purchasing individual tickets will be accessible on Monday, July 15. Those hyperlinks will be found through the Ways to Buy Tickets Web page.