Center for New Music: September, 2019

The September calendar for events scheduled at the Center for New Music (C4NM) has been slow in coming up to speed. However, as was the case with the Red Poppy Art House this past Thursday, there is now a “critical mass” of events that will allow all interested parties to refine plans for what promises to be a very busy September. Since I set the “critical mass” of events at the Poppy to be three, the same now holds for C4NM. As usual, any updates, will appear on this Web page; and, as usual, I shall use 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:

Friday, September 20, 7:30 p.m.: San Francisco composer Colin Martin will present premiere performances of three of his newest compositions. He will play his piano sonata, which was inspired by memories of his youth in New Mexico. This will be followed by a new cello sonata written for and performed by local cellist Abigail Monroe. The second half of the program will be devoted to Stranded: A Solo Space Opera, which is basically a synthesis of song cycle and chamber opera. Soprano Winnie Nieh is the only vocalist, portraying a biologist on a space mission during which the other four members of the crew are killed. Alone and with dwindling food and oxygen, she reflects on her past in the context of her present distress. The charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members and students.

Saturday, September 21, 8 p.m.: Instrument inventor Tom Nunn will return to C4NM with his collection of original experimental instruments. He will play a set of eight pieces, all created to accompany a dancer. The dancer will be Christina Braun. Each of the eight dances will feature a particular theme and one of Nunn’s instruments. The charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members and students.

[added 9/6, 11:30 a.m.:

Tuesday, September 24, 7:30 p.m.: Saxophonist Larry Ochs and trumpeter Darren Johnson have been playing in the all-winds improvisation trio SPECTRAL. For this concert they will team up with two specialists in live electronic music, Madalyn Markey and Tim Perkis. This promises to bring a new perspective in spontaneity on the respective parts of all four performers. The charge will be $15 for general admission and $9 for C4NM members and students.]

[updated 9/6, 1:20 p.m.: September 25 concert cancelled.]

[added 8/22, 8:40 a.m.:

Friday, September 27, 8 p.m.: Dirt and Copper is a Bay Area collective dedicated to the performance of radical new music. All members of the group are composers as well as performers. The group will be joined by artist Rebeca Bollinger for an evening of interdisciplinary works exploring the liminal spaces between sonic, textual, and visual modes of interpretation. Percussionist Tony Gennaro has created a hybrid score that will incorporate three of Bollinger’s bronze instruments. Dirt and Copper will also present new works by John Ivers, Julie Herndon, Michelle Lee, and Matt Robidoux. The charge will be $15 for general admission and $10 for C4NM members and students.]