Friction Quartet to Play Next Round of Premieres

According to my records, the Friction Quartet launched its Friction Commissioning Initiative roughly a year ago. The first results from that effort were given premiere performances at the end of this past March at the Center for New Music. On that occasion violinists Otis Harriel and Kevin Rogers, violist Taija Warbelow, and cellist Doug Machiz played “Two Hearts” by Sarang Kim and “El Correcaminos” (the roadrunner) by Nick Benavides. The second round took place at Old First Presbyterian Church during this past August’s Old First Concerts series. Once again, two compositions were given premiere performances, Max Stoffregern’s “The Gila: River, Mesa, and Mountain” and Piers Hellawell’s “Family Group with Aliens.” That concert also marked the debut of Lucia Kobza as the quartet’s new violist.

The third round of premieres will take place at the end of next month. Once again two new works will be performed. Mario Godoy has composed a new full-length string quartet entitled “Attention Economy” about life in the age of perpetual digital content consumption. The other premiere will be of “Juxtapossession” by Canadian composer Nicole Lizée, scored for string quartet, vocals, ouija boards, and electronics. Readers may recall that Lizée composed “Family Sing-A-Long and Game Night” for The Living Earth Show duo of guitarist Travis Andrews and percussionist Andy Meyerson; and it was first performed in August of 2016 as part of the world premiere of Robert Dekkers full-evening theater piece Do Be. (Unless I am mistaken, Living Earth will perform this piece again this Monday in their guest appearance at the San Francisco Girls Chorus A Ceremony of Carols concert at Davies Symphony Hall.) Friction’s concert will also include a revival performance of Eric Deluca’s “Lake” for string quartet and video.

That concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 30. It will be held in the Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, which is located at 50 Oak Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. The building is also a short walk from the Van Ness Muni station. General admission will be $20 with a $10 rate for students. The VIP rate of $25 will guarantee preferred seating for viewing the ensemble and the projection screen. Tickets may be purchased online through an event page on the Friction Quartet Web site.