Poster for the planned performance at Z Space showing Amy X Neuburg (below) and the Dresher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band performing one of the songs from They Would Have Been So Beautiful, “Blood Bolero” by Guillermo Galindo
One of the last stories I filed with Examiner.com was a review of the first San Francisco performance of They Would Have Been So Beautiful at Z Space. This was a major commissioning project produced jointly by Paul Dresher and Amy X Neuburg, whose title was taken from a phrase in a 1963 grant application to the Guggenheim Foundation filed by photographer Diane Arbus. The result of that project was a suite of ten songs all of which were based on a relatively loose request: select or create one or more photographic images, find or create a text connected in some way to the image(s), and write a song based on the text.Two of the songs were by Dresher and Neuburg, respectively. The remaining eight were written on commissions by (in order of appearance on the program) Pamela Z, Lisa Bielawa, Conrad Cummings, Jay Cloidt, Ken Ueno, Fred Frith, Guillermo Galindo, and Carla Kihlstedt.
Since the first performances of the results, including the premiere in Berkeley in December of 2014 and the subsequent Z Space appearance in June of 2016, there have been many requests for further performances of this piece. When the performers were invited to present the work in Blacksburg, Virginia this coming May, Dresher decided to present the entire show in San Francisco (again) prior to the tour. As of this writing, it is unclear whether or not that tour will still take place; however, the plan to return to Z Space has not yet been abandoned.
As readers know by now, a Public Health Order was issued at the end of last week to limit the number of persons at any public gathering to 100. Yesterday, I learned that Z Space is willing to limit ticket sales to 90 seats for a performance, allowing a margin for performers and technical support. Mind you, there are any number of circumstances that may lead to the cancellation of the current plan. However, the first rehearsal has been scheduled to take place after April 7, which will be after the currently planned expiration of the current “Shelter in Place” Public Health Order, giving a generous margin in which to reassess the situation.
If the original plan goes ahead, it will result in three performances at Z Space taking place at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. Dresher will lead the Dresher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band playing electric guitar and bass. The other Band members will be Beth Custer on clarinet and bass clarinet, Joel Davel on Marimba Lumina, Marja Mutru on keyboards, Karen Bentley Pollick on violin and viola, John Schott on electric guitar, and Zack Miley as sound engineer. Neuburg will again appear as special guest vocalist, also performing with live electronics.
Z Space is located in NEMIZ (the NorthEast Mission Industrial Zone) at 450 Florida Street. General admission will be $25 with a $12 rate for students and children. There will also be a special $50 “Support the Artists” rate. OvationTix has created a single Web page for all online purchases.
No comments:
Post a Comment