Thursday, September 3, 2020

Plans for One Found Sound’s Eighth Season

The One Found Sound string section (courtesy of One Found Sound)

The electronic mail that One Found Sound (OFS) set yesterday announcing the fall portion of their eighth season left the impression that the ensemble was as surprised to be sending the mail as I was (probably along with many others) in reading it. Presumably there will also be a spring season, but I assume that plans are being deferred until we all have a better idea of whether or not current shelter-in-place conditions will continue into the next calendar year. This year there will not be an overall title for the season, but titles for the individual programs will draw upon the selections being performed. There will be four programs between the beginning of October and the end of December. Three of them will be live-streamed, and one will take place at an outdoor venue that will adhere to the most current safety regulations, including social distancing. In order of occurrence, the programs will be as follows:

Thursday, October 1, 6 p.m., LYRIC / virtual watch party: The title for this program is taken from that of the opening selection, “Lyric String Quartet,” composed by William Grant Still. This chamber music composition will be complemented by a wind quintet by Valerie Coleman entitled “Umoja.” The remainder of the program will be devoted to the world premiere of “Por Seis” a sextet (as the Spanish title implies) composed by Quinn Mason. The program will also include a conversation that Mason will conduct with the participating musicians. The live-stream will also include a special music video project created by Max Savage, Video Producer for the Noisy Savage video production house. The event will be donation-based. Donations will be processed through an Eventbrite event page, which will then provide the necessary links to attend the event.

Wednesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 22, 7:30 p.m., STRUM / ofs live at the midway: This will be the outdoor event arranged in partnership with The Midway, the “dynamic and interactive 40,000 square-foot urban canvas of innovation” located in Dogpatch. As an alternative to hosting indoor concerts, The Midway has prepared a schedule of “outdoor and distanced dining experiences with music and arts from local artists and beyond.” The side will host two performances of an OFS program on two consecutive evenings, both taking place in conjunction with “outdoor and distanced dining.” Seating for dining will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The program will present works by black female-identifying composers. The title of the program is also the title of the opening composition by Jessie Montgomery. This will be followed by Florence Price’s string quartet in G major. The program will also include a “bonus surprise string quartet.”

Admission to Midway events is by table. Limited table reservations will begin on September 16. At that time reservations for both evenings  may be secured through the Reservations Web page on The Midway’s Web site. However, donors with Onesie status will be entitled to special early bird access.

Thursday, November 19, 6 p.m., STRUM / virtual watch party: For those reluctant to attend a public dining event, video recordings will be created of the performances at The Midway. Like the LYRIC program, the event will be donation-based. Donations will again be processed through an Eventbrite event page, which will then provide the necessary links to attend the event.

Friday, December 11, 6 p.m., Gala: This season’s gala will be held in cyberspace. The musical portion will consist of selections from two multi-movement compositions. The first of these will be the first of the string sinfoniettas composed by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson in 1953. This will be followed by selected variations from Edward Elgar’s Opus 36, best known as the “Enigma” variations. There will also be online participation in a silent auction. All necessary hyperlinks will be available through an Eventbrite event page.

Note also that donors with Onesie status will receive the benefits of a Virtual All Access Pass.

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