Center for New Music: January, 2021

December was a relatively quiet month at the Center for New Music, dealing more with the Virtual Window Gallery than with performances. However, as of today two concerts have been scheduled for the current month, the first of which will take place this weekend and the second of which was previously announced. Both of these offerings will be live-streamed.

The concerts will also be free of charge. Nevertheless, as in the past, donations will be strongly encouraged; and, for the first of the two concerts, the donated funds will be specifically targeted. As in the past, the event page for each concert will provide hyperlinks for both donations and the YouTube Live Web page through which the performance will be streamed. Specifics are as follows with hyperlinks for the respective event pages:

• Sunday, January 10, noon: The Colibri Duo will perform works by Sergei Prokofiev and Kyle Hovatter. The ensemble consists of violinists Monika Gruber and Michele Walther. The Prokofiev offering will be his Opus 56 sonata for two violins in C major. Hovatter will be represented by two compositions, both of which were written for Colibri. One of these, “sand stack,” was given a previous video recording, which may be viewed on the event page. The other, “Graphite,” requires the players to improvise to an animated drawing by Josh Dorman. Donations will benefit the San Francisco Union for Musicians in Need.
• Saturday, January 30, 7 p.m.: As was previously announced, Ensemble for These Times will present a program entitled Rhapsody: Music by Women Composers. The title refers to Jessie Montgomery’s first rhapsody, composed for solo violin in 2014. The other living composers on the program are Elinor Armer, Tania León, Claudia Montero, Marti Epstein, Caroline Shaw, Jennifer Higdon, Missy Mazzoli, Anna Clyne, and Vivian Fung. The program will also include the “Mazovian Dance” by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz. A virtual composer talk with Armer and an introductory video from Montgomery will precede the performance, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. The performers are the trio of soprano Nanette McGuinness, cellist Anne Lerner, and pianist Margaret Halbig; and they will be joined by guest violinist Ilana Blumberg.