Fall Concert Series to Begin at SFCM

This month classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) will resume on campus. The fall concert series will get under way this coming week with a combination of in-person and live-streamed events. As always, the most up-to-date information will be found on the Performance Calendar Web page. While this site tried to give a thorough month-by-month account of events this past spring, the focus for the coming season will be key highlights; and those seeking more thorough information can consult the Web.

From that perspective the major event of this month will be the first concert to be given by the SFCM Orchestra. The program will be conducted by Edwin Outwater, and it will highlight a “Soul Symphony” by interdisciplinary artist PaviElle French. “A Requiem for Zula” was written to honor the composer’s mother, Zula Young, as will as the Rondo neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, where she grew up. French will join the SFCM Orchestra as vocal soloist.

This selection will be preceded by another composition evoking an American city. Born in 1973, Sarah Kirkland Snider is about a decade younger than French. Her tone poem “Something for the Dark” was inspired by the city of Detroit and its resilience in overcoming economic hardships.

The remainder of the program will feature two major twentieth-century American composers. David Baker (Class of ’23) will conduct Samuel Barber’s Opus 12 “Essay for Orchestra.” Outwater will then conclude the program conducting the suite for large orchestra that Aaron Copland prepared based on the music he had composed for Martha Graham’s dance “Appalachian Spring.” The original score required only thirteen players to accommodate the space limitations for both music and dancers in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress, where Graham’s choreography was first performed.

The scenario evokes the pioneers days of Americans settling in new regions of the North American continent. Four characters are situated in a rural setting: Wife, Husbandman, Pioneer Woman, and Preacher. There is also a “mini-chorus” of three young women that are part of the Preacher’s “flock.” When Copland created his suite, the one episode that he cut from the original score involved the Preacher delivering a hell-and-brimstone sermon. For those interested in dance history, that role was first performed by Merce Cunningham.

This performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 25. The Orchestra will perform in the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, on the ground floor of the SFCM building at 50 Oak Street. Tickets for attending this concert are available through a hyperlink on the event page. There will be no charge for admission, and individual seats will not be reserved. The event page also has a hyperlink for live-stream viewing.