Choices for November 6, 2021

According to my records, the last time I ran a “Choices for” article was this past May, when I ran articles for May 21 and May 23. Interestingly enough, another event was added to the list for May 23 less 24 hours after it was first posted. Of course all of the enumerated events were streamed. The idea of being part of a “physical audience” was still pretty remote. At the time I wrote those articles, my vaccination card had accounted for two Pfizer inoculations; but my age place me near the head of the queue. So May was probably still too early to allow for a “vaccinated audience.”

Now that all of the War Memorial facilities have been opened for audience attendance, other venues are beginning to follow suit. As a result, music lovers will have to choose among three overlapping events on the first Saturday of next month, November 6. One of those events will mark the beginning of the 51st season of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (SFCMP). Therefore, past practices will be honored by summarizing the remaining offerings of the season. The choices themselves are as follows: [added 10/23, 8:40 a.m.:

2 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall: Once again, annual celebration by the San Francisco Symphony of the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) will take place on the first Saturday in November. The festivities will be organized around the usual Saturday afternoon concert supplemented by family-oriented activities in the Davies lobbies. The conductor this year will be Enluis Montes Olivar. The program will include the familiar “Huapango” composed by José Pablo Moncayo, as well as the less familiar “Xochipilli,” composed by Carlos Chavez, who gave it the English-language subtitle “An Imagined Aztec Music.” In addition, Mexican singer Flor Amargo will present a selection of her own songs. Once again, there will be dances performed by Casa Circulo Cultural throughout the concert. Doors will open at 1 p.m. to admit guests to the full range of family-friendly activities in the lobbies.

Davies Symphony Hall is located at 201 Van Ness Avenue and fills an entire city block. The other boundaries are Grove Street (north), Hayes Street (south), and Franklin Street (west). The main entrance (which is also the entrance to the Box Office) is on Grove Street, roughly halfway down the block. Concert ticket prices start at $17.50. VIP Packages begin at $300. These include pre-concert activities, premium tickets for the concert performance, and a post-concert Fiesta dinner. A single event page on the SFS Web site has hyperlinks for purchasing both concert tickets and VIP Packages. VIP Packages may also be purchased by calling the Volunteer Council at 415-503-5500. Those interested only in concert tickets can call 415-864-6000. In addition, the Box Office in the Davies lobby is once again open for selling tickets.]

7 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM): This will be the first of the two in the LABORATORY concerts. As usual, the SFCMP program will begin with a 40-minute How Music is Made panel discussion facilitated by Artistic Director Eric Dudley. The participants are usually composers whose music will be performed during the concert. This particular introduction will also include guest artist and pianist Edward Simon. The program itself will feature several of the new works that were created as part of the SFCM Technology & Applied Composition Program. The more “established” composers on the program will be the following:

• Fred Frith: “Stick Figures,” composed in 1991 for six electric guitars played by two musicians
• Alexander Schubert: “HELLO,” composed in 2014 for flexible instrumentation, including electric guitar and percussion
• Zeena Parkins: “Sistere,” composed in 2019 for solo cello and electronics
• Steve Reich: “Eight Lines,” composed in 1983 and performed in celebration of the composer’s 85th birthday

Like all SFCMP events, members will be admitted at no charge. The membership fee is $75 per year. A Web page has been created for both annual and monthly payment. For others, admission to the performance will be $15; and tickets can be purchased through the concert’s event page. Finally, a video will be made; and, within seven days of the performance, that video will be available for seven days of streamed access. The rental fee for that access will be $5. The Concert Hall is in the main SFCM building at 50 Oak Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni station. The remaining concerts of the season are as follows:

• Sunday, December 19, 3:15 p.m., Root Division Gallery: This will be the second Sound Encounters concert held in collaboration with the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) at the University of California at Berkeley. The program will be organized around music for percussion and electronics, featuring percussionist Christopher Froh. The program will conclude with another Reich selection, a 2010 arrangement of “Vermont Counterpoint” rescored for vibraphone and tape. Froh will begin the program with Edmund Campion’s “Solving for M,” scored for marimba and electronics. The other percussion composition will be Jon Yu’s “15 eyes,” composed in 2019 for percussion and electronics. Andrew Harlan’s “HYPHA” will be performed in its acousmatic version. The other electronic compositions will be Hallie Smith’s “Seeded Fruit” and Didem Coskunseven’s “Home Within,” which will be performed with a dance film. Admission will be $15, and there will again be a video available for seven days of streamed access. Tickets can be purchased through the concert’s event page. The gallery is located at 1131 Mission Street.
• Saturday, April 2, 7 p.m., and Sunday, April 3, 2 p.m., ODC Dance Commons: The at the CROSSROADS event will consist of two different programs, both of which will feature the music of Sofia Gubaidulina. The Saturday selections will be “Dancer on a Tightrope” and “In the Garden of Joys and Sorrows.” The Sunday concert will conclude with “Repentance. The Saturday concert will also present two new works, one by Amadeus Regucera and the other by the winner of the annual SF Search for Scores. The Sunday program will present the delayed world premiere of “deepfake” by David Chisholm. The opening selection will be “I am my own Achilles heel,” a string quartet by Du Yun. The program will also include Taylor Joshua Rankin’s “Touch/Still,” a duet for cello and piano. Admission will be $15, and there will again be a video available for seven days of streamed access. Tickets can be purchased through the concert’s event page. The ODC Dance Commons is located in the Mission at 351 Shotwell Street, between 17th Street and 18th Street and between South Van Ness Avenue and Folsom Street.
• Sunday, May 22, 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ Center: The season will conclude, as it began, with an in the LABORATORY event. There will be two performances of a program entitled Synergy and Synthesis. The program will feature solo piano selections performed by Creative Advisor Edward Simon. They will be followed by the world premiere of a new Simon composition, scored for oboe/cor anglais, violin, mixed percussion, and piano (played by Simon). The program will begin with Reich’s “Violin Phase,” performed by Hrabba Atladottir. This will be followed by “Separación,” scored for solo cor anglais and electronics and performed by Kyle Bruckmann. Admission will be $15, and there will again be a video available for seven days of streamed access. Tickets can be purchased through the concert’s event page. The SFJAZZ Center is located at 201 Franklin Street, on the northwest corner of Fell Street.

7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Cellist Jeff Zeigler will be the Guest Leader of the New Century Chamber Orchestra. He will be the soloist in the world premiere of a cello concerto by Mark Adamo entitled “Last Year.” This will be preceded by another world premiere: Paola Prestini’s reimagining of Tanya Tagaq’s “In Me.” The remaining selection on the program will be William Grand Still’s “Phantom Chapel” and Andy Akiho’s “Oscillate.” Herbst Theatre is located on the first two floors of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel. Single tickets may be purchased through a City Box Office event page. Ticket prices are $30 (Balcony and Rear Orchestra), $55 (Dress Circle, Boxes, and Side Orchestra), and $67.50 (Center Orchestra).

7:30 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: The next Live from St. Marks to be presented by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts will be a solo guitar recital by Eliot Fisk. As was the case with the September concert in this series, Fisk will perform before a limited audience. Tickets must be purchased. However, seating is not reserved, meaning that those with tickets can situate themselves in areas that are not dominated by the video crew. All tickets are being sold for $55, and only 50 will be sold. The best way to determine if tickets are still available is to call 415-242-4500. In addition Omni has created an event page, which includes a three videos of of Fisk performances.