SFP: PIVOT Festival Begins with Attacca Quartet

Attacca Quartet members Amy Schroeder, Domenic Salerni, Andrew Yee, and Nathan Schram (photograph by David Goddard, courtesy of SFP)

Last night San Francisco Performances (SFP) launched the ninth annual installment of its PIVOT Festival. The program book described the “mission statement” of this series of three programs as “created for adventurous audiences interested in truly unique arts experiences, driven by a philosophy of innovation, creativity and artistic excellence that pushes the boundaries of the traditional concert experience.” This year’s festival is curated by Gabriel Kahane, who recruited two ensembles appropriate for that mission statement, the Attacca [string] Quartet and the a cappella vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth. Kahane is contributing to all three programs in his capacities as vocalist, pianist, and guitarist.

Last night’s opening program was devoted to Attacca, whose members are violinists Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni, Nathan Schram on viola, and cellist Andrew Yee. The structure of the program was an unconventional one. Maurice Ravel’s string quartet served as the “spinal cord” of the evening with its four movements woven through the other selections. Similarly, the two movements of Paul Wiancko’s “Benkei’s Standing Death” were distributed across the two halves of the evening. Interleaving among these six movements were five of Kahane’s own compositions. No program notes were provided, so all background was delivered by Kahane.

Ravel’s quartet is now over 120 years old, which may have led some to feel it was out of place in an “adventurous” context. While the themes may be familiar, one can still appreciate the innovative spirit venturing into unfamiliar sonorities; and there are any number of moments in which those sonorities continue to disrupt, if not disturb, the reactions of the attentive listeners. The Attacca musicians knew exactly how to present this music in a thoroughly contemporary light without in any way compromising marks placed on paper over a century ago.

“Benkei’s Standing Death,” of the other hand, is a two-movement quartet based on a samurai legend. Kahane explained the tale; but it was not easy to follow it in the music, particularly when the two episodes were situated on either side of the intermission. Reflecting back on last night, the pizzicato technique of the first episode is all I can recall (and that only because of a note scribbled on my program sheet).

Sadly, Kahane’s own contributions were the most disappointing. His vocal work gives little (if any) attention to diction. Thus, in the absence of any song sheet, even the most attentive listener is likely to have trouble grasping (let alone following) the words of his songs. As a result, the high point of his presence came when Attacca performed his “Klee” string quartet, the world premiere of a revision of the original score, which Kahane completed last year. There was also a world premiere arrangement of Kahane’s “Final Privacy Song,” which concluded the program with an “all hands” performance by Attacca and Kahane covering both piano and vocals.

Kahane has appeared at SFP concerts on four previous occasions. I first encountered Attacca in February of 2017, when I wrote about their Songlines album. I subsequently saw Schram when I streamed the opening night performance of the 2021 Ojai Festival, but my Ojai viewing never included the entire Attacca Quartet. Last night was their SFP debut, making it my first “face-to-face” encounter with the musicians. They will return to this year’s Festival on Friday, and I am looking forward to learning more about their repertoire.