Center for New Music: May, 2024

Next month’s events at the Center for New Music will begin much earlier than they did this month. Indeed, they cannot be any earlier than any other month, since performances will begin on the very first day of the month! As most readers probably know by now, the Center is located at 55 Taylor Street, half a block north of the Golden Gate Theater, which is where Golden Gate Avenue meets Market Street. Each of the dates will be hyperlinked to an Eventbrite event page through which tickets may be purchased as follows:

Wednesday, May 1, 8 p.m.: The month will begin with a performance by a trio that calls itself THIS S#^T IS UGLY (politely abbreviated at “TSIU”). The performers are Thomas Dimuzio on live electronics, Phillip Greenlief alternating between tenor saxophone and B-flat clarinet, and Wobbly (Jon Leidecker) dealing with technological miscellany. They describe their improvisations as a “sound bath of fire and ice in rainbow colors.”  As usual, general admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members. [added 4/29, 11:55 a.m.:

Friday, May 3, 8 p.m.: Vocalist and performance artist Yifan Shao will give his first solo concert. This is be the premiere performance of his latest work, the full-evening composition Colors of the Wind and Love Letter. General admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members.]

Saturday, May 4, 7:30 p.m.: This will be a two-set evening with each set accounting for a different genre. Paul Kogut is a jazz guitarist based in New York. He will devote his set to his current project, which he describes as “reimagining classic Grateful Dead tunes through new harmonic lenses.” The other set will present violinist Niko Omar Durr performing music by Kaija Saariaho and John Corigliano. General admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members.

Sunday, May 5, 4 p.m.: This will be an album release program presented by Fire at the Plantation House (FatPH), which will probably include live performances of tracks from the album. General admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members. [added 4/29, 12:01 p.m.:

Saturday, May 11, 4 p.m.: This will be a free program of recently composed and improvised music by students at San Francisco State University.

Saturday, May 11, 8 p.m.: Dancer Christina Braun will perform with the quartet of Nancy Beckman, Cindy Webster, Tom Bickley and Dean Santomieri. Their performances will involve shakuhachi, lyre, EWI (electronic wind instrument), bowed, amplified saw, hurdy-gurdy, guitar, taishogoto, percussion and voice. General admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members.]

Friday, May 17, 7:30 p.m.: The final program of the month (at least as of this writing) will be a solo violin recital by Sarah Saviet. She describes approach to performances as choreographic: “the hands moving through space, the arc of an elbow, the resistance of fingers pulling threads and strings.” She will perform one of her own recent compositions along with “Miika” by Iannis Xenakis and recent works by Lisa Streich and Tim McCormack. General admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members. [added 4/29, 12:10 p.m.:

Saturday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.: David Michalak will return with another program of films. This time he will share the program with a quartet that calls itself the TRI-CORNERED TENT SHOW. Philip Everett leads with a diversity of synthesizers and percussion, along with the electric lapharp and the Xlarinet. Rhythm will be provided by Ray Schaeffer (electric basses), percussionist Anthony Flores, and vocals by Valentina O. Admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members and students. 

Sunday, May 19, noon: This will be the latest monthly installment of G|O|D|W|A|F|F|L|E|N|O|I|S|E|P|A|N|C|A|K|E|S. This offers the usual opportunity to enjoy vegan pancakes while listening to “bleeding edge” music. As usual, general admission will be $10 with a $6 rate for members and students. Music programming is scheduled to conclude by 2 p.m. The contributing performers and composers will be Heartworm, Dominic Cramp, Liver Cancerr, Ava Koohbor, and Brian Day.]