Center for New Music: February, 2025

As was the case last month, this month at the Center for New Music (C4NM) will see the usual monthly pancake event, which will conclude the month’s offerings. It will be preceded by two concerts, both from familiar sources. As most readers probably know by now, the venue is located at 55 Taylor Street, half a block north of the Golden Gate Theater, which is where Golden Gate Avenue meets Market Street. As usual dates below are hyperlinked to an Eventbrite event page through which tickets may be purchased as follows:

Saturday, February 8, 2 p.m.: This will be the latest performance to be presented by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Composers/USA (NACUSAsf). Specifics have not yet been finalized, but the contributing composers will be Monica Chew, Dinah Bianchi, James W. Cook, Mary Fineman, Sheli Nan, John Bilotta, Ludmila Yurina, and Amy Stephens. Some of the works will be performed by their respective composers. Others will draw upon guest artists including pianist Frank Johnson, guitarist Jeff O’Sammon, and baritone Steve Zimmerman.  As usual, general admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members.

Saturday, February 15, 7:30 p.m.: The next installment in The Opus Project will consist of selections with the number seven. Performers will include Stephen Zielinski on clarinet, Armando Atanda on viola, soprano Marielle Leiboff, and pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi. As usually seems to be the case, Mark Alburger will contribute to the program with his Opus 7, “Interrupted Interludes.” The rest of the program has not yet been finalized, but it will also include the vocal chamber quartet “Zwei Hülshoff Lieder” by Michael Kaulkin. Once again, general admission will be $15, with the reduced $10 rate for students and C4NM members.

Poster design for this month’s pancake event (from its Web page)

Saturday, February 22, 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, which is now in its 25th year. 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 Coagulator (visiting from Los Angeles), Botched Facelift, Courtney Doorhinge, the duo of Clarke Robinson and Chris Cooper, and Decision/Fatigue. General admission will be $10, with the reduced rate of $6 for students and C4NM members.