The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players presents "Natural Phenomena"

Dec. 2, 2009 - PRLog -- The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, conducted by new music expert Brad Lubman, will perform five exceptional contemporary works on Monday, January 25, 2010 at Herbst Theatre. The concert will begin at 8:00 p.m., with a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m. Works performed will be by Brian Ferneyhough, Helmut Lachenmann, Oscar Bianchi, Matthias Pintscher, and Michael Jarrell.

CALENDAR LISTING:
WHO: San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
WHAT: Natural Phenomena, music of Ferneyhough, Lachenmann, Pintscher, Jarrell and Bianchi.
WHEN: Monday, January 25, 2010, 8:00 p.m. (pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m.)
WHERE: Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, San Francisco
PRICES: $28 general, $23 seniors, $10 students
TICKETS: www.cityboxoffice.com
INFO: www.sfcmp.org, 415-278-9566

The ensemble will perform Brian Ferneyhough's Flurries for piccolo, clarinet, piano, horn, violin and cello. The British-born Ferneyhough has been on the faculty at Stanford University since 2000, and is an influential figure in the so-called “New Complexity” movement. An interview with Ferneyhough is currently available on the Audio page of the ensemble’s website, http://www.sfcmp.org.  

Ensemble members Carey Bell, William Winant, and Graeme Jennings will perform Helmut Lachenmann's Trio fluido for clarinet, percussion, and viola. This will be the ensemble’s first performance of a work by this influential German composer.

Swiss composer Michael Jarrell’s ...more leaves... will open the concert. This work for viola, five musicians, and electronics features Nanci Severance on viola. Jarrell is one of Europe’s most respected composers and has been given numerous awards and honors, including France’s “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.”

Christopher Froh will perform a solo percussion work, nemeton, by Matthias Pintscher. Born in 1971, Pintscher's reputation has far outpaced his years. His music has been performed by such prestigious orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Oscar Bianchi (b. 1975) is another young composer whose reputation is advancing rapidly. His Zaffiro for bass flute, baritone saxophone, guitar, and viola will be performed by Tod Brody, David Henderson, David Tanenbaum, and Nanci Severance. Bianchi's works have been performed by such ensembles as Ensemble Modern; Les Percussions de Strasbourg; Nieuw Ensemble; ICE; and Alarm Will Sound.

Conductor Brad Lubman is in demand the world over, conducting such groups as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. He recently formed his own contemporary music ensemble, Signal, which debuted at the Ojai Music Festival in 2008. Lubman is Associate Professor of Conducting and Ensembles at the Eastman School of Music in New York, and is on the faculty of the Bang-on-a-Can Summer Institute.

There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m.

PROGRAM:
  Michael Jarrell, …more leaves…  (2000); Nanci Severance, viola
  Oscar Bianchi, Zaffiro  (2005)
  Helmut Lachenmann, Trio Fluido  (1966)
  Matthias Pintscher, nemeton  (2007); Christopher Froh, percussion   
  Brian Ferneyhough, Flurries  (1998)

This concert is underwritten in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; the Aaron Copland Fund for Music; Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council; the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco; and the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.

The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is supported in part by:
San Francisco Hotel Tax/Grants for the Arts Program; National Endowment for the Arts; American Composers Forum, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter; BMI Foundation; Aaron Copland Fund for Music; Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University; The French-American Fund for Contemporary Music, a program of FACE with support from Cultural Services of the French Embassy, CulturesFrance, SACEM and the Florence Could Foundation; Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Istituto Italiano di Cultura; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Bernard Osher Foundation; Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council; Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco; San Francisco Foundation; Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation; Wells Fargo Foundation;  Zellerbach Family Foundation.

UPLOAD HI-RES IMAGES at http://www.sfcmp.org/press .

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The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, an ensemble of highly skilled musicians, had been performing, commissioning and recording innovative new music of exceptional interest since 1971.