SF Contemporary Music Players presents: John Cage's "Credo in Us"

Oct. 20, 2011 - PRLog -- CALENDAR LISTING:
WHO: San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
WHAT: Contemporary Insights: Music and Conversation
WHEN: Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell St. at 17th St., San Francisco
PRICE: $10 general, $5 students/seniors
TICKETS: Available at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds.
INFO: www.sfcmp.org, 415-278-9566

PROGRAM:
John Cage, Credo in Us (1942, 14 min.)
Host: Steven Schick.
Performers: Julie Steinberg (piano), William Winant and Daniel Kennedy (percussion), Steven Schick (radio)

John Cage’s Credo in Us was first performed on August 1, 1942 at Bennington College in Vermont.  Many of Cage’s unique innovations appear in the work: the pianist is at times instructed to mute the strings or to play the piano body percussively, and this is his first composition to include a phonograph or radio (either of which may be used).  This piece, along with others to be performed the following evening at Herbst Theatre, will give Bay Area audiences an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between new music and the military conflicts of Cage’s time, as well as our own.

Credo in Us will be performed by a pianist (Julie Steinberg) and two percussionists (William Winant and Daniel Kennedy) utilizing muted gongs, tin cans, a tom-tom, and an electric buzzer. These players will be accompanied by a fourth musician (Steven Schick, Artistic Director) who will operate the radio and host a discussion of the piece with the audience.

Sponsored in part by a grant from The Ross McKee Foundation.

The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players’ concert season is funded in part by: San Francisco Hotel Tax/Grants for the Arts Program; Aaron Copland Fund for Music; Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University; Fromm Music Foundation; Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation; Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Ross McKee Foundation; Bernard Osher Foundation; Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council; Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco; The San Francisco Foundation; Zellerbach Family Foundation and many individual donors.

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The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, an ensemble of highly skilled musicians, has performed, commissioned and recorded innovative new music of exceptional interest since 1971.