SFCMP's in the LABORATORY concerts explore large-ensemble contemporary works that push the boundaries of the concert experience. Together we'll explore several points of connectivity along experimentalist paths, laid down by composers all seeking to fuse a variety of music forms and personal experiences into multi-faceted sonic narratives. An epigrammatic song by Charles Ives serves as a jumping-off point for California-based composer Ted Hearne’s ‘The Cage’ Variations–a panoply of musical influence and memory that incorporates the work of numerous others in addition to his own. Works by Ingram Marshall, Molly Joyce, and Mark-Anthony Turnage further the exploration of connectivity where you will hear the direct interaction of live performers with pre-recorded sound materials from places across the globe. Bay Area native Timo Andres’ Some Connecticut Gospel draws another line back to Ives, rounding out the program with a different take on the notion of memory and that which has been left behind us. 

In accordance with SFCMP’s mission of encouraging and mentoring the next generation of new music performers, San Francisco Conservatory of Music students join the program as part of SFCMP’s education and professional development series.

About SFCMP

The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (SFCMP), is a unionized ensemble of twenty-four highly skilled musicians. SFCMP nourishes the creation and dissemination of new works through world-class contemporary music performances, commissions, and community outreach. SFCMP features the work of iconic and emerging composers while shining a spotlight on California artists. SFCMP performs the music of composers from across cultures and stylistic traditions who are creating a vast and vital 21st-century musical language.

Now in its forty-eighth year, SFCMP is one of the most active ensembles in the United States dedicated to contemporary music. Led by Artistic Director Eric Dudley since 2018, SFCMP plays an important role in the regional and national cultural landscape. The most long-standing, continually-performing, new music ensemble outside the East Coast,  SFCMP has greatly contributed to the art form and the new music sector. SFCMP is a recent award winner of the Fromm Foundation Ensemble Prize, and a ten-time winner of the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. SFCMP has performed more than 1,200 works by over 600 composers; Over 300 of these performances have been premieres, and the organization has commissioned some 80 new works from composers such as John Adams, John Cage, Mel Powell, Du Yun, and Julia Wolfe. SFCMP has been presented by leading cultural festivals and concert series including San Francisco Performances, Los Angeles Monday Evening Concerts, Cal Performances, the Stern Grove Festival, the Festival of New American Music at CSU Sacramento, the Ojai Festival, and France’s prestigious MANCA Festival.

Biographies of SFCMP ensemble members can be accessed online at: sfcmp.org/category/players.

Schedule

4 p.m. -5:15 p.m. 
How Music is Made: Open dress rehearsal of ‘The Cage’ Variations withTed Hearne followed by a composer talk hosted by Eric Dudley
7:30 p.m.
Performance
9:00 p.m.
Reception

Program

Ingram Marshall
Peaceable Kingdom (1989) 
for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, keyboard, 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, double bass, and tape

Mark-Anthony Turnage
Slide Stride (2002) (west coast premiere)
  for piano quintet 

Timo Andres
Some Connecticut Gospel (2008) (west coast premiere)
  for flute/alto flute, bassoon, trombone, piano, violin, viola, cello, electric bass

Ted Hearne
Cages 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10 from 'The Cage' Variations (2014) (west coast premiere)
  for baritone, flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello

Molly Joyce
Blue Swell (2012) 
  for solo violin and tape

Ted Hearne
By-By Huey (2014) 
  for flute, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello