A presentation of Ensemble for These Times and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) program with MaryClare Brzytwa.

Performers

Ensemble for These Times
Nanette McGuiness, soprano
Anne-Lerner Wright, cello
Dale Tsang, piano

Program

Justin Merritt
the great famine
     from Five Prophecies for Soprano

David Garner
Elegy for David Raksin

"Chanson für Morgen"
     Herbstanfang
     Allerseelen

Polina Nazaykinskaya
Waltz-noir

Charlie Sehres
Watching: Best Student Sound Track to a Noir Film Clip

Intermission
 

Lennie Moore
Duo

Aleksandra Vrebalov
Indigo Codes

Stacy Garrop
Noir Vignettes

Permissions:
“Herbstanfang” from Verse für Zeitgenossen, first published 1958 by Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek; © 1975 Gisela Zoch-Westphal, Rüschlikon CH/Switzerland. “Allerseelen” from In meinen Träumen läutet es Sturm, first published 1977 by Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich/Germany; © 1975 Gisela Zoch-Westphal, Zurich/Switzerland

Artist Profiles

Ensemble for These Times
Recently named semifinalists for the 2018/19 American Prize in chamber music performance, E4TT consists of award-winning soprano and co-director Nanette McGuinness, Van Cliburn competitor pianist Dale Tsang, cellist Anne Lerner-Wright, and co-director and 2015 American Prize in Composition winner David Garner. The group focuses on 20th and 21st century music that is relevant, engaging, original and compelling—music that resonates with today and speaks to tomorrow, that harnesses the power of artistic beauty, intelligence, wit, lyricism, and irony to create a deep understanding of our times and the human condition. E4TT performed at the 2016 Krakow Culture Festival, was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Budapest in 2014 for a four-city tour in Hungary, and made its international debut in Berlin. E4TT has performed locally at the German Consulate General, SF Conservatory of Music, Old First Concerts, Trinity Chamber Concerts, and Noontime Concerts, among other venues, has commissioned 18 works and two arrangements, and has been a fiscally-sponsored affiliate of InterMusic SF since 2011.

E4TT’s debut CD, Surviving: Women’s Words, was released on the Centaur label in April 2016 and won a Silver Medal in the 2016 Global Music Awards. Lesley Mitchell-Clarke in The Whole Note wrote “Now more than ever, as the U.S. experiences a déjà vu of hatred and is poised on the brink of societal unravelling, the potent and timeless messages of survival, love, tolerance and forgiveness contained on this brilliant presentation need to resonate throughout the world.” E4TT’s second CD, “The Hungarians: From Rózsa to Justus” (2018, Centaur) features a rarely heard cello duo by Hollywood movie maven (and Hungarian émigré) Miklós Rózsa (Spellbound, Ben-Hur), along with works by three others of his compatriots who perished in the Holocaust, including the premiere recording of a work by the young Lajos Delej, and an end-of-the-era waltz song with text and music by György Justus. The recording won a Gold Medal in the 2018 Global Music Awards in three categories: chamber music, ensemble, and album.

Cellist Anne Lerner-Wright completed her BA in Music at Northwestern University in Cello Performance after spending three years as a Spanish Literature major at Bryn Mawr College. She has performed with many Bay Area orchestras since moving here from her native Chicago to study at the San Francisco Conservatory, where she earned a Master of Music in Cello Performance. Anne is a sought-after chamber musician and performer of contemporary music as well as music educator. She conducts two orchestras in the Marin Symphony Youth Programs, served several years as an artist-educator with “Enriching Lives Through Music,” is on the faculty of Dominican University and has a large private cello studio in San Rafael. celloair.com

Hailed in the press for her “creamy golden tone” and “glorious soprano,” E4TT founder and co-director soprano Nanette McGuinness has performed in ten languages on two continents in repertory ranging from 1600 to the present and in over 25 roles—including Mimì, Cleopatra, Freia, Desdemona, Musetta, Countess Almaviva, First Lady, and Micaela—with the Silesian State (Czech Republic), San Jose (Opera in the Schools), West Bay, Pacific Repertory, and Livermore Valley Operas, among others. Solo concert engagements include Chants d’Auvergnes (Canteloube), Shéhérézade (selections), Lord Nelson Mass, Vesperae Solemne (Mozart), and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. Her CD of music by women composers, Fabulous Femmes (Centaur CRC 2461) was called “perfect for the song recital lover” (Chambermusic Magazine). She earned a PhD in Music from UC Berkeley, MM in Vocal Performance from Holy Names, and BA in Music from Cornell University. nanette.biz

Pianist Dale Tsang earned her BM in piano performance from the University of Southern California, her MM from the University of Michigan and her DMA from Rice University. Nominated for the 1997 Van Cliburn competition, she took first prize in the 2001 Carmel Music Society Competition and was a semi-finalist in the 1999 Washington International Competition. Tsang performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Holland Music Sessions and the Sarasota Music Festival. Tsang is a faculty member at Laney College and an active solo and chamber musician, both nationally and internationally. She has been a member of E4TT since 2012.

E4TT composer and founding member David Garner (b. 1954) won The American Prize in 2015 for his String Quartet No. 2. Garner's music has been reviewed as "alluring" and "a heady and touching revelation," and his works have been performed nationally and internationally by artists such as Suzanne Mentzner, Catherine Cook, Crystal Philippi, David Krakauer, and Matt Haimowitz. Garner's opera, "Mary Pleasant at Land's End,” is in the final stages of pre-production.  A faculty member in composition, chamber music, music theory and literature at the SF Conservatory of Music, Garner is a member of BMI, American Composers Forum, and the American Music Center.

Stacy Garrop (b. 1969) is a freelance composer whose music is centered on dramatic and lyrical storytelling. Stacy has received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Barlow Prize, Fromm Music Foundation grant, and three Barlow Endowment commissions, along with prizes from competitions sponsored by the Boston Choral Ensemble, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Omaha Symphony, New England Philharmonic, Utah Arts Festival, and Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. Theodore Presser Company publishes her works. Stacy is a Cedille Records recording artist, with works commercially available on ten additional labels. She is currently serving as Composer-in-Residence with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Opera Theater. She has been commissioned by Chanticleer, Chicago a cappella, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Chorus, San Francisco Choral Society, Volti, Kronos Quartet, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony. For more information, please visit her website at  garrop.com or her all-things-composition blog at composerinklings.com

Emma Kazaryan (b. 1986) is a multimedia artist based in New York City. She holds a master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and Photography from Baruch College, CUNY. In the past, she has extensively worked on the Khojaly massacre controversy in Nargono-Karabakh, frozen conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as China's trade expansion in Central Asia. Her recent video installation Heroine Highway was a part of a group exhibition Curse of Geography in The Art Gallery of Guelph, Canada. Emmakazaryan.com

Justin Merrit (b. 1975) is the youngest-ever composer to win the ASCAP Foundation/Rudolph Nissim award in 2001. He earned his M.M. at Trinity University and M.M. and D.M.A. at Indiana University and is the winner of numerous other awards, including a McKnight Fellowship (2011), Copland Award (2008), Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute Award (2008), Polyphonos Prize (2006), VocalEssence Essentially Chorale Competition (2006), Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Composition Competition Award (2000), and the Kuttner String Quartet Competition (2001). His music has been heard across North America, Europe, and Asia. mooneast.com.

For decades LENNIE MOORE has been a proven force as an accomplished composer, arranger and orchestrator of music for videogames, commercials, film, and television. His credits include Outcast: Second Contact, artist music packs for DOTA2: The International 2016 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Fighter Within, Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Halo Combat Evolved 10th Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, The Walking Dead Motion Comic, Watchmen Motion Comic, MTG: Duels of the Planeswalkers, Dirty Harry, Dragonshard, and War of the Ring.

Lennie has also developed and taught Composition as an adjunct professor for USC, UCLA Extension, and currently teaches at the Technology and Applied Composition program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Born in Togliatti, Russia, in 1987, Polina Nazaykinskaya studied violin and composition at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, earned a Master’s Degree and Artist Diploma in composition and theory at the Yale School of Music, and is currently working on her doctorate at the City University of New York, studying with Tania León. Her awards include the Charles Ives Scholarship at The American Academy of Arts and Letters, Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship; her music has been performed by ensembles such as the Minnesota Orchestra, U.S. Army Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Hermitage Orchestra and Chorus, Yale Philharmonia Orchestra, Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia, St. Olaf Philharmonia and Juventas New Music Ensemble.  polinacomposer.com

Competition winner Charlie Sehres (b. 1995) is currently a senior at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in “Technology and Applied Composition.” He takes composition lessons with Lennie Moore. Charlie’s music is a combination of influences and inspirations from Minimalism, Classical, Jazz, Rock and modern Electronic music. Charlie’s most recent projects have been scoring multiple short films and an indie game, all still in development. His past work includes composing and producing content for music library DL-Music, writing a song for the 30th anniversary edition of the film “Cavegirl,” as well as writing and recording an album and EP with his band “Forty Feet Tall.” Charlie’s music has been placed on MTV programing, the Showtime show “Shameless” and feature film “Killing Gunther” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. charliesehres.com

Aleksandra Vrebalov has written 80 works ranging from concert music, to opera and dance. Her works have been commissioned and/or performed by Kronos Quartet, Serbian National Theater, Carnegie Hall, Belgrade Philharmonic, The Forbidden City Orchestra in Beijing, Jose Limon, Rambert Dance and English National Ballet. Vrebalov, a fellow of MacDowell Colony, Rockefeller Bellagio Center, Djerassi, American Opera Projects, The Hermitage, and Tanglewood, is the recipient of The Harvard Fromm Commission, The American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Fellowship, Barlow Endowment Commission, and MAP Fund grant. Her works have been recorded for Nonesuch, Cantaloupe,  Innova, Centaur, Records, and Vienna Modern Masters. Vrebalov is a freelance composer living in New York City.  aleksandravrebalov.com

Corinne Whitaker (b. 1934), aka the Digital Giraffe, has been acclaimed for 41 years as a pioneer in digital imaging and digital sculpture. She has exhibited worldwide in over 300 exhibitions, including “Corinne Whitaker dot Uncom” at the San Bernardino County Museum, “No Rules” at the Peninsula Museum of Art in Burlingame, CA., and “CyberSphere” at Stanford University.  Whitaker is featured in “Women Artists of the American West”.  Her work has won over 30 awards, including “Best in CyberArt” and two Golden Web Awards. She has written 28 books of digital paintings and poetry. Whitaker’s award-winning Digital Giraffe online journal, now in its 25th year of web publication, has been visited by 193 nations.  Whitaker ran the Digital Giraffe gallery in Carmel, California for 10 years. She has been a Board Member of the Fellows of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Carmel Gallery Alliance.  She is represented by thePaul Mahder Gallery in Healdsburg, CA. giraffe.com