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SAN FRANCISCO FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2014
Contact: Hernando Buitrago - (415) 515-8990 - [email protected]
SAN FRANCISCO FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC ANNOUNCES
THE MUSICAL GRANT PROGRAM AWARDS 2014.
April 24, 2014 - SAN FRANCISCO— The San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music (SFFCM)
proudly announces the 36 awardees of this year's Musical Grant Program, a funding initiative
designed to support outstanding projects of Early Music, Chamber Music, New Music, Jazz, and
Creative Music in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.
The Musical Grant Program awards grants through a competitive process to projects that
either showcase the artistry of local ensembles or enhance the careers of professional
chamber musicians. The program aims to foster excellent chamber music performance in all its
diversity, with greater access and genuine engagement for existing and new audiences.
Every year, applications are accepted from both emerging and established organizations with
budgets below $100,000, including professional chamber ensembles, composers with
collaborating ensembles, and presenters committed to presenting chamber music. The MGP is
one of a very small number of grants available to this community, and as such plays a crucial
role in maintaining cultural opportunities for the public. For the program's six cycles thus far, it
has proven an extraordinary resource that contributes to the variety and breadth of Northern
California’s musical landscape.
In April 2014, the Musical Grant Program awarded grants of up to $4,000 to 36 ensembles and
presenters. The projects described below tell the story of the tremendous diversity and
creativity within San Francisco Bay Area's chamber music community. Deep gratitude to the
San Francisco Grants for the Arts/Hotel Tax Fund, the Clarence E. Heller Foundation, the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation for supporting
these dynamic musical activities and creating countless opportunities for audiences to be
enriched by the results of these projects. Since 2008, SFFCM has awarded more than
$425,000 to help support 159 projects in the Greater Bay Area.
Pictures Available : http://www.sffcm.org/programs/musical-grant/press/
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SAN FRANCISCO FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
MUSICAL GRANT PROGRAM AWARDS 2014
SFFCM – MUSICAL GRANT PROGRAM SUMMARIES
A/B Duo to present a concert, with high quality video documentation, of premieres and recently written
works for flute and percussion at the Center for New Music with percussionist Christopher G. Jones.
African American Composer’s Initiative to present their 6th annual concert of music by African American
composers at the Performing Arts Center of Eastside College Preparatory School. The music will include
a wide variety of genres from classical to jazz.
Berkeley Choro Ensemble to commission ensemble member Harvey Wainapel, who will create a new
work to be premiered as the grand finale of the Festival of Choro in the fall of 2014 at Freight and
Salvage in Berkeley.
The Bernal Hill Players to present “Neighborhoods of San Francisco and Mexico City,” an eclectic
program of music from both cities, including two world premieres by Beth Custer and Gabriela Ortiz.
The Black Cedar Trio to record a debut album of published works that have not been commercially
recorded as well as a new work by local composer Garrett Shatzer. The album will be promoted through
a series of concerts throughout the greater Bay Area from 2014-16.
Ryan Brown to record “Our Friend Adam,” his breakthrough composition for alto saxophone, piano,
electric guitar and bass, as a step in the production of his first full-length album.
George Brooks to create “Ghalib”, a jazz composition for sarode, saxophone and tabla informed by the
classical traditions of India. This piece will be premiered by the composer along with Alam Khan and
Salar Nader at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley in early November 2014.
The Delphi Trio to record two live performances at the Maybeck Recital Hall in Berkeley during August
and September of 2014. Repertoire will consist of works by Haydn, Schumann, Faure and Arensky.
Earplay to present the finale concert of its 30th anniversary season in May 2015, including the
commission and premiere of a new work by Carla Lucero alongside works by Dohee Lee, Nicolas Tzortzis,
and Henry Cowell.
Farallon Quintet to record its debut album, “Unknown Clarinet Quintets,” including works by Bernard
Herrmann and Mozart with a recently commissioned work by Bay Area composer Durwynne Hsieh.
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SAN FRANCISCO FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
Firesong Ensemble to commission and present a new vocal chamber work by Bay Area composer Jen
Wang in concert alongside works by Yotam Haber, Richard Pearson Thomas, Shulamit Ran and Ned
Rorem.
martha & monica to present “Out of the Box”, a three-evening festival for cello and piano, exploring the
world of colors, timbres and textures from the past 50 years. Featured composers will include Feldman,
Scelsi, Takemitsu, and Xenakis.
Lisa Mezzacappa to compose and develop “avant-NOIR,” a new electro-acoustic body of work inspired
by noir genre fiction for her experimental jazz quartet Bait & Switch. The work will be performed twice
in the Bay Area in the fall of 2014.
Music at the Mission to present a 10th anniversary concert on the theme of “Fairy Tales – the Meeting of
Music, Storytelling and Painting,” featuring works of Schumann, Ravel, Stravinsky and Prokofiev and
living composers Bolcom and Deak, all connected by the theme of fairy tales. Painter Antoine Cavlier will
create paintings inspired by the music that will be projected to accompany the performance.
New Esterhazy Quartet to perform the complete late Beethoven Quartet cycle on period instruments at
Berkeley’s historic Hillside Club on August 14-16, 2015.
Nonsemble 6 to premiere two monodramas – one-woman chamber operas, with ensemble
accompaniment – by composers Adrian Knight and Jonathan Russell in the 2014-15 season.
Outsound Presents to present the original creative works of The Emergency String (X)tet, Bill Noertker’s
Obstreperous Doves and the Rankin-Parker/Pearce duo during the 13th Annual Outsound New Music
Summit in July 2014 in San Francisco.
Ricardo Peixoto to record his first full album as composer and bandleader, featuring recent
compositions for mixed ensembles grounded in Brazilian jazz traditions.
Daniel Plonsey to compose “Strings, Union, Calculus,” for string trio with saxophone, mezzo-soprano
and percussion. This set of pieces is inspired by the composer’s experience as a high school math
teacher.
Potaje Ensemble to present a free concert with composer and guitarist Florante Aguilar, featuring two
new works exploring the historical musical connections between the Philippines, Latin America and
Spain.
Rent Romus Life’s Blood Ensemble to record and perform “The Otherworld Cycle.” This collection of
new jazz compositions and improvisations is inspired by the ancient poems of the Finish National epic
known as the Kalevala.
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SAN FRANCISCO FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
Salon Classique to present the Tango Salon Project as the opening concert of their 2014-2015 season at
the St. George Distillery. The project features Argentinian Tango for up to seven instruments as well as
Spanish and French chamber music.
San Francisco Salon Series to present three multi-media chamber music salon concerts between August
2014 and May 2015. The publicly advertised concerts, taking place in private homes, are intended to
bring together curious audience members who are more typically engaged in different artistic and
technological disciplines.
sfSound to commission ensemble director Matt Ingalls to create “Hilbert Transforms,” a new work for
chamber ensemble incorporating traditional and graphic notation, improvisation, and electronics.
sfSound will perform the new work in March of 2015.
Sonic Forest to present four free, public concerts with a wide variety of compositions and
improvisations for oboe and piano at three community centers run by Homeward Bound Marin, an
organization that provides services to the homeless.
Sounds New to present a retrospective concert including a new work, celebrating the 85th birthday of
director and composer Herbert Bielawa.
Splinter Reeds to commission a new work for reed quintet by Bay Area composer Aaron Novik based on
a Margaret Atwood quote.
Tangents Guitar Series to present a retrospective program dedicated to the guitar works of seminal
American experimental composer James Tenney, culminating in performances in San Francisco and
Santa Cruz.
The Living Earth Show to record DANCE/\MUSIC, consisting of five electro-classical compositions
commissioned by the ensemble from Anna Meredith, Daniel Wohl, Chris Cerrone, Jonathan Pfeffer, and
Jacob Cooper.
Bill Horvitz to create six new works for the Skerries Sextet, an expanded version of the versatile jazz trio
he leads as composer and guitarist.
Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival to commission composer Danny Clay to write a work for narrator
and chamber ensemble based on Rudyard Kiplings’s “Just So Stories”. The work will be presented at the
festival’s September 7, 2014 Grandparents’ Day Family Concert.
Voicehandler to produce a debut album of their collaboratively-composed experimental song cycle for
voice, percussion and electronics.
Voices of Music to present four Bay Area concerts exploring 17th century English poetry, from
Shakespeare to Dryden, through the music of 17th century composers from Dowland to Purcell.
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SAN FRANCISCO FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
Liam Wade to compose a new work for soprano, piano, and cello that Ann Moss, Steven Bailey and Emil
Miland will premiere as part of a January 2015 recital in San Francisco.
Wild Rumpus a contemporary chamber ensemble, to present its fourth season opening concert in
October 2014 featuring new commissions by Per Bloland, Ioannis Angelakis and Ruby Fulton.
Pamela Z to complete and release a CD featuring the world premiere recording of her 2013 chamber
work “Carbon Song Cycle,” for voice and electronics, bassoon, viola, cello and percussion.
MEDIA
For more information and photos of ensembles please go to sffcm.org/programs/musical-grant/press/
About the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music
San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music, founded in 1998, is a non-profit organization whose mission is
to ensure that the art form of small ensemble music is a vital part of the cultural landscape of the San
Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music supports performers, composers, educators
and presenters in early music, chamber music, new music, jazz, and creative music. Through fiscal
sponsorship, career development, financial awards, and performance opportunities, we enable these
communities to achieve sustainable careers and produce their best creative work, while fostering
greater access and genuine engagement for their audiences. The prestigious 2010 Chamber Music
America CMAcclaim Award was a great honor, recognizing the extraordinary contribution that SFFCM
makes to the region.
San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music Board of Directors Katherine Bukstein, President - Susan Bates
and Nancy B. Ranney, Vice Presidents - Martin Gellen, Treasurer - Mary Wildavsky, Secretary - Béatrice
Gomory - William T. Horne - Eric J. Kim - Arvindh Kumar - Susan Larson - James T Leak - Jodi Levitz - Tom
Stone - Jeff Wutzke
Advisory Committee
Judith Preves Anderson - Barbara Barclay - Thomas Driscoll - Ruth Felt - Sharianne Louie - Stephen
Shapiro - Patrick Wilken - Paul Yarbrough
Staff
Dominique Pelletey, Executive Director - Kyle Bruckmann, Executive Associate - Hernando Buitrago,
Marketing and PR Associate - Liz Waltman, Intern
San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music
135 Main Street, Suite 1140 . San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 710-0551 [email protected]
sffcm.org . facebook.com/sffcm . @SF_FCM
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