Clarinetist Takes Music on Curious Flights
Clarinetist Brenden Guy came to San Francisco from London's Royal College of Music to study at the Conservatory here. He got his master's degree, and stayed, working as a publicist and playing the clarinet with Symphony Parnassus, the Conservatory Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, and others.
Then, two years ago, he embarked on another adventure: He founded a performance organization called Curious Flights, devoted to new and rarely-performed works in the Bay Area, with a particular focus on music from the United Kingdom.
In a short time, Guy got an honor list of local musicians and organizations to participate, increasing ticket prices only slightly from the original $10-$15 range (donated to a Conservatory fund to assist international students) to admissions beginning at $20. To further strengthen the organization, Guy will marry, in October, the leader of the Curious Flights Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, violinist Tess Varley.
The wide scope of programming and participation in Curious Flights' 2015-2016 season is beyond curious -- it's seriously impressive. Guy explains:
Following the success of our inaugural season, we were determined to return with an even bigger and more ambitious season. We are fortunate that we have the opportunity to do so in such a vibrant and creative part of the world where audiences share our intrigue in exploring paths off the beaten track and unearthing gems that have slipped through the cracks. This year focuses exclusively on talents from Great Britain and the United States, both of which I am honored to call my home.
The season opens on Aug. 29 in the Conservatory Concert Hall with "An English Portrait," and the music of John Ireland (with soprano Julie Adams and pianist Miles Graber), Vaughan Williams, Britten, and Finzi (St. Dominic's Schola Cantorum), Arnold Bax (pianists Peter Grunberg and Keisuke Nakagoshi), Herbert Howell (Guy and the One Found Sound string quartet), and Britten’s Sinfonietta, Op. 1 (John Kendall Bailey leading the Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble).
Three more concerts follow during the season, presenting music by Ned Rorem, William Alwyn, Herbert Howells, Michael Nyman, Simon Dobson, Samuel Adams, many more.
Featured collaborating artists include Madeleine Mitchell, Ian Scarfe, San Francisco Wind Ensemble. Brian Thorsett and Efrain Solis.
Ozawa Injured in Fall
Former San Francisco Symphony Music Director (1970–1977) Seiji Ozawa has cancelled plans to conduct later this month in Japan at the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival named in his honor. Ozawa, 79, suffered a hip fracture last weekend when falling in a bathroom of a Tokyo hospital where he was staying because of a cold. Ozawa is replaced by Gil Rose, who will conduct performances of Berlioz’s Beatrice et Benedict.
The athletic conductor - often seen during his San Francisco days and on subsequent guest appearances playing ripsnorting singles on Golden Gate Park tennis courts - has had a series of health problems in recent years, after leading the Boston Symphony for three decades and then serving as music director of the Vienna State Opera.
Ozawa underwent surgery for cancer of the esophagus in 2010, and was treated for a hernia in 2011, but he battled his way back to work. Even now, after the accident, he has announced that he will conduct a concert on his birthday, Sept. 1, and an orchestra concert on Sept. 6 at the festival as planned.
Moss: Unusual Singer in Novel Concert
Soprano Heidi Moss, a busy and successful artist on the local scene, has had a long, difficult journey since facial paralysis struck her eight years ago. There are few cases of sufficient recovery from the kind of Bell's Palsy Moss has, but as her recent starring performances with contemporary opera companies indicate, she is back on track, even with the continuing, significant handicap.
Now Moss is preparing a recital with Lieder Alive on Sept. 13 at the Noe Valley Ministry, with the correctly descriptive name of "Neue und Alte Liederfest," celebrating new and old songs in a rare, perhaps unique, combination.
Moss' entire concert, accompanied by Daniel Lockert, consists of great classical lieder paired with contemporary counterparts composed for her. For example, Moss will perform Richard Strauss' "An die Nacht" and "Die Nacht," in a set that includes a new composition, "An die Nacht," by Jacques DesJardins (one of the founders of Opera Parallèle).
Among other matches: Schumann's "Mondnacht" along with Kurt Erickson's new song of the same name; Webern's "Eingang," with S.F. Conservatory's David Conte's "Eingang." Other contemporary composers on the program include Omari Tao, Henry Mollicone, Erling Wold, and Daron Hagen. Moss will conclude the concert with the ethereal finale of Strauss' Capriccio.
Says Moss:
I will be blogging about the experience, going through each lied and how I came to pair it with some classic lieder from the repertory. This truly showcases the timelessness and relevance of the art song and we are hoping it inspires future composers to experiment in this genre.
I had been involved in both new music (CMASH, Opera Parallèle, West Edge Opera, etc.) and Lieder Alive as independent entities. I had long thought it would be interesting to combine the two and see if we could get new/fresh voices into an established art form. I partnered with Kurt Erickson and he was enlisted as Lieder Alive’s Composer In Residence, where he wrote incredible pieces for myself, Kindra Scharich, Paul Yarborough of the Alexander String Quartet, and Kirk Eichelberger, as part of their lieder recitals.
He had the brainchild to create a Neue Lieder Songbook and, in an unusual expression of composer camaraderie, he wanted to solicit other composers to participate. He thought it was a great exercise for composers, and many had hesitations over the German language element, but Kurt was able to put them at ease, given his own experience going through the process.
Baltic Talent Marches On
The news on Monday about the Los Angeles Philharmonic's promotion of Mirga Gražinyté-Tyla to associate conductor reminded me of the current, worldwide recognition for musical talent from the small Baltic countries: Lithuania (where Gražinyté-Tyla hails from), Latvia, and Estonia, whose combined population is six million, two-thirds of New York City's. Off the top of my head, with hopes for reader corrections:
From Latvia - Mariss Jansons, until earlier this year music director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Andris Nelsons, music director of the Boston Symphony (and his wife, the soprano Kristine Opolais); Gidon Kremer, violinist and founder of Kremerata Baltica.
From Lithuania - the late violinist Jascha Heifetz; mezzo Violeta Urmana.
From Estonia - one of the great living composers, Arvo Pärt; conductors Neeme and Paavo Järvi; conductor Tõnu Kaljuste; singers Ain Anger and Miliza Korjus; ballet dancer Tiit Helimets.
Only 29, Gražinyté-Tyla's challenging name started hitting musical headlines years ago. Last year, SFCV heralded her appointment as the Philharmonic's assistant conductor. Her new promotion means greater conducting responsibilities, while she continues to serve as the cover conductor for Music Director Gustavo Dudamel and guest conductors throughout the orchestra's subscription season and tours.
Dudamel said of her appointment" "Mirga is an impressive talent, which is immediately evident to anyone that works with her or sees her conduct. We were very excited to have her join the L.A. Phil family as assistant conductor following her participation in our conducting fellowship program, and now we feel even more fortunate that she will continue with us in the role of associate conductor."
Besides her Los Angeles career, Gražinyté-Tyla is also music director of the Salzburg Landestheater, and embarking on guest conducting with major orchestras.
'Just Don't Call It iOpera'
That's Zachary Woolf's lead to his New York Times article about the Santa Fe Opera announcement that it has commissioned Bay Area resident Mason Bates, 38, to write an opera, to be called "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs."
Premiere of the work, with Mark Campbell's libretto, about the now-legendary co-founder of Apple is planned in Santa Fe for the summer of 2017.
The opera, says the announcement, should take "an intensely personal look at the technology visionary, who died in 2011, and his family relationships, as well as his practice of Zen Buddhism." The work also seeks "to capture the buzzing creative realm of Silicon Valley with a kinetic electroacoustic score, lush vocal writing, a compelling nonlinear narrative and a production as innovative as the man himself."
A tall order for the latest CNN opera, in the mold of John Adams works (Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, Doctor Atomic). Following Adams' approach to contemporary subjects through painstaking research, Bates also is investing time and effort in fact-finding. Woolf reports in an interview with Santa Fe Opera General Director Charles MacKay:
[MacKay said] Bates had been in touch with Laurene Jobs, Mr. Jobs’s widow, but that she had not yet seen a draft of the libretto. “He has emphasized in his communication to her that this is a very respectful treatment of his life and her relationship to him,” Mr. MacKay said, adding that the material in the libretto is already in the public domain. “We do not have a blessing from anyone.”
A biopic, called Steve Jobs, written by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Danny Boyle, and featuring Michael Fassbender in the title role, Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, and Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, has been shown in preview screenings, scheduled to open commercially in October. Scenes have been filmed in the War Memorial and Davies Symphony Hall, venues for Jobs' product announcements.
This is the second film about Jobs, the first one - two years ago - was directed by Joshua Michael Stern, with Ashton Kutcher in the title role.