Left Coast Chamber Ensemble kicks off its 30th anniversary concert series with Up Next!, a concert celebrating the exuberance and brilliance of young composers. This program runs the gamut of musical emotions: Sky Macklay's jazzy string quintet contrasts with Sarah Westwood's reflective introspection and Carlos Simon's quirky musing on his childhood memories. The concert finishes with Brahms' passionate first piano quartet, which includes the brilliant "Gypsy Rondo."
American composer Sky Macklay's new string quintet Canon Cadenza Cadence Cluster, made possible by Chamber Music America's Classical Commissioning Program, launches a bass rebellion. "While important and foundational, it is often predictable or formulaic," Macklay explains. "I wanted to use that stereotypical role as a starting place, but to let the bass rebel from there. The form uses a ritornello made from a chain of applied dominants anchored around three canonic melodies. I enjoyed experimenting with these traditional musical materials in a way that blurs and stretches them into a more surreal soundscape."
In contrast is British composer Sarah Westwood's Things You Don't Yet Know You Feel, the 2020 winner of Left Coast's Composition Contest. Inspired by the idea of mood rings, Westwood collaborated with poet Georgie Lorimer to create an ethereal musical experience: "The thing that interested me about mood rings," she explained in a 2019 interview, "was that they're meant to tell you how you're feeling based on a change of color, which is what I try to explore in the piece."
Carlos Simon's Lickety Split and Johannes Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 round out this program, moving away from vast soundscapes to dramatic, vibrant musical statements. Drawing inspiration from a phrase remembered from his childhood, 'lickety split,' Simon uses "bouncing pizzicato lines in the cello part over wildly syncopated rhythms played by the piano" to create a sense of fast-moving whimsey.
In Advance: $30 General Admission / $10 Students At the Door: $38 General Admission / $20 Subsidized / $15 Students.