James Cleghorn (1913–1987) may be best known as music librarian for 25 years at the San Francisco Public Library, where he built a tremendous collection of musical scores, recordings, and books about music. He was a vital part of San Francisco’s artistic scene, introducing his good friend Lou Harrison to his future teacher Henry Cowell. Cleghorn was less known as a composer. Besides writing volumes of songs and chamber music, he composed a dazzling range of piano music, including sets of variations, intricate fugues, neoclassical suites, modal experiments, and much more, all with a special focus on melodic invention. Many of these pieces have never been heard, and Sarah Cahill brings them to life in this celebration of composer James Cleghorn, with members of his family present.
Sarah Cahill, hailed as “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by The New York Times and “a brilliant and charismatic advocate for modern and contemporary composers” by Time Out New York, has commissioned and premiered over seventy compositions for solo piano. Composers who have dedicated works to Cahill include John Adams, Terry Riley, Frederic Rzewski, Pauline Oliveros, Julia Wolfe, Roscoe Mitchell, Annea Lockwood, and Ingram Marshall. Keyboard Magazine writes, “Through her inspired interpretation of works across the 20th and 21st centuries, Cahill has been instrumental in bringing to life the music of many of our greatest living composers.” She was named a 2018 Champion of New Music, awarded by the American Composers Forum (ACF).