Jewish Community Center SF Kanbar Hall
3200 California St @ Presidio Ave SF
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OTHER MINDS 15
March 4-5-6
7pm Panel Dicussions 8pm Concerts

Concert One
Thursday, March 4, 2010

Jürg Frey
Streichquartett II (1998-2000)
Quatuor Bozzini

Chou Wen-chung
Twilight Colors (2007)
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
The Willows Are New (1957)
Eva-Maria Zimmermann, piano

Lisa Bielawa
Kafka Songs (2001-03)
Carla Kihlstedt, voice & violin

The 15th Other Minds Music Festival opens with masterful works by composers from three different generations. Switzerland’s Jürg Frey (b. 1953), one of the most active members of the hyper-minimalist Wandelweiser collective, has developed an expansive oeuvre of nearly 120 works of the utmost simplicity and stark beauty, some with durations up to 6 hours. His second string quartet proceeds for nearly 30 minutes at the volume of a whisper, yet extracts the complexity of a full choir from the strings of our special guests, Montreal’s Quatuor Bozzini.

Chou Wen-chung (b. 1923) is known widely as the first Chinese-American classical composer and teacher of Tan Dun (OM 2), Ge Gan-ru (OM 9), and Chinary Ung (OM 14) among others. In his double-trio Twilight Colors, to be performed by San Francisco’s Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Chou draws influences from two cultures: the piece was inspired by the changing colors of the sky over the Hudson River Valley, yet constructed with a technique akin to the brushstrokes of early 17th century Chinese calligraphy. This source of inspiration, also evident in the early piano work The Willows Are New, evokes a lively landscape through subtle change and sophisticated organization.

The evening concludes with Kafka Songs, written by Lisa Bielawa (b. San Francisco, 1969) for the inimitable Carla Kihlstedt. Winner of this year’s prestigious Rome Prize, Bielawa brings together in Kafka Songs her expertise in vocal music, earned both through compositions and over 17 years of performances in the Philip Glass Ensemble, her literary interests, and her powerful sense of drama. As both vocalist and violinist, Kihlstedt leads this virtuosic exploration through the poetic side of Kafka, in seven reflections on stories from Meditation and Parables.

Single concert tickets: $25-$35 ($25 student; $31 JCCSF members; $35 general)
Festival pass: $60-$150 ($60 student; $74 JCCSF members; $79 general; $150 premium seating; premium Pass includes admission to opening night reception with the artists)

Complete details including composer bios and audio samples at otherminds.org.



Cost: $25+