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 Three
Saturday, March 6, 2010

Gyan Riley
When Heron Sings Blue (2010) WORLD PREMIERE, commissioned by Other Minds
Gyan Riley Trio: Riley, guitar; Timb Harris, violin/viola; Scott Amendola, percussion; plus special guest Michael Manring, electric bass

Tom Johnson
Combinations (2003)
Quatuor Bozzini
Eggs and Baskets (1987)
Clemens Merkel, violin; Stephanie Bozzini, viola; Johnson, narrator

Carla Kihlstedt
Pandæmonium (2010) WORLD PREMIERE, commissioned by Rova:Arts
Rova Saxophone Quartet; Matthias Bossi & Joan Mankin, readers

The final evening of Other Minds 14 begins with the world premiere of Gyan Riley’s (b. 1977) When Heron Sings Blue, which weaves opportunities for virtuosic improvisation among evocative melodies. The hybrid nature of Riley’s writing, with influences from North Indian raga, avant-garde jazz, and classical guitar repertoire, is perfectly reflected in his instrumentation: a doubling violin/violist joins an electric bassist and multi-faceted percussionist, while Riley displays the chops that earned him the first full guitar scholarship ever given by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

From 1971 to 1982, Tom Johnson (b. 1939) was the voice of New York’s downtown new music scene, as a critic for the Village Voice. His own music does show some “minimalist” features, but works such as Combinations use simple means in structures relying on formulas, permutations, and predictable sequences. Johnson will take the stage to narrate Eggs and Baskets, another highly logical and simultaneously uproarious musical construction.

The final performance of the evening is the world premiere of Pandæmonium by Carla Kihlstedt (b. 1971). This set of pieces is inspired by Humphrey Jennings’s collection of texts reacting to “the coming of the machine.” These reactions to the industrial revolution, dating from 1660 to 1885, are reconstructed through the lens of both literal readings and Rova Saxophone Quartet’s vast vocabulary of improvisation and extended techniques, offering an emotionally captivating conclusion to Other Minds 15.


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+

Audio samples in which musicians at this event play:

Videos featuring musicians playing at this event