Serving the San Francisco Bay Area New Music Community

CALENDAR

Click on event date/time for details

04/26/2023 - 06/09/2023

Thursday, April 27
Thu 4/27 6:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Workshop: Analog Video Processing with Sean Russell Hallowell // On breadboards and with basic electronic components, we will learn how to process analog video signals and display the results on cathode-ray tube televisions. Using sources like VCRs and old security cameras, we will learn the basic architecture of the analog video signal, how it differs from digital video, and how to manipulate that architecture in artistic ways. We will also learn through doing by exploring the basics of electronic signal flow in collaborative exercises.  More...
Thu 4/27 6:00 PM Bayview Opera House [4705 3rd Street San Francisco CA 94124]
The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble invites you to a sneak peek into the world of "Tenderhooks", a new chamber opera. Listen to excerpts and join the discussion with composer Anthony R. Green and librettist Mark Labowskie.  More...
Thu 4/27 8:00 PM Noisebridge Hackerspace [272 Capp St SF]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
Resident is a monthly electronic audiovisual open mic event started in 2017. Resident is casual and cool, and the community you'll find is like no other for aspiring electronic musicians in the Bay. No judgments, no bullshit, just positive support and openness to new ideas.

Now in person at Noisebridge!! https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Resident_Electronic_Music

Setup for performers starts at 7pm, show starts at 8 pm.  More...
Thu 4/27 8:00 PM Mills College Littlefield Concert Hall [5000 MacArthur Blvd Oakland]
Lulu Thompsxn - X Sound Festival 2023 - A senior recital featuring original compositions by Mills undergrad Lulu Thompsxn. Join Lulu at her candy-pastel slumber-party, as we explore inner-child work, queer-femme essence & collective dreams through bubblegum pop, EDM & wild improvisation in the Mills tradition.  More...
Friday, April 28
Fri 4/28 6:30 PM Meyer Sound Pearson Theater [2837 10th Street Berkeley, CA]
10th Anniversary Screening of the ear goes to the sound: the work of Laetitia Sonami, a film portrait of the French born, Oakland based electronic sound artist Laetitia Sonami. Sonami, a student of the pioneering sound composer Eliane Radigue, is perhaps best known for her lady's glove instrument, which controls sounds and mechanical objects with gestures of the hand. This documentary offers an intimate look at one of the most extraordinary, yet underappreciated electronic sound artists of today, and is structured around an intricate combination of performance and in-studio demonstration. The film features interviews with acclaimed composers John Bischoff, Maggi Payne, Eliane Radigue, and writer Melody Sumner Carnahan, and includes never-before-seen and rare performance footage. RSVP and details: https://tinyurl.com/mr3h63ta  More...
Fri 4/28 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
David Boyce and friends  More...
Fri 4/28 8:00 PM Hertz Hall [UC Berkeley campus near corner of College and Bancroft Berkeley]
Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective and The Ben Goldberg - Myra Melford Quintet  More...
Saturday, April 29
Sat 4/29 1:00 PM San Francisco Public Library - Western Addition Branch [550 Scott Street San Francisco]
David James's GPS at the Western Addition Library  More...
Sat 4/29 7:30 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
The Alaya Project is the essential bridge between the intricate Carnatic style of Indian classical music and contemporary jazz and funk. Born in the cultural bastion of Oakland, California, The Alaya Project explores new textures and perspectives built over two decades of friendship, dialogue, and musical immersion across genres and continents. The driving hybrid kit grooves of Indian percussionist and drummer, Rohan Krishnamurthy, the soulful Ragas and melodies of Prasant Radhakrishnan on saxophone, and the harmonic bedrock of Colin Hogan embodies the permanence of a changing soundscape.  More...
Sat 4/29 8:00 PM Piedmont Piano Company [1728 San Pablo Ave Oakland]
Myra Melford Solo Piano

Tickets

For this rare Bay Area solo piano concert, Myra Melford will be performing original compositions and improvisations.

$25 General Admission

We are offering a limited number of tickets to attend this performance in person. Advance purchase is required. COVID-19 SAFETY: All ticket holders must wear a mask while inside the piano store.  More...
Sat 4/29 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Bala Raghavan: At Odds With Even Love + Roco Córdova // At Odds With Even Love is an evening of poetry and prose: the amorous song of the courtesan and queer stories from the Indian Subcontinent. This labor of love, shared in an intimate gathering, juxtaposes amorous songs from the Indian musical tradition and stories of love, longing, passion, and pain from the queer community.  More...
Sunday, April 30
Sun 4/30 4:00 PM Old First Concerts [1751 Sacramento St. SF]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
Quinteto Latino hosts the award-winning Cuban-American composer Orlando Jacinto García in a concert of his works including the world premiere of a new French horn solo, performed by the quintet's founder, Armando Castellano. García, a student and close friend of Morton Feldman, composes haunting music that suspends time with slow-moving timbre and texture changes.  More...
Sun 4/30 4:00 PM Spruce Street Concerts [send email to harry@fullplatemedia.com]
Award winning experimental poets Will Alexander and Andrew Joron each read in the intimate setting of a home concert, followed by a set of free improvisation with Alexander performing on piano and Joron on theremin. This concert unites two great poets whose experimental creativity finds expression in language and music both.  More...
Sun 4/30 7:00 PM Mosswood Sound Series [3630 Telegraph Ave enter 2nd door on 37th St Oakland]
A MICRO-FESTIVAL OF TAPE MUSIC
Bookending the history of tape music in the Bay Area, THE SAN FRANCISCO TAPE MUSIC COLLECTIVE presents recent works by members of the collective alongside two classics from the 1960's realized at the San Francisco Tape Music Center: PAULINE OLIVEROS'S "Bye Bye Butterfly" and STEVE REICH'S "It's Gonna Rain." The collective will be diffusing the Oliveros piece from stereo and performing their multi-channel realization of the Reich.  More...
Wednesday, May 3
Wed 5/03 8:00 PM Luggage Store Creative Music Series [1007 Market Street SF]
An encore viewing of the new documentary film: ruth weiss: One More Step West Is The Sea by Thomas Antonic
OPENING SETS BY
Live poetry by: Jeff Kaliss & Jessica Loos
with musical elements by the ruth weiss players: Rent Romus - saxophones, Doug Lynner - synthesizer, Doug O'Connor - double bass
From Berlin and Vienna in the 1930s; from New York to Chicago, New Orleans, and San Francisco in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s; ruth weiss, one of the great female Beat poets and improviser has written, performed, painted, and filmed the fact that for her, ‘one more step west is the sea …  More...
Thursday, May 4
Thu 5/04 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Dirty Looks: Brontez Purnell // writer, musician, dancer, filmmaker, and performance artist

Brontez Purnell is a writer, musician, dancer, filmmaker, and performance artist. He is the author of a graphic novel, a novella, a children's book, the novel Since I Laid My Burden Down, and 100 Boyfriends, a collection of stories. The recipient of a 2018 Whiting Award in Fiction, he was named one of the thirty-two Black Male Writers of Our Time by T: The New York Times Style Magazine in 2018. Purnell is also the frontman for the band The Younger Lovers, a cofounder of the experimental dance group the Brontez Purnell Dance Company, the creator of the renowned cult zine Fag School, and the director of several short films, music videos, and the documentary Unstoppable Feat: The Dances of Ed Mock. Born in Triana, Alabama, he’s lived in Oakland, California, for more than a decade.  More...
Thu 5/04 8:30 PM Great American Music Hall [859 O'Farrell St SF]
Bill Frisell Residency - FOUR featuring Johnathan Blake, Gerald Clayton & Gregory Tardy  More...
Friday, May 5
Fri 5/05 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
Ben Goldberg - clarinet
Danny Lubin-Laden - trombone
Raffi Garabedian - tenor saxophone
Ben Davis - cello
Jordan Glenn - drums  More...
Fri 5/05 8:00 PM Old First Concerts [1751 Sacramento St. SF]
Friction Quartet

Tickets and more info  More...
Fri 5/05 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band at Felton Music Hall // Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a contemporary world music group from Burkina Faso, with a trademark fusion of Mandingue and afro-beat styles. The Mandingo Band are a hit machine, sculpting seven new tracks of near Beefheart/Magic Band dynamics, Fela inspired groovers dusted out in the Sahel zone, rather than the humidity and sweat of Lagos, creating one of the most original and propulsive musical statements to come from the contemporary West African cultural juggernaut. Their latest album Sonbonbela was released in 2022 on Sublime Frequencies.  More...
Saturday, May 6
Sat 5/06 4:00 PM St. Mark's Episcopal Church [600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA]
To Burst to Bloom celebrates spring, awakening, and the joy of vibrant life. Like a flower lifts towards the sun, the pieces in this concert embody life’s vitality, uplift, and resilience. Through works such as Joan Szymko’s “Stars in Your Bones,” Rollo Dilworth’s “Shine On Me,” Thomas Morley’s lilting “April is in My Mistress’ Face,” and Alejandro Yagüe’s beautiful contemporary work, “Historietas del Viento,” the Peninsula Women’s Chorus will sonify what it is to turn one’s face towards the sun. To Burst to Bloom closes PWC’s first two-year Composer-in-Residence cycle, showcasing Julie Herndon’s commissioned work, “Mouth,” which premiered at the New Music for Treble Voices Festival. This concert also marks the beginning of our time with our second Composer-in-Residence and guest artist, Theresa Wong, who will accompany the PWC on cello for Donald Patriquin’s heartwarming arrangement of the Czech folksong, “Ach! Synku, Synku,” as well as perform improvised interludes throughout the concert. Radiance, PWC’s chamber ensemble, will perform Wong’s exquisite composition “To Burst to Bloom.” The concert will close with Astor Piazzolla’s raucous “Libertango,” as we relish the contagious energy that is spring.  More...
Sat 5/06 6:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Improvisation Is the Key, hosted by Lewis Jordan
First Saturdays in May and June, May 6 • June 3

• Open Workshop and Playground in free improvisation
• Spontaneously Assembled Small Groups will collaborate
• Bring your instrument, your body, your poetry

Inviting musicians, poets, dancers to a non-hierarchical setting  More...
Sat 5/06 7:00 PM Paramount Theatre [2025 Broadway Oakland]
Pandora's Box
Music by Club Foot Orchestra with SF Conservatory of Music LIVE at the Paramount on Saturday, May 6!  More...
Sat 5/06 8:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Gabriel Zucker is a pianist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from New York, whose work combines maximalist compositions with the progressive improvisation of New York's creative music scene.

At the Center for New Music, Zucker presents a new duo with drummer Aaron Edgcomb, interspersing Zucker's evocative and complex compositions with improvised soundscapes.

gabrielzucker.com

aaronedgcomb.com  More...
Sat 5/06 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Nicholas Deyoe: R/S + Joshuah Maya Garcia: Derealization: Love, & Jealousy // R/S is a longform ambient guitar solo written for a custom-built double neck guitar. The instrument combines the properties of an electric guitar and a cello, opening windows for droning dark and resonant bowed fretless textures coexisting with guitar harmonics and melodies all transformed through an array of effect pedals. This piece is a series of constellations developing at different paces and interacting in new ways as they evolve.  More...
Sat 5/06 8:30 PM The Lab [2948 16th St SF]
Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet

San Francisco-based guitarist and composer Bill Orcutt presents his latest project, an all-electric Guitar Quartet performing the music from his 2022 LP “Music for Four Guitars,” an album which Pitchfork describes as “a rigidly structured quartet that weaves tiny rhythmic phrases into expansive tapestries, drawing on the tenets of early minimalism and New York guitar groups like Glenn Branca Ensemble.”  More...
Sunday, May 7
Sun 5/07 4:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
This concert marks the birth a the new duo: Sarah Grace Graves and Eda Er, both singers & composers interested in experimental storytelling  More...
Sun 5/07 7:00 PM Mosswood Sound Series [3630 Telegraph Ave enter 2nd door on 37th St Oakland]
duo B. / David Slusser + SAFA SHOKRAI

David Slusser and SAFA SHOKRAI present "Cinema," a game-piece score for improvisation.

duo B. (Lisa Mezzacappa, bass + JASON LEVIS, drums) preview/premiere "Incomplete, Open" (2023), a new work for improvising duo with network-based scoring system designed & programmed by TIM PERKIS.  More...
Sun 5/07 7:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation, non-hierarchical workshop in free improvisation)

The monthly series of improvisation research at Temescal Arts Center continues. Bring your instrument or come to listen. No advance notice needed — just show up. Small groups will be randomly assembled from submitted names immediately before each group plays. We try to keep transition time between groups at a minimum. Over by 10pm. Donations for the venue rental are encouraged.  More...
Sun 5/07 8:00 PM The Lab [2948 16th St SF]
The Shape of Minds to Come: John Duncan, Schneider TM, Scot Jenerik, Chandra Shukla, Thomas Dimuzio  More...
Monday, May 8
Mon 5/08 6:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Kumi Maxson will be joined by Jacob Felix Heule and Danishta Rivero for this week's collective improvisation space. This space caters to all levels of improvisational and musical experience (including none!), striving to create an accessible space for non-hierarchical participation and experimentation, exploring the liberatory potential of collective improvisation. Musicians are encouraged to bring their own instruments, however some will be provided for those who do not have their own.  More...
Mon 5/08 8:00 PM Little Hill Lounge [10753 San Pablo Ave El Cerrito]
A regular evening of instrumental improvisation with Miles Lassi, Skyway Man, Zekarias Thompson (plus special guest) featuring DJ Andy Cabic (of Vetiver)  More...
Thursday, May 11
Thu 5/11 7:30 PM CCRMA [660 Lomita Dr. Stanford]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
Mike Mulshine will stage and perform several original songs as part of one larger concert-length composition.  More...
Thu 5/11 7:30 PM Exploratorium [Pier 15 Embarcadero at Green St SF]
Stitching the Future with Clues by Allison Leigh Holt with Kit Young and Amma Ateria

A Co-presentation with The Exploratorium as part of After Dark: Thought and Action
Gallery 1, Kanbar Forum, The Exploratorium  More...
Thu 5/11 8:00 PM Palo Alto Art Center Auditorium [1313 Newell Road Palo Alto]
Earthwise welcomes Raffi Garabedian Octet

Raffi Garabedian Octet free concert of new music at Palo Alto Art Center  More...
Friday, May 12
Fri 5/12 5:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Beyond the Grave: Writing Ghosts // performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings

5/12, 5/13, 5/19 & 5/20 at 5pm at Evergreen Cemetery

A Ghost—geist, spirit—is a trace that is left over from a history. It lives through the collapse of vision and hallucination, of memory and invention, of the collective history of a site and of the subjective experiences and trauma of an individual. Through performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings, the four artist-ensembles engaged with Writing Ghosts explore what happens when a no-longer-present entity is written, fixed. These artists encompass musical practices dependent on writing, language, and phonography, written accounts of trauma, and a meditation on the physicality and ghostliness of Chinese script.  More...
Fri 5/12 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
David Boyce And Friends  More...
Fri 5/12 7:30 PM CCRMA [660 Lomita Dr. Stanford]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
Performing on the terpsichora pressure-sensitive floors, an electronic instrument controlled by whole-body movement, Iran Sanadzadeh performs from her upcoming debut album, "Ocean, Again". This performance uses the gestural vocabulary learned on the instrument to control a large number of sonic parameters with few controls. The sonic aesthetic, minimal in starting material, weaves dichotomies resulting from unintuitive mappings on the instrument to find new sound associations. This work wonders if between the embodied feeling of movement and sonic stasis, small actions and rapid change, new experiences of musical structure might be formed.

Pre-show talk with the artist at 6pm  More...
Fri 5/12 8:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Together, Sarah Grace Graves, Ron Heglin and Ric Louchard improvise delicate, emotive chamber music, filled with open spaces and some dense clusters. Sarah Grace uncovers surprising sounds in her explorations of voice and body, Ron speaks and sings in imagined languages, and Ric plays chromatic structures spaced widely to leave space for the singers. The music is liminal, intimate and generous.  More...
Saturday, May 13
Sat 5/13 2:00 PM All Saints' Episcopal Church [555 Waverley St, Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA]
To Burst to Bloom celebrates spring, awakening, and the joy of vibrant life. Like a flower lifts towards the sun, the pieces in this concert embody life’s vitality, uplift, and resilience. Through works such as Joan Szymko’s “Stars in Your Bones,” Rollo Dilworth’s “Shine On Me,” Thomas Morley’s lilting “April is in My Mistress’ Face,” and Alejandro Yagüe’s beautiful contemporary work, “Historietas del Viento,” the Peninsula Women’s Chorus will sonify what it is to turn one’s face towards the sun. To Burst to Bloom closes PWC’s first two-year Composer-in-Residence cycle, showcasing Julie Herndon’s commissioned work, “Mouth,” which premiered at the New Music for Treble Voices Festival. This concert also marks the beginning of our time with our second Composer-in-Residence and guest artist, Theresa Wong, who will accompany the PWC on cello for Donald Patriquin’s heartwarming arrangement of the Czech folksong, “Ach! Synku, Synku,” as well as perform improvised interludes throughout the concert. Radiance, PWC’s chamber ensemble, will perform Wong’s exquisite composition “To Burst to Bloom.” The concert will close with Astor Piazzolla’s raucous “Libertango,” as we relish the contagious energy that is spring.  More...
Sat 5/13 5:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Beyond the Grave: Writing Ghosts // performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings

5/12, 5/13, 5/19 & 5/20 at 5pm at Evergreen Cemetery
Performances by Ghost Ensemble, LuLing Osofsky, Tasting Menu, & Isola Tong

A Ghost—geist, spirit—is a trace that is left over from a history. It lives through the collapse of vision and hallucination, of memory and invention, of the collective history of a site and of the subjective experiences and trauma of an individual. Through performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings, the four artist-ensembles engaged with Writing Ghosts explore what happens when a no-longer-present entity is written, fixed. These artists encompass musical practices dependent on writing, language, and phonography, written accounts of trauma, and a meditation on the physicality and ghostliness of Chinese script.  More...
Sat 5/13 7:30 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery St. SF]
Matt Renzi Quartet  More...
Sat 5/13 8:00 PM Other Cinema [992 Valencia SF]
OTHER CINEMA - OPTRONICA: BECKER & 99 HOOKER  More...
Sunday, May 14
Sun 5/14 7:00 PM Mosswood Sound Series [3630 Telegraph Ave enter 2nd door on 37th St Oakland]
Clarinetist Matt Ingalls performs two iconic solo "Musique Concrète Instrumentale" compositions:
SALVATORE SCIARRINO - "Let Me Die Before I Wake" (1982)
HELMUT LACHENMANN - "Dal niente (Intérieur III)" (1970)

The concert alse features the OAKLAND REDUCTIONIST ORCHESTRA, a supergroup of local musicians with a predilection for lowercase/fricative/reductionist acoustic improvisation that often sounds more electronic than acoustic.  More...
Monday, May 15
Mon 5/15 7:00 PM Online [(YouTube)]
Streaming only:Click for stream  Click to make donation  
Live at Home Series, Episode 5: Rei Scampavia

A Talk Show - unraveling Bay Area creative and experimental music. Surrealist interviews and wild original music, featuring a cadre of top flight creative musicians.

Featuring special guest Rei Scampavia (keyboardist, vocalist, biologist). Special preview for Karl Evangelista's "Bukas" (May 27-28).  More...
Mon 5/15 7:30 PM Old First Concerts [1751 Sacramento St. SF]
Earplay  More...
Mon 5/15 8:00 PM The Chapel [777 Valencia St SF]
Black Editions & eremite records Present
An Evening with William Parker New Heart Trio

Tickets  More...
Tuesday, May 16
Tue 5/16 7:00 PM Make-Out Room [3225 22nd St SF]
Jazz at the Make-Out Room (formerly the Monday Make-Out) continues! A wily evening of cutting-edge jazz, free improvisation, and creative music.

Tuesday, May 16, 6pm doors/7pm show

7pm Andrew Jamieson Solo

7:45pm Saki Minamimoto Plays the Kenny Wheeler Songbook
(Ian Carey - trumpet, Mark Clifford - vibraphone, Safa Shokrai - bass, Jon Arkin - drums)

8:30pm Quartet
(Raffi Garabedian - sax, Ben Goldberg - clarinet, Ben Davis - cello, Danny Lubin-Laden - trombone)  More...
Thursday, May 18
Thu 5/18 7:00 PM St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church [1661 15th St, San Francisco, CA 94103]
New York’s Ghost Ensemble fosters groundbreaking music that blurs borders of genre, style, and scene, expanding perceptual horizons through shared immersive experience. Ghost Ensemble’s May 18 performance at St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in San Francisco, California presents new works commissioned for the 2022-23 season by composers Sky Macklay, Ben Richter, and Catherine Lamb.  More...
Thu 5/18 7:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Ami Dang + Beast Nest at Kuumbwa Jazz // The already evocative vocal harmonizations transmit a gut-wrenching mixture of mourning and hope  More...
Thu 5/18 7:30 PM CCRMA [660 Lomita Dr. Stanford]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
Hassan Estakhrian presents his album "Butterflies in Disguise".  More...
Friday, May 19
Fri 5/19 5:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Beyond the Grave: Writing Ghosts // performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings

5/12, 5/13, 5/19 & 5/20 at 5pm at Evergreen Cemetery
Performances by Ghost Ensemble, LuLing Osofsky, Tasting Menu, & Isola Tong

A Ghost—geist, spirit—is a trace that is left over from a history. It lives through the collapse of vision and hallucination, of memory and invention, of the collective history of a site and of the subjective experiences and trauma of an individual. Through performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings, the four artist-ensembles engaged with Writing Ghosts explore what happens when a no-longer-present entity is written, fixed. These artists encompass musical practices dependent on writing, language, and phonography, written accounts of trauma, and a meditation on the physicality and ghostliness of Chinese script.  More...
Fri 5/19 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
David Boyce And Friends  More...
Fri 5/19 7:00 PM Manilatown Heritage Center [868 Kearny St SF]
An interdisciplinary work featuring poetry, dance, and music in dialogue with the public art piece Comfort Women Column of Strength Memorial in St. Mary’s Square in San Francisco Chinatown.  More...
Fri 5/19 8:00 PM Old First Concerts [1751 Sacramento St. SF]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  Click to make donation  
New Arts Collaboration presents a multimedia piano concert featuring pianist Ting Luo, collaborating with living composers to present a total of eight piano pieces, which includes four world premiere multimedia piano works by emerging composers. This innovative and experimental piano concert will feature new works by Xuesi Xu, Dylan Findley, Sarah Wald and Cole Reyes, performed by pianist Ting Luo alongside multimedia projections and electronic sounds.  More...
Fri 5/19 8:00 PM New Mission Yoga [2415 Mission St. San Francisco, CA]
Thomas Dimuzio
Seymour Glass/Bryan Day
Tanuki Spidercat
Psychobatonikon  More...
Fri 5/19 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Ghost Ensemble + Tasting Menu at Wind River // Ghost Ensemble performs Sky Macklay & Ben Richter

Ghost Ensemble joins us in Santa Cruz for a two-night residency of new work, with opening performances by their close friends, colleagues, and ensemble members. On the two-night culmination of their West Coast tour, the ensemble performs new work by Catherine Lamb, Ben Richter, and Sky Macklay.  More...
Saturday, May 20
Sat 5/20 2:00 PM St. Mary’s Square [San Francisco Chinatown]
An interdisciplinary work featuring poetry, dance, and music in dialogue with the public art piece Comfort Women Column of Strength Memorial in St. Mary’s Square in San Francisco Chinatown.  More...
Sat 5/20 5:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Beyond the Grave: Writing Ghosts // performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings

5/12, 5/13, 5/19 & 5/20 at 5pm at Evergreen Cemetery
Performances by Ghost Ensemble, LuLing Osofsky, Tasting Menu, & Isola Tong

A Ghost—geist, spirit—is a trace that is left over from a history. It lives through the collapse of vision and hallucination, of memory and invention, of the collective history of a site and of the subjective experiences and trauma of an individual. Through performances evoking the personal and the sociological, the historical and ever-present hauntings, the four artist-ensembles engaged with Writing Ghosts explore what happens when a no-longer-present entity is written, fixed. These artists encompass musical practices dependent on writing, language, and phonography, written accounts of trauma, and a meditation on the physicality and ghostliness of Chinese script.  More...
Sat 5/20 7:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Electronic musicians r beny and George Hurd each perform sets of deeply emotional and personal ambient music, filled with towering walls of harmony, entrancing melody, and immersive visuals. r beny's mastery of modular synths draws inspiration from the ineffable wonder of nature, while Hurd delves into densely layered electro-acoustic sounds. Filled with antique synths and sampled classical instruments, he "twists the synthetic, electronic material like a bundle of lace" (SF Classical Voice) to explore the elusive halls of memory.  More...
Sat 5/20 8:00 PM Piedmont Piano Company [1728 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA 94612]
Wil Blades & Scott Amendola  More...
Sat 5/20 8:00 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Noel Kennon (Seattle) in an improvised first meeting with locals Danishta Rivero, Wilson Shook, Matt Ingalls, Kevin Corcoran, Jacob Felix Heule

Aine E. Nakamura & Adrian Montufar
Aine and Adrian investigate the voice and the body through collaborative performances of sound and movement. By embracing the body as a site of intuition, they enact practices of collective care, listening and sounding with and beyond the body, and imagining future possibilities of a communal language.

Foot SOS (Theresa Currie, Dianne Lynn, Angela Roberts)  More...
Sat 5/20 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Ghost Ensemble + Laura Cecilia at Wind River // Ghost Ensemble performs Catherine Lamb

Ghost Ensemble joins us in Santa Cruz for a two-night residency of new work, with opening performances by their close friends, colleagues, and ensemble members. On the two-night culmination of their West Coast tour, the ensemble performs new work by Catherine Lamb, Ben Richter, and Sky Macklay.  More...
Sunday, May 21
Sun 5/21 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th Street SF]
set one Phillip Greenlief solo (tenor saxophone)

set two A bi-coastal trio comprising Dan Clucas (cornet, moxeño, violin), Kyle Motl (double bass), and Nathan Hubbard (drums, percussion). Clucas/Motl/Hubbard have been recognized for their "chemistry deriv[ing] from a fine balance of concord and difference" (Bill Meyer) resulting in "one force of nature, vibrating together" (Bruce Gallanter). Their record, Daydream and Halting (FMR, 2022) was featured on a number of best-of lists across the globe. https://kylemotl.bandcamp.com/album/daydream-and-halting  More...
Sun 5/21 7:00 PM Mosswood Sound Series [3630 Telegraph Ave enter 2nd door on 37th St Oakland]
Pianist HADLEY MCCARROLL performs several selections from MATTHEW WELCH'S piano music, including many West Coast premieres from his "12 Etudes for Piano" (2015). Concluding is "Orion" (1998), an early piece of Matthew’s in response to Morton Feldman‘s style.

San Francisco’s beloved women’s chamber music ensemble BERNAL HILL PLAYERS performs “Forces of Nature”, a wildly varied program referencing Italian volcanoes, Brazilian rainforests, Japanese seas, English forests, and Californian canyons. The program features three newly composed pieces by Bay Area composers Davide Verotta, Jennifer Peringer, and Sarah Stiles, and also includes nature-themed pieces by Pauline Oliveros, Sally Davies and Toru Takemitsu.  More...
Sun 5/21 7:30 PM SIMM Series @ The Musicians Union Hall [116 9th St @ Mission SF]
Outsound Presents SIMM Series - Nine Dog Dick, Sharkiface  More...
Sun 5/21 7:30 PM Mitchell Park Community Center [3700 Middlefield Road Palo Alto]
Earthwise welcomes Amendola Vs. Blades, JoVia Armstrong Destiny Muhammad  More...
Monday, May 22
Mon 5/22 6:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Kumi Maxson will be joined by Theresa Wong for this week's collective improvisation space. This space caters to all levels of improvisational and musical experience (including none!), striving to create an accessible space for non-hierarchical participation and experimentation, exploring the liberatory potential of collective improvisation. This week's workshop is QTPOC space.  More...
Mon 5/22 7:00 PM Online [(YouTube)]
Streaming only:Click for stream  
Live at Home Series, Episode 6: Andrew Cyrille

A Talk Show - unraveling Bay Area creative and experimental music. Surrealist interviews and wild original music, featuring a cadre of top flight creative musicians. Hosted by Grex.

Featuring special guest Andrew Cyrille (legendary drummer of the Cecil Taylor Unit, Dialogue of the Drums, etc.). Special preview for Karl Evangelista's "Bukas" (May 27-28). New album "Ngayon" releases May 26 on Astral Spirits.  More...
Thursday, May 25
Thu 5/25 8:00 PM Noisebridge Hackerspace [272 Capp St SF]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
Resident is a monthly electronic audiovisual open mic event started in 2017. Resident is casual and cool, and the community you'll find is like no other for aspiring electronic musicians in the Bay. No judgments, no bullshit, just positive support and openness to new ideas.

Now in person at Noisebridge!! https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Resident_Electronic_Music

Setup for performers starts at 7pm, show starts at 8 pm.  More...
Friday, May 26
Fri 5/26 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
David Boyce and Friends  More...
Saturday, May 27
Sat 5/27 2:30 PM San Francisco Public Library, Richmond Branch [351 9th Ave. San Francisco, CA 94118]
Free screening of the DVD of contemporary classical composer Kaija Saariaho's opera "L'Amour de loin" (2000).  More...
Sat 5/27 7:00 PM Spruce Street Concerts [send email to harry@fullplatemedia.com]
Free improvisation with cellist, vocalist & composer Theresa Wong, Kanoko Nishi-Smith and Haruki Fujii . This is a house concert in the Berkeley hills with limited seating. Theresa Wong performs on cello, electric guitar and voice; Kanoko Nishi-Smith on bass koto and Haruki Fujii on percussion.  More...
Sat 5/27 7:30 PM The Lab [2948 16th St SF]
Karl Evangelista's "Bukas" with Special Guest Andrew Cyrille
(Evening Performance, FREE ADMISSION)

with Karl Evangelista (guitar), Lewis Jordan (saxophone), Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), Rei Scampavia (keys), Francis Wong (saxophone), with Special Guest Andrew Cyrille (drums)

Filipino-American guitarist/composer Karl Evangelista presents Bukas (Tagalog for "Tomorrow"), a brand-new work that explores the intersection between intergenerational resistance and revolutionary music.

Bukas combines prerecorded interviews, documenting the firsthand accounts of veteran artists with histories in musical innovation, with cutting-edge sounds drawn from the realms of free jazz, electronic music, and noise. In doing so, this composition serves to both educate audiences on the stories of radical Black and Asian artists and thrust the narrative of creative music into the realm of tomorrow.

EVENT WEBSITE  More...
Sat 5/27 8:00 PM Berkeley Finnsh Hall [1970 Chestnut St. Berkeley]
Click to make donation  
The Finnish Heritage Society & Outsound co-present Rent Romus' Life's Blood Ensemble performing the complete Itkuja Suite, invocations on lament, a deep and rich exploration of the healing music of Finnish Nordic lament and life affirming elements of jazz.

Performing Artists:
Rent Romus - composition, alto & soprano saxophones, flutes, kantele, bells; Heikki "Mike" Koskinen - composition, tenor recorder, E-trumpet, flutes, kantele; Joshua Marshall - tenor saxophone tenor & soprano saxophones, flute; Erika Oba - flute, piccolo Ann McChesney-Young – accordion; Mark Clifford – vibraphone; ; Safa Shokrai - double bass; Cory Combs - double bass; Max Judelson - cello; Eli Knowles - drums, percussion

Crafted by Finnish-American Rent Romus and award winning Finnish composer Heikki Koskinen, this full suite will be performed by the Life’s Blood Ensemble as part of the FHS monthly Cultural Performance series at the Berkeley Finnish Hall on Chestnut Street. This full weekend of performances celebrate the release of the full album from Bay area label Edgetone Records.  More...
Sunday, May 28
Sun 5/28 3:00 PM Oaktown Jazz Workshops [55 Washington St, Oakland, CA 94607]
Karl Evangelista's "Bukas" with Special Guest Andrew Cyrille
(Matinee Performance, FREE ADMISSION)

with Karl Evangelista (guitar), Lewis Jordan (saxophone), Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), Rei Scampavia (keys), Francis Wong (saxophone), with Special Guest Andrew Cyrille (drums)

Filipino-American guitarist/composer Karl Evangelista presents Bukas (Tagalog for "Tomorrow"), a brand-new work that explores the intersection between intergenerational resistance and revolutionary music.

Bukas combines prerecorded interviews, documenting the firsthand accounts of veteran artists with histories in musical innovation, with cutting-edge sounds drawn from the realms of free jazz, electronic music, and noise. In doing so, this composition serves to both educate audiences on the stories of radical Black and Asian artists and thrust the narrative of creative music into the realm of tomorrow.

2:30pm Doors/3pm Music
EVENT WEBSITE  More...
Sun 5/28 4:00 PM 924 Gilman [924 Gilman St, Berkeley CA]
Say Bok Gwai - Fast, Weird, and Freaky Fest  More...
Sun 5/28 4:00 PM Berkeley Finnsh Hall [1970 Chestnut St. Berkeley]
Click to make donation  
The Finnish Heritage Society & Outsound co-present Rent Romus' Life's Blood Ensemble performing the complete Itkuja Suite, invocations on lament, a deep and rich exploration of the healing music of Finnish Nordic lament and life affirming elements of jazz. (Matinee)

Performing Artists:
Rent Romus - composition, alto & soprano saxophones, flutes, kantele, bells; Heikki "Mike" Koskinen - composition, tenor recorder, E-trumpet, flutes, kantele; Joshua Marshall - tenor saxophone tenor & soprano saxophones, flute; Erika Oba - flute, piccolo Ann McChesney-Young – accordion; Mark Clifford – vibraphone; ; Safa Shokrai - double bass; Cory Combs - double bass; Max Judelson - cello; Eli Knowles - drums, percussion

Crafted by Finnish-American Rent Romus and award winning Finnish composer Heikki Koskinen, this full suite will be performed by the Life’s Blood Ensemble as part of the FHS monthly Cultural Performance series at the Berkeley Finnish Hall on Chestnut Street. This full weekend of performances celebrate the release of the full album from Bay area label Edgetone Records.  More...
Sun 5/28 5:30 PM Cato's Ale House [3891 Piedmont Ave Oakland]
The Miniwatt String Trio  More...
Sun 5/28 7:00 PM Mosswood Sound Series [3630 Telegraph Ave enter 2nd door on 37th St Oakland]
Ron Heglin + RIC LOUCHARD
SARAH GRACE GRAVES + EDA ER
CRACKING THE SURFACE (David Michalak + Scott R. Looney + Thomas Dimuzio)  More...
Thursday, June 1
Thu 6/01 6:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
The Maker Music Festival celebrates the makers of innovative, experimental and just plain unusual musical instruments  More...
Thu 6/01 7:30 PM CCRMA [660 Lomita Dr. Stanford]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
CCRMA composer, performer, lecturer, and computer systems administrator Fernando Lopez-Lezcano returns with more sounds Of Dinosaurs and Other Creatures (from the Dinosaur Songbook).  More...
Friday, June 2
Fri 6/02 6:00 PM Piedmont Center for the Arts [801 Magnolia Avenue Piedmont, CA 94611]
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents SOUNDS DELICIOUS: STARRY NIGHT, a free concert preview event with discussion and reception. Meet one of the composers and our musicians, hear a preview of our upcoming world premiere, and enjoy a glass of wine! RSVP on Eventbrite.

RSVP required. Reserve your spot at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-composer-josiah-catalan-preview-performance-talk-tickets-636056420877  More...
Fri 6/02 6:30 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Strings Beyond Borders is a unique, multi-genre musical fiesta, bringing to audiences an immersive and irresistible blend of high energy, soulful Indian, Jazz and Spanish music. Get ready to witness a power-packed performance combining technical brilliance, mellifluous melodies, out-of-the-box improvisation and ultimately a wholesome experience of Music at its best!  More...
Fri 6/02 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th Street San Francisco, walking distance from 24th street BART]
QUARTET - Jessica Ackerley (guitar), Phillip Greenlief (woodwinds), Danishta Rivero-Castro (voice, electronics) and Jacob Felix Heule (percussion) will perform two sets of improvised music. This concert will be recorded for an upcoming release.  More...
Fri 6/02 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Kumi Maxson: Exploring the Liberatory Potential of Community through Collective Improvisation // Indexical Micro-Residency Awardee facilitates two evenings of long-form improvisations  More...
Saturday, June 3
Sat 6/03 1:30 PM Berkeley Civic Center Park [2151 Martin Luther King Jr Way Berkeley, CA 94704]
Vitamin Em has composed new and original music and will perform it for those served by the Dorothy Day House homeless shelter and Bay Area communities. These new musical works will be performed at a free public concert and fundraiser on Saturday, June 3 at 1:30pm at the Berkeley Civic Center Park at 2151 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley. The family friendly afternoon-long event will take place across from the Dorothy Day House, next to the Farmer’s Market, and will include speakers and community leaders. The Dorothy Day House Food Truck will be selling BBQ lunches made in their kitchen and the organization will hold a drive for men’s t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers.  More...
Sat 6/03 7:30 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery St. SF]
Erik Jekabson Quintet  More...
Sat 6/03 7:30 PM Adobe Books [3130 24th St SF]
Zachary Watkins (solo electronics) / Ben Goldberg (clarinet) + Ben Davis (cello) + Danny Lubin-Laden (trombone) + Raffi Garabedian (saxophone) / Ivy Woods (bass) + Wylie Buzzard (movement)  More...
Sat 6/03 8:00 PM Adobe Books [3130 24th St SF]
WAX LINE & KEEPER
Raffi Garabedian - tenor saxophone
Danny Lubin-Laden - trombone
Ben Davis - cello
Ben Goldberg - clarinet  More...
Sat 6/03 8:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Kumi Maxson: Exploring the Liberatory Potential of Community through Collective Improvisation // Indexical Micro-Residency Awardee facilitates two evenings of long-form improvisations  More...
Sunday, June 4
Sun 6/04 4:00 PM Dresher Ensemble Studio [2201 Poplar St Oakland]
West Oakland Sessions: Beth Schenck Quintet  More...
Sun 6/04 7:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation, non-hierarchical workshop in free improvisation)

The monthly series of improvisation research at Temescal Arts Center continues. Bring your instrument or come to listen. No advance notice needed — just show up. Small groups will be randomly assembled from submitted names immediately before each group plays. We try to keep transition time between groups at a minimum. Over by 10pm. Donations for the venue rental are encouraged.  More...
Sun 6/04 7:30 PM Piedmont Center for the Arts [801 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611]
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents Starry Night, an evocative chamber music concert about dreams and moonlit walks and talks. Music by Nina Shekhar, Martin Rokeach, Arnold Schoenberg, and Josiah Catalan. Starring flutist Stacey Pelinka!  More...
Monday, June 5
Mon 6/05 7:30 PM San Francisco Conservatory of Music [50 Oak Street San Francisco, CA 94102]
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents Starry Night, an evocative chamber music concert about dreams and moonlit walks and talks. Music by Nina Shekhar, Martin Rokeach, Arnold Schoenberg, and Josiah Catalan. Starring flutist Stacey Pelinka!  More...
Thursday, June 8
Thu 6/08 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
Musical Medicina Lecture Series: Sun Ra and the moog synth (presented by David Boyce)  More...
Thu 6/08 7:30 PM Brava Studio [2781 24th Street San Francisco, CA 94110]
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents KALEIDOSCOPE! Jörg Widmann: Duos for Violin and Cello. Part of the San Francisco International Arts Festival.  More...
Thu 6/08 8:00 PM Peacock Lounge [552 Haight Street]
Voicehandler (Danishta Rivero and Jacob Felix Heule) Foreign/Domestic (Zachary James Watkins & John Diaz), Analogous (Silvia Matheus &Thomas Miley), Dovetail (Raub Roy & Diane Eveland)
Thurs June 8 8pm-11pm Peacock Lounge, 552 Haight, SF
All-ages, $5-$15 no one turned away for lack of funds.
Please rapid-test day of show, keep each other healthy!  More...
Friday, June 9
Fri 6/09 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
David Boyce and Friends  More...
Fri 6/09 9:00 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery Street, walking distance from Glen Park BART SF]
Streaming and in-person:Click for stream  
GLP TRIO at Bird and Beckett Books - Phillip Greenlief, Steuart Liebig, Garth Powell  More...