SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES PRESENTS PIVOT

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1 37 TH SEASON FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 Contact: Nancy Bertossa (415) or SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES PRESENTS PIVOT NEW ADVENTURES IN THE PERFORMING ARTS MAHAN ESFAHANI, HARPSICHORD SAT, OCT 8, 2016, 8:30PM STRAND THEATER, Rembe Stage Time Present & Time Past Works by Scarlatti, Saariaho, Reich, Harrison + more Post-performance Demo/Q & A with Mahan Esfahani 9:45pm MENG SU, GUITAR SUN, OCT 9, 2016, 2:00PM STRAND THEATER, Rembe Stage 72 Transformations Works by Bach, John Williams, Sergio Assad World Premiere + more Post-performance Demo/Q&A with Meng Su 3:15pm pivot.sfperformances.org SAN FRANCISCO, CA September 21, 2016 San Francisco Performances (SFP) presents its first PIVOT performances of the season with two young artists who are breathing new life into ancient instruments. On Saturday, Oct 8 at 8:30pm,Strand Theater, Rembe Stage PIVOT presents the SF debut of harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, and on Sunday, Oct 9 at 2:00pm,Strand Theater, Rembe Stage PIVOT presents virtuoso guitarist (and SFP s former resident artist) Meng Su. We ve targeted this PIVOT series to the culturally curious -- arts lovers who are looking for something a little different, or who are willing to explore the boundaries of more familiar territory, remarks SFP president Melanie Smith. The series begins with Mahan Esfahani, an Iranian-American harpsichordist who challenges many preconceptions about how to and what to play on that instrument, and guitarist Meng Su, who also explores the range and history of the classical guitar. We d like these

2 concerts, and others coming up in our PIVOT series later this season, to transform ideas about classical music and help audiences transcend the ordinary and experience the unexpected. MAHAN ESFAHANI Sat, Oct 8, 8:30pm Strand Theater Time Present & Time Past Works by Scarlatti, Saariaho, Reich, Harrison + more Post-performance Demo/Q & A with Mahan Esfahani 9:45pm Mahan Esfahani studied musicology and history at Stanford University, and is now based in Prague. His one-man campaign to prove the continuing relevance of an instrument often seen as a polite and delicate antique has elicited outsized responses: he nearly caused a riot in Germany with a performance of the electronic work Piano Phase by minimalist master Steve Reich. His program Time Present & Time Past pairs baroque with minimalism music and explores the relationship between the music written 300 years apart, emphasizing their similarities by playing all the pieces on period instruments a feat which has never been done before with the Reich piece, and his recently released album by the same name, is the first harpsichord album recorded by the Deutsche Grammophon label in over 30 years! The full program for the evening will be: William Byrd: Pavan and Galliard "The Passing-Measures" (Nevell MS, 1591) Kaija Saariaho: Le Jardin Secret II (1987) Toru Takemitsu: Rain Dreaming (1986) J.S. Bach: Toccata in C, BWV 911 Domenico Scarlatti: Three Sonatas Lou Harrison: Six Sonatas (1943) W.F. Bach: Sonata in D, F3 (1745) Steve Reich: Piano Phase (1968) The program will be minutes long, without intermission. A post-performance demonstration and Q&A with Mahan Esfahani will follow at 9:45pm. Youtube videos: Time Present & Time Past trailer: First harpsichord album released in over 30 years: ABOUT MAHAN ESFAHANI Since making his London debut in 2009, Mahan Esfahani has ushered the harpsichord into the mainstream of concert life performing in leading venues around the globe such as the Tonhalle in Zurich, Cologne Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, and Berlin Konzerthaus, and London's Wigmore Hall, where over the next five seasons he explores Bach s works for harpsichord beginning with the Goldberg Variations in December Esfahani was born in Tehran in 1984, and emigrated to Washington, D.C. four years later. He studied musicology and history at Stanford University, and completed his formation as a harpsichordist with the celebrated Zuzana Růžičková in Prague, where he now resides. Mahan has achieved several firsts for a harpsichordist, just some of which include being a BBC New Generation Artist from , a Borletti-Buitoni Trust prizewinner, being shortlisted both for the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist of the Year and Gramophone Artist of the Year two years in a row, and performing the first harpsichord recital in the history of the BBC Proms in 2011.

3 Following acclaimed appearances last season with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, in the season Esfahani becomes the Baroque Conversations Artistic Partner with LACO for the next three seasons. He will then give recitals at Duke University, the McCarter Theater in Princeton, the Isabel Bader Center in Kingston, Ontario, and New York s 92nd Street Y, and joins Montreal s Les Violons du Roy for concerti by Bach and Gorecki. Following two successful albums for Hyperion Records, garnering a 2014 Gramophone Award and BBC Music Magazine s Newcomer of the Year, Esfahani signed as an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon. His recent recording, Bach: Goldberg Variations, was released by DG in August MENG SU Sun, Oct 9, 2:00pm Strand Theater 72 Transformations Works by Bach, John Williams, Sergio Assad World Premiere + more Post-performance Demo/Q&A with Meng Su 3:15pm Virtuoso guitarist Meng Su s program will trace the transformations of the guitar one of the oldest and most adaptable of instruments from the classical traditions of Bach, to the soaring lyricism of American film music in John Williams, to a new piece evoking the synthesized sounds and driving pulse of EDM (electronic dance music), to a world premiere of a work by Brazilian master Sergio Assad inspired by the Chinese tale of the Monkey King and his supernatural powers of 72 transformations. The first female winner in 2015 of the prestigious Christopher Parkening Competition, Su is also familiar to San Francisco as one-half of the Beijing Guitar Duo. Her program mirrors the global travels and ever-changing styles that the guitar has traversed, and Su will demonstrate in full the guitar's special world of sound. "In a capsule, I would say she is one of the greatest talents in the world right now," her mentor and guitar great Manuel Barrueco says in a recent Baltimore Sun profile of Meng Su. "She has fantastic technique, a great heart, and she's really smart. Musicians can be like wines. Some you have to drink soon because they are not going to last. She will continue to develop. She is going to be around for a long time." Born in Qingdao, China, Su studied guitar and chamber music performance at the Peabody Conservatory. This year, she starts two years of further studies for an Artist's Diploma, which Barrueco calls "the most prestigious degree at the school." In between studying, Su also teaches at St. Mary's College of Maryland. This past summer, Meng Su made her Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut. The season will find her giving a solo recital at the Baltimore Museum of Art in January, and in March a return to SF Performances with her duo partner Yameng Wang and flutist Marina Piccinini for a program of Bach, Assad and Piazzolla. The program for the afternoon will be: BACH: Lute Suite No.4 in E major, BWV1006a (selections) CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO: Sonata Omaggio a Boccherini Op. 77 JOHN WILLIAMS: Rounds SERGIO ASSAD: Sun Wukong s Toccata (World Premiere) SCOTT LEE: To Build a House Meng Su YouTube video: ABOUT MENG SU Meng Su has performed throughout Europe, Asia and United States giving solo, duo, trio, and quartet concerts. She has collaborated with various orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and the Knights Chamber Orchestra. She gave her Carnegie Hall debut with her duo partner Yameng Wang in the Beijing Guitar Duo in 2010, which launched the duo s international concert career. This season will take them to countries such as Spain,

4 Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland, Serbia, China and the United States. Meng Su has also toured extensively with her mentor Manuel Barrueco performing in trio in Europe and United States. Meng Su s performances and recordings have impressed the public with an ability and artistry that exceeds her years. Her debut duo CD Maracaípe, received a Latin-GRAMMY nomination for the titled piece, which was dedicated to the Beijing Guitar Duo by renowned guitarist/composer Sergio Assad. Their second CD, Bach to Tan Dun, has been widely noted for the worldpremiere recording of Tan Dun s Eight Memories in Watercolor, specially arranged for the duo. A recording in trio, China West, with Maestro Barrueco was released in May 2014 to critical acclaim. Born in Qingdao, China, Meng Su began studying the guitar at the age of five. She showed her talents from an early age and won first-prize in numerous international competitions, including the 5th Vienna Youth Guitar Competition, the 48th Tokyo International Guitar Competition, the 1st Christopher Parkening Young Guitarist Competition and the 2nd Iserlohn International Guitar Competition in Germany. In 2006, Meng Su came to the United States to study with the world-renowned guitarist Maestro Manuel Barrueco. She obtained her Performer s Certificate, Graduate Performance Diplomas in both guitar and chamber music, and Masters in Music from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, where she begins her Artist Diploma degree studies this fall Both PIVOT programs will be minutes long, without intermission. A post-performance demonstration and Q&A after each of the performances with take place with the artist. Tickets for all PIVOT performances are $25 /General Admission and are available at pivot.sfperformances.org or Tickets can also be purchased at the door as available. About San Francisco Performances: San Francisco Performances (SFP) is recognized as one of the leading presenters in the world. Founded by Ruth A. Felt in 1979 with a season of seven concerts, the organization is now in its 37 th season under the artistic direction of its president, Melanie Smith. SFP proudly features more than 60 mainstage performances of chamber music, recitals, contemporary dance, guitar, vocal, and jazz in a variety of venues in San Francisco including Herbst Theatre, Davies Symphony Hall, YBCA Theater, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, SFJAZZ Center, the Strand Theater and St. John s Presbyterian Church (Berkeley). The organization also presents two smaller series; one held at the Hotel Rex in Union Square called SALONS and the other held in varying venues throughout San Francisco, called PIVOT. Through the years, SFP has presented more than 100 premieres and San Francisco debuts, introducing such acclaimed artists in recital as composer/pianist Thomas Adès, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, pianist Evgeny Kissin, and soprano Dawn Upshaw as well as presenting single choreographer-led international dance companies such as Ohad Naharin s Batsheva Dance Company from Israel and Company Wayne McGregor from England. Through successful partnerships with artists, Bay Area schools and community organizations, SFP has also established one of the most recognized and respected performing arts education programs in the country. Anchored by the artist residency program that brings artists into classrooms and community workshops, the arts education projects help expose new audiences, young and old, to the great performers of our time. SFP s outreach promotes active engagement with the performing arts, deepening the experience while opening events to diverse audiences. CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: (Please include our name and the name of the series as written below along with the PIVOT-specific website address--many thanks!)

5 SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES PRESENTS: PIVOT MAHAN ESFAHANI, harpsichord WHEN: Saturday, October 8, 2016, 8:30PM PROGRAM: Time Present & Time Past, with works by Scarlatti, Saariaho, Reich, Harrison, Takemitsu, Bach and Byrd WHERE: Strand Theater, Rembe Stage, 1127 Market Street (Between 7 th and 8 th Streets), San Francisco TICKETS: $25 General Admission CONTACT: (415) ; pivot.sfperformances.org SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES PRESENTS: PIVOT MENG SU, guitar WHEN: Sunday, October 9, 2016, 2:00PM PROGRAM: 72 Transformations with works by Bach, John Williams, Sergio Assad [World Premiere] + more WHERE: Strand Theater, Rembe Stage, 1127 Market Street (Between 7 th and 8 th Streets), San Francisco TICKETS: $25 General Admission CONTACT: (415) ; pivot.sfperformances.org For images, contact Nancy Bertossa at nancy@sfperformances.org or visit sfperformances.org/performances/1617/pivot.html # # #