sfperformances.org PIVOT 1

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1 sfperformances.org PIVOT 1

2 presents PIVOT January 23 27, 2018 A.C.T. s Strand Theater Launched in 2016, PIVOT is a new San Francisco Performances series created for adventurous audiences interested in truly unique arts experiences. Driven by a philosophy of innovation, creativity and artistic excellence that pushes the boundaries of the traditional concert experience, PIVOT offers exciting performances and creative exchanges between artists and audiences in welcoming, informal and intimate settings. This season, in an intensive four day exploration, PIVOT celebrates creator-performers on the American artistic edge. The journey begins with L.A. Dance Project, which burst on the dance scene in 2012 and has been turning heads with its fresh, contemporary vision of dance and stylistically diverse repertory. Then Bay Area pianist and contemporary music specialist Sarah Cahill will lead a celebration of visionary California composer Lou Harrison s 100th birthday, partnering with the Alexander String Quartet and William Winant Percussion Group. Palo Alto-native, composer/pianist Timo Andres brings a program inspired by visual patterns, with works by fellow new-generation American composers Caroline Shaw, Christopher Cerrone, and Eric Shanfield. Finally, visionary Bay Area choreographer and director Joe Goode and dancers will provide a glimpse of a new work in progress, based on the idea of storytelling through song. PIVOT: New Adventures in Performing Arts is supported by The Wallace Foundation 2 PIVOT sfperformances.org

3 Since 1979, SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES has been a pioneer in the Bay Area by introducing hundreds of classical music, jazz, and contemporary dance artists to audiences. With a strong artistic vision and adventurous programming, San Francisco Performances presents the world s finest in music and dance, connecting audiences with artists in intimate settings. ART/PHOTO CREDITS: COVER: PIVOT Illustration: R. Black PAGE 6: L.A. Dance Project: Squarespace PAGE 9: Lou Harrison: David Harsany PAGE 12: Timo Andres: Jonathan Walter PAGE 15: Joe Goode Performance Group: RJ Muna sfperformances.org PIVOT 3

4 SARAH CAHILL Piano KATE STENBERG Violin ALEXANDER STRING QUARTET Zakarias Grafilo, violin Paul Yarbrough, viola Frederick Lifsitz, violin Sandy Wilson, cello WILLIAM WINANT PERCUSSION GROUP Lula Asplund, Ed Garcia, Antonio Gennaro, Brendan Glasson, Zachary Hejny, Lucas Helland, Fiona Jones, Mike Jones, Jon Myers, Joel Nelson, Breonna Taylor, Imogen Teasley-Vlautin, Lucca Troutman, William Winant (director) and Marc Zollinger Wednesday, January 24, :30pm LOU A Summerfield Set (1988) HARRISON Sarah Cahill, piano Music for Violin with Various Instruments (1967) Zakarias Grafilo, violin; William Winant Percussion Group; Sophia Shen, pipa; Sarah Cahill, organ String Quartet Set (1978) Alexander String Quartet Song of Quetzalcoatl (1941) William Winant Percussion Group Threnody for Carlos Chavez (1978) Paul Yarbrough, viola William Winant Percussion Group Varied Trio (1986) Sarah Cahill, piano; Kate Stenberg, violin William Winant, percussion Please join us after the performance for a brief Q&A with the artists 4 PIVOT sfperformances.org

5 Lou Harrison ARTIST STATEMENT: SARAH CAHILL Lou Harrison was a musical visionary who is just now starting to be globally recognized for his unabashedly beautiful lyrical works. He was ahead of his time as a composer, as an environmentalist, and as an activist for gay rights and for peace. He had strong Bay Area roots, having grown up here listening to Chinese opera, jazz, and Indonesian, Native American, and Mexican music, and he enjoyed long and enduring friendships with many Bay Area musicians and composers. We ve put together a program spanning five decades and embracing some of Lou s most exhilarating and gorgeous works. It s very exciting to be part of this adventurous and intimate PIVOT festival presented by San Francisco Performances, and to be working with Willie Winant, who was one of Lou Harrison s closest collaborators, and the brilliant Alexander String Quartet and Kate Stenberg, to celebrate the centennial of the beloved composer Lou Harrison. His wonderful motto is something we can all live by: Cherish, Conserve, Consider, Create. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Sarah Cahill, recently called 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 recently performed Lou Harrison s music at the Cleveland Music of Art, Boston ICA, Le Poisson Rouge, the Mendocino Music Festival, in Fukuoka, Japan and in Hawaii, Florida, and Los Angeles. Composers who have dedicated works to her include John Adams, Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveros, Frederic Rzewski, and Ingram Marshall. Upcom- sfperformances.org PIVOT 5

6 ing concerts include the Interlochen Arts Festival, New Music Miami, and Messaien s Vingt Regards with Eric Zivian and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. Her radio show, Revolutions Per Minute, can be heard every Sunday evening on KALW, 91.7 FM. For more information about Sarah visit: sarahcahill.com. Described as highly virtuosic and deeply communicative full of character and presence (NewMusicBox) Kate Stenberg s violin playing has led to performances worldwide and the release dozens of CDs on New World Records, Sono Luminous, Other Minds, Newport Classics, Decca Records, Naxos and New Albion labels. She enjoys a diverse, unconventional career based in the Bay Area, and is particularly deeply committed to new concert music. Stenberg has commissioned, recorded and performed hundreds of world premieres by living composers. Her CD Scenes from a New Music Séance (with pianist Eva-Maria Zimmermann) has received special notice and features groundbreaking, innovative works by Pelle Gudmundsen Holmgreen, Charles Amirkhanian and Amy X Neuburg. For more information about Kate visit: katestenberg.com Having celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2011, the Alexander String Quartet has performed in the major music capitals of five continents, securing its standing among the world s premiere ensembles. Widely admired for its interpretations of Beethoven, Mozart, and Shostakovich, the quartet s recordings of the Beethoven cycle (twice), and the Bartók and Shostakovich cycles have all won international critical acclaim. The quartet has also established itself as an important advocate of new music through over 25 commissions from such composers as Jake Heggie, Cindy Cox, Augusta Read Thomas, Robert Greenberg, Martin Bresnick, César Cano, and Pulitzer Prize-winner, Wayne Peterson. A new work by Tarik O Reagan commissioned for the Alexander by the Boise Chamber Music Series, will have its premiere in The Alexander String Quartet is a major artistic presence in its home base of San Francisco, serving since 1989 as Ensemble-in-Residence for San Francisco Performances and Directors of the Morrison Chamber Music Center in the College of Liberal and Creative Arts at San Francisco State University. For more information about ASQ visit: asq4.com. Percussionist William Winant has been the avant-elite s go-to percussionist for more than 35 years. (Spin Magazine). The 2014 Grammy-nominated percussionist has performed with some of the most innovative and creative musicians of our time, including John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Keith Jarrett, Anthony Braxton, James Tenney, Cecil Taylor, George Lewis, Steve Reich and Musicians, Yo-Yo Ma, Frederic Rzewski, Ursula Oppens, Joan LaBarbara, Annea Lockwood, Oingo Boingo, Mr. Bungle, Sonic Youth, and the Kronos String Quartet. For more information about William visit: williamwinant.com 6 PIVOT sfperformances.org

7 Photo: Johansen Krause MUSIC WITH CHANGING PARTS SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES presents Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble San Francisco Girls Chorus Students from the SF Conservatory of Music Tue Feb 20 7:30pm Davies Symphony Hall sfperformances.org PIVOT SFPERFORMANCES.ORG