MARK ALBURGER, 2017: May 6 - SFCCO - Alternative Facts and Lying Together

SAN FRANCISCO
COMPOSERS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Mark Alburger, Music Director

Alternate Facts and Lying Together
8pm, Saturday, May 6, 2017

St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1111 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA
Mark Alburger and Martha Stoddard, conducting

Program

Leon Hyman
     Yehi Hasdecha (2013)
     Ubnucho Yomar (2012)
     Psalm 23 (2015)

Harry Bernstein
     Quintetessence (2017)
        I. Easy, with moderate swing
        II. Con passione

Scott Sterling
     Musical Portraits No. 2 (2017)
        Promenade No. 1 / Child's Playroom / Child's Game of Ball
        The Courtiers / Promenade No. 2 / The Centipede
        The Millipede / Short Promenade No. 2 / Rapids
        Waterfall and River / The Spelunker / Short Promenade No. 1
        Ascending Steps / Old House with Creaking Door / Dark Clouds
        Last Promenade No. 1 / Statue of the Founder

Davide Verotta
Felicitá? (Happiness?) (2017)

Mark Alburger
     The Decameron: Seventh Day ("Cheating Wives and Other Indiscretions"), Op. 262 (2017)
          Novel I - Gianni Lotteringhi hears the knocking of his wife's lover
        Novel II - Peronella bestows her lover in a barrel
        Novel III - Fra Rinaldo lies with his gossip
        Novel IV - Tofano locks his wife out of the house
        Novel IX - Lydia and Pyrrhus make Nicostratus believe that what he saw was not real
          Novel X - Tingoccio returns from the other world

Stardust
     True of Voice Entr'acte (2017)
        I. Letting Down the Ladder
        II. Queens' Romance
        III. Gender Communion
        IV. Visit to the Tomb
        V. Queens and Nomarchs
        VI. Debutante Ball
        VII. Drama at Court (Opet Festival Refrain)
        VIII. Maat

SAN FRANCISCO COMPOSERS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Mark Alburger                    Music Director and Conductor
Erling Wold                        Associate Music Director
Martha Stoddard                    Associate Conductor

Piccolo / Flute / Alto Flute
Harry Bernstein
Bruce Salvisberg
Martha Stoddard

Oboe / English Horn
Stardust
Philip Freihofner

Clarinet
Michael Kimbell

Bassoon
Kat Walsh

Trumpet
Michael Cox

Horn
Bob Satterford

Trombone
Scott Sterling

Piano
Davide Verotta

Percussion
Victor Flaviani
Anne Szabla

Violin I
Kristen Kline

Violin II
Corey Johnson
Gina Niblack

Viola
Harry Bernstein
Nansamba Ssensalo

Cello
Ariella Hyman

String Bass
John Beeman

MARK ALBURGER (b. April 2, 1957, Upper Darby, PA) studied with Gerald Levinson and Joan Panetti at Swarthmore College (B.A.), Karl Kohn at Pomona College, Jules Langert at Dominican University (M.A.), Tom Flaherty and Christopher Yavelow at Claremont Graduate University (Ph.D.), and Terry Riley. He is Founder and Music Director of the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra and The Opus Project, Conductor of San Francisco Cabaret Opera / Goat Hall Productions, and Professor in Music Literature and Theory at Diablo Valley College. Alburger has been the recipient of many honors, awards, and commissions -- including yearly ASCAP Standard Awards; grants from Meet the Composer, the American Composers Forum, MetLife, and Theatre Bay Area; funding from the Marra, Zellerbach, Hewlett, and Getty Foundations; and performances by ensembles and orchestras throughout the world. Alburger's concert and dramatic compositions combine atonal, collage, neoclassic, pop, and postminimal sensibilities -- often in overall frameworks troped on pre-existent material. His complete works (265 opus numbers to date) are being issued on recordings from New Music. 500+ videos of his compositions can be found on the DrMarkAlburger YouTube channel, as well as many other websites. Mice Suite No. 2, Op. 53, will be heard at Center for New Music on May 27, and Cats, Dogs, and Divas, Op. 104, is slated to be presented by Vallejo's Bay Area Stage, August 5-6 and 12-13.

THE DECAMERON: SEVENTH DAY ("CHEATING WIVES AND OTHER INDISCRETIONS"), Op. 252 (2017), features illicit infidelities and intertwinings of John Cage's The Root of an Unfocus, the Gregorian chant Te Lucis, a Robertsbridge Fragment medieval organ Estampie, Anton Webern's Six Pieces for Orchestra, Robert Willson's The Music Man, Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11, Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, Steve Reich's The Desert Music, Alban Berg's Wozzeck, Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 6, Igor Stravinsky's Mavra, Karol Szymanowski's 20 Mazurkas, Olivier Messiaen's whole-step / half-step octatonic works, Claude Debussy's Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Faun", and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

In addition to playing the flute, these days HARRY BERNSTEIN (b. 1948) balances his work teaching music at City College of San Francisco with a dedication to playing orchestral and chamber music, building his skills on the violin and viola, and occasionally writing his own pieces for strings. Even before teaching his first class in the Music Department in 2006, he was inspired by taking a composition class with Jerry Mueller at the College, later collaborating on concerts with a group of musicians who had taken the same class. This led to participating in a composer cooperative Irregular Resolutions. "I am pleased to have been a participant playing in SFCCO concerts for just over 10 years, in parallel with the other composer group. I hope to write more music, whether such pieces are for strings or otherwise."

"The conception of QUINTETESSENCE originally was based on the string quintet, an ensemble consisting of two violins, two violas, and a cello -- in contrast to the other common quintet instrumentation with one viola and two cellos. The exact number of movements for the piece was not predetermined and there was the possibility that one movement or another could be enlarged by the addition of an English horn or a bass clarinet. What you will hear tonight is a work in progress. Quintetessence most likely owes its existence to my taking up the viola later in life and the joy derived from playing Mozart string quintets. I wondered where this newly-found dedication to playing stringed instruments--both violin and viola--could take me. In an effort to find out, I wrote a short string quintet movement titled Plan B a few years ago, with two viola parts; it was premiered by SFCCO in 2013 and that performance can still be heard on Youtube. That concert marked my debut as a string player with SFCCO. For a while now I've been gathering sketches with musical ideas to be fashioned into a new chamber work, though without knowing which of them would ultimately work out. Quartetto Amabile, my latest piece for string quartet, was performed by members of SFCCO last year, but of course without having that distinctive fifth voice. The names for tonight's two movements come from markings in the music. The first movement, one of the newer ones, is an easygoing tune to be performed with a moderate swing. A motif from the opening, which follows the short introduction, recurs in various places. The violins and the violas are sometimes paired but otherwise the homogeneous voices of the strings mix easily together. The second movement is a return of the short piece previously titled Plan B. It is built on a short, three-note motif. The opening section is followed by a tango-influenced middle section and concludes with a livelier section with a swing feel. Just before the end, however, the opening motif returns, as if checking out the new expressive ambience."

LEON HYMAN (b. 1927) has served on the faculties of the Juilliard school, Teachers College Columbia University, and Montclair State University.   Hyman's career as conductor has encompassed the areas of ballet, orchestra, chorus, opera and theater. He co-founded the New Philharmonic of New Jersey, for which he serves as Music Director and Conductor. This orchestra has received widespread acclaim and recognition as one of the state's finest ensembles. Hyman has conducted the Robert Joffrey Ballet on tours of the former Soviet Union and the United States, the New York Philharmonic, and the Columbia Symphony orchestras for Columbia Records, the American Symphony, the Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Orchestra da Camera of Long Island, the Jerusalem Orchestra, and the New Jersey Symphony with the New Jersey Ballet. He has conducted operas in New York and Dallas, the Tokyo production of West Side Story (directed by Jerome Robbins), Dancin', 1776, Appletree, and Half-a-Sixpence on Broadway. Hyman has also had extensive experience conducting choral ensembles, including 25 years as director of the Montclair State University Chorus. Since 1955, he has served as choirmaster of Congregation Shearith Israel (the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue in New York City), the oldest congregation of Jews in North America.

In his role as choirmaster of Congregation Shearith Israel, Leon Hyman leads a professional choir in performing a rich collection of music dating from ancient Babylonian times to the current day. Desiring to contribute to the repertoire of the congregation, he composed several pieces to express his personal interpretation of Biblical texts sung in the Sabbath services. Three of these compositions -- YEHI CHASDECHA (2013), UBNUCHO YOMAR (2012), and PSALM 23 (2015) -- have been transcribed for string quintet

Yěhi chasděcha
    (Psalm 33:22)
Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us,
according as we hope in Thee.
    (Psalm 84:4)
Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house:
they will be still praising Thee. Selah!
    (Psalm 144:15)
Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea,
happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

Ubnucho yomar
And when it (the ark) rested,
he (Moses) would say 'Return Lord,
to the myriad thousands of Israel,'
Bring us back to you, O Lord,
and we will return
and renew our days as of old.

Psalm 23:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me
in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

STARDUST (b. 1962) is "an animist radical faerie composer living in the somewhat embattled and mythical sanctuary of San Francisco. Stardust is currently obsessed with True of Voice activities, including this season's True of Voice Entr'acte, which follows the SFCCO performance last season of the True of Voice Overture. Stardust's previous SFCCO offerings include A la recherche des danses perdues and Railway Sonata. Other works include chamber music and symphonic music prepared for encouraging musician friends at events such as the Humboldt Chamber Music Workshops and welcoming ensembles such as The Opus Project Orchestra, Golden Gate Symphony, San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Freedom Band, and of course San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra. You may occasionally find Stardust playing the Hautbois or the Cor anglé. ;-)"

"TRUE OF VOICE is a musical dance theatre production in development. Set in ancient Egypt and modern times, the spectacle will include incidental music performed by a hip-hop orchestra and an ancient Egyptian orchestra playing period instruments – including ancient flutes, two-barreled oboe-like instruments, Hathor-decorated sistrums, and two ancient Egyptian curved harps a Portland artisan is currently crafting for the production. Plotwise, a powerful polyamorous Egyptian priestess queen magically transports three pivotal people through time to assist her king and his male lover with the pressing political and social needs of the Old Kingdom, despite the efforts of a mysterious spy who tries to thwart their plans. Transformed by their experiences in the past, the trio return energized to create change in our present-day world, each in their own unique way. These key characters are an innocent young black man shot by police, a lesbian couple turned out from a San Francisco restaurant on their tenth anniversary, and incarcerated transgender private Chelsea Manning awaiting trial for leaking military secrets. The ENTR'ACTE is part of the composer's continuing attempt to spark composition of the incidental music for True of Voice, following on the True of Voice Overture performed by SFCCO last season. The overture, to be presented before the curtain rises, covers the beginning scenes of the production, while the True of Voice Entr'acte, to be presented during intermission of the production, covers scenes from the middle of the production before the time-traveling characters return to modern times. An soon-to-be-composed True of Voice Finale, covering the final scenes in modern times, will be presented at the end of the production. Selections from this season's True of Voice Entr'acte evoke theatrical scenes from the production in miniature, including Letting Down the Ladder (king walks to lover general's home followed by spy, listen for the pebbles the king throws as a signal to lower a ladder from the window and for the footsteps of king climbing the ladder to enter), Queens' Romance (song based on ancient Egyptian love poem featuring saam plants), Gender Communion (Chelsea meets Egyptian non-binary gender god/desse/s with an enticing knot dance), Visit to the Tomb (king and lover general visit tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, oldest known same-sex couple in human history), Queens and Nomarchs (queens meet with administrative leaders to discuss democratizing trends), Debutante Ball (Chelsea comes out at a celebratory gala), Drama at Court (Opet Festival refrain with spy leaking news of the king's secret love, frustrated when roundly ignored by the court), and Maat (the Egyptian equivalent of truth and righteousness). The True of Voice Entr'acte will no doubt whet your artistic appetite for the production of True of Voice the musical appearing in workshop during 2017 and, assuming funding, in mature theatrical glory by 2018 (more info at http://trueofvoice.com)."

SCOTT STERLING (b. 1970) is a freelance trombonist in the Bay Area and makes his home in Berkeley. He earned his Bachelor’s in Music Education at California State University East Bay in 2010.   Sterling is the bass trombonist in the Kensington Symphony Orchestra. As a composer, he is a frequent contributor to The Opus Project. In February, 2013, for The Opus Project presents Opus 13, he wrote Musical Portraits in Phrasing; a compilation of 13 eight-bar harmonized Introductory Melodious Etudes set as a walk through an Art Gallery. The Promenade is the same for both works.   Sterling is currently writing a book and developing an online course about teaching Sight Reading, entitled Page to Performance.

MUSICAL PORTRAITS NO. 2 is sequel to Musical Portraits in Phrasing, written for The Opus Project presents Opus 13, in February of 2014. Both pieces were inspired by the Modeste Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, in the orchestration of Maurice Ravel. Portraits No. 2 is comprised of 15 Introductory Melodious Etudes (that are eight bars long) for trombone compiled by Alan Raph and harmonized by the composer. "I have labeled two of the etudes as Promenades and 13 as Portraits. I set them as a six-minute walk through and Art gallery. First is the Promenade No. 1 played by the strings. The Child’s Playroom is the first portrait we see; the melody is in the flute and oboe. We next view the Child’s Game of Ball, played by the three brass. We imagine the child is looking through her keyhole to see her parents dancing to The Courtiers. Promenade No. 2 is heard in the strings. The child walks outside and notices a Centipede on a leaf. This is a duet between the oboe and bassoon. She lets her gaze wander to another leaf and she sees a Millipede (played by the brass). There is a shortened Promenade No. 2 played by the strings, followed bys a four-bar transition of turbulence leading to Rapids. The music then transitions into calmer waters for Waterfall and River. Spelunker begins with the pizzicato cello symbolizing the dropping of a rock into a cave, with clarinet and horn carrying the melody. Brass play a shortened Promenade No. 1, leading to Ascending Steps, realized with half-note step-wise motion. The music turns darker in Old House with Creaking Door” in the cello and viola. Just as in the phrase, 'It’s always darkest before the Dawn,' Dark Clouds continue in the brass. A Final Promenade No. 1 in the winds sets the stage for fee finale, Statue of the Founder.

Born in an Italian town close to Milano, DAVIDE VEROTTA moved to San Francisco in his late twenties. He studied piano at the Milano and San Francisco Conservatories, and composition at San Francisco State University and The University of California, Davis. He is actively involved in the new-music scene in San Francisco, where he also teaches piano and composition. Recent compositions include works for orchestra, string quartet, brass quintet, wind ensemble, piano and two pianos, organ, and percussion. His writing has been defined as alternating lyrical and dreaming landscapes with overwhelming musical motions; the idiom used in is compositions is a mix of neo-tonality, modern techniques, classical structures, and form experimentation. He is recipient of ASCAP Plus and Zellerbach Foundation awards. For more information, please visit his web site at www.davideverotta.com.

"FELICITA? was born out of a pretty melody, if I may say so, that occupied my head for a little while. The feeling that the composition tries to convey is one of a serene happiness, like being content with small things in life, or looking at a green rolling landscape, or a quiet sea, closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, and feeling happy. That’s the idea … the realization struggles a bit more, as we all do with happiness in life. We are not sure what it is, if we have it we think we know that we do, but it is fleeting and most of the time it does not last long. That’s why there is a question mark in the title."

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