San Francisco Examiner Review of Locals Only Concert

http://www.examiner.com/classical-music-in-san-francisco/composers-inc-celebrates-local-talent-at-old-first

Frank La Rocca — Founding Composers, Inc.

It was in the kitchen of composer Elinor Armer’s house in the Berkeley hills that I first met my colleague and COMPOSERS, INC, co-founder, Marty Rokeach in July 1984.   He and I had a common friend – a student, in fact – Mark Miller, who had a crazy idea.  Mark had proposed we put together a one-time public concert in a prominent San Francisco venue (we chose the Veteran’s War Memorial Green Room), featuring the music of the five composers gathered around that table – Elly Armer, Marty, Mark, Ron McFarland and this writer.

Now, it must be recalled that in 1984, outside of a few university ensembles, there was precisely one professional outlet for new music in the Bay Area:  the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and therefore for young Bay Area composers of new chamber music, the possibilities for local performance were not especially promising.   But the idea of a group of composers promoting their own work was – again, in 1984 – highly unorthodox. 

Fortunately, Marty and I had, as yet, no reputations to protect as composers, and together with our tablemates we decided to put our money on the line and produce our own concert on October 30, 1984.   About 100 people showed up and much to our delight, we got a very positive review from Heuwell Tircuit in the SF Chronicle.

Our initial bet having paid off big, we decided to double down and put on two more concerts that season.  But the question then arose as to what kind of music we would feature.  We did not want this nascent series to be focused just on our own work, but what criteria (besides intrinsic quality) would we use to choose music by other composers?  Again, we took an unorthodox step for the times, and decided to focus exclusively on the music of American composers. 

That anyone reading this should wonder what was so unorthodox about that decision is to acknowledge one measure of the success of COMPOSERS, INC.  In 2010, the idea of American new music being every bit as vital and viable as that coming from Europe or other places is so unremarkable as to not provoke any further thought.  But in 1984, our mission statement raised some eyebrows.  Philip Glass, Steve Reich and John Adams were still considered fringe composers and American music as a whole was still regarded as somewhat dubious compared to European fare.

Not anymore, and let’s just be grateful for that.  Perhaps we at CI can be forgiven for being a little proud that we were on the forefront of that changing scene – indeed, one of the leaders of the movement for American music.  We are also proud that within just our first six years we had introduced music by then young upstarts Jennifer Higdon, David Lang, and Aaron Jay Kernis to Bay Area audiences.  If these names ring a bell, it is because they all went on to receive Pulitzer Prizes in Music. 

As COMPOSERS, INC’s first Executive Director, it was my privilege to help build the infrastructure that made possible a thriving series, curated by a group of composers that went on to include Robert Greenberg, Allen Shearer and Jeffrey Miller – a series that allowed our audiences to hear the music of the best young voices in America alongside established names like Olly Wilson, Benjamin Lees, Wayne Peterson, Elliott Carter and many others.

This continues to be our mission and we hope you will support us as we look for that next young American voice, and maybe help launch yet another Pulitzer Prize career.—F.L.

Support

http://composersinc.org/supporters.html

Composer Jeffrey Miller, Three Preludes, Eliane Lust piano

October 19th Concert

Tickets Season tickets are $45 general, $36 for students, seniors and disabled, and can be purchased directly from Composers, Inc. by calling 415.512.0641 or visiting our website at composersinc.org Single tickets are $17 general, $14 for students, seniors and disabled, and are available through Old First Concerts at 415.474.1608 or online at oldfirstconcerts.org, or at the door thirty minutes before each performance.	Read about this first concert of our 2010-11 Season at our new website www.composersinc.org Tuesday, October 19, 8:00 pm  Old First Presbyterian Church 1751 Sacramento Street San Francisco Our opening concert features a staged production of A Very Large Mole, a witty, bordering outrageous one-act opera by Allen Shearer. In Claudia Stevens’ libretto after Kafka, a schoolteacher and a journalist vie for recognition around the alleged sighting of a huge mole. Both defer to a learned professor, the third member of the cast. Tenor Michael Mendelsohn, baritone Allen Shearer, bass Richard Mix and a quintet of instruments are conducted by Jonathan Khuner. And there is more! Piano virtuoso Eliane Lust will premiere Jeffrey Miller’s intriguing Preludes. Dale Wolford and Victoria Lington return to Composers, Inc. with David Biedenbender’s Images for alto saxophone and piano. Finally, violinist Mira Benjamin of Montreal will playVocalise by Taylor Brook. This tantalizing violin solo with drone, rooted in the Hindustani tradition, won the 2010 Lee Ettelson Composer’s Award.

Allen Shearer about 'A Very Large Mole'

I am very pleased that my one-act opera A Very Large Mole will be performed fully staged on the opening concert of the Composers, Inc. series Oct. 19. This piece was written in 2009 in collaboration with Claudia Stevens, who based her libretto on a little-known Kafka short story. Briefly, A village schoolmaster claims to have discovered a gigantic mole in his remote district and has contrived to write a pamphlet about it. His literary efforts are ridiculed by a local journalist, and a professor respected as an expert on moles scoffs at his pretensions to scholarship. Thus a questionable occurrence results in a turf war of a type familiar in academic circles. Occasional brief arias alternate with declamatory vocal writing. It is scored for three singers, all male (unusual in opera) and five instruments chosen to reflect the humor in the text: flute, oboe, bassoon, piano, and double bass. A Very Large Mole lasts about 25 minutes. –Allen Shearer

Composers, Inc. presents new American Music

                                          Composer, Taylor Brook

Tuesday October 19, 2010 8:00pm
Old First Presbyterian Church
1751 Sacramento St. San Francisco

Our opening concert features a staged production of Allen Shearer’s A Very Large Mole. Witty, comical, and outrageous are but a few of the snapshots out of this one-act opera on a libretto by Claudia Stevens after Kafka's story “Der Dorfschulmeister.” A schoolteacher and a journalist compete for public recognition around the alleged sighting of an unusually large mole, both of them deferring to a learned professor, the third member of the all-male cast. Tenor Michael Mendelsohn, baritone Allen Shearer, bass Richard Mix and a spirited quintet of instruments are conducted by Jonathan Khuner. A great way to whet your operatic appetite and introduce the people in your life to a comical night at the opera that will leave them clamoring for more! 

This brief opera is only part of a rich offering of fresh and innovative chamber music. Piano virtuoso Eliane Lust will premiere Preludes, an intriguing new work by Jeffrey Miller. Dale Wolford, and Victoria Lington return to the Composers, Inc. series to perform Images for alto saxophone and piano by David Biedenbender. Finally, guest violinist Mira Benjamin of Montreal will play Vocalise by Taylor Brook. This sinuous and tantalizing violin solo with drone, rooted in the Hindustani tradition, is a winner of the 2010 Lee Ettelson Award.

This concert is presented in collaboration with Old First Concerts.
Visit www.composersinc.org for more information about our Lee Ettelson Award and future events. 

Season tickets are $45 general, $36 for students, seniors and disabled, and can be purchased directly from Composers, Inc. by calling (415) 512-0641 or www.composersinc.org.  Single tickets are $17 general, $14 for students, seniors and disabled, and are available through Old First Concerts at (415) 474-1608 or www.oldfirstconcerts.org, or at the door thirty minutes before each performance.  For more information please contact Composers, Inc. at (415) 512-0641 or visit www.composersinc.org

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Composers, Inc., founded in 1984, is dedicated to presenting new music by living American composers. The five artistic directors are prominent Bay Area composers Robert Greenberg, Frank La Rocca, Jeffrey Miller, Martin Rokeach, and Allen Shearer. Composers, Inc. is supported in part by Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, the Bernard Osher Foundation, the BMI Foundation, and the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music Musical Grant Program.

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For more information:
contact Composers, Inc. at (415) 512-0641 or visit:composersinc.org
Entry Deadline:
November 1, 2010



Call for Entries:Lee Ettelson
Composer’s Award
Awards for New Chamber Works
by American Composers


The Lee Ettelson Composer’s Award is nationally recognized as a significant opportunity for composers. Its purpose is to recognize the best in current American composition and to provide composers with a prominent forum for their work. Judging Anonymity of the entrants is observed throughout the judging process. The judges are the artistic directors of Composers, Inc.: Robert Greenberg Jeffrey Miller — Allen Shearer Frank La Rocca Martin Rokeach.


Past winners include: 

Mason Bates
Kevin Beavers
Martin Bresnick
Taylor Brook
Susan Burkey
Edward Cansino
Ryan Carter
Donald Crockett
Nathan Davis
Michael Djupstrom
David Dzubay
Marti Epstein
Sean Friar
Burt Goldstein
José Halac
Jeffrey Hass
Jennifer Higdon
Pierre Jalbert
David Kechley
Joseph Kolkovich
Shirish Korde
Mikel Kuehn
Mark Kuss
David Lang
Arthur Levering
David Macbride
Robert Maggio
Sean McClowry
Lansing D. McLoskey
Marjorie Merryman
James Mobberley
Clint Needham
Roger Neill
William Popp
Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez
Carl Schimmel Stephen
Andrew Taylor
Christopher Theofanidis
Michael Timpson
Andrew Waggoner
Craig Walsh
Mischa Zupko
Ramon Zupko


Two $1,000 Awards
Two awards of $1,000 each will be given for new chamber works. Winning works will be performed during Composers, Inc.’s 2011–12 concert season in San Francisco. Award winners are expected to attend performances. Composers, Inc. will provide lodging. Works not awarded prizes will also be considered for programming.


Eligibility
All composers who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States are eligible to enter. Previous winners of this award are ineligible. Musical works requiring one to five performers (instrumental or vocal) are eligible, as are works for organ and works employing electronic media, including electronics alone. Composers may submit more than one work. There is a non-refundable entry fee of $25 for one work, or $20 per work if two or more are submitted.


Preparing Your Entry
All submissions must be anonymous: remove or mask all indications of the composer’s name on scores and recordings. Scores and recordings must be marked with a pseudonym and accompanied by the following, which will not be seen by the judges:

• A 3x5 index card for each work, showing the title of the work, composer’s name,
pseudonym used, address, telephone, and email address if available.
• Entry fee of $25 for one work, or $20 per work if two or more are submitted, by check payable to Composers, Inc.
• If you want your materials returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope of appropriate size.
• Send one score per work, accompanied by, if available, a cassette or CD recording (MIDI realizations are acceptable). Scores must be bound or stapled. Do not send parts.
Composers, Inc. is not liable for accidental loss or damage to materials.


Deadline
Entries must be postmarked by November 1, 2010. Do not send by registered mail or other service that requires the addressee’s signature. Winners will be announced in March, 2011.

Send entries to:
Composers, Inc.
Lee Ettelson Composer’s Award
PO Box 194552
San Francisco, CA 94119

If you have any questions, please contact us at mail@composersinc.org.
_________________________________     
Composers, Inc. ?is supported in part by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund, Bernard Osher Foundation, BMI Foundation, San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music, and San Francisco Grants for the Arts.