Successful Kickstarter campaign for "Eight O's in Woolloomooloo" premiere, with support from Aaron Copland Fund for Music

The Galax Quartet and Karen Clark successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign to fund the remainder of composer and performance costs of my new work "Eight O's in Woolloomooloo." My heartfelt gratitude to all of you. In these days of commodity culture, it's wonderful to have had your support for hand-made music in the experimentalist tradition of Charles Ives and Henry Brant.

I hope you can join us for the premiere performance on December 4th, at Trinity Chapel, Dana Street, Berkeley, 7:30 PM, followed by a reception at A Musical Offering following the concert. Sponsored in part by the San Francisco Early Music Society. Info here.

Karen Bentley Pollick performs "Cluck..." in New York and Detroit Oct 5/10, 2014

Violinist Karen Bentley Pollick will be performing Cluck Old Hen Variations on October 5th, 2014 in New York City at SPECTRUM, a new alternative contemporary music venue, founded by Glenn Corbett. The performance will premiere a new film by Fred Kolouch, created specifically to be projected in combination with the live performance. (A sample still image from the film is shown below.)

On October 10th, 2014, Ms. Bentley Pollick will be performing the work at the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum as part of a concert of the Paul Dresher Double Duo.

Update

on 2014-11-16 06:38 by David A. Jaffe

On November 20th, 2014, Karen will be performing Cluck Old Hen Variations (with the film by Fred Kolouch) at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), the Knoll, Stanford University. More info here.

Update

on 2016-11-28 11:31 by David A. Jaffe

There have been many subsequent performances of this work in Lithuania, Seattle and elsewhere. See elsewhere on the web site for details.

Commission from Galax Quartet with Karen Clark

The Galax Quartet has commissioned me to write Eight O's in Woolloomooroo, based on a text by Mark Twain. In this work, Galax will be joined by contralto Karen Clark. Work on the piece is supported by a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the San Francisco Early Music Society and the Galax Quartet.

From the first time I heard Galax, a year ago, I was immediately drawn to the subtlety and virtuosity of their playing. The Galax Quartet is modeled after an early version of the string quartet — two Baroque violins, Baroque cello and viola da gamba — developed by the eighteenth century composer and viola da gamba virtuoso, Carl Friedrich Abel. The personnel of Galax include some of the top early music musicians in the world: Elizabeth Blumenstock, David Wilson, Roy Whelden and David Morris.

I first met Karen Clark way back when I was a Visiting Professor at Princeton University. There,as part of the Composer's Ensemble, she gave a stellar performance of my work, Number Man, for the ghost of J.S. Bach for four voices and oboe. I was floored by the flexibility of her voice and by her musicality. I am very much looking forward to collaborating with her and Galax on this new work.

Update on 2014-07-25 15:43 by David A. Jaffe

Just finished the new piece. More info here: Eight O's in Woolloomooloo

Lafayette String Quartet performs "Fox Hollow" in California, Feb. 21-25

Here is the schedule for the upcoming California tour by the Lafayette String Quartet, featuring Fox Hollow. The program also includes the Schubert Quartet in A minor, No. 13, Op 29, "Rosamunde"; and the Dvorak String Quintet No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97, with violist Pamela Freund-Striplen.

Follow the links below for details.

• Friday, February 21, 3:00 PM - Open rehearsal, Saint Mary’s College (www.gcplayers.org)
• Friday, February 21, 7:30 PM - Lafayette Library, Community Hall, 3491 Mt. Diablo, Blvd., Lafayette. Includes a pre-concert talk by the composer (www.gcplayers.org)
• Sunday, February 23, 2:00 PM - Danville Village Theatre, 233 Front Street, Danville (www.gcplayers.org)
• Monday, February 24, 3:20 PM - Master class, open to the public. San Domenico School, San Rafael (www.sandomenico.org)
• Tuesday, February 25, 8:00 PM - Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley (www.berkeleychamberperform.org)

Update on 2014-03-02 00:31 by David A. Jaffe

Just finished a whirlwind week with the Lafayette String Quartet. Friday afternoon's open rehearsal was hosted by composer and friend Martin Rokeach, who came with a stack of copies of the score for his students, then joined us for dinner. That night's concert began with a pre-concert lecture, in which I demonstrated the fretless banjo I obtained at Fox Hollow in the early 1970s. The Quartet then gave a top-notch performance of the work. Sunday's performance was equally refined; to a composer, when musicians bring such a sense of dedication and commitment to a work, it is a great gift. Monday's trip to San Domenico School was a highlight of the trip, as the Quartet and I had an opportunity to coach the gifted high school string players in their preparation of a concert of challenging works by women composers. This was followed by an informal performance and discussion of Fox Hollow. A special thanks to Ann Krinitsky and Eugene Chukhlov for hosting this event. Finally, Tuesday's Berkeley performance to a sold-out crowd was a fitting end to the tour. I wish to express my thanks to Gold Coast Chamber Players and Berkeley Chamber Performances.

2013 Orion Visitor Lecture on-line

The complete recording of the lecture is now on-line here.

I discussed the making of Silicon Valley Breakdown, as well as my creative process, my studies with Henry Brant, the early days of computer music at Stanford's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and more.

The November 6, 2013 event also included performance of the newly-restored quadraphonic version of Silicon Valley Breakdown.