Wednesday, April 6, 2022

April 23 - The Opus Project presents Opus 94


THE OPUS PROJECT
presents
OPUS 94
Re-Entry

8pm, Saturday, April 23, 2022
Center for New Music
55 Taylor Street
San Francisco, CA

Domenico Scarlatti (1685- 1757)       
     Sonata in F, K. 94 (1757)

F.J. Haydn (1732-1809)           
     Symphony No. 94 ("Surprise") (1791)
          II. Andante

W.A. Mozart (1756-1792)           
     Minuet in D Major, K. 94 (1768)
           
          The Opus Project Ensemble

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)   
     An die Hoffnung, Op. 94 (1815)

          Megan Cullen, Soprano
          The Opus Project Ensemble

Johann Baptist Cramer (1771-1858)   
     3 Nocturnes, Op. 94 (1841)
                       
          III. La Sentimente

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)       
     6 Moments Musicaux, Op. 94 (1828)
          II. Allegro moderato
          VI. Allegretto

          Hussein Al-Nasrawi and Megan Cullen, Piano

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)       
     La Belle Isabeau, H. 94 (1843)

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)       
    Mazurkas, Op. 68 (1849)
         III. Mazurka in F Major

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)       
     5 Lieder, Op. 94 (1884)
          I. Mit vierzig Jahren ist der Berg erstiegen

          Megan Cullen, Soprano
          Hussein Al-Nasrawi, Piano

Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)           
     Chanson, Op. 94 (1906)
                       
          Megan Cullen, Soprano
          Monica Chew, Piano

Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925)       
     10 Petits Morceaux, Op. 94
          VII. Bagatelle

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)            
     6 Pieces for Piano, Op. 94 (1919)
          V. Mélodie

          Megan Cullen, Piano

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)       
     Orpheus, A. 94 (1947)
          Orpheus Weeps for Eurydice

                       

          The Opus Project Ensemble

Mark Alburger (b. 1957)           
     The Bald Soprano, Op. 94 (2001)
          XVIII. Fire

          Megan Cullen, Soprano
          Mark Alburger, Piano
           
Sheli Nan (b. 1960)           
     Black and Blue Times Two (2022, Premiere)

          Robert Giambruno, Trumpet
          Katelyn Tan, Piano

Michael Cooke (b. 1970)           
      Improvisation for Painter (2022)

           Michael Cooke, Winds

Monica Chew                
     Pitter Patter (2021)

          Monica Chew, Piano

Roberto Novegno (b. 1981)       
     Preludes X, tbp 94
          VIII. In C Major

          Megan Cullen, Piano

Hussein Al-Nasrawi (b. 1991)       
     Mark and Harriet's Wedding (2022)

          Mark Alburger / Megan Cullen / Harriet March Page, Voices
          Hussein Al-Nasrawi, Piano & Multi-Media


THE OPUS PROJECT ENSEMBLE

Mark Alburger, Music Director                     
Megan Cullen, Associate Music Director

Flute
Harry Bernstein

Tenor Saxophone
Michael Cooke

Trumpet
Robert Giambruno

Horn
Bob Satterford

Soprano
Megan Cullen

Alto
Harriet March Page

Tenor
Mark Alburger

Piano
Monica Chew
Hussein Al-Naswari
Megan Cullen
Katelyn Tan

Viola
Kat Walsh

Friday, September 23, 2016

The Opus Project presents Opus 45


OPUS 45
There and Back Again
8pm, Saturday, September 24, 2016
Diablo Valley Music Building, Viking Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA

With Feona Lee Jones and The Opus Project Trios, Wind Quintet, and Orchestra

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)         
   A German Requiem: How Lovely, Op. 45, No. 4 (1868)
Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)          
   Capriccio Italien, Op. 45  (1880)
Arthur Foote (1853-1937)            
   Serenade in F major, Op. 45, No. 2 (1914)
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)             
   Partsong from the Greek Anthology, Op. 45, No. 1 (1902)
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935)  
   Shakespeare Sonnet, Op. 45, No. 1(1913)
Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937)          
   Piano Trio, Op. 45 (1922)
Alexander Gretchaninoff (1864-1956)     
   In the Village, Op. 45, No. 1 (1908)
Robert Kahn (1865-1952)             
   Clarinet Trio, Op.45 (1906)
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)           
   Piano Suite ("Luciferiske"), Op. 45, No. 3 (1920)
Jan Sibelius (1865-1957)             
   The Dryad, Op. 45, No. 1 (1910)
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)         
   The Bridal Choice, Op. 45 (1912)
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)        
   Barcarola, Op. 45 (1900)
Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949)              
   Elegie und Round Dance, Op. 45 (1940)
Albert Roussel (1869-1937)            
   String Quartet in D Major, Op. 45 (1932)
Florent Schmitt (1870-1958)       
   Orchestral Song, Op. 45 (1912)
Paul Juon (1872-1940)            
   Triple Concerto, Op. 45 (1912)
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)         
   Piano Piece, Op. 45 (1905)       
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)   
   Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (1940)
Max Reger (1873-1916)             
   Six Piano Intermezzi, Op. 45 (1900)   
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)       
   String Trio, Op. 45 (1946)
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)         
   Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)        
   Things in Themselves, Op. 45 (1928)           
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)         
   Hin und Zurück, Op. 45 (1927)   
Ernst Krenek (1900-1991)            
   Jonny Spielt Auf, Op. 45 (1927)
Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)       
   A Dinner Engagement, Op. 45 (1954)
Boris Blacher (1903-1975)             
  Study in Pianissimo, Op. 45 (1954)
Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)         
   Piano Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 45 (1945)
Benjamin Frankel (1906 -1973)         
   Viola Concerto, Op. 45 (1967)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)     
   The Return of Maxim, Op. 45 (1937)       
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)            
   3 Songs, Op. 45 (1972)
Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)         
   Armenian Rhapsody No. 1, Op. 45 (1944)   
John Cage (1912-1992)              
   Tossed As It Is Untroubled (1943)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)         
   The Little Sweep, Op. 45 (1949)   
Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987)        
   Piano Sonatina No. 2, Op.45 (1950)
Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)         
   Puneña No. 2 ("Hommage à Paul Sacher"), Op. 45 (1976)
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)         
   Flute Concerto No. 1, Op. 45 (1954)
Claude Ballif (1924-2004)             
   Prière du Seigneur, Op. 45 (1972)
Robert Muczynski (1929-2010)         
   Wind Quintet, Op. 45: I. Allegro risoluto (1985)
Jacques Hetu (1938-2010)           
   Serenade Quartet, Op. 45 (1988)       
Mark Alburger (b. 1957)             
   Mice and Men, Op. 45 (1992)           

Tickets -- $10 - $20 -- available at the door.   

Saturday, November 9, 2013

November 9 - SFCCO Fellow Travelers


SAN FRANCISCO
COMPOSERS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Mark Alburger, Music Director

Fellow Travelers

8pm, Saturday, November 9, 2013
Old First Presbyterian Church, 1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA
Mark Alburger and John Kendall Bailey, conducting



Program

Davide Verotta

   Invitation

              Davide Verotta, Piano
       
 
Philip Freihofner
     Filled with Moonlight

              Philip Freihofner, Oboe
              Davide Verotta, Piano
       

David Sprung
     Haiku for Tenor, Wind Quintet, and Piano (2013)

             Michael Desnoyers, Tenor
          

Lisa Scola Prosek   
     The Lariat
            I. El Vaquero
            II. Las Otno Ayam

                 Desirae Harp, Soprano

Eduard Prosek       
     The Curse (2013)

               Eduard Prosek, Voice and Guitar

Mark Alburger   
     Double Piano Concerto ("Fellow Travellers"), Op. 204 (2012)
         I.  Allegro troppo

               Eytan and Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman, Piano

SAN FRANCISCO COMPOSERS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Mark Alburger                    Music Director and Conductor
Erling Wold                        Associate Music Director
John Kendall Bailey                    Associate Conductor
Martha Stoddard                    Associate Conductor

Flute       
Bruce Salvisberg

Oboe
Phil Freihofner
Peter Lemberg

Clarinet
Rachel Condry
Michael Kimbell

Bassoon
Michael Cooke
Michael Garvey
Lori Garvey

Trumpet
Eduard Prosek

Horn
Brian Holmes
Jan Pusina

Soprano
Desirae Harp

Tenor
Michael Desnoyers
Mark Alburger

Baritone
Eduard Prosek

Guitar
Eduard Prosek

Harp
Samantha Garvey

Piano
Miles Graber
Davide Verotta

Percussion
Victor Flaviano

Violin I
Monika Gruber

Violin II
Harry Bernstein

Viola
Nansamba Ssensalo

Cello
Ariella Hyman

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 Instructor in Music Literature and Theory at Diablo Valley College.  As Editor-Publisher of 21st-Century Music Monthly Journal (21st-centurymusic.com and 21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com), Alburger has interviewed many composers, including Charles Amirkhanian, Earle Brown, George Crumb, Alan Hovhaness, Steve Mackey, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, and Steve Reich.  He has recently updated and expanded the articles on John Adams and Philip Glass for Grove Online and The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition.  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 United States.  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 (220 opus numbers to date, including 16 concerti, 23 operas, nine symphonies, the 12-hour opera-oratorio The Bible, and Day 1-3 of The Decameron) are being issued on recordings from New Music.  500+ videos of his music may be found on the DrMarkAlburger YouTube channel, as well as on many other websites.

DOUBLE PIANO CONCERTO ("FELLOW TRAVELLERS"), Op. 204, was written for and is dedicated to Eytan and Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman in thanks for their wonderful work with the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra over several years.  The piece is mapped over Francis Poulenc's Double Piano Concerto, taking in interlopers from Japanese, Hispanic, minimalist, and rock-n-roll traditions.  The first movement features a Dorian pentatonic scale (D E F A B).

PHILIP FREIHOFNER  has been a regularly performing member of SFCCO since 2004. He has a Bachelor's degree in Music from UC Berkeley.

FILLED WITH MOONLIGHT was written to fulfill a commission for a new duet for oboe and piano by the ensemble Dolci.  Oboist Ted Rust and pianist Viva Knight premiered the work December, 2012.  The music takes inspiration from the novel Blackberries in the Dream House, by San Francisco poet Diane Frank, a romance set in 1850's Japan.  In designing the musical world of this piece, the sources included elements of Japanese music and esthetic theory, of Poulenc's fabulous chamber works for winds and piano, and of the Koto work of Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner.

EDUARD PROSEK is a 22-year-old Californian native now residing in Brighton, UK.  His debut EP California (2012) gained him a strong online following, with its title track receiving over 40,000 YouTube views.  Following this initial interest, Prosek's cover of Paul Simon's Homeward Bound was chosen as the soundtrack to a major TV advertisement for Cathedral City last year in the UK taking Prosek to a national audience.  His latest release, Willow Tree, showcases his impressive abilities as composer and arranger.  A full UK tour and album are set for release in 2014.

    THE CURSE is the second track on Prosek's newest EP, Willow Tree, released September, 2013.

        We're all born innocent, it's how you lose it,
        that keeps me interested in you
        and you speak so softly I don't catch a thing but,
        when you take a breath, the angels sing.

        So I'll take it as it comes, win or lose I'd
        rather nothing at all, then to choose
        between the one I love, or my instincts
        so I'll keep my mouth shut, and keep listening.

        She's a blessing but, just like any curse she's
        so beautiful it, makes it so much worse.
        She's a blessing but, just like anything you
        never have enough, and when you do it's all too much

LISA SCOLA PROSEK is  a  graduate of  Princeton  University  with  a  degree in  Music  Composition,  her teachers  include  Edward  Cone,  Milton  Babbitt,  Lukas  Foss,  Margherita  Kalil,  and  Gaetano  Giani- Luporini. Scola Prosek has composed and premiered seven operas with librettos in Italian and English.

Excerpts from THE LARIAT, a new opera by Scola Prosek, based on Jaime De Angulo’s 1927 novella, with a poetic libretto in Esselen by Louise Miranda Ramirez, Tribal Chair of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, sung by Desirae Harp.  The work will premiere in 2014, at the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York, and in 2015 with the San Francisco International Arts Festival.  The piece is made possible by a grant from Theatre Bay Area.

Bear, you have taken my love Koltala name yukla nish kolo! I cannot live without him, Eni anpapiake cha’a  anhuyake huniki! Creator, take me too. Las Otno Ayam yukla nicha.

Louise Miranda Ramirez is Esselen, Chumash and Yaqui. She is an enrolled member of the Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation, from the Greater Monterey County and the current Tribal Chairwoman.  Her goal as a linguist is to work to return the Esselen language, which she says, “Has been sleeping for over 100 years.” Supported by the California Indigenous Language Survival (ACILS), she attended the Breath of Life Program and Language is Life Conference. ACILS supports research, for California Indian Languages with no speakers that is held at the University of Berkeley. In collaboration with linguist David L. Shaul she worked at reviving the Esselen Language and created a dictionary translated from oral stories and prayers. She has subsequently made pamphlets and books in the Esselen language.

Desirae Harp (Ashi Akxi, The Esselen Girl) is a descendant of the Mishewal Wappo Tribe and Dine Nation and is a multi-talented singer and songwriter. Her songs include themes that focus on decolonization of mind, body and spirit. She sings with numerous groups including Audiopharmacy and is a community activist and mentor for urban youth programs throughout the bay area. She is also a co-founder of the Mishewal Wappo Language Revitalization Project. She is currently attending San Francisco State University.

DAVID SPRUNG (b. Jersey City, NJ) was raised in New York City. An honors graduate from Queens College, where he studied composition with Vittorio Rieti and Luigi Dallapiccola, Sprung also has a Master’s Degree in Composition from Princeton University, where his mentors were Roger Sessions and Milton Babbitt.  He has had a dual track career as educator and performer, having served on the faculties of Queens College, City College of New York, Wichita State University, Sonoma State University and California State University, East Bay where he now holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Music.  Additionally, Sprung has been a prominent French horn player, having played principal horn with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, and most recently, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.   Formerly, he was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.  Since retiring from active teaching and playing, he has been devoting himself to composing and conducting.

Composed in 2013 and being performed for the first time, the texts for HAIKU come from the collection Japanese Haiku (1956, Peter Pauper Press). In a prefatory note, translator Peter Beilenson notes: “There are only seventeen syllables in the haiku; the first and third lines contain five, the second seven. There is almost always in it the name of the season, or a key word giving the season by inference ….. But there is also, in a good haiku, more than a statement of feeling or a picture of nature: there is an implied identity between two seemingly different things.”  The mood of the music is intended to reflect these ideas, although with elaborations using text repetitions and complementary thematic material.   For the entire set, there is a high degree of musical integration; motives and other musical gestures recur throughout, as a means of providing stylistic unity.

                  I
 IN THESE DARK WATERS
    DRAWN UP FROM
    MY FROZEN WELL….
GLITTERING OF SPRING
                Ringai

                    II
STANDING STILL AT DUSK
    LISTEN… IN FAR
    DISTANCES
THE SONG OF FROGLINGS!
                Buson

        III
I DREAMED OF BATTLES
    AND WAS SLAIN…
    OH SAVAGE SAMURAI!
INSATIABLE FLEAS!
                Kikaku

        IV
ARISE FROM SLEEP, OLD CAT,
    AND WITH GREAT YAWNS
    AND STRETCHINGS…
AMBLE OUT FOR LOVE
                Issa

        V
DARTING DRAGON-FLY…
    PULL OFF ITS SHINY
    WINGS AND LOOK…
BRIGHT RED PEPPER-POD
                Kikaku
       
                           VI
[Reply: follows V without pause]
BRIGHT RED PEPPER-POD…
    IT NEEDS BUT SHINY
    WINGS AND LOOK…
DARTING DRAGON-FLY!
                Basho

        VII
A WHITE SWAN SWIMMING…
    PARTING WITH HER
    UNMOVED BREAST
CHERRY-PETALED POND
                Roka

        VIII
ROARING WINTER STORM
    RUSHING TO ITS
    UTTER END…
EVER-SOUNDING SEA
                Gonsui

        IX
AH! I INTENDED
    NEVER NEVER
    TO GROW OLD…
LISTEN: NEW YEAR’S BELL!
                Jokun

DAVIDE VEROTTA was born in a boring Italian town close to Milano and moved to the much more exciting San Francisco in his late twenties. He studied piano at the Milano and San Francisco Conservatory, and privately with Julian White, and composition at San Francisco State University (MA) and the University of California at Davis (PhD), as well as having a parallel-track academic life in mathematics as a professor at the University of California at San Francisco.  He is actively involved in the new music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area (as soloist, chamber player, member of  SFCCO, National Composer Association, SF,  Irregular Resolutions, co-organizer of the Festival of Contemporary Music).  He teaches piano and composition privately and at the Community Music Center in San Francisco. Recent compositions include works for orchestra with the Berkeley Symphony, chamber opera, dance, piano solo, percussion, and various chamber ensembles.  Upcoming in Spring 2014 is the "tone poem" Il Ponte, for piano, percussion and strings.  For more information, please visit his web site at davideverotta.com.

INVITATION is a short piece for piano, that is the introduction of a large work for piano, percussion, strings,and voice, Il Ponte -- which will be presented in the Bay Area in the Spring of 2014.  As the title indicates the piece represents an invitation to the player and the audience, a luring to enter a different place, leaving behind for a while normal everyday realities.

DONATIONS:

Archangel
(Contributing $1000 +)
Mark Alburger
Alexis Alrich
Lisa Scola Prosek
Sue Rosen
Erling Wold

Angel
(Contributing $500-$999)
Adobe, inc
John Beeman
Michael & Lisa Cooke
Anne Dorman
David & Joyce Graves
Ken Howe
Anne Baldwin
Hanna Hymans-Ostroff
Anne Szabla
Davide Verotta

Benefactor
(Contributing $100-$499)
Christopher & Sue Bancroft Kenneth & Ruth Baumann
Susan M. Barnes
Marina Berlin & Anthony Parisi
Bruce & Betsy Carlson
Patrick & Linda Condry
Rachel Condry
Connie & George Cooke
Steven Cooke
Patti Deuter
Thomas Goss
James Henriques
Marilyn Hudson
John Hiss & Nancy Katz
Susan Kates
Ronald Mcfarland
Ken & Jan Milnes
James Schrempp
Martha Stoddard
James Whitmore
Vivaty, Inc

Donor
(Contributing $50-$99)
Paul & Barbara Boniker
Mark Easterday
Sabrina Huang
Donna & Joseph Lanam
Harriet March Page
Larry Ochs
CF Peters
Barbara & Mark Stefik
Roberta Robertson

Patron
(Contributing up to $49)
Susie Bailey
Schuyler Bailey
Harry Bernstein
Joanne Carey
Hannes & Linda Lamprecht
Elinor Lamson
Anthony Mobilia
Deborah Slater

To make a tax-deductible donation, please send a check made out to:
Erling Wold's Fabrications
629 Wisconsin Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Please include a note saying you want the money to go to the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra.


Saturday, November 2, 2013

November 2 - Swarthmore Composers Concert


4th Annual Swarthmore College 
Student and Alumni 
Composers Concert



3pm, Saturday, November 2, 2013
Lang Concert Hall
Swarthmore College


Program

Martin Carillo
     Identification (2013)

               Movie Excerpt / Film Score


Lacy James
     Circles of Swallows (2013)

               Lacy James - Voice and Mandolin



Mark Alburger
     Portraits of Three [Flute] Players, Op. 11 (1978)
          I.  Music for Marilyn
          II.  Anne's Ten-Dollar Music
          III.  The Mountains of Colorado (for Carol)

               Deborah H. How - Flute
               Mark Alburger - Piano


Bradley J. Carter
     Word Leathers to Shield from a Windless Winter (2013)

               Zachery Tanner, Viola


     Draconic Algebra (2013)

               Bradley J. Carter - Voice and Electronics


Ben Kapilow
     Flat White (2013)

               Ben Kapilow - Piano

 Ben Thomas
     Things Happen to Bears (2005)

               Audio

Clif Kussmaul
     Canon for Kotekan with Gangsa (2013)

               Clif Kussmaul, Ben Kussmaul, Christy Roysdon - Gamelan


Jeremy Rappaport-Stein
     Six Songs (2013)

               Clara Rottsolk - Soprano
               Andrew Hauze - Piano


Peter Schickele
     Dream Dances (1988)
          I.  Minuet
          V.  Sarabande

               Deborah H. How - Flute
               Mark Alburger - Oboe
               Thomas Whitman - Cello


Gabriel Riccio
     Winding Through Angles (2009)

                    Samuel Lorber - Alto Saxophone


Please join us in the Upper Lobby of Lang


for a reception following the concert sponsored by the


Swarthmore College Department of Music and Dance
Alumni Relations Office
& Friends of Music and Dance at Swarthmore

Saturday, October 26, 2013

October 26 - Opus 10


THE OPUS PROJECT

Opus 10

  
8pm, Saturday, October 26, 2013
Community Music Center, 544 Capp Street
San Francisco, CA


Op. 10, No. 1

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (1908)
          III.  Litanie (Litany) (Stephan George)

                    Sarita Cannon, Soprano
                    The Opus Project Quartet

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)   
Two Images, Op. 10 (1910)
          II.  Village Dance (Allegro) - Part I

                    The Opus Project Orchestra

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)   
Petrushka (1911)
          I.  First Tableau / The Shrovetide Fair: Russian Dance

                    The Opus Project Orchestra

Anton Webern (1883-1945)   
Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10 (1913)
          I.  Sehr ruhig und zart (Very calmy and tenderly)
          IV.  Fliessend, ausserst zart (Flowing, extremely tenderly)

                    The Opus Project Orchestra


Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) 
Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 10 (1912)
         I.  Allegro brioso

                    Naomi Stine, Piano
                    The Opus Project Orchestra
     

Darius Milhaud (1892-1975)   
Three Poems of Lucile Chateaubriand, Op. 10 (1913)
          III. Innocence

                    Harriet March Page, Mezzo-Soprano
                    Melissa Smith, Piano

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)   
String Quartet No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 10 (1918)
          I.  Sehr lebhaft, straff im Rhythmus (Very lively, tautly in rhythm)
                    Introduction

                    The Opus Project Quartet

Kurt Weill (1900-1950)   
Frauentanz, Op. 10 (1923)
          I.  Andantino, quasi Tempo di Menuetto
       
                    Harriet March Page, Mezzo-Soprano
                    The Opus Project Viola-Wind Quintet

Op. 10, No. 2

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 1, Op. 10 (1925)
          II. ... [Trio] Meno mosso

                    The Opus Project Orchestra
   

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)   


Three Songs, Op. 10 (1936) (James Joyce)



           I.  Rain Has Fallen

                    Sarita Cannon, Soprano
                    Melissa Smith, Piano

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10, No. 1 (1937)
          Variation I

                    The Opus Project Strings

Oliver Knussen (b. 1952)
Ocean de Terre, Op. 10 (1973)
          I.  Misurato (Excerpt)

                    Video
       

John Bilotta (b. 1948)

   
Electronic Composition No. 10 "The Lottery in Babylon" 
          (2000, Jorge Luis Borges)

                    John Bilotta, Electronics - Video

Mark Alburger (b. 1957)
Nocturnes for Insomniacs, Op. 10 (1978)
          III.  Night Music II

                    Mark Alburger, Voice
                    Carole Cloud, Violin
                    The Opus Project Orchestra


Michael Stubblefield (b. 1987)

  
Nightfall Dreams (2011)
          II.  Dream of the Sabbath

                    The Opus Project Piano Quintet


Austin Oz Graham (b. 1992)   


Arkantos, the Dark Father (2013)


          I.  Vrazhni Kalroz


                    The Opus Project Bassoon-Pierrot Ensemble


THE OPUS PROJECT presents

OPUS 11
8pm, Saturday, November 30, 2013, Diablo Valley College Music Building, Pleasant Hill, CA
A Multi-Media Event, with Raphael Gold, Charith Premawardhana, and The Opus Project Orchestra

Scott Joplin (1867-1917)             Treemonisha: Overture (1911)
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)        Piano Piece, Op. 11, No 1 (1909)
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)            Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Op. 11: Doorway (1911)
Anton Webern (1883-1945)            Three Little Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 (1913)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)            Toccata, Op. 11 (1912)
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)            Viola Sonata, Op. 11, No. 4 (1918)
Kurt Weill (1900-1950)            Recordare, Op. 11 (1923)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)        Two Pieces for Octet, Op. 11 (1925)
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)            Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 (1936)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)        On This Island (Auden), Op. 11 (1937)
Terry Riley (b. 1935)        In C (in an 11-minute performance) (1964)
John Bilotta (b. 1948)            Electronic Composition No. 11 "The Ikariad " (2000)
Mark Alburger (b. 1957)            Portraits of Three [Flute] Players, Op. 11 (1978)

THE OPUS PROJECT ORCHESTRA

Mark Alburger               
Music Director and Conductor

Flute       
Rhina Reese
Martha Stoddard*

Oboe
Ashley Ertz
Eva Langfeldt
Anthony Perry

Clarinet
Michael Kimbell*

Bassoon
Michael Garvey*

Horn
Daniel Bao
Sally Johnson
Emily Sanchez*

Trombone
Emily Sanchez

Soprano
Sarita Cannon

Mezzo-Soprano
Harriet March Page

Guitar
Michael Stubblefield

Harp
Samantha Garvey

Piano
Lo Chau*
Melissa Smith*
Naomi Stine

Percussion
Ken Crawford

Violin I
Corey Johnson
Carole Mooney*

Violin II
Carol Earley*
Rozalia Valentine

Viola
Carol Earley
Kat Walsh*

Cello
Austin Graham*

Bass
Michael Stubblefield

*The Opus Project String Quartet,
and Piano, Viola-Wind, and Bassoon-Pierrot Quintets

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (1908)
 III. Litanie (Litany)
(Stephan George, 1868-1933, from Der sibente Ring [The Seventh Ring], 1907)

Tief ist die trauer die mich umdüstert,
Ein tret ich wieder, Herr! in dein haus.
Lang war die reise, matt sind die glieder,
Leer sind die schreine, voll nur die qual.
Durstende zunge darbt nach dem weine.
Hart war gestritten, starr ist mein arm.
Gönne die ruhe schwankenden schritten,
Hungrigem gaume bröckle dein brot!
Schwach ist mein atem rufend dem traume,
Hohl sind die hände, fiebernd der mund.
Leih deine kühle, lösche der brände.
Tilge das hoffen, sende das licht!
Gluten im herzen lodern noch offen,
Innerst im grunde wacht noch ein schrei.
Töte das sehnen, schliesse die wunde!
Nimm mir die liebe, gib mir dein glück!

Deep is the sadness that gloomily comes over me,
Again I step, Lord, in your house.
Long was the ride, my limbs are weary,
The shrines are empty, only anguish is full.
My thirsty tongue desires wine.
The battle was hard, my arm is stiff.
Grudge peace to my staggering steps,
for my hungry gums break your bread!
Weak is my breath, bringing the dream,
my hands are hollow, my mouth fevers.
Lend your cool, douse the fires,
rub out hope, send the light!
Fires in my heart still glow, open,
inside my heart a cry wakes.
Kill the longing, close the wound!
Take my love away, give me your joy.

Darius Milhaud (1892-1975)   
Three Poems of Lucile Chateaubriand [1764-1804], Op. 10 (1913)
III. Innocence

Fille du ciel, aimable innocence,
Si j'osais de quelques-uns de tes traits
essayer une faible peinture,
Je dirais que tu tiens lieu de vertu à l'enfance,
De sagesse au printemps de la vie,
De beauté à la vieillesse
et de bonheur à l'infortune;
Qu'étrangère à nos erreurs,
tu ne verses que des larmes pures,
Et que ton sourire n'a rien que de céleste.
Belle innocence! Mais quoi! les dangers t'environnent,
L'envie t'adresse tous ses traits:
trembleras-tu, modeste innocence?
Chercheras-tu à te dérober
aux périls qui te menacent?
Non, je te vois debout, endormie,
la tête appuyée sur un autel.

Daughter of heaven, kind Innocence!
If I dared use some of your features
to attempt a weak portrait of you,
I would say that you substitute for virtue in childhood,
And for wisdom in the springtime of life;
For beauty in old age,
and for happiness in misfortune.
That, a stranger to our indiscretions,
you weep only pure tears,
And there is only divinity in your smile.
Beautiful Innocence! But wait! Dangers surround you;
Envy looks you full in the face.
Will you tremble, modest Innocence?
Will you seek to shy away
From the perils that threaten you?
No: I see you standing asleep,
your head resting upon an altar.

Kurt Weill (1900-1950)   
Frauentanz, Op. 10 (1923)
I. Andantino, quasi Tempo di Menuetto (Dietmar von Aist?, b. c. 1100)

Wir haben die winterlange Nacht
Mit Freuden wohl empfangen
Ich und ein Ritter wohlbedacht,
Sein Wille ist ergangen.

Wie wir es beide uns gedacht,
So hat ers an ein End gebracht,
Mit mancher Freude und Liebe viel,
Er ist wie ihn mein Herze will.

With joy did we bid welcome to
The lengthy winter's night
I and an admirable knight,
His will has fled from him.

His joy and mine did he foretell
In coming to an end
With certain gladness and much love
He's how I'd have him be.

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)   
Three Songs, Op. 10 (1936) (James Joyce, 1882-1941)
 I. Rain Has Fallen (Moderato) (Chamber Music: XXXI [1907])

Rain has fallen all the day.
O come along the laden trees:
The leaves lie thick upon the way
Of memories.
Staying a little by the way
Of memories shall we depart.
Come, my beloved, where I may
Speak to your heart.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

September 28 - Opus 9


THE OPUS PROJECT

Opus 9

8pm, Saturday, September 28, 2013
Diablo Valley College Music Building
Pleasant Hill, CA



Op. 9, No. 1

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)  
Prelude and Nocturne for the Left-Hand, Op. 9 (1894)
     I. Prelude in C-Sharp Minor
     II. Nocturne in D-Flat Major 

     Lo Chau, Piano

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E Major, Op. 9 (1906)
     Introduction
      
     The Opus Project Orchestra

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
Four Dirges, Op. 9 (1910)
     I.  Adagio

     Mark Alburger, Piano

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Two Poems of Paul Verlaine, Op. 9 (1910)
     I.  Un Grand Sommeil Noir (A Great, Black Sleep)

     Megan Cullen, Soprano
     The Opus Project Orchestra

Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Six Bagatelles, Op. 9 (1913)
     I.  Massig (Moderato)
     
     The Opus Project Quartet

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Two Poems, Op. 9 (1911)
     I.  Jest' Drugije Planety (There Are Other Planets) 
     (Konstantin Bal'mont) (Verse 1)

     Megan Cullen, Soprano
     The Opus Project Orchestra

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Three Songs for Voice and Orchestra, Op. 9 (1917)
     I.  Meine Nachte Sind Heiser Zerschrien 
     (My Throat Is Hoarse from Screaming)
     (Ernst Wilhelm Lotz) (Vocal Introduction)

     Megan Cullen, Soprano
     The Opus Project Orchestra

Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Quodlibet, Op. 9 (1923)
     I. Andante non troppo (Introduction)

     The Opus Project Orchestra



Opus 9, No. 2

Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 9 (1928)
     III.  Vivace marcato (Introduction)

     Video

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Symphony No. 1 in One Movement, Op. 9 (1936)
     Introduction

     The Opus Project Orchestra

Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)
Piano Quintet, Op. 9 (1926)
     I.  Andante

     The Opus Project Piano Quintet

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Soirees Musicales, Op. 9 (1936)
     I.  March

     The Opus Project Orchestra


John Lennon (1940-1980)
Revolution 9 (1968)

     The Opus Project Orchestra



Mark Alburger (b. 1957)
Psalm 92, Op. 9 (1977)
     V-XI

     Megan Cullen, Soprano
     The Opus Project Orchestra


Michael Stubblefield (b. 1989)
Distant Worlds (2009)
     Sumeria

     Alan Kingsley, Flute
     Peter Brown, Clarinet
     Michael Stubblefield, Guitar


Austin Graham (b. 1992)
Mild Insanity (2013)
     
     The Opus Project End-Of-Time Quartet
    

THE OPUS PROJECT presents

OPUS 10 - 8pm, Saturday, October 26, 2013, Community Music Center, 544 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA

A Multi-Media Event, with Sarita Cannon, and The Opus Project Quartet and Orchestra 

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)  String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10, No. 3 (1908) 
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)   Image, Op. 10, No. 2 (1910)
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)   Petrushka: Russian Dance (1911)
Anton Webern (1883-1945)   Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10 (1913) 
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)   Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 10: Introduction (1912)
Darius Milhaud (1892-1975)   Poem of Lucile de Chateaubriand, Op. 10, No. 1 (1913)
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)   String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 10, No. 1 (1918)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)  Symphony No. 1, Op. 10, No. 2: Trio (1925)
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)   James Joyce Song, Op. 10, No. 1 (1936)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)  Variation on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10, No. 1 (1937)
Mark Alburger (b. 1957)   Nocturnes for Insomniacs, Op. 10, No. 1, (1978)


THE OPUS PROJECT ORCHESTRA

Mark Alburger  
Music Director and Conductor 

Flute  
Alan Kingsley

Oboe
Eva Langfeldt


Clarinet
Peter Brown*


Bassoon
Nat Echols
Lori Garvey
Michael Garvey

Trumpet
David Graber
Anthony Ragus


Trombone
Zack Newbegin

Soprano
Megan Cullen 

Tenor
Mark Alburger


Guitar
Michael Stubblefield

Piano
Mark Alburger*
Lo Chau


Percussion
Ken Crawford


Violin I
Jaehee Kim*

Violin II
Rozalia Valentine*

Viola
Carol Earley*

Cello
Austin Graham*

Bass
Michael Stubblefield

*The Opus Project 
End-of-Time and 
String Quartets, and 
Piano Quintet



Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Two Poems of Paul Verlaine, Op. 9, No. 1 (1910)
     I. Un Grand Sommeil Noir (A Great Black Sleep)

Un grand sommeil noir 
Tombe sur ma vie: 
Dormez, tout espoir, 
Dormez, toute envie! 
Je ne vois plus rien, 
Je perds la memoire 
Eu mal et du bien... 
O la triste histoire!
Je suis un berceau 
Qu' une main balance 
Au creux d'un caveau.... 
Silence, silence. 

A great black sleep
Falls on my life:
Sleep, all hope,
Sleep, all desire!
I am not able to see,
I have lost my memory,
Of bad and good...
O sad story!
I am a cradle
Balanced by hand
In the hollowness of a cave...
Silence, silence.


Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Two Poems, Op. 9 (1911)
     I. Jest' Drugije Planety (There Are Other Planets)
     (Konstantin Dmitrevich Bal'mont) (Verse 1)

Jest' drugije planety, 
 gde vetry pevuchije tishe,
Gde nebo bledneje, 
 travy ton'she i vyshe,
Gde preryvisto l'jutsja 
 peremennyje svety,
No svojej peremenoj tol'ko laskajut, smejutsja.


There are other planets, 
 where the skies are clear and calm 
Mimosa blossoms are softer, 
 sweet grasses grow higher. 
The clarity that plays there, 
 it is less changable than here, 
We cherish it always and can always smile.


Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Three Songs, Op. 9 (1917)
     I. Meine Nachte sind heiser zerschrien 
     (My Throat Is Hoarse from Screaming)
     (Ernst Wilhelm Lotz) (Vocal Introduction)

Meine Nachte sind heiser zerschrieen. 
Eine Wunde, die riss. 
Ein Zum Fenster flakkerte ein Schrei herein 
Voll Sommer, Laub und Herz.

My throat is hoarse from screaming,
A wound, a tear.
From a window flickered a cry in here --
Full summer, leaves and heart.


Mark Alburger (b. 1957)
Psalm 92, Op. 9 (1977)
     V-XI

O Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep.
A brutish man knows not, neither do fools understand.
When the wicked spring as the grass, and thrive the workers of iniquity --
It is that thy shall be destroyed forever.

Oh Thou Lord are most high, forever evermore,
For lo, thine enemies shall perish evermore,
And all the workers of iniquity shall perish.

Exalts my soul like a unicorn, I am anointed with fresh oil.
Mine eyes have seen the downfull of my enemies.
Mine ears have heard the doom of my assailants.