November 7-16 - Opera Apocalypse

Goat Hall Productions /
San Francisco Cabaret Opera



OPERA APOCALYPSE!



Mark Alburger's Antigone



John Bilotta's Quantum Mechanic



Amy Beth Kirsten's Ophelia Forever

8pm, Friday-Sunday, November 7-9
The Next Stage
1620 Gough (near Bush), SF

8pm, Friday, November 14; 7pm Sunday, November 16
Chapel of the Chimes
4499 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland

7:30pm, Saturday, November 15
Temple United Methodist Church
1111 Junipero Serra Boulevard (@ 19th Avenue), SF



ANTIGONE

ANTIGONE (libretto after Jean Anouilh and Sophocles) is a "grid" opera based on W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute, from which is taken form (often including exact number of measures, tempo markings, and keys), but little content. Much of the music was written in the spirit of the title character: that of rebellion -- major keys become minor, very slow tempi become very fast, stolid rhythms become almost irrationally syncopated. The opera also alludes to Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach and Akhnaten, 50's rock, J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 140 ("Wachet Auf"), Ancient Greek music, 70's pop, Arthur Sullivan, Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 3, the Beach Boys, John Barry's Dances With Wolves, Igor Stravinsky's Pulcinella and Ebony Concerto, Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata and Aida, Meredith Willson's The Music Man, Alburger's Sonata for Oboe, Piano, and Percussion, and Balinese gamelan music.

Antigone - Eliza O'Malley (11/7 and 9)
Antigone - Letitia C. Page (11/8)
Creon - Micah Epps
Haemon / Messenger / Guard III - Michael Desnoyers
Ismene - Kimberley Anderman
Nurse / Eurydice - Meghan Dibble
Guard I - Maria Mikheyenko
Guard II - Erin Lahm
Antigone's Handmaid - Alix Jerinic
Ismene's Handmaid / Antigone Dancer - Dalyte Kodzis
Oedipus / Haemon Dancer - William Loney
Page - Lisa McHenry
The Puppetmaster - Terence Bennan
The Fixer - Adam Broner

Artistic Director - Harriet March Page
Music Director - Mark Alburger
Piano - Keisuke Nakagoshi
Choreographer - William Loney

Dress Rehearsal 11/6/08



[I. CHORUS - "Here we are"
Dibble, O'Malley, Jerinic, Kodzis, Lahm, Mikheyenko,
Desnoyers, Bennan, Epps, Broner, McHenry]



[V. DUET - "Where is your pain"
Jerinic, Kodzis, Anderman, Dibble]



[VI. DUET - "Haemon"
O'Malley, Desnoyers]



[VII. ARIA - "I can't sleep"
Dibble, Jerinic, O'Malley, Anderman]



[Jerinic, Kodzis, Page, Anderman, Lahm, Mikheyenko]



[VIII. DUET - "It's like this"
Mikheyenko, Bennan, Epps, Broner, Loney]



[XI. TRIO - "What is this"
Mikheyenko, O'Malley, Bennan, Epps, Broner, Loney]


[IX. CHORUS - "The spring is wound"
Dibble, Anderman, Mikheyenko, Jerinic, Kodzis, Desnoyers, Epps, Loney]



[Mikheyenko, Broner, Bennan, Epps, Desnoyers,
O'Malley, Anderman, Dibble, Jerinic, Kodzis]



[Bennan, Broner, Mikheyenko, Desnoyers, Anderman,
O'Malley, Dibble, Jerinic, Kodzis, Loney]



[XVI. DUET - "Antigone / You, too"
Kodzis, Anderman, Bennan, Epps, O'Malley, Broner, Jerinic, Loney]



XVIII. DUET - "It's you"
Lahm, O'Malley, Mikheyenko]



XIX. ARIA - "News to break your heart"
[Mikheyenko, Kodzis, Epps, Bennan, Desnoyers, Loney]




[Lahm, Mikheyenko, Epps, Bennan, Desnoyers, Broner, McHenry]



[Loney, Mikheyenko, Kodzis, Bennan, Epps, Desnoyers]




[Lahm, Mikheyenko, Loney, Kodzis, Epps,
Bennan, Desnoyers, Broner, McHenry]


[Mikheyenko, Loney, Epps, Kodzis, Broner, Desnoyers]


[Lahm, Mikheyenko, Loney, Kodzis, Epps,
Bennan, Broner, Desnoyers, McHenry]




[XX. SEXTET - "I've had them laid"
Epps, McHenry, Broner]


[Lahm, Mikheyenko, McHenry, Epps, Broner]



[XXI. CHORUS - "There we are"
Dibble, Page, Anderman, Jerinic, Kodzis, Lahm,
Mikheyenko, Desnoyers, Bennan, Epps]



[Kodzis, Lahm, Mikheyenko, Desnoyers,
Bennan, Epps, Broner, McHenry, Loney]

September 6 - Opera Arias and Mice and Men

Goat Hall Productions presents

SAN FRANCISCO CABARET
GRAND OPERA

Arias and Duets from
Mozart, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini
and more, plus



scenes from
Mark Alburger's
Mice and Men
(after John Steinbeck)

Each show will feature different arias/duets

Champagne reception after each performance!

Saturday, September 6, 8 pm
Sunday, September 7, 4 pm
Friday, September 12, 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 14, 4pm

Community Music Center
544 Capp Street, San Francisco
(East of Mission, West of South Van Ness,
between 20th and 21st Streets)

Free on-street parking weekdays/Saturdays
after 6pm and all day Sundays

Tickets - $15 adults / $10 seniors and students
Reservations - (415) 289-6877

www.goathall.org




Scenes from

MICE AND MEN
An Opera in Five Acts

Mark Alburger

After John Steinbeck


CHARACTERS In order of appearance

GEORGE Wayne Wong

LENNIE Maria Mikheyenko

CANDY Alix Jerinic

BOSS / CARLSON Megan Cullen

CURLEY Mark Alburger

CURLEY'S WIFE Suzanna Mizell

OFFSTAGE SOPRANO Marilyn Pratt

SLIM / WHIT Erin Lahm

CROOKS Adam Broner

PIANIST Alexander Katsman


SCENE The Salinas River Valley, California, circa 1935

ACT I The Pond
ACT II The Bunkhouse
ACT III The Bunkhouse
ACT IV Crook's Shack
ACT V Scene 1 The Barn
Scene 2 The Pond


Rehearsal shots, 8/10/08



Act I K "We're gonna get the jack together" (Wong, Mikheyenko)



"What you gonna say tomorrow to the boss?"



"I can sure remember"



"George, you asleep?"



Act II C "Where you boys been workin'?" (Wong, Mikheyenko, Cullen)



"Him, too?" (Wong, Mikheyenko, Cullen)



"I'll be watchin' you" (Wong, Mikheyenko, Cullen)



"So you wasn't gonna say a word!" (Wong, Mikheyenko)



Act 2 H "He was in here a minute ago" (Mizell, Mikheyenko, Wong)




"Hi, Slim" (Mikheyenko, Mizell, Lahm)


"Keep away from her" (Wong, Mikheyenko)


Act III F "Seen the new kid?" (Wong, Mikheyenko, Lahm)



"Ain't she a lulu?" (Wong, Mikheyenko, Lahm)



Act IV E "Any you boys seen Curley?" (Lahm, Mikheyenko, Broner, Mizell)



"It's funny how whenever" (Mizell, Lahm, Mikheyenko, Broner)



Act 5, Scene 1 A "I'm lonely" (Mizell, Pratt, Mikheyenko)



"I want to talk to someone" (Pratt, Mikheyenko, Mizell)



Act V, Scene 1 C "Ah, you're messin' it up!" (Mizell, Mikheyenko, Pratt)



"That's enough!"




"You're gonna get me in trouble!" (Pratt, Mikheyenko, Mizell)


"Ah!" (Pratt, Mikheyenko, Mizell)



Postlude (Mizell, Pratt)



Act V, Scene 2 Finale "And I can tend the rabbits" (Wong, Mikheyenko)



"Look there, across the river." (Wong, Mikheyenko)



"You and me" (Mikheyenko, Wong)



"I gotta. We gotta." (Wong)


Dress Rehearsal
September 5, 2008
San Francisco Community Music Center
Capp Street, San Francisco


Act I K "Tell us how it's gonna be." (Wong, Mikheyenko)


"We're gonna get our own little place." (Wong, Mikheyenko)


"The ranch is 'bout a quarter mile up that way" (Wong, Mikheyenko)



"But you ain't to get in no trouble" (Wong, Mikheyenko)



Act II Prelude (Katsman, Lahm, Cullen, Jerenic, Mizell, Pratt)



(Lahm, Cullen, Jerenic, Mizell)

June 7 - Variations on the Ghost of Sousa Dancing

SAN FRANCISCO
COMPOSERS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Mark Alburger, Music Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2008

CONTACT:
SFCCO (707) 451-0714
mus21stc@aol.com

SAN FRANCISCO COMPOSERS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA PRESENTS

VARIATIONS ON THE GHOST OF SOUSA DANCING

8:00PM, SATURDAY, JUNE 7,
OLD FIRST CHURCH,
1725 SACRAMENTO STREET (AT VAN NESS), SAN FRANCISCO

SAN FRANCISCO AND WORLD PREMIERES OF WORKS BY

ALLAN CROSSMAN,
GARY FRIEDMAN,
LOREN JONES, AND

A COLLABORATIVE COMPOSITION BY

MARK ALBURGER,
ALEXIS ALRICH,
JOHN BEEMAN,
HARRY BERNSTEIN,
MICHAEL COOKE,
DAVID GRAVES,
LOREN JONES, AND
ERLING WOLD

SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2008 -- Democrats against Republicans; Democrats against Democrats -- perhaps the best thing we can do in these contentious times is agree to disagree, and that's what the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra does best, as its members present, at 8pm on June 7 in Old First Church (1725 Sacramento Street, SF), Variations on the Ghost of Sousa Dancing, an evening of cheeky variance and the state of our unions.

The centerpiece will be an eight-composer collaboration, The Sousa Variations, based on John Philip Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever, which will be given a topsy-turvy treatment -- literally turned upside-down -- in Michael Cooke's Stripes and Stars. "I like it better inverted," notes the composer, and you may, too. Meanwhile, Loren Jones brings the march to Iraq with the addition of Middle Eastern modes and doumbek drum, in a work that he maintains was informed by a co-collaborator named John Philip Sousa Khan.

The conspiracy continues in David Graves's sepulchral Sousa Variance, a darkly meditative turn in tandem with Erling Wold's freshly-inspired On the Death of David Blakely. If some honor and tweak the music, others obliterate it, as Mark Alburger's double-homage to the March King and Charles Ives in Variations on Americana. And, for true mystery, marching orders by Alexis Alrich, John Beeman, and Harry Bernstein will sure to inspire.

America. Gotta love it. Or march out and leave it -- for Canada in the spirit of Coastal Ghost, where Allan Crossman provides northern chills and thrills on a Nova Scotian legend -- or even farther afield for China, in Gary Friedman's Olympian Concerto for Erhu and Orchestra.

As for those who stay, there's never a time to be satisfied with received norms, as Jones will remind us further in Haight-Ashberry and The Castro, two movements of his historic Dancing on the Brink of the World.

Maybe music can change the state of the universe... Can't we all... just... get along?

***

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra's Variations on the Ghost of Sousa Dancing on June 7, 8.00 p.m. at Old First Church, 1725 Sacramento Street (at Van Ness), San Francisco, are $15 general, $12 students and seniors. Tickets are available through the Old First Church Box Office at (415) 474-1608 and at the door. For more information, please call Old First Church Box Office, or the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra at (707) 451-0714, or visit the organizations' respective websites at www.oldfirstconcerts.org and www.sfcco.org. Tickets are also available at www.ticketweb.com. Other links to the show may be found at myspace.com/sfcco, myspace.com/blackhatrecords, myspace.com/erlingwold, myspace.com/markalburger, and markalburgerevents.blogspot.com.

###

CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:

OLD FIRST CONCERTS PRESENTS

Saturday, June 7, at 8:00 p.m.

Old First Church
1725 Sacramento Street at Van Ness
San Francisco, CA
(415) 474-1608

VARIATIONS ON THE GHOST OF SOUSA DANCING
San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra

Program:

Coastal Ghost (Allan Crossman)
Theme and Variations for Erhu and Orchestra (Gary Friedman)
Dancing on the Brink of the World: Haight Ashberry and The Castro (Loren Jones)

and

The Sousa Variations

an eight-movement collaboration consisting of

Variations on Americana (Mark Alburger)
Stripes and Stars (Michael Cooke)
Sousa Variance (David Graves)
Stars and Stripes for Desert (Loren Jones)
On the Death of David Blakely (Erling Wold)
and music of Alexis Alrich,
John Beeman, and
Harry Bernstein

Tickets:$15 general, $12 students and seniors, available through the Old First Church Box Office at (415) 474-1608, at the door, and at www.ticketweb.com.

More information and pictures at sfcco.org and markalburgerevents.blogspot.com

May 9 - The Black Horse, with a Touch of Gray

Pestilence. Plague.
Death.

Time for a Party...

Goat Hall Productions:
San Francisco Cabaret Opera presents
Horsewomen of the Apocalypse:
The Black Horse, with a Touch of Gray
8pm, Friday, May 9, 2008, at
St. Gregory of Nyssa Church
500 De Haro Street
San Francisco, CA

An exciting evening of new and used music sung by an astounding all-female cast.
Free champagne at our cabaret tables, chocolate and other dark culinary delights.
Refreshments and wine available to all.

Composers: Mark Alburger, Jacques Brel, Peter Josheff,
Sheli Nan, John Partridge, Ambrose Thomas, Kurt Weill,
and Cynthia Weyuker

Singers: Elizabeth Henry, Sarah Hutchison,
Kristen Jones, Janet Lohr, Eliza O'Malley, Harriet March Page,
Jo Vincent Parks, Marilyn Pratt, Kelly Vomacka, and
Cynthia Weyuker (also on musical saw)

Cabaret table - $25 per person
Single seat - $20 general admission;
$15 studets and seniors

Call (415) 289-6877 for reservations.
Reservations recommended if you want a table;
otherwise, just come to the Church and pay at the door.

Visit our website at: www.goathall.org
Further information at: markalburgerworks.blogspot.com



Horsewomen of the Apocalypse: The Black Horse with a Touch of Gray



St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church

Program:
(with photos from dress rehearsal, concert, and after concert):

Part I

Jacques Brel - My Death
(Janet Lohr)

Jacques Brel - Funeral Tango
(Harriet March Page)



Kurt Weill - Nana's Lied
(Janet Lohr, with Elizabeth Henry, Harriet March Page, John Partridge, Eliza O'Mally, and Vicki Holder)

Mary Watkins - Queen Clara: Andersonville
(Eliza O'Malley)


Felix Mendelssohn - Farewell Song of the Birds of Passage
Kristen Jones, Elizabeth Henry)



John Partridge - Whitman Songs
I. Darest Thous, O Soul
II. Whispers of Heavenly Death
(Harriet March Page, John Partridge)


Ambrose Thomas - Hamlet: Orphelia's Mad Scene
(Marilyn Pratt, Matthew Evans)



Sheli Nan - Saga: Portrait of a 21st-Century Child
I. Babysitter from Hell
II. Cabin in the Woods
III. I Want a Man on a Motorcycle
(Joe Vincent Parks, Kelly Vomacka, Eliza O'Malley, Sheli Nan)

Part II


Cynthia Weyuker - Lone Shanakyle (On the Potato Famine)
(Sarah Hutchison, Cynthia Weyuker)



Peter Josheff - Four Poems by Mary Holmes
I. Life Is a Feast
II. Orion
III. Riddle
IV. Daphne
(Peter Josheff, Eliza O'Malley)



Mark Alburger - San Rafael News:
Ten Deathsongs on Found Texts
I. AIDSong
II. Conference Room Technique
III. Death Catch
IV. Immortality
V. Life Span
VI. Ozymandias (Shelley)
VII. Pontoon Tattoo
VIII. Rain-Death Fugato
IX. The Reproductive Organs
X. Sylvia Dreyer
(Harriet March Page, Janet Lohr,
Elizabeth Henry, Kristen Jones, Eliza O'Malley)